Overlawyered » Minnesota

April 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:20:17 +0000

N.Y. Times editorial flays Stand Your Ground, but dodges its (non)-application to Martin/Zimmerman case; Washington Post blasts same law, doesn’t seem to realize Florida homicide rate has gone down not up; chronology as of Sunday’s evidence [Frances Robles, Miami Herald] On the disputed facts of the case, it would be nice if NYT corrected its misreporting [Tom Maguire, more, yet more]
Lawprof Michael Dorf vs. Jeffrey Toobin on president’s power not to enforce a statute [New Yorker letter]
Israeli law bans underweight models [AP/Houston Chronicle]
Is price-fixing OK? Depends on whether the government is helping arrange it [Mark Perry]
Minnesota man arrested, jailed for neglecting to put siding on his house [KSTP via Alkon]
Once lionized in press, former Ohio AG Dann now fights suspension of law license [Sue Reisinger, Corp Counsel, earlier]
How California is that? “Killer got $30,000 in unemployment while in jail, officials say” [LAT]

Tags: constitutional law, Israel, Martin-Zimmerman case, Minnesota, Ohio, self-defense, unemployment benefits

April 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Hard times for “DIAL L-A-W-Y-E-R-S” founder

Walter Olson — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:55:43 +0000

Longtime Twin Cities attorney John Murrin lost money in a dodgy business deal, and started out by pressing what critics agree were some meritorious complaints arising from it. But courts began to look askance as he added more and more actions, pleadings and (nearly four dozen) defendants. Now a sanctions order has resulted in a bankruptcy proceeding. ["Lawyer's tactics leave him bankrupt," Minneapolis Star-Tribune].

Tags: Minnesota, sanctions, shotgun defendant selection

Hard times for “DIAL L-A-W-Y-E-R-S” founder is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:42:18 +0000

Per Chevron, Kerry Kennedy getting undisclosed percentage of the take, potentially in millions, to side with plaintiffs in Ecuador suit [NY Post] Long New Yorker take-out on case [Patrick Radden Keefe]
Freetail Brewing fields a nastygram: “How to Comply With a Cease-and-Desist Letter But Still Win” [Lowering the Bar]
I.e. boycotts illegal? Odd Minnesota law bans economic “reprisals” based on “political activity.” [Volokh]
“Chris McGrath v. Vaughan Jones: An Unpleasant Peek Into U.K. Libel Law” [Popehat; suit over science-and-theology book review] Related: “You Can’t Read This Book: why libel tourists love London” [Nick Cohen, Guardian, on his new book]
Business experience isn’t be-all or end-all for presidential qualifications, but might avert some policy howlers [Kling]
“Arbitration Is Here to Stay and One Lawyer Says That Is Good for Consumers” [Alan Kaplinsky interview, Mickey Meese/Forbes, PoL]
Off-topic random thought: “Iranian nuclear scientist who moonlights in Broadway Spider-Man cast” must be world’s most uninsurable job description;
“D.C. Lawmakers Propose Requiring Students to Apply to College” [Fox]

Tags: arbitration, beer and brewers, Chevron, Minnesota, nastygrams, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., schools, United Kingdom, Washington D.C.

January 16 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“$60,000 Damages for Blogging the Truth About Someone, Intending to Get the Person Fired”

Walter Olson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:49:42 +0000

Eugene Volokh predicts that a Minnesota jury’s award will not stand; not only are people “constitutionally entitled to speak the truth about others, even with the goal of trying to get them fired,” but the “First Amendment constrains the interference with business relations tort, just as it constrains the infliction of emotional distress and other torts.” [Volokh Conspiracy]

Tags: First Amendment, libel slander and defamation, Minnesota

“$60,000 Damages for Blogging the Truth About Someone, Intending to Get the Person Fired” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Fined for clearing tornado debris without license

Walter Olson — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:15:03 +0000

A volunteer clearing debris after the recent tornado in north Minneapolis has been hit with a $275 fine for tree trimming without a license [Star-Tribune via Coyote]

More: In other legal news of tree-trimming, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has settled a battle with San Francisco neighbors over charges that the growth of their trees was spoiling his view [WSJ, more] And the city of Charlotte, N.C., has fined a local church $4,000, or $100 a branch, for excessively trimming crape myrtle trees on its own property under a city tree ordinance [Brittany Penland, Charlotte Observer via Amy Alkon]

Tags: environment, Minnesota, North Carolina, volunteers, workplace

Fined for clearing tornado debris without license is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: “Court dismisses Duluth doctor’s lawsuit against patient’s son”

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 May 2011 20:57:27 +0000

“A judge [last week] threw out a lawsuit filed by a Duluth physician who said he was defamed by a man who publicly criticized his bedside manner.” [Grand Forks Herald, earlier] More: Heller, OnPoint News.

Tags: libel slander and defamation, medical, Minnesota

Update: “Court dismisses Duluth doctor’s lawsuit against patient’s son” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

By reader acclaim: Minneapolis blogger told to pay $60K over post

Walter Olson — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:10:05 +0000

“Though blogger John (Johnny Northside) Hoff told the truth when he linked ex-community leader Jerry Moore to a high-profile mortgage fraud, the scathing blog post that got Moore fired justifies $60,000 in damages, a Hennepin County jury decided Friday.” Moore, who was fired by the University of Minnesota after the post appeared, sued on a theory of “tortious interference” with his employment. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

Tags: bloggers and the law, libel slander and defamation, Minnesota

By reader acclaim: Minneapolis blogger told to pay $60K over post is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:37:58 +0000

“A conversation with class action objector Ted Frank” [American Lawyer]
Reviews of new Lester Brickman book Lawyer Barons [Dan Fisher/Forbes, Russell Jackson] Plus: interview at TortsProf; comments from Columbia legal ethicist William Simon [Legal Ethics Forum]
“Collective Bargaining for States But Not for Uncle Sam” [Adler] Examples of how Wisconsin public-sector unionism has worked in practice [Perry] Wisconsin cop union: nice business you got there, shame if anything were to happen to it [Sykes, WTMJ] “Union ‘rights’ that aren’t” [Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe]
“Minnesota House Considering Significant Consumer Class Action Reform Measures” [Karlsgodt]
10,000 lawyers at DoD? Rumsfeld complains military overlawyered [Althouse via Instapundit]
“Are Meritless Claims More Prevalent in Copyright?” [Boyden, Prawfs]
Claim: availability of punitive damages reduces rate of truck accidents. Really? [Curt Cutting]
Now with improved federalism: “The Return of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act” [Carter Wood, more, earlier here].

Tags: class actions, copyright, labor unions, Lester Brickman, military, Minnesota, police, public employment, punitive damages, sanctions, Ted Frank, Wisconsin

March 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Duluth man fights defamation suit by doctor he criticized”

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:46:15 +0000

Dennis Laurion took to the web to criticize a doctor he said had behaved in a rude and insensitive manner toward his family during the treatment of his elderly father. The doctor sued for defamation, and a judge is considering whether to allow the suit to proceed. [Duluth News Tribune and more]

Tags: libel slander and defamation, medical, Minnesota

“Duluth man fights defamation suit by doctor he criticized” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 13 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 05:18:38 +0000

Minneapolis police arrest author-blogger-gun rights activist Joel Rosenberg [Popehat, Mark Bennett, Scott Greenfield]
In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, Justice Ginsburg’s instincts as a proceduralist might come in tension with her instincts as a feminist [Alexandra Lahav, Mass Tort Lit]
“Cease this shouting!” cried Grinch, “From all Yule din desist!” But he’d Moved To The Nuisance and so, case dismissed [Art Carden, Forbes]
“San Francisco Sues to Close Down Immigration Law Firm, Claims ‘Exorbitant’ Fees” [ABA Journal]
New ATRA report blasts overly cozy state attorneys general cooperation with plaintiff’s bar ["Beyond Reproach? Fostering Integrity and Public Trust in the Offices of State Attorneys General," PDF]
Nathan Myrhvold’s patent aggregator Intellectual Ventures, which said it was disinclined to sue, begins suing [The Recorder, Salmon]
Privacy = when I choose to conceal my life data, secrecy = when you conceal yours [Kelly Young via Dave Boaz, Cato at Liberty]
One doc’s memoir: litigation crisis as morality crisis [seven years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: attorneys general, Christmas and other holidays, guns, immigration law, Minnesota, patent trolls, privacy, Wal-Mart v. Dukes

December 13 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system