Overlawyered » claims fraud

April 30 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:10:12 +0000

Because Washington knows best: “U.S. ban sought on cell phone use while driving” [Reuters, earlier here, here, here, etc.] More here; and LaHood spokesman says Reuters overstated his boss’s position.
Janice Brown’s Hettinga opinion: Lithwick can’t abide “starkly ideological” judging of this sort, except of course when she favors it [Root, earlier] At Yale law conclave, legal establishment works itself into hysterical froth over individual mandate case [Michael Greve] And David Bernstein again corrects some Left commentators regarding the standing of child labor under the pre-New Deal Constitution;
Latest antiquities battle: Feds, Sotheby’s fight over 1,000-year-old Khmer statue probably removed from Cambodia circa 1960s [VOA, Kent Davis]
Sebelius surprised by firestorm over religious (non-) exemption, hadn’t sought written opinions as to whether it was constitutional [Becket, Maguire] Obamanauts misread the views of many Catholics on health care mandate [Potemra, NRO]
“20 Years for Standing Her Ground Against a Violent Husband” [Jacob Sullum] How Trayvon Martin story moved through the press [Poynter] And Reuters’ profile of George Zimmerman is full of details one wishes reporters had brought out weeks ago;
Coaching accident fraud is bad enough, making off with client funds lends that extra squalid touch [NYLJ]
Kip Viscusi, “Does Product Liability Make Us Safer?” [Cato's Regulation magazine, PDF]

Tags: antiquities, Catholic Church, cellphones, claims fraud, constitutional law, Dahlia Lithwick, Martin-Zimmerman case, product liability, self-defense

April 30 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Cruise ship impostors: “They’re called ‘jump-ons’”

Walter Olson — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:47:26 +0000

“A New York lawyer busted a trio of Hungarian scammers trying to fake the death of a 5-year-old girl and her mom aboard the Costa Concordia cruise ship. … ‘Even after they were busted, they said “we would have gotten away with it” if the neighbor [posing as a grandmother] hadn’t embellished the story and said the girl was missing too,’ [attorney Peter] Ronai said.” [NY Daily News] “‘They’re called “jump-ons.” It’s normal, this is just on a grander scale,’ Ronai said. ‘People will do horrible things for money.’” [UPI]

Tags: claims fraud, cruise ships

Cruise ship impostors: “They’re called ‘jump-ons’” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:45:14 +0000

Burning Man, risk, and self-reliance [Claire Gordon, related]
Jacob Sullum challenges Mark “tax-the-snacks” Bittman [Reason; related, Rick Esenberg] “Fat tax” would be hard to target, hard to enforce, disliked by voters [David Gratzer]
“CSX claims racketeering in Pittsburgh law firm’s legal tactics” [Post-Gazette; earlier here, here, here, etc.] A different view: Max Kennerly.
Complaints over new class-action law in Canada [Reuters]
Minnesota preacher sues Rachel Maddow [TVNewser, Mother Jones]
Does the new Texas loser-pays bill go far enough? [Kyle Baum, WLF, earlier]
Tell us about it: “Why the Right to Criticize Lawyers is Vital” [Hans Bader, CEI]

Tags: asbestos, Canada, claims fraud, class actions, libel slander and defamation, loser pays, obesity, Pittsburgh, taxes, Texas

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

But the class action fund was just sitting there!

Walter Olson — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:20:19 +0000

There was weirdly little resistance when a scamster named Kevin Waltzer and his associates posed as investors and defrauded three securities class action settlement funds of more than $40 million. How about better verification mechanisms? [Trask, Trentonian]

Tags: claims fraud, class action settlements

But the class action fund was just sitting there! is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Slipping in the grocery aisle, accidentally on purpose

Walter Olson — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:52:14 +0000

CBS News takes a look at some instances in which in-store cameras captured footage of, e.g., victims carefully positioning the spills on which they intended to slip. More: Legal Blog Watch.

Tags: claims fraud, premises liability, slip and fall

Slipping in the grocery aisle, accidentally on purpose is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:29:33 +0000

Adios to Rum and Coke? “FDA, FTC crack down on caffeinated alcoholic drinks” [WaPo]
Flap over Justice Alito’s attendance at conservative magazine’s dinner may be much ado about nothing [Steele, Legal Ethics Forum]
“Cops Threaten Mom for Letting [8 Year Old] Son Play Outside” [Free-Range Kids]
Contrary to some assertions, American courts from early on did recognize that tort liability could run into First Amendment constitutional limits [Eugene Volokh, Iowa Law Review, PDF]
Woman pleads guilty to insurance fraud after obtaining $300,000 over low-speed auto collision [Seattle P-I]
Well-known examples to the contrary, regulation doesn’t always favor big business against small [Bryan Caplan]
Should “professional plaintiffs” have standing? [Brandon Murrill, William & Mary Law Review, PDF]
Blonds not protected class under federal employment discrimination law, judge declares [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: alcohol, claims fraud, First Amendment, small business, Supreme Court

November 18 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Fortune: “Las Vegas’s medical Mafia”

Walter Olson — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:12:50 +0000

“Prosecutors say a group of top lawyers and doctors conspired to collect millions in inflated damages by pushing accident victims into dubious surgery.” Riveting, detail-filled account of the alleged involvement of numerous Nevada lawyers and as many as 20 doctors in what prosecutors say was boldly and systematically organized misconduct, with even some sectors of the judiciary in the state at best cowed by the scheme’s managers. An elegant touch: physicians who played ball are said to have been assured protection from malpractice suits from many feared attorneys, while those not in on the scheme appear in some cases to have been at extra peril. This looks to be one of the year’s most important ventures into investigative journalism on the underside of litigation — don’t even think of missing it [Katherine Eban, Fortune, Aug. 19] More: discussed by Darleen Click and commenters, Protein Wisdom.

Tags: claims fraud, judges, medical, Nevada

Fortune: “Las Vegas’s medical Mafia” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: “100-Year Sentence For Dad Who Poisoned Kids”

Walter Olson — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:24:52 +0000

William Cunningham of Stockbridge, Ga. “spiked his children’s soup with prescription drugs and lighter fluid in a plot to get money from Campbell’s Soup in 2006. They nearly died.” [WSB Atlanta; earlier here].

More: not the first time this crime has been committed.

Tags: claims fraud, food safety

Update: “100-Year Sentence For Dad Who Poisoned Kids” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Why stores have surveillance cameras

Walter Olson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:32:53 +0000

It only takes a couple of incidents like these for the system to pay for itself, and that’s aside from the anti-shoplifting benefits.

Tags: claims fraud, premises liability, slip and fall

Why stores have surveillance cameras is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: more guilty pleas in fen-phen fraud

Walter Olson — Sun, 14 Nov 2004 04:12:10 +0000

“Five of 12 Fayette residents charged in a joint FBI and IRS criminal investigation have pleaded guilty, and one more is expected to plead guilty this week, U.S. Assistant Attorney John Dowdy said. … Each resident received a $250,000 settlement from the drug maker. Court documents show some of the defendants purchased automobiles, including a new Jaguar, and one bought a mobile home.” One of the defendants — not the one who bought the Jag — is described by her lawyer as just your ordinary Sunday School teacher. (Jimmie E. Gates, “Fraud pleas may mean jail, forfeiture”, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Nov. 7). See Oct. 20 and links from there.

Tags: claims fraud, fen-phen, Mississippi

Update: more guilty pleas in fen-phen fraud is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system