Philadelphia Eagles fans might be bigger supporters of tort reform now: a doctor has refused to clear star wide receiver Terrell Owens for play in Super Bowl XXXIX after an ankle sprain because of liability fears. (Mark Maske, “Hope Remains for Owens Comeback”, washingtonpost.com, Jan. 26).
Owens might have other reasons to seek tort reform. He’s being sued for $35 million by Formulated Sciences Inc. because he didn’t wear a t-shirt he supposedly agreed to wear in 1999. This might be because the non-FDA-regulated “nutritional supplements” he was supposed to endorse were banned by the NFL in 2001. Of course, perhaps Owens’ business representatives failed to account for such an eventuality in the endorsement agreement, in which case Owens may well be liable for a breach of contract, but alleging $35 million in damages for failing to wear a particular hat or t-shirt is ridiculous. The theory is apparently that there were millions of people clamoring to buy an ointment with Owens’ picture on it. If an athlete’s endorsement carried that kind of weight, athletes would be making much more money in endorsements. (Don Russell, “T.O. facing $35M suit from banned supplement company”, Philadelphia Daily News, Dec. 29). Formulated Sciences, which specializes in a weight-loss snake-oil with as much caffeine as a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola, has also sued the NFL for supposed antitrust violations. The League has moved to dismiss the complaint. The lawsuit is meritless on its face, and, given the press releases, appears to be an attempt for FS to get free advertising for its products, but the NFL will likely spend at least tens of thousands of dollars defending itself.
Tagged as:
antitrust,
Coca-Cola,
Philadelphia,
sports
I’m off to Austin where I’ll take part in a panel discussion on asbestos reform tomorrow (Thurs.) at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s third annual policy orientation for the state legislature, an event that I understand is sold out. Any posting before Friday will be from Ted.
Tagged as:
asbestos,
live in person,
Texas
Litigation as hobby: “Meet Peter Malley, a former math teacher who has filed 18 federal lawsuits against the city after he was fired by the [New York City] Board of Education in 1987.” (Carl Campanile, “Courts $pank Frequent Filer”, New York Post, Jan. 24).
Tagged as:
schools,
workplace
The American Spectator’s unsigned “Prowler” slams Sen. Arlen Specter for selecting as general counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee Carolyn Short Torsella, whom it describes without more as a “trial lawyer” and implies might prove unacceptably liberal to the GOP majority. (“Specter?s Trial Lawyer Appointee”, Jan. 26). It does not add — but probably should have — that Ms. Short’s renown with the firm of Reed Smith is on the defense side, where she has helped employers fight off discrimination suits. A profile of Ms. Short in Forbes three years ago (Joanne Gordon, “Get Shorty”, Dec. 24, 2001; same article reprinted at Reed Smith site) provides zero support for the depiction of Ms. Short as wild-eyed liberal: “The vast majority of discrimination cases are hogwash,” is the first thing it quotes her as saying.
Tagged as:
Arlen Specter,
politics
“Lawsuits are killing innovation. It’s a common story in the world of technology. Any time a company produces a disruptive technology that does something cool, they have to have a legal department that is bigger than their engineering unit to survive, and that sucks for business, sucks for customers, and sucks for the technology industry. I work around lawyers all day and I wish this was a bigger issue with the public.
“Anything that helps customers enjoy TV, movies, or music is a target for lawsuits.” (Matt Haughey, PVRBlog, Jan. 21).
Tagged as:
movies film and videos,
technology
Is justice better served if state court judges are selected by appointment, as opposed to popular election? Does it make a difference in “runaway verdict” cases? What about the propriety of judges’ raising campaign warchests from lawyers and interest groups with cases before their courts? An excellent discussion of this issue has been in progress at Point of Law between Alex Tabarrok, George Mason University economist and blogger at Marginal Revolution, and David Rottman of the National Center for State Courts. The discussion has now wrapped up and can be read in its entirety at this permalink.
Tagged as:
politics
“Be prepared for a lengthy process” in the District of Columbia if the quondam paramour doesn’t want to leave, no matter that it’s your house. “It’s really complicated,” says one lawyer. (Sara Gebhardt, Washington Post, Jan. 22). For cases of roommate-entrenchment from Florida and Maryland, see Feb. 19 and Aug. 26, 2004.
Tagged as:
Maryland
Poor dears dept.: “A federal appeals court in New York has upheld the largest antitrust class action settlement in history, along with an award of $220 million to the lawyers who brought the $3 billion case against Visa and MasterCard. … The class-action attorneys argued that the $220 million in legal fees allowed by the trial court was inadequate and the legal team should have been awarded more than $600 million, but the appeals court disagreed.” (see Aug. 22, 2003, Mar. 17, 2004). (Josh Gerstein, “Court Upholds ‘Only’ $220 Million For Lawyers in Visa, MasterCard Suit”, New York Sun, Jan. 18). More on the case: Jan. 29.
Tagged as:
antitrust,
class actions
Carlisle, Pa.: “A pregnant Newville-area woman charged with murdering her 3-year-old son is asking to be freed from jail because her imprisonment constitutes ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ for her unborn child.” William C. Costopoulos, described as a local defense attorney and constitutional law expert, is quoted in the article commending defense attorney Karl Rominger for “creative lawyering” for raising the argument, but a district attorney says it has “no basis in law”. (Matt Miller, “Woman says jail ‘cruel,’ for fetus”, Harrisburg Patriot-News, Jan. 19).
Tagged as:
crime and punishment
New York’s Eliot Spitzer and Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, both subjects of longstanding coverage in this space, go back quite a way together and share a similar approach toward the duties of the state attorney general. A new story from AP’s Hartford bureau is kind enough to quote me saying some not-very-acerbic things about them. (Jan. 23: Stephen Singer, “Friendship another tie between two like-minded attorneys general”, Newsday, and Stamford Advocate).
Tagged as:
attorneys general,
Connecticut,
Eliot Spitzer,
New York,
politics,
Richard Blumenthal
More on that proposal (see Dec. 15) to let New York attorneys take pro bono credit for more activities along the lines of “improv[ing] the legal system”, which some think should mean, e.g., lobbying in Albany against liability reform: critics are saying the idea is shaping up as a public relations disaster for the state bar, and threatens to divert resources from the goal of helping poor persons with their legal problems (Thomas Adcock, “N.Y. State Bar Draws Fire With Proposal to Change Pro Bono Definition”, Jan. 18); and David Giacalone blasts the idea (Jan. 19). See Monica Finch, “Working group seeks input on expanded definition of pro bono”, NYSBA State Bar News, Nov./Dec.
Tagged as:
ethics,
pro bono
“Video games seem to have two purposes these days: providing entertainment and keeping attorneys busy. Very busy.” (Tresa Baldas, “Video Game Industry Explodes With Legal, Regulatory Issues”, National Law Journal, Jan. 11). For our past coverage, see, among others, Sept. 26, 2003, May 24, 2004 and this selection of pre-2003 posts.
Tagged as:
videogames
In a sign of changing times at the Mississippi Supreme Court, the court’s justices by a 5-2 verdict threw out a much-criticized $150 million award to six asbestos claimants whom defense attorneys said were hardly sick at all (Feb. 23, 2004). “The Holmes County jury awarded identical amounts of $25 million each to the six, despite ‘different work histories, different exposures and different diagnoses,’ Justice George C. Carlson Jr. wrote…. Justices Chuck Easley and James Graves dissented without writing separate opinions. Justices Mike Randolph and Oliver Diaz Jr. did not participate.” The court had been known for its willingness to approve unusual jury awards, but voters in the Magnolia State recently defeated the trial-lawyer-backed chief justice in his bid for re-election.
The ruling was also a huge victory for the 3M company, whose masks the plaintiff’s lawyers had assailed as insufficiently protective (see Sept. 25 for many details), and which had chosen to appeal the $150 million verdict (other defendants settled); the six plaintiffs “testified they hardly had worn the 3M masks”, and, wrote Carlson, “no plaintiff provided any evidence that he was exposed to asbestos while wearing a 3M product.” (Jerry Mitchell, “$150M injury ruling tossed”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Jan. 21).
Tagged as:
asbestos,
Mississippi,
product liability
Readers may remember our item last May 18 about the mobile law office van spotted parked outside the emergency room at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center. Now Dr. Steven Davidson, whose EMedConcepts blog ran the original photos of the van, reports as follows (Jan. 19):
ER: Season 11, Episode 177861, 1/20/2005
[ . . . ]
A personal injury lawyer sets up a mobile office outside the ER, infuriating Lewis as he tries to turn dissatisfied patients into clients.
[ . . . ]
It turns out that the post on the Mobile Lawyer who showed up at our hospital and ER last spring caught some notice in the blogosphere. Overlawyered picked up the post and I had thousands of hits in a few days. A colleague referred another contact and somehow the story reached the writing staff at the ER production company to appear in the fictionalized version on tomorrow’s show [i.e. yesterday's -- W.O.]. Imagine that.
(via SymTym).
Tagged as:
chasing clients,
hospitals
Servers at Giants Stadium in northern New Jersey sold beer to a highly intoxicated patron, so a jury has ordered Aramark, the beer concessionaire, to pay $30 million in compensatory and $75 million in punitive damages to pay for the later acts of the drunkard, who after leaving the game drove off into a catastrophic accident. (Ana M. Alaya, “Jury adds $75 million penalty for beer seller”, Newark Star-Ledger, Jan. 20; David Voreacos, “Aramark loses big in lawsuit”, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 20). The plaintiff’s lawyer in the case (see Oct. 10, 2003) had asked for damages against the National Football League and the Giants as well, but according to KipEsquire (Jan. 20) those claims were dismissed, or else the award might have been really big. Correction: the jury’s compensatory verdict was split $30 million against Aramark and $30 million against the drunk driver; we originally reported that the entire award was against Aramark, but have fixed the references above.
More: New Jersey Law Journal, Jan. 21, reports that the NFL and Giants paid an undisclosed settlement to be let out of the case, though they also prevailed on a summary judgment motion; and it turns out that Daniel Lanzaro of Cresskill, N.J., the drunk driver, drank at a club with friends after leaving the stadium but before getting into the crash. Yet more: AP adds that “The NFL forbids beer sales after the third quarter, and the Giants close beer concessions at the start of the third quarter. The stadium also mandates that fans can buy only two beers at a time, but the Vernis’ lawyers contend that Lanzaro sidestepped that rule by giving the vendor a $10 tip and was allowed to buy six beers.” And according to the New York Post, “Giants Stadium officials intend to aggressively monitor tailgating and drinking” (emphasis added) in the aftermath of the verdict. Update: Feb. 2.
Tagged as:
alcohol,
Aramark,
jackpot justice,
New Jersey,
punitive damages,
sports,
third party liability for crime
In suburban Milwaukee, 17-year-old Peer Larson wants to be in teacher Aaron Bieniek’s honors pre-calculus class, but isn’t happy about the homework assignments Mr. Bieniek required students to do over the summer. So he and his father are suing Mr. Bieniek, various school officials, and the Whitnall School District, saying summer homework assignments shouldn’t be allowed. (Jamaal Abdul-Alim, “Homework during summer vacation prompts lawsuit”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jan. 19). Update Mar. 15: judge dismisses suit.
Tagged as:
schools
Sued if you do dept.: “A former Inglewood police officer who was fired for punching a black teenager and slamming him against a patrol car was awarded $1.6 million Tuesday by the jury in a discrimination lawsuit he and his partner brought against the city. … A bystander videotaped [Jeremy] Morse in July 2002 punching handcuffed Donovan Jackson in the head and slamming him onto a patrol car in Inglewood, just south of Los Angeles.” National publicity followed, as did protests in the heavily minority city, and the city eventually fired Officer Morse and disciplined other officers. On Tuesday a Los Angeles jury agreed with Morse’s suit contending that he would not have been lost his job had he been black. It also awarded $810,000 to another white officer, Bijan Darvish, who is still with the Inglewood department but was suspended for ten days in connection with the incident. (Chris T. Nguyen, AP/Wired News, Jan. 18).
The 2002 incident had led to the filing of criminal charges against both Morse and Darvish; juries deadlocked in two trials of felony charges against Morse, and acquitted Darvish on a charge of filing false police reports. Prosecutors eventually dropped charges against Morse. City mayor Roosevelt Dorn called this week’s verdicts outrageous, questioning why a 10-day employee suspension would be considered to be worth $800,000. (“Taped Punch Costly to City”, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 19; Matt Krasnowski, “Inglewood police officers get $2.4 million jury award”, Copley/Torrance Daily Breeze, Jan. 20).
Tagged as:
workplace
…as Paul Winston, editorial director of the magazine Business Insurance, observes (“Making a Case for Tort Reform”, Business Insurance, Jan. 17).
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