The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. and the Heartland Institute in Chicago have posted videos of my talk on Schools for Misrule. (Although I adapt the talk to fit audiences and time constraints, if you’ve seen one version, much will be familiar about the others.) The Heritage talk is the same one that C-SPAN2’s “Book TV” broadcast over the weekend; it can be watched at Heritage here.
The Heartland version is broken into two parts on YouTube (parts one, two). Here is part one:
Volokh Conspiracy blogger David Bernstein, who teaches law at George Mason, generously recommended the book the other day. And liability reformer Bob Dorigo Jones (”Let’s Be Fair”) devoted his radio commentary to it.
Reform efforts are finally afoot in the House of Representatives, at least two years after they should have started, but a three-member majority of the CPSC (two Obama appointees and a holdover) is defending the law on many though not all of its worst points. [Bloomberg, HuffPo] “This is by far the best bill we’ve seen to date,” declares the Handmade Toy Alliance. Tireless CPSIA critic Rick Woldenberg testified with other witnesses at a House Commerce hearing and contributes an op-ed to The Hill about the law’s irrationality. More coverage: Carter Wood/ShopFloor, Sean Wajert. And a memo by committee staff discussing some of the key issues is here (PDF).
Great moments in criminal defense, as revealed at a murder trial in Washington, D.C. [WaPo] Eric Turkewitz has many more links on the story, and also is put in mind of a lawyer advertising angle.
Civil libertarian Wendy Kaminer on feminism and the Yale speech complaint [Atlantic, earlier]
Baylen Linnekin’s Keep Food Legal organization is having a membership drive;
Bounty-hunting West Coast lawyers can now sue employers for large sums over temperature and worker-seating violations of the California Labor Code [Cal Labor Law]
Current set of urban, suburban parking policies amount to “another great planning disaster.” [Donald Shoup, Cato Unbound]
$7500? Tennessee lawyer charged with rape of client released on $7500 bond [WMC via White Coat]
A moratorium on new liquor licenses in Washington, D.C.’s popular Adams-Morgan neighborhood might account for why an existing license appears curiously valuable. [Matthew Yglesias]
St. Luke’s Hospital in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley is suing a lawyer and law firm “for proceeding with cases that the attorneys [allegedly] knew were ‘baseless and lacking in evidence,’” and is also suing an expert for allegedly filing a “boilerplate” certificate of merit. The cases in question are among many filed claiming that patients were killed by notorious “Angel of Death” nurse Charles Cullen; hospitals say that while some of the suits were filed on behalf of actual Cullen victims, others piled on seeking compensation for bad outcomes that had nothing to do with the murderer. Damages for wrongful litigation are notoriously hard to win in American courts. [White Coat]
Ontario’s Law Society has rejected a would-be lawyer despite strong academic credentials because of concerns about his character, specifically episodes in which he harassed fellow apartment owners during a condo leadership fight and forged a letter supposedly from an owner. “Character” screening was once a common prerequisite for admission to the American bar, but fell largely into disuse following complaints that it could be subjective and applied unevenly. [Toronto Star]
After questions are raised about the timing of her claimed visits, a serial ADA plaintiff — represented by a law firm we’ve had occasion to mention before, Schwartz Zweben & Associates — drops complaints against several restaurants and other small businesses in Pennsylvania [Sunbury Item]
England has been experimenting in recent years with versions of contingent and conditional fees previously barred by ethical rules; following widespread discontent about the results, including high insurance rates, the Cameron government plans a new wave of tinkering. [BBC]
Following my swing last week through Colorado, Wyoming and McGeorge (Sacramento), I’m speaking at lunchtime today at American University-Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. And — this one a new last-minute booking — on Monday I’m scheduled to speak at Dickinson/Penn State in Carlisle, Pa. (simulcast at the State College campus). Events are sponsored by the Federalist Society and I’ll be discussing Schools for Misrule, my new book on law school progressivism.
The Indiana senator intends to go after a government program long notorious for its costs to consumers and food processors alike. [Tad DeHaven, Cato at Liberty]
You can watch me give a talk on Schools for Misrule this Sat. April 9 at 4 p.m. Eastern, or very late Sunday night/Monday morning at 2 a.m. Eastern, according to the channel’s latest schedule. And remember that you can buy the book here — with one-day delivery, even, or instantly on your electronic reading device.
Get your copy today!My new book tackles the question of why so many bad ideas come from the law schools. "Cutting-edge commentary, hard-hitting, witty, astute." -- Publisher's Weekly. "Excellent... A fine dissection of these strangely powerful institutions" -- Wall Street Journal.
