Overlawyered

N.Y.: “P.I. Lawyers Are Suspended for Encouraging Client to Lie”

Walter Olson — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:57:42 +0000

“Two Fordham University law school classmates who set up a law practice together a few years after graduating are now both facing nine-month suspensions for pursuing a fraudulent personal injury case.” Daniel Levy and Shane Rios represented a woman who claimed to have slipped in front of a Yonkers church; when they investigated the sidewalks, they found no problem with the church’s, but did find a trip hazard in front of a house across the street. They advised her that she would have a winning case only against the homeowner, not the church, and she changed her story accordingly. They proceeded to conceal the original stance of the case both from the court and from a third lawyer they brought in to help. To the New York courts, this misconduct merited a suspension only of nine months. [ABA Journal, New York Law Journal]

Tags: claims fraud, discipline, NYC

N.Y.: “P.I. Lawyers Are Suspended for Encouraging Client to Lie” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Canada: man who killed cellmate sues jail staff

Walter Olson — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:19:46 +0000

Justin Caldwell Somers, in jail for not paying a jaywalking fine, brutally murdered his sleeping cellmate by stomping him to death on the cement floor, but was found not criminally responsible because he had been acting under the influence of delusions and hallucinations. Now he is suing various personnel of the remand center for not preventing the incident, in part by not heeding the recommendation of a nurse and psychiatrist that he be housed alone: since the murder Somers “has experienced severe mental anguish and mental distress as a result of his role in causing the death of Mr. Stewart, as well as a result of the conditions of his incarceration.” [Edmonton Journal]

Tags: Canada, criminals who sue, prisoners, psychiatry

Canada: man who killed cellmate sues jail staff is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Free speech roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:05:07 +0000

Alarm over administration seizure of personal emails of Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen, described as “co-conspirator” for reporting classified material [WaPo, Yahoo, ABC News, Josh Gerstein/Politico, Julian Sanchez, Glenn Greenwald]
“VP Joe Biden Believes There’s ‘No Legal Reason’ The Government Can’t Slap A Sin Tax On ‘Violent Media’” [Tim Cushing, TechDirt]
“Vagueness in a defamation threat is the hallmark of meritless thuggery” [Popehat] India-based science publisher threatens Scholarly Open Access blogger that criticized its practices with $1 billion suit, three years in jail [Chronicle of Higher Education] Mockery is not libel: court tosses inmate’s suit against Tennessee governor [Volokh]
Background of famous First Amendment case New York Times v. Sullivan: officials in South had exploited plaintiff-friendly jurisdictional rules [Wasserman]
“6 Years + 300 Lashes in Saudi Arabia for Helping Woman Convert to Christianity” [Eugene Volokh]
“A blueprint for speech codes?” [Alison Somin on feds' Montana letter, Fed Soc EBR; Christian Science Monitor; earlier here, here, etc.]
Rethinking SLAPP laws? [Recorder, Alex Kozinski opinion; ABA Journal]
Tennessee governor vetoes “ag-gag” law on farm photography as First Amendment infringement [Linnekin]

Tags: agriculture and farming, First Amendment, libel slander and defamation, New York Times

Free speech roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

33 boxes of cigars on board, cont’d

Walter Olson — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:39:06 +0000

We reported last month on the federal seizure of the 46-foot sailboat Janice Ann. Now an update: in a letter to petitioner Jeffrey Southworth, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection division of the Department of Homeland Security has offered to return the boat in exchange for a hold-harmless agreement sparing Customs from any demand for attorneys’ fees, damages or other relief. If the deal is not accepted within 30 days, “administrative forfeiture proceedings will be initiated by publishing a notice of seizure and intent to forfeit for 30 consecutive days at www.forfeiture.gov. After that time, the government acquires full title to the seized property.”

The CBP letter is here.

Tags: forfeiture

33 boxes of cigars on board, cont’d is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

EEOC: no post-offer inquiries about family medical history

Walter Olson — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:11:44 +0000

Asking existing employees about their family medical history might offer safety benefits in the workplace, both by indicating vulnerabilities that might be countered by protective measures, and by helping to distinguish ailments with a strong congenital influence from those that might signal occupational disease. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that such questioning is “genetic discrimination” and unlawful under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which became law in 2009. Fabricut, a decorative fabrics firm, will pay $50,000 to settle charges that it improperly asked about family medical history and also that it improperly engaged in disability discrimination by refusing to employ as a clerk a woman it regarded as having carpal tunnel syndrome. [EEOC press release]

Tags: disabled rights, medical, workplace

EEOC: no post-offer inquiries about family medical history is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

3-D printing: the legal dimension

Walter Olson — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:19:17 +0000

The remarkable recent advances in make-it-yourself technology are opening up all sorts of new possibilities for users, but also have the potential to freak out the CPSC, FDA, trade agencies and intellectual property lawyers, as well as gun-control advocates. When products extruded from local printers are inevitably involved in injuries, which distant parties can be sued? [Bloomberg]

Tags: CPSC, FDA, technology

3-D printing: the legal dimension is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Dead robber’s widow sues shop clerk”

Walter Olson — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:15:39 +0000

Albuquerque: “The wife of an armed robbery suspect shot dead by a shop clerk said the clerk was wrong, and now she has filed a civil lawsuit claiming wrongful death….’He [deceased robber Ramon Sedillo] does bear some fault, but it’s like a pie. You divide out the fault accordingly, and [store clerk Matthew] Beasley could have done something different,’ [Sedillo family lawyer Amavalise] Jaramillo said.” [KRQE]

Tags: New Mexico, personal responsibility, self-defense

“Dead robber’s widow sues shop clerk” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:05:50 +0000

“The IRS Abuse Scandal Keeps Growing” [M.D. Kittle, Reason] Where were the lawyers? [John Steele/Legal Ethics Forum, more, yet more] “IRS Abuses Past and Present” [Chris Edwards, Cato] Allegation: IRS questions to Hawaii Tea Party suggest coordination among probes of conservative nonprofits [Patrick Howley, Daily Caller] Who does more to “delegitimize government”: libertarian critics, or government itself? [Ben Boychuk, Sacramento Bee]
If you’re looking to gain quick approval of your IRS application, try these #safec4names from Twitter: Club For Civility and Bringing Criticism of Our President Under Reasonable Control [@david_m_wagner], Reject Those Voices [Michael Cannon], Not the Tea Party You Are Looking For [@FricosisGuy], Hollywood Helps! [Dale King]. My own contributions: Grateful Taxpayers for Public Investment and Working Americans Against Wingnut Scandal-Mongering.
“Expert” Reports in George Zimmerman Case Disclosed [Jeralyn Merritt, TalkLeft; Radley Balko]
Texas judge: kick partner out of your home or lose your kids [Dallas Voice]
Socialist Venezuela government blames “excessive demand,” not price controls, for toilet paper shortage [Guardian]
Even MADD, NHTSA haven’t backed NTSB’s idea of dropping BAC limit to .05 [Bloomberg via @radleybalko]
“The dumb war on political intelligence” [Jack Shafer]

Tags: alcohol, child custody, Martin-Zimmerman case, taxes

May 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“EU to ban olive oil jugs from restaurants”

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:46:25 +0000

Traditional refillable open-spouted vessels and dipping bowls will need to give way to “pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labeling in line with EU industrial standards.” [Bruno Waterfield, Daily Telegraph] In perhaps not unrelated news, a new poll finds Euroskepticism strong in the U.K. [Telegraph]:

When voters are asked the exact question Conservatives want to put to the public in the 2017 referendum, “Do you think that the UK should remain a member of the EU?”, 46 per cent opt to come out, a higher figure than in other recent polls, while just 30 per cent want to stay in.

Tags: Europe, food safety, restaurants, small business, United Kingdom

“EU to ban olive oil jugs from restaurants” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Maryland roundup

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:05:42 +0000

After Gov. Martin O’Malley signs one of nation’s most restrictive gun laws, Beretta says it intends to move out of state [Guns.com]
Unfortunately, high cigarette taxes promote this sort of thing: “Ocean City cigarette smuggling ring had ties to terror groups, police say” [Baltimore Sun, Tax Foundation]
Responding to critics (such as), legislature caps the vessel excise tax in hopes of reviving ailing boating industry [Annapolis Gazette]
New law backed by O’Malley will require educators to pay dues to teachers’ union whether members or not [Trey Kovacs, Open Market and Workplace Choice; Harford County Dagger]
State has among nation’s highest per capita medical malpractice outlays, behind only five Northeastern states (NY, PA, NJ, MA, CT) and D.C. [Diederich analysis of annual payouts via TortsProf]
Chronicle of Rogues: Maryland gets a D minus, ranking a dismal 40th among the 50 states, on corruption-rating State Integrity Report Card [Center for Public Integrity via Tom Coale]
It’ll be held in D.C. this year rather than Annapolis, but that’s no reason you shouldn’t join us for the acclaimed Cato University [Jul. 28-Aug. 2]
Politicos scramble to defend “correctional officers’ bill of rights” after FBI affidavit blasts measure for helping entrench corruption at Baltimore jail [AP, earlier]

Tags: guns, Maryland, taxes, tobacco

Maryland roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system