Overlawyered » Miller-Jenkins case

Law schools roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:10:10 +0000

“A Dean’s Lament: I Wish I Had Never Gone to Law School” [Chen via Caron] Critiques of law schools go way (way, way) back [Dave Hoffman, ConcurOp]
“ProfScam” blogger with provocative critique of legal academia reveals self as Paul Campos of Colorado [Kerr, Horwitz, Conglomerate, Ribstein, Lat] Lawprof cage match, Campos vs. Leiter — go Campos! [Caron, Campos, Greenfield]
To deregulate legal services, start with law school accreditation [Winston/Crandall, WSJ] More views [Tim Lynch, Greenfield, Bader]
Law school placement data scandal: here come the class action lawyers [TaxProf] ABA’s Villanova censure a venture in “atmospherics of disclosure” [Dave Hoffman, ConcurOp]
“The no-frills law school” [Roger Dennis, Faculty Lounge] What drives law school tuition? [Orin Kerr]
Per one critic, Liberty lawprof’s book on Miller-Jenkins case “justifies parental kidnapping and flouting the American judicial system” [BTB]
NYSBA president on law schools: “Our research and our own experience show that graduates are less prepared to practice law” [WSJ] Evidence as a mere elective? What are law schools thinking? [Greenfield]
Take a stroll with the law dean on his walk to work — but sign a release form first [ABA Journal]
“Blame the lawyers and law schools” [Bob Ingle, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, thanks for mention of Schools for Misrule]

Tags: bar associations, law schools, Miller-Jenkins case

Law schools roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Law schools roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:56:31 +0000

Refuting a law review’s vaccine-autism claims [Orac, Respectful Insolence, more, Fair Warning]
Should sue-the-cops fliers have used Suffolk U. law school logo? [Boston Herald via Wood, Chronicle]
“There’s a saying that ‘the law you learned in law school is the law’” [Bill Araiza, Prawfs]
Annals of legal scholarship: law review article on “planetarian identity formation” [SSRN] Larry Ribstein on the trouble with law reviews [TotM, earlier]
Enough with the “balance” talk, says organizer of Hastings Law conference on Palestine rights [SFGate]
“The entire law school industry … a significant profit center for universities — is a giant bubble” [The New Republic] “Mind-boggling” tuition increases hard to explain other than as product of market distortions [Hans Bader]
Liberty Law exam question on notorious kidnapping case raises eyebrows [Sarah Posner, Religion Dispatches; background]
“It’s Deja Vu for Louisiana Economy as Law School Clinic, Activists Challenge Air Permit” [WLF]

Tags: law schools, Miller-Jenkins case, vaccines

Law schools roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 21 roundup

Walter Olson — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:08:24 +0000

Federalist Society annual convention (which I attended) included panels on anonymity and the First Amendment, judicial recusals, many other topics;
Nomination of R.I.’s McConnell to federal bench could soon reach Senate floor [ProJo]
“Why U.S. Taxpayers Are Paying Brazilian Cotton Growers $147 Million” [NPR via Popehat]
“Litigation Governance: Taking Adequacy Seriously” [Trask, Class Action Countermeasures]
“Family” groups vs. a family, cont’d: Vermont Supreme Court upholds Miller-Jenkins custody ruling [Volokh, BTB]
OSHA allows more comment on what could be an extremely expensive mandate against noise in the workplace [ShopFloor]
Cops who inform on cops are often left to twist in wind [Balko]
Interview with Mark Zaid, collector of comic book art with law/legal themes [Abnormal Use]

Tags: class actions, Federalist Society, Miller-Jenkins case, OSHA, police, recusals, Rhode Island

November 21 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 31 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:04:33 +0000

“Court to Plaintiffs: You Have Zero Forum Shopping Days until Xmas” [Jackson; New Yorker seeks to refile pharmaceutical case in Minnesota to overcome statute of limitations defense]
Miller-Jenkins battle: Mathew Staver of whimsically named Liberty Counsel won’t comment on whether client has kidnapped child in pursuit of continued defiance of court order [BTB, WSJ Law Blog, background]
“How many college football coaches have law degrees?” [Above the Law; Mike Leach vs. Texas Tech] More: Michael McCann, Sports Law; Carter Wood at Point of Law.
“Struck by a restaurant’s decor” good if it’s just a figure of speech, bad if it’s falling taxidermy [Lowering the Bar]
Trial lawyer message in support of med-mal litigation falls on some credulous ears in media [White Coat]
On airport whole-body imaging, some privacy advocates seem to have changed tune [Stewart Baker]
“Litigant Guru of Gwinnett, Georgia Loses Lawsuit” [sanctioned over defamation claim; Bad Lawyer via AtL]
Step right up and win cash for your vote in the ABA’s blogospheric beauty pageant [Scott Greenfield] Update: contest wraps up [Legal Blog Watch]

Tags: football, forum shopping, Georgia, legal blogs, Miller-Jenkins case, Minnesota, privacy, restaurants

December 31 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:56:03 +0000

Woman jailed for “camcordering” after recording four minutes of sister’s birthday party in movie theater [BoingBoing]
Senate hearing airs trial lawyer gripes against Iqbal [Jackson and earlier, PoL, Wajert, Beck & Herrmann (scroll)] Franken and other Senators sidestep substance, browbeat witness re: “study” terminology [Alison Frankel, AmLaw]
Still time to cancel? “2009 is also the first year of global governance” — new EU president [Small Dead Animals]
Miller-Jenkins battle: judge orders custody switch to law-abiding spouse [Box Turtle Bulletin, background]
Speedy by government standards? 17 years ago DoT proposed Southeast high-speed rail on existing rights of way, ruling on environmental impact statement is expected next year [McArdle]
“New York’s New DWI Bill: Compounding Stupidity” [Greenfield; felony to drive intoxicated with passenger 15 or younger]
“Apple Told To Pay Patent Troll OPTi $21.7 Million” [Business Insider]
This year’s ABA Blawg 100 listing left out some legal blogs that aren’t half bad [Turkewitz]

Tags: alcohol, Apple, environment, international law, legal blogs, Miller-Jenkins case, movies film and videos, New York, patent trolls, pleading

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

October 22 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:13:54 +0000

Unsafe at any read: new Ralph Nader novel panned by Chris Hayes, Washington editor of The Nation [Barnes and Noble Review via Suderman, Reason]
Microsoft says “most, if not all” customer data from T-Mobile Sidekick smartphones has been recovered, but class action lawyers say they’re undeterred [Seattle P-I]
Sue them all and sort things out later? Lawsuit over Air France Airbus crash off coast of Brazil names long list of aerospace suppliers as defendants [Reuters]
“No cash for this clunker”: opposition mounts to proposal for Massachusetts public law school [Boston Herald editorial via Legal Blog Watch, earlier link roundup at Point of Law]
Ralph Lauren experiences Streisand Effect over skinny-model nastygram [Althouse, earlier]
High-profile L.A. plaintiff’s lawyer Walter Lack speaks under questioning about role in Nicaraguan banana-worker suit against Dole [Recorder, earlier, background] And: “Dole on a Roll: Court Declines to Enforce $97M Judgment” [WSJ Law Blog, Bloomberg]
Miller-Jenkins lesbian custody case, much meddled in by conservative religious groups, recalls the ways divorced dads get cut out of their kids’ lives [Glenn Sacks/Ned Holstein via Amy Alkon, background]
Daniel Kalder speculates on why the New York Times editorially “purred with approval” of the new FTC blogger regulations in such an “impressively superficial” way [Guardian Books Blog]. More on FTC’s semi-backtracking on the controversy: Media Bistro “Galleycat”, Publisher’s Weekly, Galleysmith. And having been hoping for ages to get a link some day from blogging legend Jason Kottke, this one will go in the souvenir file [Kottke.org]

Tags: aviation, banana pesticide litigation fraud, cellphones, child custody, class actions, FTC endorsement rules, Microsoft, Miller-Jenkins case, Ralph Nader, shotgun defendant selection, Streisand effect

October 22 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 27 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:07:50 +0000

Find me someone who speaks Mixtecan, fast: under new California law health insurers must provide patients with certified language interpreters [Ventura County Star]
“Law Prof’s Article on His Jury Experience Leads to Overturned Verdict” [ABA Journal]
Quick, lock up the Internet: Harvard Law’s John Palfrey wants to unleash child-endangerment suits against online providers [Citizen Media Law]
“Another Lesbian Visitation Case has Liberty Counsel Spouting Nonsense” [Ed Brayton; earlier Miller-Jenkins case]
“Jury awards need to be fair, not lucrative” [Jackie Bueno Sousa, Miami Herald]
Aussie strip club disagrees with exotic dancer on whether faulty pole caused her injury [Brisbane Courier-Mail]
Hasbro nastygram over “Little Mr. Monopoly” use [Bob Ambrogi, Ron Coleman]
No, “crash of ’09″ doesn’t refute “capitalist system”, any more than “car wreck” refutes “auto-based travel”.

Tags: Australia, California, Crisis of 2008, Italy, juries, language bias, Miller-Jenkins case, nastygrams, strippers and exotic dancers

March 27 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: Chuck Colson and Miller-Jenkins case

Walter Olson — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:42:02 +0000

For the fifth time, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Lisa Miller, the Virginia woman who is defying a court order requiring her to allow child visitation by her former lesbian partner. I’ve tracked the case for years as an example of the tendency of some organized Religious Right legal groups — in this case the misnamed Liberty Counsel — to pursue meritless legal positions at length. (Drew Houff, “Justices won’t hear Miller’s visitation request”, Winchester (Va.) Star, Dec. 12) (via Box Turtle Bulletin). One of the Miller camp’s most vocal and misleading public advocates has been evangelist Chuck Colson, who just was awarded a Presidential Citizenship Medal; I discuss that development (and Colson’s career) in a lengthy post this morning over at Secular Right.

Tags: Miller-Jenkins case

Update: Chuck Colson and Miller-Jenkins case is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: Virginia high court on Miller-Jenkins

Walter Olson — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Toldjah so: The Virginia Supreme Court has unanimously ruled against Lisa Miller of Winchester, who has been ignoring a duly issued Vermont court order providing her former lesbian partner Janet Jenkins with rights of visitation to the child they had been raising together. Miller’s defiance of the law had been backed by Liberty Counsel, the ironically named pro bono group headed by the dean of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University School of Law, as well as other conservative religious figures such as Chuck Colson. Despite misreporting to the contrary in some quarters of the conservative press, the case had nothing to do with recognition of the former couple’s Vermont civil union, nor did it eventuate in an award of custody (as distinct from visitation) to Jenkins. (AP/Newport News Daily Press; Ed Brayton and more; our earlier coverage).

Tags: Miller-Jenkins case, pro bono, Vermont, Virginia, wrong right

Update: Virginia high court on Miller-Jenkins is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 1 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:07:29 +0000

Jack Thompson, call your office: FBI search turns up no evidence Virginia Tech killer owned or played videogames [Monsters and Critics]

How many zeroes was that? Bank of America threatens ABN Amro with $220 billion suit if it reneges on deal to sell Chicago’s LaSalle Bank [Times (U.K.), Consumerist]

Chuck Colson will be disappointed, but the rule of law wins: Supreme Court declines to intervene in Miller-Jenkins (Vermont-Virginia lesbian custody) dispute [AP; see Mar. 2 and many earlier posts]

Oklahoma legislature passes, but governor vetoes, comprehensive liability-reform bill [Point of Law first, second, third posts]

Good primer on California’s much-abused Prop 65 right-to-know toxics law [CalBizLit via Ted @ PoL]

“Defensive psychiatry” and the pressure to hospitalize persons who talk of suicide [Intueri]

Among the many other reasons not to admire RFK Jr., there’s his wind-farm hypocrisy [Mac Johnson, Energy Tribune]

“Screed-O-Matic” simulates nastygrams dashed off by busy Hollywood lawyer Martin Singer [Portfolio]

“Liability, health issues” cited as Carmel, Ind. officials plan to eject companion dogs from special-needs program, though no parents have complained [Indpls. Star; similar 1999 story from Ohio]

First glimmerings of Sen. John Edwards’s national ambitions [five years ago on Overlawyered]

(Edited Tues. a.m. to cut an entry which was inadvertently repeated after appearing in an earlier roundup)

Tags: governors, hospitals, Jack Thompson, John Edwards, Miller-Jenkins case, nastygrams, Ohio, Oklahoma, Prop 65, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Vermont, videogames, Virginia Tech

May 1 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system