Recently in Negligence / Other Torts Category

At least four of the lawsuits filed against the NFL by former players for concussions and head injuries will be consolidated in Philadelphia. Both the plaintiffs' attorneys and the NFL were in favor of the consolidation due to logistics and avoiding the chaos of having dozens of similar suits heard before different judges in different cities.

Lawsuits have been filed in New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Florida, and Philadelphia. It's not clear which lawsuits were consolidated, but the one filed by former Eagles quarterback Jim McMahon will be one of the cases heard in Philadelphia, reports the Associated Press. The other lawsuits may also eventually be consolidated in Philadelphia.

Bally Total Fitness was one of the dominant gyms in the Philadelphia area for the past two decades. They offered attractive rates — including lifetime memberships — at their once new and glimmering gyms. But like all things, Bally’s run came to an end and they wound down, selling their facilities and memberships to LA Fitness, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It had been assumed that members of Bally’s would be able to continue using their current gyms or new LA Fitness gyms nearby. However, several members found that they were steered to gyms in faraway New York, prompting the Bally Total Fitness lawsuit.

Lance Shaner donated $250,000 to The Second Mile charity, expecting his money to go to a good cause that benefited disadvantaged youths. Little did he know that his money was going to a charity founded by a man who allegedly raped and molested several young boys, reports Fox News.

Shaner is now demanding his money back in The Second Mile lawsuit.

Joe Paterno dies. Given his obvious failing health, one must ask whether Penn State University was in any way culpable for the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal given its decision to keep Paterno in such an important position for so long -- even as the man aged before our eyes.

In the last decade, Paterno's age and failing health became very noticeable as he spent as much time in the coaching booth as he did on the sidelines. Yet Paterno was still given full control over the Penn State football program and was warmly embraced as the "benevolent dictator," reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

As we wrote last week, over one hundred former NFL players joined together and sued the league for damages stemming from head injuries they allegedly received while playing pro football.

The NFL concussion lawsuit was perhaps the biggest single suit and added to the ever-growing list of lawsuits against the league. Now, just one week later, another lawsuit has been filed against the league, and this one includes even more former Philadelphia Eagles.

In a criminal child sex abuse trial of four current and former priests, it was revealed that the Philadelphia Archdiocese delayed reporting six priests who were caught with child pornography to law enforcement officials for years.

If a civil Philadelphia Archdiocese sex abuse lawsuit is ever brought, this may be damning evidence that the archdiocese was negligent or careless in keeping children away from potential predators.

Last month, we wrote about another Lower Merion webcam lawsuit, this time brought by Paige Robbins, the sister of the original student-plaintiff who kicked off the webcam lawsuits.

In a surprising turn, the now 20-year-old former student has withdrawn her lawsuit after reportedly having some differences with her attorney.

The NFL has become the most popular sport in this country in large part due to the brutality of the game. As players get bigger and faster, the hits get more violent as well.

While the league capitalizes on the big hits, a group of retired football players in a string of NFL concussion lawsuits claim that the NFL intentionally misled them on the dangers of the game and as a result they now suffer life-long head and brain injuries, reports the Associated Press.

In June, we wrote that Joshua Levin had sued the Lower Merion School District in a school webcam lawsuit.

As you may know, the school district got in trouble when it had activated webcams on student laptops without the students' consent. The district allegedly had captured several thousand images, though it claimed that it had only intended to view the images if the laptops were reported lost or stolen.

The attorney for 14-year-old Keshana Wilson released a video showing the high school student being attacked by an Allentown police officer in the back of Dieruff High School. The police officer, Jason Ammary is shown using a Taser to shock the girl.

Wilson is now suing Ammary for damages though it’s unclear from the video just how the altercation started, reports WFMZ.