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 http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-6-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-6-roundup-3/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:02:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27368

“A 4-Page Playdate Waiver? Is This the New Normal?” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids; our 2000 post on "Rise of the High-School Sleepover Disclaimer"]

Spirit Airlines sets what it calls DOTUC fee, for “Dept. of Transportation Unintended Consequences” [Stoll]

How fairly are fathers treated in family court? [Nina Shapiro, Seattle Weekly via Alkon]

“‘Insider’ Trading by the Representative Plaintiff in Shareholder Litigation” [Bainbridge]

“Donation controversy focuses attention on Madison County asbestos litigation” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chamber-backed LNL]

Update: Appeals court reinstates Duluth doc’s defamation claims [DNT, earlier here, here, here; "bedside manner" criticism]

U.K.: “‘Psychic’ Sally Morgan Sues Critics for £150,000 After Refusing $1 Million to Prove Her Powers” [D.J. Grothe, HuffPo] “She’ll be calling witnesses such as ‘an uncle, or father, or a man… with a b in his first name’.” [@thegagthief]

Tags: airlines, asbestos, divorce, family law, libel slander and defamation, Madison County, recreation, Seattle, securities litigation, United Kingdom

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/february-6-roundup-3/feed/ 1 http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/annals-of-expensive-divorce/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/annals-of-expensive-divorce/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:34:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25233 “After racking up more than $20 million in legal bills, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers has reportedly reached a $130 million settlement in his divorce case.” [Martha Neil, ABA Journal]

Tags: divorce

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/annals-of-expensive-divorce/feed/ 1 http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/divorce-detectives-dui-entrapment/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/divorce-detectives-dui-entrapment/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:23:36 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25188 “A whistle-blower tells how a private detective arranged for men to be arrested for drunk driving at the behest of their ex-wives and their lawyers — and that entrapment using decoys was only one of many alleged misdeeds.” [L.A. Times; Contra Costa County (Bay Area), Calif.]

Tags: alcohol, Bay Area, divorce

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/divorce-detectives-dui-entrapment/feed/ 0 http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-28-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-28-roundup-3/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:57:58 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24757

3M sues prominent Washington lawyer/lobbyist Lanny Davis, says threat of bad publicity improperly used as lawsuit leverage [Above the Law, more, Legal Ethics Forum]

House Oversight Committee report on expanding regulatory state;

Does lefty talking-points dispensary ThinkProgress approve of silencing affirmative action critic Roger Clegg? Decide for yourself;

Robin Fretwell Wilson and Jana Singer debate on scope of religious exemptions in law’s recognition of same-sex marriage [FedSoc Engage] New Heritage backgrounder on same topic cites my writing (in the course of disagreeing). Michael Barone on the politics of the issue, and why he supports the evolution of the law [Examiner]

California: chefs to defy foie gras ban? [LA Weekly via Alkon, earlier on Chicago]

“Massachusetts curbs lifetime alimony payments” [NY Times; Jennifer Braceras, Boston Herald] Many state child support formulas overstate cost of child raising [Bader]

In the mail: new John Fonte book on transnational legal structures, “Sovereignty or Submission” [Encounter Books]

Tags: child support, divorce, foie gras, Massachusetts, regulation and its reform, same-sex marriage

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-28-roundup-3/feed/ 4 http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/why-alimony-cheats-shouldnt-blog/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/why-alimony-cheats-shouldnt-blog/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 05:01:38 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22569 “Despite claims that she couldn’t work, rarely left home and rarely socialized because of injuries from a 1996 car accident, Dorothy McGurk, 43, was belly-dancing at home and in Manhattan for hours a day — and then spending several more hours a day blogging about [it].” Asked by a Facebook acquaintance why she wasn’t posting pictures of her dance adventures, McGurk said her ex, from whom she was demanding lifetime maintenance, “would love to fry me with that.” Her words sufficed, and Justice Catherine DiDomenico denied most of her maintenance claim as well as awarding the husband “60 percent from the sale of their house and thousands in legal fees for her ‘dilatory tactics.’” [Dareh Gregorian, New York Post]

Tags: divorce, fraud

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/why-alimony-cheats-shouldnt-blog/feed/ 1 http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/since-parties-are-immune-to-reason-i-have-tried-ridicule-as-a-last-resort/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/since-parties-are-immune-to-reason-i-have-tried-ridicule-as-a-last-resort/#comments Sat, 08 Jan 2011 13:06:19 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20876 A Canadian judge loses his patience in a divorce case. [Lowering the Bar]

Tags: Canada, divorce

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/since-parties-are-immune-to-reason-i-have-tried-ridicule-as-a-last-resort/feed/ 2 http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/january-5-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/january-5-roundup-2/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:04:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20823

Notables including Alan Morrison, Richard Epstein, Kathleen Sullivan sign amicus brief urging court review of multistate tobacco settlement [Daniel Fisher/Forbes, Christine Hall/CEI, Todd Zywicki]

“Congress rediscovers the Constitution” [Roger Pilon, WSJ]

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. profiled [Roger Parloff, Fortune]

When outside investors stake divorce litigants: yes, there are legal ethics angles [Christine Hurt]

Mexico, long noted for strict gun control laws, has only one legal gun store [WaPo]

Judge throws out “parasitic” lawsuit piggybacking on Wisconsin drug-pricing settlement [Madison.com]

Erin Brockovich sequel: Talking back to the Environmental Working Group on dangers of chromium-6 in drinking water [Oliver, Logomasini/CEI]

“Little white lies” to protect the bar’s image [five years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: constitutional law, divorce, Erin Brockovich, guns, John Roberts, litigation finance, Mexico, pharmaceuticals, tobacco settlement

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/january-5-roundup-2/feed/ 0 http://overlawyered.com/2010/12/lets-you-and-him-fight/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/12/lets-you-and-him-fight/#comments Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:04:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20518 Hedge-fund-backed lenders bankroll divorcing spouses. [New York Times, Marginal Revolution]

Tags: champerty, divorce, litigation finance

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/12/lets-you-and-him-fight/feed/ 0 http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/u-k-lawyers-to-be-kept-out-of-divorce-battles/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/u-k-lawyers-to-be-kept-out-of-divorce-battles/#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:01:43 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19796 “It is hoped that the new mediation stage will reduce legal aid costs by up to £100 million, while fewer expert witnesses would be required to testify before the courts. … Judges would also be able to advise parents early into legal proceedings what the likely outcome would be, in an effort to force through an agreement and avoid long and expensive cases. ” [Telegraph]

Tags: ADR, divorce, United Kingdom

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/u-k-lawyers-to-be-kept-out-of-divorce-battles/feed/ 1 http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/high-priced-lawyer-sues-former-client-then-agrees-to-pay-him-102000/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/high-priced-lawyer-sues-former-client-then-agrees-to-pay-him-102000/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:42:49 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19624 Glenn C. Lewis, a divorce lawyer who “boasts that he is the most expensive lawyer in the [Washington, D.C.] region,” sued a former client “for an additional $500,000 in fees and interest, although he’d already been paid $378,000.” Lewis says the case was a demanding one and that he earned the money fair and square, but things did not go particularly well for his cause before judges in suburban Fairfax County. [Washington Post via Above the Law]

Tags: attorneys' fees, divorce, Virginia, Washington D.C.

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