Overlawyered » Baltimore

Labor and employment roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:06:24 +0000

Failure to accommodate employee’s religious belief forbidding hair-cutting results in $27K payout by Taco Bell operator [EEOC, North Carolina]
There’s a reason they call it Government Motors: nonunion GM assembly workers get shaft [Fountain]
Mayor Bloomberg refreshingly sane on “living wage,” though not alas rent control [Heather Mac Donald, Secular Right]
“The cost of labor isn’t the main problem, it’s the rigidities,” says French CEO [Bloomberg]
Maryland governor signs bill softening “workplace fraud” law that bedevils firms that use independent contractors [H.B. 1364, earlier]
Watch out for ghastly, mislabeled “Paycheck Fairness Act,” they’re trying to bring it back [Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Examiner, earlier]
“The most infuriating part of this is that it takes five years of litigation to fire a badly behaved police officer” [Josh Barro, Masnick/TechDirt, on cop's harassment of skateboarder; Baltimore Sun (police union calls officer's firing "outrageous.")]

Tags: Baltimore, France, General Motors, labor unions, Maryland, Michael Bloomberg, police, religious discrimination

Labor and employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 8 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:15:22 +0000

Popular proposal to curb Congressional insider trading (“STOCK Act”) could have disturbing unintended consequences [John Berlau, CEI "Open Market"] A contrary view: Bainbridge.
Here’s Joe’s number, he’ll do a good job of suing us: “Some Maryland hospitals recommend lawyers to patients” [Baltimore Sun, Ron Miller]
Bribing the states to spend: follies of our fiscal federalism, and other themes from Michael Greve’s new book The Upside-Down Constitution [LLL, more, yet more] “Atlas Croaks, Supreme Court Shrugs” [Greve, Charleston Law Review; related, Ted Frank]
“… Daubert Relevancy is the Sentry That Guards Against the Tyranny of Experts” [David Oliver on new First Circuit opinion or scroll to Jan. 23]
Goodbye old political tweets, Eric Turkewitz is off to trial;
State laws squelch election speech, and political class shrugs (or secretly smiles) [George Will]
Too bad Carlyle Group got scared off promising experiment to revamp corporate governance to curb role of litigation [Ted Frank, Gordon Smith] AAJ should try harder to use people’s quotes in context [Bainbridge]

Tags: arbitration, Baltimore, campaign regulation, Daubert, expert witnesses, federalism, hospitals, securities litigation, Twitter

February 8 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 31 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:06:21 +0000

Latest of periodic Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin/Tillinghast) surveys: tort costs fell in 2010 excluding oil spill liability [Towers Watson]
“Will Newt Neuter the Courts?” [James Huffman, Defining Ideas] Obama’s high court appointees are fortunately friendlier toward civil liberties than he is [Steve Chapman]
Unanimous Cal Supremes: companies not legally responsible for other companies’ asbestos products used as replacement for theirs [Cal Biz Lit, Jackson, Beck, Mass Tort Prof]
Claim: jurors considered policy implications of verdict and you can’t have that [On Point; defense verdict in Baltimore, Maryland school-bullying case]
Airfare display mandate: “‘Protecting’ Consumers from the Truth About the Cost of Government” [Thom Lambert, TotM]
Critical assessment of AP-backed new copyright aggregator “NewsRight” [Mike Masnick] Promises not to be “Righthaven 2.0″ [Cit Media Law]
Restatement (Third) of Torts drafters vs. Enlightenment scientific views of causation [David Oliver in June]

Tags: airlines, asbestos, Baltimore, Barack Obama, bullying, California, deep pocket, juries, Newt Gingrich, RightHaven, taxes, Tillinghast, toxic torts

January 31 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

A roadblock to e-readers in schools?

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:02:22 +0000

Assisted by a foundation, Baltimore has proposed putting Nook e-reader devices in some school libraries, but a complaint from the National Federation of the Blind says that would violate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). [Business Wire]

Tags: Baltimore, disability & schools, web accessibility

A roadblock to e-readers in schools? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Law schools roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:05:46 +0000

Law profs (some of them, anyway) bristle at “impractical scholarship” critique from Chief Justice Roberts [Ifill, ConcurOp; Adler; Chiang, Prawfs; Markel]
Noisy exit by University of Baltimore law dean calls attention to law schools’ role as cash cows for universities [Caron]
There’ll always be a legal academia: redefining banks as public nuisances [Lind via CL&P] “Disability as a Social Construct” [Areheart, Yale Law and Policy Review] North Dakota’s fiscal health? Nothing to do with shale boom or budget prudence, it’s that they’ve got a state-owned bank [Pasquale/Canova]
“Why Does Pedigree Drive Law Faculty Hiring?” [Paul Caron] Using the accreditation process to mandate more tenure for lawprofs? [same] “ABA to Continue as Law School Accrediter, Despite Noncompliance With 17 Regs” [same]
“Have Law Schools Violated Consumer Protection Laws?” [Jeff Sovern, CL&P] Villanova keeps mum after embarrassing revelations [Inquirer]

Tags: Baltimore, banks, colleges and universities, John Roberts, law schools

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

Great moments in lawyer advertising

Walter Olson — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:13:46 +0000

Because joining your head to Abraham Lincoln’s body is such a great way to keep everything in perspective [Lowering the Bar]

P.S. Runner up? Baltimore’s Barry Glazer [Above the Law]

Tags: Baltimore, chasing clients

Great moments in lawyer advertising is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:08:23 +0000

“Battle of the tort reform flicks”: trial-bar-backed “Hot Coffee” documentary said to be more entertaining than U.S. Chamber-backed “InJustice” [TortsProf, Abnormal Use, Daily Caller, Frank/PoL, Above the Law, Fisher, LNL] Memo to liberal studio heads: c’mon, now’s the time to greenlight more business-bashing flicks [Alyssa Rosenberg, TP]
Interlock makers join forces with MADD to lobby for new federal DUI mandates [Luke Rosiak, Wash Times] More: Greenfield.
Consumer found liable after posting gripes about driveway contractor on Craigslist [Minneapolis Star-Tribune] P.S.: Default judgment, not merits [h/t ABA Journal]
Angelos law firm obtains $1 billion+ punitive award in Exxon Baltimore gasoline leak case, bringing total to $1.5 billion+ [AP, earlier]
Taiwan: “Jail Time (And $7000 Fine) for Saying a Restaurant’s Dishes Were ‘Too Salty’” [Volokh]
Headed for SCOTUS? Sixth Circuit panel strikes down Michigan law banning discrimination in higher ed admissions and other state activities [Gail Heriot, Daily Caller; Hans Bader, CEI]
Court in British Columbia includes C$30,000 in damage award for injury plaintiff’s purchase of medical marijuana for pain management [Erik Magraken]

Tags: Baltimore, Canada, Craigslist, illegal drugs, jackpot justice, MADD, oil industry, restaurant critics, Sixth Circuit

July 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 05:11:20 +0000

Mayor La Guardia on overlawyering [Lawrence Cunningham, Concur Op]
Update: “Forever 21 Backs Off On Blogger Lawsuit” [Jezebel via @LawandLit, earlier]
Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett signs joint and several liability reform [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
Legislation introduced in Trenton to overturn New Jersey Supreme Court decision OKing suits by drunk drivers against bars that served them [NJLRA, earlier]
Angelos firm scores $495 million award against Exxon in Baltimore gas leak [Sun]
How plea bargaining warps justice [Tim Lynch, Reason]
California considers following New York’s lead in regulating employment of domestic workers [Workplace Prof]

Tags: Baltimore, California, joint and several liability, New Jersey, NYC, oil industry, Pennsylvania

July 6 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Baltimore’s “Injury LawMobile”

Walter Olson — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:24:08 +0000

The Maryland Daily Record (sub) has a Google-accessible pic of this lawyerly venture into street advertising (via Miller). Compare this 2004 NYC story, where the van actually contained a mobile law office, and its followup.

Tags: Baltimore, chasing clients

Baltimore’s “Injury LawMobile” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 10 roundup

Walter Olson — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:17:06 +0000

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]
Stella Liebeck hot coffee case: Abnormal Use suspects that Cracked never read its FAQ on the subject (or for that matter many of our own postings);
Baltimore public housing refuses to pay lead poisoning awards; “too strapped” [Baltimore Sun]
“Mr. Potato Head” contest cited in discrimination lawsuit charging anti-Irish bias [Lowering the Bar]

Tags: Baltimore, California, colleges and universities, eat drink and be merry, lead paint, Tennessee

April 10 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system