Overlawyered » compulsive gambling

Canadian gambler: you let me lose C$330,000

Walter Olson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:51:43 +0000

“An admitted gambling addict claims the British Columbia Lottery and two casino companies let her gamble away hundreds of thousands of dollars after she signed a voluntary self-exclusion program for problem gamblers.” [Courthouse News via Legal Blog Watch; similar] Meanwhile, another man is claiming the government-owned lottery did finally enforce its exclusion order — and, per its rules, refused to pay him — when he won a $42,000 jackpot. [Globe and Mail]

Tags: Canada, compulsive gambling

Canadian gambler: you let me lose C$330,000 is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 13 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:18:35 +0000

Wal-Mart spending millions to fight $7,000 OSHA fine? Not so paradoxical when you think about it [Coyote]
Proliferation of product recalls, as with warnings, can result in consumer fatigue and inattention [WaPo via PoL]
Settlement said to be near between casino and gambler who lost $127 million [WSJ, UPI, earlier]
“Think Globally, Sue Locally: Out-of-Court Tactics Employed by Plaintiffs, Their Lawyers, and Their Advocates in Transnational Tort Cases” [study, PDF and press release; Jonathan Drimmer for US Chamber, related WSJ]
“End of an Era? Another Crunch Berries Case Dismissed” [Lowering the Bar, California Civil Justice, earlier on "froot" cases here, here, etc.]
New Jersey: “School legal costs are a killer” [Rayner, Daily Record]
ABA Journal profiles Ted Frank;
We’re the ones who write the laws around here, not you legislators: Washington Supreme Court strikes down med-mal notice law [SeattlePI.com]

Tags: advertising, Alien Tort Claims Act, class actions, compulsive gambling, CPSC, forum shopping, medical malpractice, New Jersey, OSHA, schools, Ted Frank, Wal-Mart, Washington state

July 13 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Proposed Changes to Psychiatric Manual Stir Lawsuit Fears”

Walter Olson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:04:27 +0000

“The American Psychiatric Association wants binge eating and excess gambling to be considered psychiatric disorders. … Lawyers have plenty to say about the proposed disorders, which, some argue, could open up the door for yet more disability suits in the workplace.” [Tresa Baldas, NLJ]

Tags: compulsive gambling, disabled rights, obesity, workplace

“Proposed Changes to Psychiatric Manual Stir Lawsuit Fears” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Loto-Quebec reaches out-of-court settlement with thousands of addicted gamblers”

Walter Olson — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:03:26 +0000

A boost from Canada for compulsive-gambling litigation: “Quebec’s lottery commission confirmed Thursday that it has reached a tentative multimillion-dollar agreement to compensate thousands of addicted gamblers, in a case with national implications. … Similar lawsuits are underway in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland-Labrador.” [Canadian Press, CBC, CTV, earlier here and here]

Tags: Canada, compulsive gambling

“Loto-Quebec reaches out-of-court settlement with thousands of addicted gamblers” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Casino allowed him to gamble away $127 million

Walter Olson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:07:29 +0000

And now the heir to a Nebraska party-favor fortune has a lawyer. [WSJ] More: Above the Law.

Tags: compulsive gambling

Casino allowed him to gamble away $127 million is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: “Gambler’s $20M lawsuit against casinos tossed”

Walter Olson — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:57:32 +0000

Arelia Margarita Taveras, a lawyer who gambled away client funds at New Jersey tables and then proceeded to sue the casinos, was thrown out of court by a federal judge. We covered the case Mar. 9. (AP/PhillyBurbs, Sept. 22).

Tags: compulsive gambling, New Jersey

Update: “Gambler’s $20M lawsuit against casinos tossed” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:32:48 +0000

Lawyers’ contingency fee is temptation to ethical corner-cutting in consumer debt collection, too [Miami Daily Business Review, Popehat; Orlando's Palmer Reifler & Associates, mass mailing of demand letters to accused shoplifters]
Discussion continues on loser-pays with me and many others at NewTalk, and note comment from Ontario lawyer [through today]
Age bias suit by Hollywood writers gains traction. Next, actors? [Ink Slingers via Class Action Blawg weekly review]
Class action against Quebec lottery on behalf of problem gamblers finally set for trial [CP/Yahoo, Lee Distad via Class Action Blawg, earlier]
Should we and other commentators avoid mentioning litigants’ real names so as not to intrude on their Google legacy? [comments at Ron Miller/Md. Injury]
California lawmakers OK feel-good “Donda West Law” but it won’t do much to keep impulsive clients from rushing into plastic surgery [GruntDoc, Cameron Turner/EURWeb, Truth in Cosmetic Surgery Blog]
Probably not a swift career move for lawyer to tell bar disciplinary panel “Go to hell.” [ABA Journal]
Class action forces HUD to allocate more to some Indian recipients, so it cuts other programs, bad news for North Carolina’s Lumbee tribe [Fayetteville, N.C. Observer courtesy US Chamber]
Environmental authorities won’t press charges against man who shot protected rattlesnake that had just attacked and bitten him [eight years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: age discrimination, California, Canada, compulsive gambling, contingent fee, debtor-creditor law, endangered species, Indian tribes, legal discipline, medical, movies film and videos, North Carolina

August 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Mirapex jackpot justice – literally

Ted Frank — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:41:35 +0000

Gary Charbonneau had a gambling history, including substantial wins, which devolved into compulsive gambling in 2002. He blames this on his Parkinson’s disease medication, Mirapex, which he started taking in 1997. Mirapex changed its warning label to include reports of a correlation while Charbonneau was taking the drug; Charbonneau’s doctor kept prescribing the drug. Nevertheless, Charbonneau was able to persuade a jury that the failure to warn was what was responsible for his $200,000 gambling losses (much of which came from gambling illegally) and resulting marital troubles. The jury verdict even awarded $8 million in punitive damages, giving a whole new meaning to jackpot justice (though one would expect the trial court to reduce this substantially). The only press coverage of this lawsuit, aside from a handful of blogs (Pharmalot; TortsProf; InjuryBoard), is in an op-ed I wrote for today’s Examiner about the case and about how a Supreme Court case and Congressional legislation could affect it. (Theodore H. Frank, “Jackpot justice gets new meaning,” DC Examiner, Aug. 19).

Tags: compulsive gambling, failure to warn, jackpot justice, Mirapex, overwarning, pharmaceuticals, preemption, product liability, punitive damages, Supreme Court, Ted Frank

Mirapex jackpot justice – literally is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:54:07 +0000

Another compilation of the hundred best law blogs, with a familiar name among the nine “general” picks, so thanks for that ["Criminal Justice Degrees Guide" via ABA Journal]

Europe has a transnational association of personal injury lawyers, funded by the EU, but with no wheeler-dealer, masters-of-the-universe vibe in evidence [PoL]

Delta wasn’t liable in Kentucky Comair crash, but some plaintiffs sued it anyway in what their lawyer describes as an “abundance of caution” — that’s a diplomatic way to put it [Aero-News Net; link fixed now]

U.K.: Mom told she’d need to pass criminal record check before being allowed to take her own son to school [Telegraph]

Regular coverage of the litigious exploits of delusional inmate Jonathan Lee Riches, if you’ve got the stomach for them [Dreadnaught blog]

Federal Circuit reverses $85 million infringement verdict won by Raymond Niro, blasted by critics as original “patent troll” [AmLaw Daily]

“Determined to defeat lawsuits over addiction, the casino industry is funding research at a Harvard-affiliated lab.” [Salon]

Hired through nepotism by in-laws, then fired after divorce, sues on grounds of “marital status discrimination” [eight years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: accolades, airlines, child protection, compulsive gambling, Europe, Jonathan Lee Riches, patent trolls, Raymond Niro, shotgun defendant selection, United Kingdom

July 16 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Canada: “Problem gamblers sue casinos for $3.5 bln”

Walter Olson — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:31:44 +0000

“The provincial agency that regulates casinos in Ontario, Canada, is being sued by registered problem gamblers who claim they aren’t being refused entry. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said the $3.5 billion suit was filed Tuesday in Toronto against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., on behalf of ‘thousands of addicted gamblers.’” Canadian litigation rules were historically highly restrictive of class actions, but have been liberalized lately. (UPI; Reuters; OGPaper). Similarly earlier here, here, here, etc.

Tags: Canada, class actions, compulsive gambling

Canada: “Problem gamblers sue casinos for $3.5 bln” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system