This evening I took advantage of the hospitality of the folks at TechnoLawyer.com who secured the use of a dandy bar in Tribeca for the launch of a new eBook they are giving away to their customers, “BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas“. The book is discussed at length over at Evan Schaeffer’s today by Ted, Mike Cernovich and others. I enjoyed meeting other guests, among them Bruce MacEwen of Adam Smith Esq. and Arnie Herz of LegalSanity, both of which blogs are deservedly popular among practicing lawyers.
Archive for November, 2005
“TV’s pitchmen in pinstripe suits”
Arizona Republic takes a look at lawyers’ advertising (Hal Mattern, Nov. 27).
Briefing in City of New York v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.
The first battle over the constitutionality and scope of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act is taking place in Judge Weinstein’s courtroom in City of New York v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.. The AEI Liability Project has the briefing available in the November 29 entry in its Documents in the News page. Previous coverage: Apr. 13, 2004, Nov. 9, and Nov. 25.
Tripped up by 10,000 rules
Our discussion of overcriminalization (Nov. 20) has got Coyote to thinking (Nov. 21) about some of the headaches involved in complying with labor and employment law:
Now, I’m not talking about chaining employees to the assembly line or even paying below the minimum wage. I am talking about $45,000 fines for not splitting the two portions of a Davis-Bacon wage out correctly on a pay stub or getting sued for not properly posting one of your required labor department posters or having a counter 1/2″ too high for ADA regulations.
Follow his links to learn about an instance in which labor regulators refused to concede that a camping business in a national forest qualified as recreational.
Roger Parloff on patent litigation
First BlackBerry, next eBay? As patent disputes threaten to shut down whole pillars of the electronic economy, the question becomes more urgent whether patent holders should be entitled to automatic injunctions against infringers. Abolishing the injunction entirely might be too radical, argues Fortune’s Roger Parloff; the better course may lie in giving judges more discretion. (“Pay Up — or You’re Done For”, Fortune, Dec. 12). More on the BlackBerry case: Oct. 11, May 2. And a news update: “Setback for BlackBerry maker”, Reuters/Money/CNN, Nov. 30.
Terrell Owens: Now Specter wants in
Sen. Arlen Specter has risen to the level of self-parody and “accused the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles of treating Terrell Owens unfairly, and might refer the matter to the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.” The AP story quotes a couple of experts as noting that there isn’t an antitrust problem in much more polite terms than I would have. (AP/ESPN, Nov. 29 (hat-tip L.S.)). Owens seems to provoke a lot of silliness: see Nov. 24 and links therein.
L.A.: “Lawyer held in car crash fraud ring”
It’s not as if these fraud rings were anything new (more), but a few of the details this time are particularly piquant:
A lawyer recruited 29 people, including some from a Bible study class, to stage more than 60 automobile crashes on Los Angeles freeways and collected millions of dollars in bogus insurance claims, authorities said Wednesday.
Typically members of the ring would head out in two cars onto a freeway and box in an unsuspecting SUV or commercial truck, then slam on the brakes so as to cause an accident for which passengers in the lead car could file a legal claim.
Although no one was seriously injured in the accidents, one victim was forced to close his business after his truck was totaled, officials said….
Among those involved were members of a Bible study group from the Inland Empire, said Marty Gonzales, chief investigator for the California Department of Insurance….
Many of the suspects were illegal immigrants who were promised they would earn hundreds if not thousands of dollars, Gonzales said.
In reality, some were paid nothing….
According to the insurance commissioner’s office, [22-year-old Humberto] Carlon set up the accidents and Laufer [personal injury lawyer Bernard Laufer, 52, of Huntington Park] paid him a fee to represent the phony victims in claims against insurance companies….
Such crash rings are not new to Southern California.
A family of three burned to death on the Long Beach Freeway in 1996 in an accident linked to a crash ring.
(Amanda Covarrubias, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 24).
“Merck to eliminate 7,000 jobs, 5 plants”
Point of Law is your one-stop shop for detail on the Vioxx-litigation background of it all. (Linda A. Johnson, AP/ABCNews.com, Nov. 28).
Balloon victim won’t sue
She’s from Albany, not New York City, which may possibly be one reason Sarah Chamberlain and her family have no plans to file suit over the accident at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. One of the giant balloons hit a lamppost and brought debris raining down on Sarah, who needed nine stitches to her head, as well as her disabled sister Mary, who wasn’t seriously hurt:
Sarah and Mary’s father, Stephen Chamberlain, staff director for the Public Employees Federation, said the family has no intention of taking Macy’s or the city to court.
“To me, the lawsuit-lottery stuff is almost dishonest,” he said. “This was an accident. We’re just very thankful no one was seriously injured.”
(Joe Mahoney, Celeste Katz and Tracy Connor, “Her spirits are sky high”, New York Daily News, Nov. 26). “Miracle on 34th St.”, one columnist calls the family’s lack of litigiousness (Arnold Ahlert, New York Post, Nov. 28).
More: “The father’s words should be inscribed on a plaque and affixed to the base of the pole, memorializing a place in the city where a mishap occurred and nobody went to court,” writes Daily News columnist Michael Daly, who quotes a subway ad and website which dangle enticing dollar sums in front of potential litigants. “‘Between the two of them [Sarah and her sister] you could hit a million dollars,’ one noted attorney said yesterday.” (“Greed didn’t suit him”, Nov. 27). And CBS Early Show commentator Harry Smith calls Mr. Chamberlain’s attitude “heroic and refreshing” (“Accidents Happen”, Nov. 28).
Taxpayers on hook for $60.9M cerebral palsy case
Lawyers blame Jacksonville Navy hospital doctors for Kevin Bravo Rodriguez’s severe cerebral palsy (Nov. 12; Nov. 4, 2004; Feb. 2, 2004; Aug. 13, 2003; etc.). He cannot see, speak, swallow, or move his arms and legs, and will not live past age 21. Modern technology saved Bravo Rodriguez’s life after he was born without a heart-rate or respiration, and keeps him alive with 24-hour care that was adjudged to cost $10 million over the course of short life. The verdict included $50 million in pain and suffering. Because this was a Federal Tort Claims Act case, a judge was the finder of fact, and Carter-appointee Senior District Judge Jose A. Gonzalez can be credited with the largest FTCA verdict in history, which (including the millions in jackpot attorneys’ fees) will come out of taxpayers’ pockets unless it is reversed on the government’s promised appeal. (Nikki Waller and Noaki Schwartz, “A bittersweet $60.9 million”, Miami Herald, Nov. 25). This is attorney Ervin Gonzalez’s second appearance in Overlawyered this year for a $60 million+ verdict—see July 10.