Overlawyered » Chicago 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 Prosecution roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/prosecution-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/prosecution-roundup/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:08:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24896
  • Six-year-old charged with sexual assault [Channel3000.com, Wisconsin; Radley Balko]
  • “Beware: Cities Hunting You Down For Reagan-Era Parking Tickets” [David Kiley, AOL]
  • Waco, Texas: “McLennan DA fights DNA testing because exonerations override juries” [Grits for Breakfast] Robert Mosteller, “Failures of the Prosecutor’s Duty to ‘Do Justice’ in Extraordinary and Ordinary Miscarriages of Justice” [Legal Ethics Forum]
  • Controlled substances: “Could a US lawyer lawfully counsel clients about this proposed new law?” [John Steele, LEF]
  • Mens rea erosion a “deeply troublesome trend” [Kevin LaCroix on WSJ] “Trial penalty,” long sentence minimums give prosecutors muscle to extract plea deals [NYT, Sullum] “Settlements feed U.S. prosecutor overreach” [Reynolds Holding, Reuters BreakingViews] “Responsible corporate officer doctrine” worries pharma defense lawyers [WSJ Law Blog] “The continuing quest to criminalize business judgment” [Kirkendall]
  • “More than three-quarters of turn-of-the-century Chicago homicides led to no criminal punishment — not because the perpetrator could not be identified, but because no jury would convict.” [William Stuntz's posthumous book via Cowen]
  • “Scalia criticizes narcotics laws” [for over-federalization] [WSJ]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/prosecution-roundup/feed/ 2     November 4 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-4-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-4-roundup-3/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:29:23 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25349
  • “Kentucky antidiscrimination law doesn’t bar discrimination based on litigiousness” [Volokh]
  • “Lawyer sues to stop fireworks show; now wants $756K in fees from taxpayers” [CJAC, San Diego]
  • Leahy bill reauthorizing VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) includes language codifying OCR assault on campus due process [Bader, Daily Caller, Inside Higher Ed, FIRE, earlier here, here]
  • “One-Ninth the Freedom Kids Used To Have” [Free-Range Kids] “WARNING: Baby in pram! Anything could happen!” [same]
  • New Zealand considers criminalizing breaches of fiduciary duty [Prof. Bainbridge]
  • From libertarian Steve Chapman, a favorable rating for Rahm Emanuel as Chicago mayor [Chicago Tribune]
  • Did California privacy legislation just regulate bloggers? [Eric Goldman, Paul Alan Levy]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-4-roundup-3/feed/ 2     Labor and employment law roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/labor-and-employment-law-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/labor-and-employment-law-roundup-2/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:18:04 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25344
  • Ohio vote looms on Wisconsin-style public labor reform [NRO Corner, Columbus Dispatch, Atlantic Wire, Buckeye Institute "S.B. 5", Brian Bolduc/NRO]
  • Florida lawmaker proposes leave for some employees with domestically abused pets [Eric Meyer]
  • UK proposal: let employers have frank talks with underperforming workers without fear of liability [Telegraph]
  • “Wisconsin legislation could restrict punitive damages for job bias” [AP]
  • No, your mover can’t enter the building: a Chicago lawyer encounters union power [Howard Foster, Frum Forum] An insider’s game: “Two teachers union lobbyists teach for a day to qualify for hefty pensions” [Chicago Tribune]
  • Alternatively, we might just want to go back to freedom of contract: “An employer’s bill of rights” [Hyman]
  • Michael Fox on “Healthy Workplace Act” proposal creating rights to sue over on-job bullying [Jottings]
  • Feds put employer use of “independent contractors” under microscope [Omega HR] FLSA risks to employer of using unpaid interns [SmartHR]
  • A bit of health care deregulation from Obama [Tyler Cowen] Related on nurse practitioners: [Goodman]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/labor-and-employment-law-roundup-2/feed/ 0     Upcoming Midwest speeches http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/upcoming-midwest-speeches/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/upcoming-midwest-speeches/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:23:47 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25419 Tomorrow, Tuesday, I’ll be on a lunchtime panel at Capital University Law School in Columbus to discuss Gov. John Kasich’s proposals for revamping public-employee labor law in Ohio. And next Tuesday, I’ll be in Chicago speaking at an Illinois Policy Institute breakfast on my new book on legal academia, Schools for Misrule (sign up here). Afterward, I’ll talk with students at Northwestern thanks to a kind invitation from the Federalist Society.

    To book me for a speech at your group, contact Diane Morris at dmorris – at – cato – dot -org or contact me directly at editor – at – overlawyered – dot – com.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/upcoming-midwest-speeches/feed/ 0     Fall speaking (and your chance to book): Chicago, S.C., Denver… http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/fall-speaking-and-your-chance-to-book-chicago-s-c-denver/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/fall-speaking-and-your-chance-to-book-chicago-s-c-denver/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:02:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24944 I’m currently planning speaking trips that will take me to Chicago Nov. 7-8, Greenville, S.C. Dec. 7, Denver Dec. 13, and possibly Phoenix Dec. 1. If you’ve got a speaker’s series or organization that’s in one of these places or an easy travel jump away, consider saving on travel expenses by booking me for a talk around these dates. You can contact me directly at editor – [at] – overlawyered – dot – com or Diane Morris at the Cato Institute: dmorris – [at] – cato – dot – org.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/fall-speaking-and-your-chance-to-book-chicago-s-c-denver/feed/ 0     August 29 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-29-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-29-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:44:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24306
  • Even before federal raid on Gibson, Lacey Act scared owners of vintage instruments: “I don’t go out of the country with a wooden guitar.” [Eric Felten/WSJ, AW, PoL, Trevor Burrus/Cato]
  • Dear NYT contributor Bakan: getting your kids’ attention may not require overthrowing world corporate economy [Nancy French, NR "Home Front"] More: Sullum.
  • “West Memphis Three” freed [Damon Root, Greenfield]
  • Forest Labs case: after outcry, feds drop effort to force firing of drug company CEO not charged with wrongdoing [WSJ, WLF] Background: Charles Hooper & David Henderson, Hoover (”The FDA’s War on Drugs”), The Economist (”The government seeks to sack an innocent boss”, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Steve McConnell/Drug and Device Law, Josh Wright/Truth on the Market]
  • Google paid dearly in smartphone deal for our dysfunctional patent system [Gordon Crovitz] “Google Should Publicly Oppose Software Patents” [Timothy Lee, Forbes]
  • Lawyer’s suit: Kasowitz firm ignored his “superior legal mind” [Lowering the Bar, Above the Law]
  • “In Chicago, You Need a License To Help Others Get a License” [Mark Perry]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-29-roundup-2/feed/ 1     August 2 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-2-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-2-roundup-2/#comments Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:45:48 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24105
  • Yikes! “House Committee Approves Bill Mandating That Internet Companies Spy on Their Users” [EFF; Julian Sanchez, New York Post/Cato and podcast]
  • Australia courts skeptical about claim that sex injury is covered under workers’ comp [Herald Sun]
  • Well-off community doesn’t need annual HUD grant, seeks to sell it [Dan Mitchell]
  • Report: playful City Museum in St. Louis has taken down signs criticizing lawyers [Bill Childs/TortsProf, earlier]
  • Chicago neurosurgeons pay $4500 a week in med-mal premiums, blame lawless Illinois Supreme Court [Medill Reports] Supreme Court declines to review Feres doctrine, which shields military doctors (among others) from suits [Stars and Stripes] Why is the most widely cited number of medical-misadventure deaths such an outlier? [White Coat; more here, here, etc.]
  • After “Facebook broken heart” suit, will pre-nups for Mafia Wars relationships be next? [Tri-Cities Herald]
  • Another horrific report of poppy seed positive drug test followed by child-grabbing [Radley Balko]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-2-roundup-2/feed/ 3     Chicago neurosurgeons pay $4500/wk in med-mal premiums http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/chicago-neurosurgeons-pay-4500wk-in-med-mal-premiums/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/chicago-neurosurgeons-pay-4500wk-in-med-mal-premiums/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:33:44 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23788 Neurosurgeons in Cook and four other counties pay nearly $230,000 a year, obstetricians nearly $140,000, and general surgeons nearly $100,000. The legislature in Springfield had voted liability limits, but last year the Illinois Supreme Court, in a decision hailed by organized plaintiff’s lawyers but condemned as lawless by many others, struck down those limits. [Heather Perlberg, Medill]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/chicago-neurosurgeons-pay-4500wk-in-med-mal-premiums/feed/ 12     April 27 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/april-27-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/april-27-roundup-2/#comments Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:06:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22725
  • “Bioblitz”: Environmental groups file thousands of actions demanding endangered species listings [NYT; related discussion with Jonathan Adler and Steven Hayward at NYT's Room for Debate]
  • War on painkillers could turn many more Florida docs, druggists into criminals [White Coat]
  • Feds flex muscle, using debarment to oust company CEOs [Jim Doyle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
  • “Madigan’s List”: powerful Illinois pol sways selection of Cook County judges [Chicago Tribune]
  • Nick Gillespie interviews education reformer Jay Greene [Reason]
  • Social conservatives misplay recusal card against Judge Vaughn Walker in Prop 8 case [Richard Painter, LEF, more, AW, LAT] Other views: Whelan, Gillers, motion.
  • Why TV shows like “WKRP in Cincinnati” appear in compromised DVD versions [Alex Tabarrok updates a story we had in '06]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/april-27-roundup-2/feed/ 3     Reminder: Milt Rosenberg show tonight http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/reminder-milt-rosenberg-show-tonight/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/reminder-milt-rosenberg-show-tonight/#comments Thu, 24 Mar 2011 06:01:42 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22235 A reminder that I’m scheduled to be a guest on the incomparable Milt Rosenberg’s 50,000-watt radio show tonight, 10-12 p.m. Central Time. Talkers magazine has described him as the “nation’s leading author interviewer. A Chicago institution for the literate” and I’m not surprised. He had me on his show for an earlier book and I was bowled over by what a close and intelligent reading he’d given my words and what a wide-ranging yet relaxed conversation we had as a result. Definitely a don’t-miss show!

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