All-automotive edition:
- Court won’t unseal settlement arising from $105 million Aramark/Giants Stadium dramshop case for fear girl’s father will try to get his hands on money [NJLJ, NorthJersey.com, Childs; earlier]
- Great moments in insurance defense law: you mean it wasn’t a good idea to infiltrate that church meeting to investigate the crash claim? [Turkewitz first, second posts]
- Columnist Paul Mulshine rejoices: Ninth Circuit decision “if it stands, will lead to the end of the SUV as we know it” [Newark Star-Ledger]
- Is it unfair — and should it be unlawful? — for insurers to settle crash victims’ claims too early? [Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog]
- If Ron Krist prevails in shoot-out of Texas plaintiff titans, he vows to have sheriff seize John O’Quinn’s Batmobile [American Lawyer; see also Ted's take earlier]
- In much-watched case, Australian high court by 3-2 split upholds highway authority against claim defective bridge design was blameworthy after youth’s dive into shallow water [RTA NSW v. Dederer, Aug. 30]
- Redesigning Toyota’s occupant restraint system? Clearly another job for the Marshall, Texas courts [SE Texas Record; Point of Law; more]
- Bench trial results in $55 million verdict against U.S. government after Army employee on business runs red light and paralyzes small child [OC Register]
- Vision in a purple Gremlin: her Yale Law days shaped Hillary in many ways [Stearns/McClatchy]
- Zero tolerance for motorists’ blood-alcohol — are we sure we want to go there? [Harsanyi, Reason]
- Driver falls asleep, so of course Ford must pay [two years ago on Overlawyered; much more on our automotive page]
Tagged as:
absent parents who sue,
Aramark,
Australia,
autos,
dramshop statutes,
Eastern District of Texas,
Hillary Clinton,
insurers,
jackpot justice,
John O'Quinn,
Judge Ward,
Maryland,
Ninth Circuit,
Ron Krist,
roundups,
SUVs,
taxpayers,
Toyota,
zero tolerance
When highly-paid sports figures are hurt in car crashes or other accidents, the potential damages are of course enormous, and the incentives to pursue creative litigation options seem to be accordingly sharp. On Oct. 4 we reported on the legal aftermath of a 1997 rented-limo crash that ended the careers of Detroit Red Wings hockey star Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov and also injured star player Viacheslav Fetisov, who later returned to the ice. We noted then that lawyers for two of the injured team members were suing a car dealer that sold the vehicle involved, on the perhaps creative theory that by making the seat belts too hard to reach it was legally responsible for the passengers’ non-use of them. Now we learn via the New Jersey Law Journal about a different arena of litigation on the injured players’ behalf. It seems they “sought to cash in on New Jersey’s reputation for pro-policyholder jurisprudence” by filing an action seeking $200 million from the National Hockey League’s providers of auto insurance. However, a “unanimous New Jersey appeals court ruled in 2006 that the carriers were not liable, and affirmed a summary dismissal of the coverage suit. The NHL policy, while it covered team vehicles, did not cover drivers who worked for outside limousine companies, even if the limo companies were hired by teams,” according to the panel’s ruling. Now the New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to review that ruling. (Henry Gottlieb, “NHL’s Insurers Score Hat Trick in N.J. Supreme Court”, New Jersey Law Journal, Oct. 29).
Tagged as:
deep pocket,
Detroit,
New Jersey,
sports
Updating David’s post of Oct. 2: “in the end, only about 1,700 people asked to be reimbursed” over James Frey’s pseudo-memoir, after Random House set aside $2.35 million in a settlement fund. Legal fees: $783,000, or more than $400 per dissatisfied reader. Attorneys Larry Drury and Evan Smith, defending the escapade, spoke of the litigation’s value in deterring publishers from printing inaccurate memoirs in future. (“‘Million Little Pieces’ refund claimed by only 1,700″, AP/CNN, Nov. 3; earlier coverage).
Tagged as:
class actions
And, as the night follows the day, there descend the class-action shareholder lawyers, led in this case by San Diego’s not-at-all-tainted Coughlin Stoia of Bill Lerach fame. (“Crocs facing possible suit despite earnings hike”, Northern Colorado Business Report, Nov. 9; Keith DuBay, “Lawyers pounce on Crocs”, ColoradoBiz Magazine/Denver Post, Nov. 15). “Imagine that! Sandals seasonal? Who knew?” (Al Lewis, “Idiots’ lawsuit is nothing but a Croc”, Denver Post, Nov. 16).
Tagged as:
Bill Lerach,
class actions,
Colorado,
Denver,
San Diego
A federal judge has declined to dismiss the controversial lawsuit. “The imams have argued that they were removed because of religious and ethnic bias. The airline says they were ejected solely because of security concerns raised by passengers and crew members.” In August, the imams dropped the most widely criticized portion of the suit, which had named as defendants fellow passengers who had expressed fears for the flight’s security. (Dan Browning, “Flying imams score points in suit vs. US Airways”, Arizona Republic/Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nov. 21; Audrey Hudson, “Judge grants imams day in court”, Washington Times, Nov. 22). See Dec. 6, 2006, Mar. 15, 2007, etc.
More from Ann Althouse (Nov. 21): “Yes, let’s get to the factfinding. No need to throw this out on a motion to dismiss when the plaintiff’s version of the facts must be taken as true.”
Tagged as:
airlines,
Arizona
Controversy continues over the extent to which litigation has tended to obstruct brush and understory removal as well as post-blaze recovery efforts in the fire zones: Damien Schiff (Pacific Legal Foundation), “Misguided litigation magnifies wildfires”, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 5); John Berlau, “The Environmentalist Fires”, American Thinker, Oct. 29; BioStock blog, Oct. 5. The Sierra Club defends environmental litigation in this Oct. 23 statement. Last year the Society of American Foresters last year released a study entitled “Forest Service Land Management Litigation 1989-2002″, which is available at the Society site. Earlier: Oct. 24, etc.
Tagged as:
ACLU,
environment,
wildfires
It was named the most absurd law in Great Britain, but there’s a certain logic behind it:
…the reason people are banned from dying in parliament is that it is a Royal palace.
Nigel Cawthorne, author of The Strange Laws of Old England, said: “Anyone who dies there is technically entitled to a state funeral.
“If they see you looking a bit sick they carry you out quickly.”
(Gary Cleland, “Don’t die in parliament, it’s the law”, Daily Telegraph, Nov. 6).
And for readers here in America, happy Thanksgiving, and see you after the holiday.
Tagged as:
United Kingdom
“Under the revised system, the post office will still hand out Santa letters to people who want to donate [gifts to needy local kids]. However, people who want to give must come to the Post Office at Federal Plaza, present a photo ID and sign a contract holding the U.S. Postal Service blameless, ‘…against any and all causes of action, claims, liens, rights or interests of any kind or type whatsoever…’” (Judy Peet, “‘Dear Santa’ letters come with legal catch”, Newark Star-Ledger, Nov. 19; BaristaNet, Nov. 20). More: Nov. 27.
Eight-minute documentary short from Moving Picture Institute (“Indoctrinate U.”, etc.) examines a Saudi billionaire’s London defamation suit against American author Rachel Ehrenfeld, whose book Funding Evil (never published in the U.K.) had charged him with funding terrorism. (Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, Nov. 19). Earlier: Oct. 26, 2003, Jun. 11, 2007. Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz “has won so many defamation claims that he publishes an anthology of apologies on his website. … The sheikh denied being a libel tourist in England where he and his sons had for many years had substantial connections, including residences and a London-based oil company.” (Dominic Kennedy, “US writer fights gagging order on al-Qaeda claims”, Times Online (U.K.), Nov. 1).
Tagged as:
forum shopping,
libel slander and defamation,
Saudi Arabia,
United Kingdom
A lawsuit against milk producers over failure to warn buyers about the phenomenon gets poured down the drain by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit (Howard Bashman, “D.C. Circuit Doesn’t Swallow Lactose-Intolerance Class Action”, Law.com, Nov. 19). Earlier: Sept. 9, 2006, etc.
Tagged as:
food safety
Tas Sinadinos was fired by his employer in Australia after it found he had used a company credit card for “inappropriate and unacceptable” personal spending including thousands of dollars for escort services. He sued for unfair dismissal and argued that such expenses “could be considered entertainment” and that the need for “company” was “not dissimilar” to other expenses for a relocating executive such as fitting out a new apartment. An Industrial Court judge was not receptive, asking whether Sinadinos lived in the “real world”. (Jennifer Cooke, “Escorts a work expense, court told”, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 13) (via Stumblng Tumblr).
Tagged as:
Australia,
workplace
“Hundreds of defendants sitting in prisons nationwide have been convicted with the help of an FBI forensic tool that was discarded more than two years ago. But the FBI lab has yet to take steps to alert the affected defendants or courts, even as the window for appealing convictions is closing, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and ’60 Minutes’ has found.” The bureau has now agreed to release the files involved (John Solomon, “FBI’s Forensic Test Full of Holes”, Washington Post, Nov. 18; more Post coverage; Obbie, Nov. 18; Ambrogi, Nov. 19; Althouse).
Tagged as:
crime and punishment
- Dickie Scruggs will host Dec. 15 Hillary fundraiser headlined by Bill [Clarion-Ledger via WSJ law blog]
- Megabucks campaigns for state judicial office: Symptom? Illness? Both? [Justice O'Connor @ OpinionJournal.com, Adler @ Volokh; Pero]
- U.K. kids’ author says publisher’s safety worries vetoed depiction of fire-breathing dragon in book [Daily Mail]
- Roger Parloff describes the Judith Regan complaint as bizarre, and angry commenters are soon denouncing him as a Fox’s-paw [Fortune Legal Pad; Althouse; ritual disclaimer]
- Wonder why booking a dance venue can get pricey? Here’s one reason [WV Record]
- “Why should I take a dollar out of [my neighbor's] pocket?”: a Virginia Tech family wrestles with the temptation to sue [Mundy, WashPostMag]
- Essential silliness of the “media diversity” scare [Welch, LAT]
- Boston’s James Sokolove, known for his heavy rotation of personal-injury TV ads, is now chasing for … patent plaintiffs? [WSJ law blog; earlier]
- Great big gobs of mutilated monkey meat could bring five years in slammer for NYC immigrant [IHT]
- Recounting the tale of Miami’s one-time high-living “King of Torts” Louis Robles, who stole from around 4,500 clients [AJP "CEO Alert" series, PDF]
- Campaign regulation laws spell incumbent protection in New Zealand too [Bainbridge]
- Influence of newspaper lobby retards natural migration to the web of fine-print legal notices [Liptak, NYT]
Tagged as:
Dickie Scruggs,
Louis Robles,
New Zealand,
roundups,
Virginia Tech
Both houses of Congress have voted over the past month or two to block the EEOC lawsuit now underway against a Massachusetts unit of the religious group over its policy requiring workers to speak English on the job. But the House leadership has nonetheless promised bilingualism advocates that the proposal will be kept out of a final bill. (John Fund, “Mi Casa, Sue Casa”, OpinionJournal.com, Nov. 19). For more details about the Framingham, Mass., controversy, see PoL, May 3; earlier coverage of the controversy on Overlawyered is here and here. More: Bader, Morrissey, ScrappleFace; & welcome Michelle Malkin readers.
Tagged as:
Massachusetts,
workplace
Note that the proposal here is not to provide free lawyers in cases where careful case-screening establishes a fair argument that the eviction is in some way legally wrongful or unjustified. It’s to use taxpayer money to make sure that tenants who’ve trashed the apartment or stiffed the landlord on months of rent are also assigned a lawyer who will predictably use all the procedural leverage available to stall things out further, extract a payment as a condition for the tenant’s leaving, and so forth. NYU’s Brennan Center is pushing the scheme, which has 22 sponsors on the New York City council. (Manny Fernandez, “Free Legal Aid Sought for Elderly Tenants”, New York Times, Nov. 16). For more about “Civil Gideon” schemes, see this post (scroll) and this one (David Giacalone: “Attorney Employment Assurance Plan”).
P.S.: To clarify matters: for now, the program would apply to elderly tenants (which doesn’t mean all the occupants of the apartment will necessarily be elderly).
Tagged as:
civil gideon,
landlord tenant law,
NYC
“For the last several years, Wal-Mart Stores and other large chains have threatened legal action to intimidate Web sites that get hold of advertising circulars early and publish prices online ahead of company-set release dates.” After one such site received a nastygram from Office Depot, it began reporting forthcoming sale prices at “Office Despot”, whereupon the retailer sued, without ultimate success but presumably at a nontrivial defense cost (Randal Stross, “What to Do When Goliaths Roar?”, New York Times, Nov. 18).
Tagged as:
advertising,
nastygrams,
online speech
