Overlawyered » fraud 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 Legal trap doors for New Jersey builders http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/legal-trap-doors-for-new-jersey-builders/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/legal-trap-doors-for-new-jersey-builders/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:12:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25007 According to attorney Jeffrey Newman in the Times of Trenton, New Jersey law allows class actions and consumer fraud suits to be based on paperwork infractions with no showing of actual harm, creating openings for opportunistic litigation:

As an attorney, I have defended numerous business owners against frivolous claims in which the plaintiff could prove absolutely no injury and he or she had received whatever service or product that was promised. Yet there was language in the purchase agreement that was found to be considered “non-compliant” with the Contractors Registration Act and the Consumer Fraud Act’s Home Improvement Contract regulations.

…Contractors who choose to use boilerplate contracts often sold in office supply stores are playing with fire, as such agreements would never withstand the scrutiny of the state’s consumer protection laws. When contractors use these forms and are sued, the courts can rule that they have to hand back to the consumer every penny — even the money they laid out for materials to do the job. … In another case, we represented a contractor whose advertisements were not in compliance. Even though the plaintiff never bought anything, our client was still sued!

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/legal-trap-doors-for-new-jersey-builders/feed/ 0 “Cromwell & Goodwin” http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/cromwell-goodwin/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/cromwell-goodwin/#comments Sat, 18 Jun 2011 14:03:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23446 Scam investigators are starting to assess the harm done by a pretend “law firm,” including $6,775 in losses to a victimized British man. Fortunate that it was just fake; imagine how much more damage the law firm might have done had it been real! [AmLaw Daily]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/cromwell-goodwin/feed/ 2 Trolley-jumping in Memphis http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/trolley-jumping-in-memphis/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/trolley-jumping-in-memphis/#comments Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:21:38 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23258 Last week two trolley cars collided in downtown Memphis, and according to Allison Burton, a spokeswoman for the transit authority, some bystanders attempted to board the cars and fake injuries. Burton “said witnesses saw at least eight people run at the trolleys following the wreck” and at least two appear to have gotten in. [Commercial Appeal] Earlier bus-jumping here, etc.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/trolley-jumping-in-memphis/feed/ 7 Why alimony cheats shouldn’t blog 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]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/why-alimony-cheats-shouldnt-blog/feed/ 1 Cracking the California tow-suit scam http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/cracking-the-california-tow-suit-scam/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/cracking-the-california-tow-suit-scam/#comments Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:37:22 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21575
A local NBC affiliate covers the extraordinary lawsuit-abuse ring run by a tow-operator-gone-wrong in San Benito, Santa Clara and Monterey counties. Attorney Greg Adler deserves credit for cracking the scheme (via Legal Ethics Forum; earlier here and here).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/cracking-the-california-tow-suit-scam/feed/ 0 Update: California tow-and-sue scam http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/update-california-tow-and-sue-scam/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/update-california-tow-and-sue-scam/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:23:28 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20894 In an elaborate scheme discussed in this space in May, a northern California towing operator towed cars without authority, then proceeded to sue the owners — and even some non-owners — for exaggerated storage and handling fees. The enterprise was eventually exposed by Greg Adler, a young lawyer who estimates that he spent 1,200 hours documenting the misdeeds. Two of the scammers are now headed to prison, with one receiving a 14-year sentence. [San Jose Mercury News via Legal Ethics Forum]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/update-california-tow-and-sue-scam/feed/ 1 June 25 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-25-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-25-roundup-2/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:00:23 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17955
  • Supreme Court limits scope of “honest services fraud” law [Mauro/NLJ, Ilya Shapiro and Tim Lynch, Cato, Bainbridge and more]
  • No, defensive medicine isn’t a myth, ask your emergency room doc [AP/Columbus Dispatch] Eagerness to share horror stories [Sharon Begley, Newsweek] “Unusual for a Democrat, Obama readily acknowledges that defensive medicine is a problem.” [AP/WaPo] “VBAC rates are low, but are obstetricians to blame?” [Lin and Tuteur at KevinMD, Replogle/Fair Warning]
  • Social life of a blawger, cont’d: I sat at David Lat’s table at CEI’s evening with Judge Kozinski [Above the Law] Judge Learned Hand, writing in an antitrust case, “was very knowledgeable about everything except how the world works.” [among the many funny things Judge K. said]
  • For those keeping count, at least seven Roman Catholic dioceses in this country have filed for bankruptcy in abuse scandal [Hartley]
  • Business Roundtable enumerates rapidly expanding roster of federal regulatory burdens [Ted at PoL, Amend the CPSIA, Tad DeHaven and Daniel Mitchell, Cato]
  • Colleges fiddle numbers to comply with Title IX, but don’t you dare call it a quota law [LegalBlogWatch, Greenfield] New report on law’s ill effects on soccer [College Sports Council, Charlotte Allen/MtC] More: Allison Kasic, IWF. And back when, I wrote on Princeton wrestling and Title IX; CSC tells how that turned out.
  • Former student of Prof. Robin West defends homeschooling [Sub Specie]
  • Not too long ago: “My environmental advocacy organization would only fill the company cars at BP” [Stoll]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-25-roundup-2/feed/ 3     California: “Elaborate, decade-long towing scam” http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/california-elaborate-decade-long-towing-scam/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/california-elaborate-decade-long-towing-scam/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 05:11:07 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17540 According to prosecutors in Santa Clara County, a “lawsuit mill” formed part of an extensive “tow-and-sue” criminal scheme in which a towing operator sold towed cars without notifying the owners and then added insult to injury by going after the owners for storage and handling fees. Paul Stephen Greer, also known as Vincent Cardinalli Jr., pleaded no contest to fifty-nine felonies. Prosecutors say Greer, who operated tow trucks in Clovis, Gilroy and Hollister, sued parties that did not own the vehicles, arranged for falsified proof of service so as to obtain quick default judgments against defendants never apprised of his suits, and engaged in perjury. [San Jose Mercury-News, press release]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/california-elaborate-decade-long-towing-scam/feed/ 2     “Yet Another Lawsuit About the Lack of Fruit in ‘Froot Loops’” http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/yet-another-lawsuit-about-the-lack-of-fruit-in-froot-loops/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/yet-another-lawsuit-about-the-lack-of-fruit-in-froot-loops/#comments Sat, 01 May 2010 14:36:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17182 Lowering the Bar has details on the latest California case alleging fraud. Food Liability Law Blog wonders whether it and the related Crunchberry suit will make for an “endless loop” of courtroom activity. Earlier here, etc.

    P.S. Don’t miss our funny reader comments on this one.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/yet-another-lawsuit-about-the-lack-of-fruit-in-froot-loops/feed/ 36     Tim Sandefur on “honest services fraud” http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/tim-sandefur-on-honest-services-fraud/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/tim-sandefur-on-honest-services-fraud/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:20:31 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17083 The law is dangerous because it’s vague (via Damon Root/Reason “Hit and Run”).

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