Overlawyered » Los Angeles

I had no authority to do that

Walter Olson — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:36:56 +0000

A California attorney reached a $350,000 settlement just before a jury returned with its verdict on his client’s suit. Turned out the jury had been prepared to award $9 million. The plaintiffs attorney, C. Michael Alder, who is president of the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, then told a judge that his developmentally disabled and brain-damaged client (who had been severely injured after jumping out of an ambulance) had not properly authorized him to settle the case. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson granted a new trial. [The Recorder, ABA Journal, Judicial Hellholes and followup]

Tags: Los Angeles, settlement

I had no authority to do that is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Regulated if you do, sued if you don’t

Walter Olson — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:25:08 +0000

The Lookout News of Santa Monica, Calif. reports on obstacles to the revitalization of the Pico Boulevard commercial district:

“Businesses on Pico have been very frustrated by code compliance regulations for years,” [Pico Improvement Organization chairman Robert] Kronovet said. “You have a business that might have a sign in the wrong place or a door that isn’t right and the city fines them to the point that they don’t want to stay.

“These are small businesses. They don’t have the money to fight it.”…

Proprietor Elvira Garcia [of Caribbean restaurant Cha Cha Chicken] says business has been terrific, but that the success has been hard-won.

“We wanted to renovate our bathroom areas to make it more handicap-accessible and it took us almost three years to get all the permits,” Garcia said.

“We kept giving all the paperwork they need, but it took forever. We needed the Pico Improvement Organization to plead our case.”

California has the nation’s most active entrepreneurial corps of ADA enforcers, roaming business districts to file mass complaints against small businesses over handicap accessibility which they then settle for cash.

Tags: ADA filing mills, Los Angeles, small business

Regulated if you do, sued if you don’t is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

How to handle serial litigants?

Walter Olson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:55:17 +0000

In southern California’s sprawling Orange County (population 3 million), 77 people have been placed on the courts’ vexatious litigant list, but it’s not an easy matter to get someone on. “A Huntington Beach woman recently filed 47 lawsuits in a matter of months against various agencies including the city, the District Attorney’s Office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department…. She sued Huntington Beach saying she wants more plants near parking lots.” [Orange County Register]

Tags: California, Los Angeles, serial litigants

How to handle serial litigants? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Two retaliation cases that should scare employers [Robin Shea via Jon Hyman]
Maryland law redefining independent contractors as employees vexes flooring business [Bethany Rodgers, Frederick News Post, editorial, earlier] New York Times on minimum wage 1987 vs. 2012: 1987 made more sense [Mark Perry] E-discovery drives up cost of wage and hour litigation [Jon Hyman]
Irony alert: “Unionized workers organize against National Labor Relations Board” [Adam Jablonowski, Daily Caller]
Proposals to create new rights for public employee unions [Ivan Osorio/CEI, federal; Jack Mann/CEI, California] Courtesy LA taxpayers, garage monitor at L.A. Department of Water & Power makes $74K/year as compared with $21K elsewhere [L.A. Times via Amy Alkon] Connecticut governor proceeds with plans to herd personal care attendants into union [Trey Kovacs/CEI]
Colorado measure regulating use of credit records in hiring is solution in search of problem [Mark Hillman, Colorado Springs Gazette]
Connecticut proposal to ban unemployment discrimination heats up [Daniel Schwartz]
German high court orders universities to raise salaries for starting professors [Walter Russell Mead]

Tags: Colorado, Connecticut, discrimination law, Germany, labor unions, Los Angeles, Maryland, public employment, wage and hour suits, workplace

Labor and employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Isometric government: Malibu beach paths

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:24:41 +0000

Speaking as I was in the Times farm-bill symposium of what I call isometric government, in which different subsidies or regulations tend to cancel out each others’ effect, reminds me of this L.A. Times story recently blogged by Gideon Kanner: government has required that public beaches be carved out of prime Malibu coastline, but then keeps those beaches mostly inaccessible to the public: “In fact, officials discourage visitors from trying to reach the shore from the highway above out of concern that they will be injured scrambling down the 20-foot bluff,” in the words of reporter Tony Barboza.

Tags: isometric government, Los Angeles, recreation

Isometric government: Malibu beach paths is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Disabled rights roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:06:43 +0000

ADA mills continue to extract money from California small businesses with no legislative relief in sight [Auburn Journal, Andrew Ross/S.F. Chronicle, KABC (James Farkus Cohan), WTSP (Squeeze Inn owner speaks out), CJAC (Lungren proposal) and more, Chamber (San Francisco coffee shop's woes, auto-plays video)] Profile of attorney Thomas Frankovich [California Lawyer];
EEOC sues employer for turning away job applicant on methadone program [Jon Hyman]
“Maryland high court: allergy is disability requiring accommodation” [PoL]
“Suits could force L.A. to spend huge sums on sidewalk repair” [Los Angeles Times]
Under gun from Department of Justice and SCOTUS Olmstead ruling, Virginia and other states agree to massive overhaul of services for developmentally disabled; not all families, though, are happy with the insistence on relocating residents of large facilities to smaller “community” settings [Richmond Times-Dispatch, McDonnell press release, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Staunton News-Leader]
“New Case from W.D. Tex. Shows Effect of ADAAA on Back Injury Claims” [Disability Law]
Lawyer leads effort to give disabled passengers wider rights to sue airlines [Toledo Free Press]

Tags: ADA filing mills, airlines, allergies, California, disabled rights, EEOC, illegal drugs, Los Angeles, Maryland, Virginia

Disabled rights roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 19 roundup

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:19:17 +0000

Self-service arrangement: Pennsylvania judge charged with fixing her own parking tickets [Lancaster Online]
Economist cover story: “Over-regulated America“. Obama hesitant about heavy-handed regulation? Really? [Veronique de Rugy, NRO]
Argument for letting money market funds “break the buck” without federal backstop [David Henderson, EconLog]
Suing apps makers? “Entertainment Lawyers Go Wild for ‘Secondary’ Copyright Lawsuits” [WSJ Law Blog] SWAT raid on Kiwi copyright scofflaw? [Balko] Despite its editor’s views, NYT finds it hard to avoid breaching copyright laws itself [Carly Carioli, Boston Phoenix] “Contempt Sanctions Imposed on Copyright Troll Evan Stone” [Paul Alan Levy] More: “obscene materials can’t be copyrighted” offered as defense in illegal download case [Kerr]
Tenure terror: “Teacher in Los Angeles molest case reportedly paid $40G to drop appeal of firing” [AP]
FDA rejects lead-in-lipstick scare campaign [ACSH vs. Environmental Working Group]
A horror story of eyewitness I.D. [claim of DNA exoneration in Va. rape case; AP via Scott Greenfield]

Tags: banks, copyright, cosmetics, eyewitness testimony, judges, Los Angeles, New York Times, New Zealand, Pennsylvania, regulation and its reform, teacher tenure

February 19 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Criminal investigation of ADA noncompliance?

Walter Olson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:03:27 +0000

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles appears to be proceeding on the theory that city and redevelopment officers committed potential “fraud” by accepting federal money for housing projects but omitting to run the projects in compliance with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requiring that accommodations be offered for disabled patrons. At Cato at Liberty, I wonder whether we’re in for another venture into criminalization of an area best left to civil law.

Tags: crime and punishment, disabled rights, housing discrimination, Los Angeles

Criminal investigation of ADA noncompliance? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“To say that Zaffina is particular about the spelling and presentation of his name would be an understatement”

Walter Olson — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:47:17 +0000

Members of an L.A. group devoted to darts, the bar sport, are among those plunged into litigation by a fellow enthusiast. “Says one well-known bar owner who did not wish to be identified for fear of retribution, ‘I’m weary of being involved with this guy because he’s just been firing off lawsuits. Some of us wanted to fight, but these things can be very expensive.’” [L.A. Weekly]

Tags: Los Angeles, serial litigants

“To say that Zaffina is particular about the spelling and presentation of his name would be an understatement” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

That treehouse has to go

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:11:42 +0000

Kids at a Long Beach preschool had enjoyed it for thirty years without incident, but a state inspector said no. Headline on the resulting article: “Obsession with safety is ruining our playgrounds.” [Gale Holland, L.A. Times]

Tags: Los Angeles, recreation

That treehouse has to go is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system