http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:28:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-14-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-14-roundup-2/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:08:05 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27567

“Brazil Sues Twitter in Bid to Ban Speed Trap and Roadblock Warnings” [ABA Journal]

Obama nominates Michigan trial lawyer Marietta Robinson to vacancy on Consumer Product Safety Commission, ensuring aggressively pro-regulatory majority [Bluey, Heritage]

“AMA reports show high cost of malpractice suits” [HCFN] “Average expense to defend against a medical liability claim in 2010 was $47,158″ [American Medical News, more] Survey of 1,200 orthopedic surgeons finds defensive medicine rife, at cost of billions, accounting for 7 percent of all hospital admissions [MedPageToday]

“Sue us only in Delaware” bylaws would kill off forum-shopping and what fun is that? [Bainbridge]

Trial by media: Lefty “SourceWatch” posts, then deletes, docs from Madison County pesticide suit [Madison County Record]

Think you’ve beaten FCPA rap? Meet the obscure “Travel Act” [Mike Emmick, Reuters] Federal court expands “honest services fraud” in lobbying case [Paul Enzinna, Point of Law]

“On the horrors of getting approval for an ice-cream parlour in San Francisco” [NYT via Doctorow/BoingBoing]

Tags: Brazil, CPSC, defensive medicine, Delaware, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, forum shopping, Madison County, medical malpractice, San Francisco, small business, traffic laws, Twitter

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-14-roundup-2/feed/ 1 http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/sex-accommodation-tale-from-brazil/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/sex-accommodation-tale-from-brazil/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:35:33 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23312 It’s a much-circulated story. But is it true?

Tags: Brazil, humor, workplace

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/sex-accommodation-tale-from-brazil/feed/ 3 http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/mcdonalds-must-pay-brazilian-manager-17-5k-for-weight-gain/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/mcdonalds-must-pay-brazilian-manager-17-5k-for-weight-gain/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:07:53 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19908 An “Only in America” story? Not this time: “A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald’s must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds while working there for a dozen years.” [AP/USA Today] More: Lowering the Bar.

Tags: Brazil, McDonald's, obesity, personal responsibility

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/mcdonalds-must-pay-brazilian-manager-17-5k-for-weight-gain/feed/ 4 http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/travel-writers-legal-nightmare-continues/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/travel-writers-legal-nightmare-continues/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:16:19 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18790 Joe Sharkey is said to have written with disrespect toward the sovereign state of Brazil and some of its institutions, and how much he’ll wind up paying as a consequence of that remains unknown [Blake Fleetwood, HuffPo, earlier]

Tags: Brazil, libel slander and defamation

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/travel-writers-legal-nightmare-continues/feed/ 5 http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/october-2-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/10/october-2-roundup-2/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:52:30 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=13981

Update: “Cash4Gold Drops Consumerist From Lawsuit” [its report; earlier] Unrelatedly, the same Consumers Union publication was taken in by a fake memo in which Australian McDonald’s supposedly plotted to defraud its customers [its revised post]

“You just killed the homeowner. The bad guy is in there.” [Courthouse News and Scott Greenfield, Phoenix]

“Reporter Who Survived Midair Crash Now on Risky ‘Libel Tourism’ Journey” [ABA Journal, Krauss/Point of Law, earlier; Joe Sharkey, Brazil]

Permanent disbarment sought for “too drunk to join fen-phen conspiracy” Kentucky lawyer Mills [Courier-Journal]

“Woman Blames Study Abroad Program for Rape in Mali” [OnPoint News]

Ninth Circuit reinstates prosecution of Nevada lawyer, surgeon and consultant in injury-case furor spotlighted by Fortune mag [Legally Unbound, which by coincidence has just hosted Blawg Review #231; Las Vegas Review Journal; earlier]

Punch line ad lib.: “Former terrorist wants to be lawyer” [Toronto Star] More: Lowering the Bar.

“Is It So Crazy For A Patent Attorney To Think Patents Harm Innovation?” [Michael Masnick, Techdirt, Against Monopoly (Stephen Kinsella)]

Tags: Australia, Brazil, fraud, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, libel slander and defamation, McDonald's, Nevada, Ninth Circuit, patent law, Phoenix, police, third party liability for crime

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Tiananmen Square events echo today in acrimonious defamation suit against filmmakers [Boston Globe]

Andrew Ferguson disrespectful toward David Kessler’s nanniferous book on obesity policy [Weekly Standard]

“Yes, People Dislike The RIAA Because Of Its Actions” [TechDirt]

The big difference race makes in medical school admissions [Discriminations, Mark Perry/Carpe Diem]

Texting, workplace flirtation and sexual harassment law [Forbes/MSNBC]

After real estate firm grabs and uses online pic, photographer finds satisfaction through small claims court [West Seattle Blog h/t @VBalasubramani]

Virginia: latest case seeking to open emotional-distress damages for death of pets gets help from former White House counsel Lanny Davis [WaPo, earlier]

Brazil police allege that host of true-crime TV series ordered killings to ensure good footage for the show [AP]

Tags: Boston, Brazil, damages for animal companionship, harassment law, libel slander and defamation, movies film and videos, obesity, RIAA and file sharing, Virginia

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/august-18-roundup/feed/ 4 http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/nyt-travel-columnist-comments-on-air-crash-gets-sued-in-brazil/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/nyt-travel-columnist-comments-on-air-crash-gets-sued-in-brazil/#comments Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:57:00 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=7961 Joe Sharkey, a well-known travel columnist for the New York Times, was aboard an Embraer business jet in Brazil that collided with another plane but managed to land safely although all 157 aboard the other plane died. Sharkey later discussed the episode on one of his blogs, and was quite critical of Brazilian air traffic control and some others involved in the affair. Now, according to an Oct. 16 press release, the widow of one of those who died on the other plane is suing Sharkey for having “launched personal attacks against Brazil’s President, air traffic controllers and other notorious individuals and, repeatedly and piercingly, started offending Brazilians indiscriminately”. “Only amends will restore the widow’s dignity,” states Rosane Gutjhar’s lawyer, Oscar Fleischfresser, who may have one of the best lawyer surnames ever (Fleischfresser = carnivore)(Aero-News.net, Oct. 21; JREF Forum; O Estado de Sao Paolo/ATC Brasil). In a presumably unrelated sidelight, a federal court this summer turned down an attempt by Brazilian survivors to file injury claims for the crash in the U.S., ruling that they should instead be heard in Brazil, where the awards are likely to be much lower.

Tags: airlines, bloggers and the law, Brazil, forum shopping

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