Did we imagine that it was not going to occur to anyone to have the government start using its big new stakes in banks and other commanding heights of the economy to, as it were, command? (David Frum, Oct. 30).
In banks; Crisis of 2008
Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
Overlawyered
October 31st, 2008 at 12:05 pm
“Extraordinary leverage over the national economy”
In banks; Crisis of 2008
October 20th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Microblog 2008-10-20
- Parents press states for autism insurance laws [AP] #
- Steve Chapman on right and wrong ways to legalize gay marriage [Reason] #
- Unsolicited “StoneZone” mailings say they’re from veteran GOP operative Roger Stone — and when you try to unsubscribe? [Greenfield] #
- “Lawyer Called ‘Poster Boy for Capital Litigation Abuse’ Appointed to New Case” [ABA Journal] #
- Before fingering credit default swaps (CDSs) as culprit in the crisis, better read this [Salmon; more, John Carney] #
- Twitter cookbook all recipes 140 chars. or less h/t VBalasubramani #
- Reminder: you can follow Twitter feeds of both Overlawyered and Point of Law #
In autism; banks; feeds; insurance; same-sex marriage; Twitter
October 17th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Microblog 2008-10-17
- Hey, James Surowiecki has started blogging [New Yorker] #
- Why Canada’s bank and mortgage system isn’t broken [John Carney] #
- “Went to my ATM and it asked to borrow a twenty till the weekend”: jokes from the credit crisis [MargRev] #
In banks; mortgages; Twitter
October 16th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Microblog 2008-10-16
- Anonymous but mostly plausible Q & A of what went wrong on Wall Street [Rowley/Yahoo Finance] #
- Most PR people still approach bloggers in clueless way [Kevin O'Keefe; more background, PoL; also see Greenfield] #
- Glitnir and Kaupthing sound like Wagnerian trolls, but went on a scarier rampage as Icelandic banks [UK Independent] #
- Not a misprint & no zeros missing: median price of house or condo sold last month in Detroit was $9,250 [Detroit Free Press] #
In banks; Twitter
October 15th, 2008 at 10:44 am
“Lawyers Hope Bailout Bill ‘a Full Employment Act’ for Law Firms”
October 14th, 2008 at 12:09 am
October 14 roundup
- Don’t miss Roger Parloff’s tour de force coverage in Fortune blowing whistle on that dodgy suit in Moscow against Bank of New York Mellon, adorned by participation of lawprofs Dershowitz and Blakey [PoL overview, main article]
- Digital remixes and copyright law [Lessig, WSJ]
- Surgeon at Connecticut’s Greenwich Hospital revealed as drug abuser, Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder now pressing suit on behalf of general class of patients, which sounds like it means “whether harmed or not” [Greenwich Time, Newsday via TortsProf weekly roundup]
- Chicago sheriff halting foreclosures, or maybe not, reportage is confused [Reuters, big discussion at Steve Chapman blog] And is Obama taking the idea national with bid for 90-day moratorium on foreclosures? [AP]
- Foie gras-style financial gavage? “None of banks getting government money was given a choice about it, said one of the people familiar with the plans.” [Bloomberg, Bernstein @ Volokh] More: Ann Althouse, Kuznicki/Cato at Liberty.
- Trey Allen law firm in Dallas agrees to pay $840,000 restitution after profiting from staged car crash scheme, but Allen’s lawyer says client wasn’t aware of any fraud [ABA Journal]
- Smoking bans, alcohol taxes contributing to steep decline of English village pubs [Newsweek]
- Bias-law panel rules Wal-Mart within its rights not to hire a female applicant for Santa Claus position [eight years ago on Overlawyered]
In alcohol; banks; Barack Obama; Chicago; Connecticut; copyright; crash faking; Dallas; harmless lawsuits; hospitals; smoking bans; Texas; United Kingdom
Point of Law- Reminder: Loser-pays panel in NYC tomorrowReminder: Ill be on a morning panel discussion tomorrow sponsored by the Manhattan Institute to discuss Marie Gryphons new paper on loser-pays reform. Details here....Walter Olson
- Update: Florida son of Engle trials delayedAmLaw Daily has some further updates on the high-stakes tobacco proceedings previewed by Prof. Krauss in this space last week. Further background here....Walter Olson
- Supposed ultraconservatism of Roberts CourtJonathan Adler is still patiently at it, trying to calm the hysteria....Walter Olson
- U.K.: Probe ordered into litigation costsBritain has been extensively Americanizing its litigation system for two decades, introducing conditional fees and other spurs to entrepreneurial lawyering, mass litigation formats, higher damage payouts, wider use of discovery, and so forth. And now: A senior judge has been...Walter Olson
- Around the web, December 1Feds indict six on charges of scheme to siphon $40 million from Cendant, Bank of America and NASDAQ class action settlements through filing of false claims [Alibaba, Karlsgodt] Sovereign immunity? Never heard of it: Sixth Circuit rules Vatican can...Walter Olson
- Reminder: Loser-pays panel in NYC tomorrow
- Volokh
- Welcoming Prof. David Hyman:I'm delighted to report that Prof. David Hyman of the University of Illinois law school will be joining us as a co-blogger. David directs the Epstein Program in Health Law and...Eugene Volokh
- How Private Property Rights Saved the Pilgrims from Starvation - An Underappreciated Thanksgiving Lesson:Thanksgiving may be over. But it's not too late to learn one of the less-appreciated lessons of the First Thanksgiving back in 1621. As economist Benjamin Powell explains, the Pilgrims...Ilya Somin
- NBER Announces that Jan. 2008 was the First Declining Month in the Recession.The NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) has declared an official recession that started with January 2008's decline....Jim Lindgren
- Does the "Example Effect" of Gay Marriages Made Possible by Pro-Gay Marriage Court Decisions Increase Support for Gay Marriage?Gay rights advocates often claim that pro-gay marriage court decisions increase public support for gay marriage through the "example effect" of giving heterosexuals an opportunity to observe happily married gay couples....Ilya Somin
- Lauren Slater's Essay [on a Loss of Sexual Interest].Via Althouse and Reynolds, comes an odd N.Y. Times essay by Lauren Slater. What I found slightly disturbing was not the overall argument about her [lack of interest]...Jim Lindgren
- Welcoming Prof. David Hyman: