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Chevron

January 16 roundup

by Walter Olson on January 16, 2012

  • Per Chevron, Kerry Kennedy getting undisclosed percentage of the take, potentially in millions, to side with plaintiffs in Ecuador suit [NY Post] Long New Yorker take-out on case [Patrick Radden Keefe]
  • Freetail Brewing fields a nastygram: “How to Comply With a Cease-and-Desist Letter But Still Win” [Lowering the Bar]
  • I.e. boycotts illegal? Odd Minnesota law bans economic “reprisals” based on “political activity.” [Volokh]
  • “Chris McGrath v. Vaughan Jones: An Unpleasant Peek Into U.K. Libel Law” [Popehat; suit over science-and-theology book review] Related: “You Can’t Read This Book: why libel tourists love London” [Nick Cohen, Guardian, on his new book]
  • Business experience isn’t be-all or end-all for presidential qualifications, but might avert some policy howlers [Kling]
  • “Arbitration Is Here to Stay and One Lawyer Says That Is Good for Consumers” [Alan Kaplinsky interview, Mickey Meese/Forbes, PoL]
  • Off-topic random thought: “Iranian nuclear scientist who moonlights in Broadway Spider-Man cast” must be world’s most uninsurable job description;
  • “D.C. Lawmakers Propose Requiring Students to Apply to College” [Fox]

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January 15 roundup

by Walter Olson on January 15, 2012

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Environmental law roundup

by Walter Olson on December 16, 2011

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November 16 roundup

by Walter Olson on November 16, 2011

  • Sure, let’s subvert sound mortgage accounting in the name of energy efficiency. What could go wrong? [Mark Calabria, Kevin Funnell]
  • California: fireworks shows are “development” and coastal commission can ban ‘em [Laer Pearce, Daily Caller]
  • Trial lawyers’ lobbyist: I got Cuomo to bash Chevron in Ecuador case [John Schwartz, NYT]
  • Politics of intimidation: “jobs bill” advocates occupy office of Sen. Minority Leader McConnell (R-Ky.) [ABC News] Union protesters invade Sotheby’s during big auction [NYObserver] “Occupy Denver protesters try to storm conference of conservative bloggers” [Denver Post] “What’s the matter with Oakland?” [Megan McArdle] Post-’08 downturn, not wealth of the few, at root of economic woes [Steve Chapman] “Bohm-Bawerk forget to include [Ms. Katchpole] in his commentaries on sundry theories of interest.” [Tyler Cowen]
  • New breakthroughs in abundant energy aren’t welcome to some [NYT "Room for Debate"] Is GOP wrong to make EPA an issue? [Michael Barone]
  • After extracting $450,000 settlement, employee admits falsifying whistleblower evidence in oil filter antitrust case; class action suits continue [Bloomberg, Abby Schachter/NYPost via PoL]
  • Least surprising Washington-DC-datelined story of year: “Medical malpractice reform efforts stalled” [Politico]

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Glenn Garvin at the Miami Herald has spotted a trend on the film festival circuit. Among the questions he raises: why was the New York Times so oddly unskeptical about the Chevron-bashing opus Crude? And why was such widespread credulity accorded to the showcasing of Jamie Leigh Jones’s lawsuit in Susan Saladoff’s Hot Coffee? More: Jim Dedman, Abnormal Use.

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July 22 roundup

by Walter Olson on July 22, 2011

  • Illinois prisoner sues for land to start his own country [AP]
  • “Have you got a piece of this lawsuit?” Important Roger Parloff piece on litigation finance [Fortune, now out from paywall] “Hedge Funds Finance Medical Malpractice Claims” [Jeff Segal, Michael Sacopulos and Wayne Oliver, Forbes via White Coat]
  • Criminalizing bad parenting: more scrutiny of “Caylee’s Law” proposals [Steve Chapman, L.A. Times and Boston Globe editorials, New Scientist]
  • Deal with ADA complainant averts closure of popular Popponesset Marketplace in Mashpee, Mass. [Cape Cod News]
  • Because it’s not as if NYC needs electricity or anything: Bloomberg gives $50 million to Sierra Club campaign to stop coal burning by utilities [WaPo] “Environmental justice” arguments deployed against pipeline that would bring Alberta tar sands oil to U.S. [John Kendrick, WLF]
  • Unimpaired have permanent right to sue: Fla. high court throws out asbestos-reform law [PBP]
  • Red tape demanded by quality-of-life progressivism suffices to strangle poorer urban economies [Walter Russell Mead]

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May 4 roundup

by Walter Olson on May 4, 2011

February 15 roundup

by Walter Olson on February 15, 2011

  • 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]

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Daniel Fisher at Forbes has the latest on an unsurprising development in a story we’ve been following for a long time (e.g.). More: Roger Alford/Opinio Juris and more, Carter Wood/ShopFloor, Ashby Jones/WSJ Law Blog (with breakdown of verdict), more from Fisher. And: Carter Wood begins a 3-part series in the Examiner. And who’s more incurious about all the indicia of plaintiff misconduct in the case, BoingBoing or their average commenter?

February 7 roundup

by Walter Olson on February 7, 2011

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December 20 roundup

by Walter Olson on December 20, 2010

  • Texas Gov. Rick Perry may urge the state to take a step toward loser-pays [NJLRA]
  • “FCC push to regulate news draws fire” [The Hill]
  • Could litigation on behalf of Madoff victims get more than all their money back? [Salmon, more, NYT, Above the Law]
  • “Chevron Says Documents Show Ecuador Plaintiffs Worked With Government” [Dan Fisher/Forbes, more]
  • Organized trial lawyers expect to fare less well in next Congress, but prospects for actual liability reform remain slender [Joseph Weber/Wash. Times, Matthew Boyle/Daily Caller]
  • Mount Laurel rulings in New Jersey (towns given quotas to build low-income housing) described as “libertarian”, I express doubts [Hills, Prawfsblawg]
  • Criminal law’s revolving door: “prosecutors turn up the fire and then sell extinguishers” [Ribstein, TotM]
  • The wages of unconstitutionality: a Utah attorney’s curious fee niche [five years ago on Overlawyered]

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November 8 roundup

by Walter Olson on November 8, 2010

  • “Dad Settles Suit Against Crocs Over Daughter’s Escalator Injury” [ABA Journal, Knoxville News]
  • Almost unheard-of: “California state bar to investigate 130 prosecutors” [LEF]
  • Judge flays U.S.-based lawyer in Chevron-Ecuador suit [Law.com, more, Dan Fisher/Forbes]
  • “Federal Government Acknowledges Constitutional Limits on Housing Discrimination Law” [Eugene Volokh on HUD dismissal of "Christian-roommate" complaint, earlier]
  • “Brave and brilliant decision” from Judge Posner points way to provide relief from class action plaintiffs who won’t accept defeat [McConnell and Beck, Trask]
  • “Referring to Former Boss as Slimebag Does Not Constitute Disparagement, At Least in Ohio” [Robert Fitzpatrick]
  • “Couldn’t get elected dogcatcher” — actually, dogcatching’s harder than being a Senator [Christopher Beam, Slate]
  • Midterm election wipeout — for Republicans, that is [four years ago on Overlawyered]

November 2 roundup

by Walter Olson on November 2, 2010

Headline stories of the week:

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As evidence mounts of attorney misconduct in a high-profile environmental case, a judge grants the oil company an extraordinary request to put plaintiff’s counsel Steven Donziger under oath. [Roger Alford, Opinio Juris; earlier]

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Roger Parloff of Fortune has this excellent summary of where the controversy stands. Before the new revelations, it had been taken for granted in many quarters that the large oil company was guilty as charged in the environmental suit — not least because a widely hailed independent documentary film advanced that position, as did “a sympathetic 12,600-word article for Vanity Fair in 2007.” But here’s what a U.S. Magistrate Judge said in a ruling last week: “While this court is unfamiliar with the practices of the Ecuadorian judicial system, the court must believe that the concept of fraud is universal, and that what has blatantly occurred in this matter would in fact be considered fraud by any court. If such conduct does not amount to fraud in a particular country, then that country has larger problems than an oil spill.” It’s sad to think we might have to start reading those 12,600-word Vanity Fair articles with a more skeptical eye.

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September 1 roundup

by Walter Olson on September 1, 2010

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August 10 roundup

by Walter Olson on August 10, 2010

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I’ve got a link roundup on the new charges at Point of Law. Earlier here.