- In time for Easter: egg prices soar in Europe under new hen-caging rules [AP]
- For third time, the Environmental Protection Agency backtracks on claims of harm from gas “fracking” [Adler; U. Texas study on drinking water safety, CBS Dallas] Yes, there’s a plaintiff’s lawyer angle [David Oliver] Don Elliott, former EPA general counsel, on why his old agency needs cutting [Atlantic] Blow out your candles, coal industry, and so good-bye [Pat Michaels/Cato, Shikha Dalmia]
- Following the mad logic wherever it leads: “State Legislators Propose Mandatory Drug Testing of Judges and Other State Officials” [ABA Journal]
- Proposal: henceforth no law may run to greater length than Rep. Conyers’s copy of Playboy [Mark Steyn]
- Creative American lawyers: “Carnival cruise ship briefly seized in Texas” [AP]
- “Overlawyered” is the title of a new commentary in The New Yorker, not related to a certain website [Kelefa Sanneh]
- Repressive Connecticut “cyber-harassment” bill [Volokh, Greenfield, Popehat] And now, not to be outdone, Arizona… [Volokh]
Tagged as:
agriculture and farming,
animal rights,
Arizona,
bullying,
Connecticut,
cruise ships,
Environmental Protection Agency,
harassment law,
illegal drugs,
oil industry
“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]
Tagged as:
claims fraud,
cruise ships
- Ninth Circuit: Holland America cruise line not responsible for customer’s swimming mishap at Mexican beach [Metropolitan News-Enterprise]
- “President Perry would mean high noon for trial lawyers” [Kurt Schlichter, Washington Examiner; Politico; Prof. Bainbridge ("If the trial lawyers hate Rick Perry, maybe I should reconsider him")] Christie praises Perry’s “laudable” record on liability reform [PolitickerNJ] “Perry’s ‘loser pays’ is an economic winner” [Patrick Gleason and Jason Russell, Washington Times; Mass Tort Prof; background] Missing the point on the Texas med-mal experience [Coyote, earlier here, here, etc.] A bad sign: Gov. Perry reaches out to Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio [NRO, background] Another: courting social conservative vote, he pledges interference in state marriage law Houston Chronicle.
- Alan Lange and Tom Dawson discuss their Dickie Scruggs book [Above the Law, background]
- Hospital pays $25M to settle lawsuit charging lack of Katrina preparedness [White Coat]
- Democratic majority on CPSC plans to ram through burdensome CPSIA testing and certification rule next month [Commissioner Nancy Nord, more]
- For matching willing buyers with sellers through Canadian pharmacy ads, Google agrees to pay fine of $500 million, a forfeiture geared to the revenue the pharmacies (not it) took in from the ads [Atlantic Wire, Chris Fountain]
- “Woman Won’t Have to Pay for Her Own Cavity Search” [Lowering the Bar]
Tagged as:
advertising,
CPSC,
CPSIA,
cruise ships,
Dickie Scruggs,
forfeiture,
Google,
hospitals,
Katrina,
Rick Perry,
same-sex marriage,
Texas
- “Woman suing Carnival: Ship sailed too fast, made me sick” [Gene Sloan, USA Today "Cruise Log"]
- U.S. Department of Justice sues Illinois school district for denying Muslim teacher’s request for three-week Mecca-trip leave [WaPo]
- “California Assembly Says Complying with Government Standards Not Enough to Avoid Punitive Damages” [Cal Civil Justice]
- “Four Loko Suit Is an Example of Bogus Economic Loss Classes” [Russell Jackson]
- New Benjamin Barton book on lawyer-judge bias reviewed by Larry Ribstein [TotM, earlier]
- “Prolific Colorado Consumer Attorney Filed 2/3rds of State’s FDCPA Cases Since 2007″ [ABA Journal]
- Different kind of false marking case? Judge says company knowingly claimed inapplicable patent [WSJ Law Blog]
- “Extra-special education at public expense” [five years ago on Overlawyered]
Tagged as:
California,
class actions,
Colorado,
cruise ships,
debtor-creditor law,
patent marking,
punitive damages,
religious discrimination
A Southfield, Mich. company named Park West has made a big business of conducting art auctions on cruise ships offshore, while leaving more than a few dissatisfied customers in its wake. Fine Art Registry, a subscriber website founded by Theresa Franks, has published some of those customer complaints as well as original articles warning of Park West’s practices. “In April the company sued Ms. Franks; Fine Art Registry’s lead writer, David Phillips; and a Dalí specialist that the site quoted, Bruce Hochman, for defamation.” And as so often proves to be the case when a business reacts to criticism by suing its critics, the suit has if anything stimulated further press curiosity about the business’s practices. (Jori Finkel, “Art Auctions on Cruise Ships Lead to Anger, Accusations and Lawsuits”, New York Times, Jul. 16). More: Donn Zaretsky, Art Law Blog.
Tagged as:
art and artists,
cruise ships,
libel slander and defamation,
Streisand effect
That’s attorney Gloria Allred’s complaint on behalf of the survivors of Ashley Barnett, who appears to have ingested Vicodin, methadone or some combination of the two while onboard the ship. Carnival says the late Ms. Barnett “was deceased well before medical assistance was summoned”. (Lisa Richardson, “Death on Ship Prompts Lawsuit”, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13). Commenters at KevinMD do not appear impressed with the suit (Oct. 13).
Tagged as:
cruise ships,
Gloria Allred,
medical
