Overlawyered » family law

Man says custody battle cost life savings

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:53:18 +0000

Canine custody, that is: Craig Dershowitz says he’s spent $60,000 suing his ex-girlfriend over who will get their dog. “It’s worth it,” he says. [NY Post via Elie Mystal, Above the Law]

Tags: animals, family law

Man says custody battle cost life savings is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:02:14 +0000

“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

February 6 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

International law roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:13:07 +0000

More on John Fonte’s new book Sovereignty or Submission [FrontPage interview, W. James Antle III/Washington Times, Clifford May via Israpundit, earlier here and here] U.N. Human Rights Council finds much to criticize about U.S. rights record, including inadequate attention to rights of clean water and sanitation; State Department response to “universal periodic review”;
“The President Can’t Increase Congress’s Power Simply by Signing a Treaty” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato, on Supreme Court case of U.S. v. Bond]
Another “international norms vs. American sentencing practices” showdown headed to SCOTUS? [Hans Bader]
France, Turkey restrict talk of Armenian genocide in opposite ways, and both are wrong [Walter Russell Mead]
Transnational prosecutions on an inexorable upward arc? Depends on how you count them [Jeremy Rabkin, TAI]
International law pressed into use to remake family law and gender customs [Stephen Baskerville]
“Time to Fix the European Court of Human Rights?” [Julian Ku, Opinio Juris]
“We are fighting the caste system with capitalism”: open market in India helps Dalits [NY Times]

Tags: Europe, family law, France, India, international human rights, international law, Supreme Court, Turkey

International law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Adventures in abortion regulation

Walter Olson — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:27:24 +0000

A proposed Michigan law would apply legal scrutiny to men’s motives for walking out of relationships. [Fathers and Families via Amy Alkon]

Tags: family law, Michigan

Adventures in abortion regulation is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

The gender skew of academic family law

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:59:26 +0000

“I only dabble in family law with my reproductive technology work, but my experience with the various conferences I attend has led me to believe that the number of heterosexual men who primarily write and teach in the area and have joined the academy in the last 10 years or so is extremely small, and even when I teach family law topics I can feel myself performing my sexuality to some extent as if it were a ritual to get access or credibility.” [Glenn Cohen, Prawfsblawg]

Tags: family law, law schools

The gender skew of academic family law is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:39:50 +0000

Prodded by UNICEF and the Hague Convention, countries cut back on international adoption, leaving kids to future of orphanage life [Reason.tv video, interviewing among others Harvard's Elizabeth Bartholet; more]
Critics: lawyers are main winners in NYC rent settlement [NYDN] NYC rent stabilization rules gave landlords incentive to do luxury conversions [FWIW]
Breast-aurant rivals in court: “Hooters Suing Twin Peaks, Which Previously Sued Grand Tetons” [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
Jonathan Chait: it’ll be “useful” for debate if CEOs “fear for their personal safety” [Matt Welch, related, similar (see "Patterns of Intimidation"), also related to "occupation" as tactic]
Ethics complaint charges that boilerplate affidavits led to fee approval for lawyer in Bronx Surrogate’s Court [ABA Journal]
“Widow allowed to sue tobacco companies [whose products] husband didn’t use” [Florida, DBR] Appeals court: manufacturer not under legal duty to warn of asbestos injury caused by another manufacturer’s products [Business Insurance]
Debit card fee: made in D.C. [Glenn Reynolds; related, Joe Weisenthal]

Tags: asbestos, banks, family law, NYC, product liability, tobacco

October 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Child welfare/protection roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:10:14 +0000

Oh, American Academy of Pediatrics, why are you so consistently wrong? On videogames, on food-ad bans, on guns, CPSIA…
New book by Annette Fuentes, Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse [John Harris, Guardian]
There are genuine problems with some countries’ international adoption practices, but should UNICEF really be pushing toward a “leave the kids in orphanages” alternative? [Nick Gillespie on Reason documentary to be released tomorrow]
At expense of both federalism and religious accommodation, bill entitled “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” (ECDFA) would impose anti-bias rules on state adoption and foster care programs [Washington Blade]
Cash-for-kids Pennsylvania judge: “Former Luzerne judge Conahan sentenced to 17.5 years” [Times-Tribune, our earlier coverage]
“Met a guy who works at my old summer camp. Bunks still do raids on other bunks, but their counselors have to file raid forms first. How sad.” [@adamlisberg]
Sex offender registry horror story #14,283 [Skenazy]
“Safety rules rob pupils of hands-on science, say MPs” [Independent, U.K.]
Gee, who could’ve predicted that? NJ’s aggressive “anti-bullying” law leads to new problems [NYT, Greenfield, PoL, NJLRA] Rapid growth in bullying law assisted by push from Obama administration [WSJ Law Blog, Kenneth Marcus/Federalist Society, Bader]

Tags: bullying, child protection, CPSIA, family law, guns, recreation, science and scientists, United Nations, zero tolerance

Child welfare/protection roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Canada: “Man sued by mother for parental support”

Walter Olson — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:51:23 +0000

“A B.C. man who was abandoned as a teenager is being sued by his elderly mother for parental support…. Shirley [Anderson], who has not had a relationship with Ken or his two siblings for decades, is asking for $750 per month in support from each of them.” Like some American states, British Columbia retains a law on its books requiring grown children to support their parents in case of destitution. [CBC]

Tags: Canada, family law

Canada: “Man sued by mother for parental support” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Adult children’s lawsuit charges “bad mothering”

Walter Olson — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 05:05:17 +0000

A court has dismissed the Illinois action, saying that to let such cases proceed “could potentially open the floodgates to subject family childrearing to … excessive judicial scrutiny and interference.” [Chicago Tribune/SLT; Volokh]

Tags: family law, sanctions

Adult children’s lawsuit charges “bad mothering” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:28:17 +0000

A San Francisco cosmetic surgeon sues her online critics — in Virginia? [Paul Alan Levy, CL&P]
SCOTUS ruling in “cat’s-paw” case could gut summary judgment in many bias suits [Hyman]
Cuomo spokesman’s smart retort to Litigation Lobby attack on Medicaid reform panel [LoHud.com]
“Tennessee Cops Posed as a Defense Attorney To Get Suspect To Incriminate Himself” [Reason]
“Illinois golfer not liable for head shot” [Lowering the Bar]
Trade friction mounts due to anti-India provisions in Zadroga (9/11 recovery workers) compensation bill [PoL]
Is a tax-funded federal nonprofit entity funneling money to environmental suits against the government? [Ron Arnold, Examiner]
FCRA class action deemed “lawsuit abuse problem in a nutshell” [Examiner editorial]
“Fatherhood by Conscription: Nonconsensual Insemination & the Duty of Child Support” [Michael Higdon, SSRN via Instapundit]

Tags: Andrew Cuomo, Center for Justice & Democracy, debtor-creditor law, discrimination law, environment, family law, golf, India, libel slander and defamation, police, September 11

March 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system