Overlawyered » baseball

Jezebel, the Dodgers and eminent domain

Walter Olson — Sun, 15 May 2011 12:12:11 +0000

Gideon Kanner recalls how the forcible 1950s displacement of a modest Mexican community made way eventually (after the dropping of a public housing scheme) for the construction of L.A.’s baseball stadium. Some of the residents resisted: “Their principled fight became a footnote in the wretched history of eminent domain law which holds that once a condemnor acquires title to private property by eminent domain, it is not bound to put it to the ‘public’ uses for which it was taken.” ["The Curse of Chavez Ravine"]

In other eminent domain news, voters in the Indian state of West Bengal have ousted the long-ruling Communist party; a rival party “began to gain momentum when angry farmers erupted in protest against the Communist government in 2007 and 2008 after it seized farmland to set up an automobile factory.”

Tags: baseball, eminent domain, India, Los Angeles

Jezebel, the Dodgers and eminent domain is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Kansas City jury finds for stadium hot dog flinger

Walter Olson — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:00:51 +0000

“Jurors deliberated a little more than an hour before finding that the Royals were not liable for injuries suffered by a Kansas man when he was hit in the eye by a foil-wrapped hot dog at a game in September 2009.” [Kansas City Star via Lowering the Bar, earlier]

Tags: baseball

Kansas City jury finds for stadium hot dog flinger is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Artist Jeff Koons drops his lawsuit against maker of resin balloon dogs [Legal Blog Watch, BoingBoing, earlier]
The car pile-up happened fast, the come-ons from lawyers and chiropractors were almost as speedy [Adler/Volokh]
Andrew Thomas update: former Maricopa County Attorney intends to sue former bar president and ethics investigators [ABA Journal, Coyote]
Litigation finance: “Poker Magnate, London Firm Bankroll Chevron Plaintiffs” [Dan Fisher, Forbes] Case for champerty pleaded before ethics commission [Podgers, ABA Journal] The experience in Australia [Karlsgodt]
Judge: Kansas City stadium mascot hot dog toss suit can go to trial [OnPoint News, earlier]
How National Enquirer matched wits with John Edwards to expose scandal [David Perel, HuffPo] More: Justice Department building a case? [AW]
“The Whooping Cough’s Unnecessary Return” [Paul Howard/Jim Copland, City Journal] Theodore Dalrymple reviews new Paul Offit vaccine book [same]
Many trial lawyers yank funding from Ralph Nader operations in pique over his role in depriving Al Gore of White House victory [ten years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Arizona, art and artists, baseball, champerty, Chevron, John Edwards, litigation finance, vaccines

February 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 5 roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 19:33:05 +0000

Thomas Sowell on EPA dairy-spill regulations [NRO, earlier at Cato here and here] It’s the miracle federal agency: “What doesn’t the EPA do?” [ShopFloor]
President’s State of the Union medical malpractice gesture, cont’d [PoL, more, Ted Frank/Examiner, NJLRA, related, earlier here, here, here, here, here, here, here, etc.]
Fired minor-league Yankees mascot files wage-hour suit [ESPN]
Ohio sheriff prepares criminal complaint against reporter for asking him questions [WHIO via Balko]
It all happened so suddenly: Henry Waxman now disapproves of the use of subpoenas for fishing expeditions [Mark Tapscott, Examiner; earlier]
Should hospitals ban cameras from childbirth? [NYT "Room for Debate" with contribution from Jim Harper, Cato Institute]
Non-”flagrant” trespassing OK? Tort liability shift in Third Restatement [PoL]
Nope: “At this time, I would like to formally accuse Walter Olson of having an intern or something.” [Ron Miller]

Tags: agriculture and farming, Barack Obama, baseball, Environmental Protection Agency, Henry Waxman, hospitals, medical malpractice, Ohio, privacy, trespassers, wage and hour suits

February 5 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:17:29 +0000

Will they get group discounts on lawyers? Groupon vs. MobGob patent brawl [TechCrunch]
Why American courts should sometimes recognize Islamic law [series of Eugene Volokh posts]
No, it’s not a “public health issue”: “The Case Against Motorcycle Helmet Laws” [Steve Chapman, syndicated/RCP]
Failed system of justice on some Indian reservations [McClelland, Mother Jones]
Ten years ago: Morgan Lewis & Bockius handed mlb.com domain over to its client Major League Baseball [Ross Davies, SSRN]
City of Boston adds insult to injury after employee runs into building [TJIC, Popehat]
Citing fans’ drug use, feds seek forfeiture of farm used for Grateful Dead tribute concerts [Greenfield]
Johann Sebastian Bach, serial copyright violator [Cavanaugh, Reason]

Tags: baseball, Boston, copyright, forfeiture, Indian tribes, international law, music and musicians, patent litigation, public health

December 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Greenwich man seeking millions from town over softball injury”

Walter Olson — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:34:16 +0000

The backstop was located only 15 feet behind home plate and should have been 25 feet instead, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer suing the Connecticut town. [Greenwich Time]

Tags: baseball, Connecticut, recreation, taxpayers

“Greenwich man seeking millions from town over softball injury” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

$52,000 verdict for injury while throwing pitch

Walter Olson — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:58:29 +0000

Prince George’s County, Maryland: “The jury found that the tournament organizer, Baseball Players Association, built the pitcher’s mound too big and too deep.” [Ron Miller]

Tags: assumption of risk, baseball, Maryland

$52,000 verdict for injury while throwing pitch is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Fooling the ump

Walter Olson — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:06:00 +0000

Derek Jeter gets to first base by misleading the umpire, and debate ensues over his lack of apparent scruple. A parallel to lawyers’ ethics in adversary factfinding? [Freedman and Vischer, Legal Ethics Forum]

Tags: baseball, ethics

Fooling the ump is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 12 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:41:44 +0000

“Father demands $7.5 million because school officials read daughter’s text message” [KDAF via CALA Houston]
How many different defendants can injured spectator sue in Shea Stadium broken-bat case? [Melprophet]
Prominent trial lawyer Russell Budd of Baron & Budd hosts Obama at Texas fundraiser [PoL]
DNA be damned: when actual nonpaternity doesn’t suffice to get out from under a child support order [Alkon, more]
“Sean Coffey, a plaintiffs’ lawyer-turned-candidate for New York Attorney General, made more than $150,000 in state-level campaign contributions nationwide over 10 years.” [WSJ Law Blog] “Days before announcing a shareholder lawsuit against Bank of America, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli accepted $14,000 in campaign donations from a law firm hired to help litigate the case.” [WSJ]
Big new RAND Corp. study on asbestos bankruptcy trusts may spur reform [Lloyd Dixon, Geoffrey McGovern & Amy Coombe, PDF, via Hartley, more, Daniel Fisher/Forbes, background here and here] Update: Stier.
Public contingency suits? Of course the elected officials are in control (wink, wink) [The Recorder via Cal Civil Justice]
Copyright enforcement mill appears to have copied its competitor’s website [TechDirt via Eric Goldman]

Tags: asbestos, bankruptcy, Barack Obama, baseball, baseball bats, child support, contingent fee, copyright, Fred Baron, New York, politics, privacy, schools, shotgun defendant selection

August 12 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:14:14 +0000

“Kagan refused to identify anything the government couldn’t do under its Commerce Clause power” and “consciously left herself plenty of breathing room to cite foreign law inappropriately” [Ilya Shapiro, more]
Multiple civil/criminal hats? “The odd responses of the attorney general to the oil spill” [WaPo editorial]
Phillies Phanatic, “‘Most-Sued Mascot in the Majors’ Is Back in Court” [Lowering the Bar, which also hosts Blawg Review #271 this week]
Federalist Society has a new blog;
California will pay $20 million to woman abducted for nearly two decades [AP]
Charges dropped against teen who tried to help lost kid in shopping mall [Lenore Skenazy, earlier]
Two libertarians arrested after videotaping police in Greenfield, Mass. [Balko, earlier here and here]
“‘Ambulance Chaser’ Lawsuits Hound Apple Over iPhone 4″ [Atlantic Wire]

Tags: Apple, baseball, BP Transocean oil spill, California, cellphones, Elena Kagan, Federalist Society, police

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