Overlawyered » insurance http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Medical roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/medical-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/medical-roundup/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:57:05 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25038
  • View from Massachusetts General Hospital: drug shortages getting “dire” [WBUR, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
  • Medical liability roundup: Sheriff arrives at Ohio doctor’s home to enforce $9.7 million award blaming lack of Caesarean section for cerebral palsy [TribToday] North Carolina legislature overrides Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto of liability limits [News & Observer via White Coat] Trial-lawyer-friendly Florida Supreme Court could strike down malpractice award limits in pending case [Orlando Business Journal]
  • “Antitrust rules handcuff physician-led delivery models” [American Medical News]
  • Relatedly, who was it who imagined anonymous denunciation of doctors was going to be a good idea? [Jay Hopkinson via Larry Ribstein]
  • New Medicare paperwork threat to clinical trials? [Beck]
  • Study: Elected coroners less likely to label deaths as suicide than appointed counterparts, family’s access to insurance benefits may be factor [Kevin B. O'Reilly, American Medical News]
  • “Gee, why wouldn’t Obama administration want judges and “public interest” lawyers running its new health care law?” [Mickey Kaus on New Republic report]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/medical-roundup/feed/ 1     U.K. auto insurance rates soar http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/u-k-auto-insurance-rates-soar/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/u-k-auto-insurance-rates-soar/#comments Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:42:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22519 A House of Commons select committee “identified the principal cause as ‘a rapid growth in the number of personal injury claims management firms, which are using direct cold-call marketing techniques to encourage people to make claims who otherwise would not have done so’”. [Philip Johnston, Telegraph]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/u-k-auto-insurance-rates-soar/feed/ 0     Swiss sledders, skiers seldom sue http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/swiss-sledders-skiers-seldom-sue/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/swiss-sledders-skiers-seldom-sue/#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:33:51 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21860 “The tree trunks, exposed banks and other hazards whizzing past represent a cornucopia of potential tort suits under U.S. law, yet somehow the Swiss manage to operate these runs without being sued into oblivion.” Dan Fisher at Forbes has a go at explaining why. More: Bill Childs, TortsProf (many U.S. states relatively protective of winter sports providers).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/swiss-sledders-skiers-seldom-sue/feed/ 5     March 3 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/march-3-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/march-3-roundup-2/#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:08:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21796
  • EU imposes unisex insurance rates [BBC, Wright]
  • Law blog on the offense? TechnoLawyer asserts trademark claim against Lawyerist over “Small Law” [Lawyerist]
  • “Pro-business Supreme Court” meme strikes out yet again as SCOTUS backs “cat’s-paw” bias suit theory by 8-0-2 margin [Josh Blackman, Schwartz, Fox; Lithwick locus classicus]
  • Subprime CDO manager sues financial writer Michael Lewis over statements in his book The Big Short [AW, Salmon, Kennerly]
  • Police in Surrey, England, deny advising garden shed owners not to use wire mesh against burglars [Volokh, earlier]
  • Patterns of intimidation: protesters swarm Speaker Boehner’s private residence [Hollingsworth, Examiner] Unions fighting Wal-Mart in NYC plan actions at board members’ homes [Stoll] Report: GOP lawmakers in Wisconsin fear for personal safety [Nordlinger, NRO] White House pushing street protests [Welch, Nordlinger] Age of Civility short lived [Badger Blogger, Althouse, Sullivan]
  • In clash with trial lawyers, Cuomo proposes pain and suffering limits in med-mal suits [NYDN, more: NYT] “Bloomberg looks to Texas for ideas on changing medical malpractice laws” [City Hall News]
  • Hey, should we seize his drum set? Infuriating video on cop raids and forfeiture laws [Institute for Justice, Michigan]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/march-3-roundup-2/feed/ 1     Great moments in insurance law http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/great-moments-in-insurance-law/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/great-moments-in-insurance-law/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:22:55 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21519 “Connecticut’s second-highest court ruled Monday that a man facing charges of arson of his East Lyme beach house can sue the home’s insurer for emotional distress because of the way the insurer investigated the fire.” [Hartford Courant]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/great-moments-in-insurance-law/feed/ 1     Deep pocket files: Highway 101 crash http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/deep-pocket-files-highway-101-crash/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/deep-pocket-files-highway-101-crash/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:15:15 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21258 In 2007, on Highway 101 north of Ventura, Jeremy White plowed his pickup truck into a vehicle parked along the roadside, killing its driver and paralyzing a California highway patrolman who was standing alongside. White “pleaded guilty in September 2008 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and selling and transporting marijuana. He was sentenced to 15 years.” While he had an insurance policy, its limit was a paltry $15,000. So which deep pockets will be left responsible for paying the nearly $50 million a jury has awarded in damages? The answer, apparently: 1) White’s insurance company, despite the policy limit, due to the magic of “insurance bad faith” law; 2) Bert’s Mega Mall in Covina, whose employees, according to the plaintiffs in the case, “didn’t properly strap down two dirt bikes in the back of White’s truck, which caused a distraction and contributed to the crash.”

    After the trial ended Tuesday, the mall’s lawyer, Terrence Cranert, said they would appeal.

    He said there was significant evidence the jury didn’t receive, including a statement from White’s passenger who told the CHP that he and White had stopped to smoke marijuana after leaving the mall. Cranert said they weren’t able to find White’s passenger for the trial, but felt the information should have been allowed.

    The judge, however, disagreed.

    White’s passenger also told the CHP that he and White went into the back of the truck and opened a tool box to get the marijuana, according to Cranert. “They would have to unstrap the motorcycles,” Cranert said.

    [Ventura County Star reporting, liability and damages phases]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/deep-pocket-files-highway-101-crash/feed/ 7     December 31 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/12/december-31-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/12/december-31-roundup/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:10:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20778
  • “No refusal” DUI checkpoints spread and can result in mandatory blood tests for drivers; MADD cheers infringement of liberty [WTSP]
  • Teleworking regulations: a new way to sue your (federal) boss? [welcome Mickey Kaus/Newsweek readers]
  • “The federal government has been in the business of micro-managing our kids’ lunches for 30 years” [David Gratzer/Examiner] St. Paul, Minn. schools ban sweets, even when brought from home [Star-Tribune] Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, and the Happy Meal lawsuit [John Steele Gordon, Commentary]
  • Top ten insurance law decisions of 2010 [Randy Maniloff, Insurance Journal; also congrats on his new book (with Jeffrey Stempel)]
  • “Mitch Daniels and Criminal Sentencing Reform in Indiana” [Orin Kerr] Daniels isn’t backing down from call for truce on social issues [GOP12]
  • Happy 100th birthday, Ronald Coase [Gillespie, Reason]
  • Damage to Gulf from spill now looks much less than feared [Robert Nelson, Weekly Standard]
  • Saudi court decides that text message is valid method of divorce [Emirates 24/7]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/12/december-31-roundup/feed/ 1     Allstate advances “Toyota sudden acceleration” narrative http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/allstate-advances-toyota-sudden-acceleration-narrative/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/allstate-advances-toyota-sudden-acceleration-narrative/#comments Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:05:27 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20068 We know some consumer reporters can be easy marks for overhyped scare stories. But what excuse does a giant insurance company has for trying to knock spare change out of an automaker by endorsing the scare theories in a subrogation suit? [Mary Anne Medina, Claims Magazine] See also: Laura Zois, Maryland Accident Lawyer.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/allstate-advances-toyota-sudden-acceleration-narrative/feed/ 1     August 21 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-21-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-21-roundup/#comments Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:15:24 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18962
  • More criticism of $671 million California nursing home verdict [Tracy Leach/Examiner, California Civil Justice, earlier]
  • Community service as precondition for college tax credits? [Charlotte Allen/Minding the Campus, earlier]
  • Casket-making monks vs. Louisiana funeral regulators [Ken at Popehat]
  • Careful about repeating claims that bad stuff in the environment is causing children to go through puberty earlier [Sanghavi, Slate]
  • Grilled chicken: “California Restaurants Lose Appeal On Cancer Warnings” [Dan Fisher/Forbes, earlier]
  • Randy Maniloff on the uncertain foundations of insurance bad faith law [Mealey's, PDF]
  • “Why Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Fashion” [Raustiala/Sprigman, NY Times, earlier on design "knockoff" legislation here, here, and here]
  • On a personal note, this week I completed my relocation from the New York to the Washington, D.C. vicinity. I look forward to seeing more of my friends both at the Cato Institute’s offices and elsewhere around D.C.
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-21-roundup/feed/ 3     “Judge OKs grisly insurance payout” http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/judge-oks-grisly-insurance-payout/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/judge-oks-grisly-insurance-payout/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:10:05 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18230 Coverage that exceeds expectations? “A Nassau County judge has ruled that MetLife must pay as much as $300,000 for Jacqueline Marshall to defend herself against a negligence lawsuit filed because her mentally ill son, Evan Marshall, then 31, decapitated and dismembered her neighbor.” [NY Post]

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