Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
From the monthly archives:
In his show last night on “Crony Capitalism”, with CPSC Commissioner Anne Northup as a guest, he told how Mattel and Hasbro are fine with the law that is wiping out many of their smaller competitors. Other segments of the show can be watched here.
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The Massachusetts attorney general and Senate candidate poses as the guardian of justice and civil liberties. Dorothy Rabinowitz knows better (earlier on the Amirault case here and here; on Coakley’s prosecutorial record here).
More (via Memeorandum): Bronwyn’s Harbor, No Quarter (citing views of Jeralyn Merritt/TalkLeft and Arthur Leonard); Dan McLaughlin, RedState; Dan Riehl (Woodward, Souza cases). Yet more: on Coakley’s offer to a deal to one defendant on condition that the experienced defense counsel handling the deal agree not to represent a second defendant in future, see Scott Greenfield (characterizing the move as “a deliberate effort to undermine the constitutional right to counsel”), Kenneth Anderson/Volokh, and John Steele/Legal Ethics Forum.
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Via Scott Greenfield, from the New York firm of Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman:
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As longtime trial lawyer ally Phil Angelides gears up his banker-bashing hearings, the law firm formerly known as Lerach Coughlin (yes, that Lerach) has reason to smile [WSJ, WSJ Law Blog] Earlier at Point of Law here, here, and here.
Martha Coakley’s record as a criminal prosecutor. [Radley Balko, Politico] More: Ed Brayton. Update: Dorothy Rabinowitz has not forgotten the Amirault case, nor should we.
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Kids’ used winter coats would have come in handy right about now: as part of his “CPSIA Casualty of the Week” series, Rick Woldenberg profiles Kids’ Closet of Rochester, Illinois, whose owner describes the law’s “devastating” effects on her shop. More on CPSIA and resale here.
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Carnival Cruise Lines bans “cougar” trips [Miami Herald/Orlando Sentinel]
The parodically named line of knockoff clothing isn’t going to go quietly. [Matt Straquadine/AmLaw Daily, Alkon, earlier]
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“The Justice Department is fighting a request by former class action lawyer Bill Lerach, who is on probation after pleading guilty to hiding payments to plaintiffs, to take a 44-day vacation to 18 cities in Europe this summer accompanied by as many as 18 family members and friends.” What seems to especially gall prosecutors is the way Lerach, despite earlier promises of contrition, now goes around proclaiming his lack of regret over his past behavior. “Carl Cannon and Pat Dillon’s book on Lerach is due out in March”; it is entitled Circle of Greed. [Josh Gerstein, Politico]
“New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has rejected an appeal from the longtime CBS News anchor, who wanted the court to reinstate his $70 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against his former employer” over his 2007 firing. ["Completely Legal", Gannett Hudson Valley blog; earlier here, here, here, etc.] More: Lawrence Cunningham, ConcurOp.
Things you’re missing if you’re not reading my other site:
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In case you didn’t know that. [Zach Lowe, AmLaw Daily]
“Adorno & Yoss founding partner Henry Adorno violated professional rules by orchestrating a $7 million class action settlement that benefited only seven people rather than all Miami taxpayers, a judge ruled Friday in a disciplinary case brought by The Florida Bar.” However, a Broward County judge ruled there was not enough evidence to support a charge that Adorno misled a judge about the settlement, on an unconstitutional city fire fee. [Daily Business Review; earlier here, here, and here] Update: judge recommends reprimand.
We’ve previously encountered Arthur Firstenberg of Santa Fe, N.M., and his anti-wi-fi litigation. Now the self-reported sufferer from electromagnetic sensitivity “is suing his next-door neighbor for refusing to turn off her cell phone and other electronic devices,” saying his efforts to avoid the fields threatens to render him homeless. He also thinks neighbor Raphaela Monribot should pay him $530,000. He’s represented by lawyer Lindsay Lovejoy Jr. [Santa Fe New Mexican, The Register, DSL Reports]
More: alt-paper SFreeper (which seems to have been on the story first) reports that attorney Lovejoy “is a graduate of Harvard and Yale, as well as a former Assistant New Mexico Assistant Attorney General who has argued cases alongside now-US Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM.” (via Chris Fountain)
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I was on the popular Oregon-based broadcaster’s show yesterday to discuss various stories on the site, including New York City’s anti-salt crusade, the South Carolina school harassment story, and the roundup report on the judge whose sentences were based on how many birds could be seen out his window, the stripper who said getting drunk was part of her job, and others. He said some kind things about the site, for which many thanks.
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