• New York attorney suspended from practice after attempting as guardian to extract $853,000 payday from estate of Alzheimer’s victim [ABA Journal, Emani Taylor]
• Bought a BB gun to fend off squirrels, now his 20-year-old son faces three years for bare possession [MyCentralJersey.com via Zincavage]
• U.K.: “Sports clubs face being put out of business following a landmark court ruling forcing them to be liable for deliberate injuries caused by their player to an opponent.” [Telegraph]
• Prosecutors in Norwich, Ct. still haven’t dropped their case against teacher Julie Amero in malware-popup smut case. Why not? [TalkLeft, earlier]
• Dealership protection laws, deplored earlier in this space, work to make a GM bankruptcy both likelier and messier [The Deal]
• Strange new respect for talk show host Joe Scarborough in quarters where conservatives are ordinarily disliked? Some of us saw that coming [NYMag]
• Following Rhode Island rout of lawsuit against lead-paint makers, Columbus, Ohio drops its similar case [PoL, Akron Beacon Journal editorial]
• In latest furor over free speech and religious sensitivity in Europe, Dutch authorities have arrested cartoonist “suspected of sketching offensive drawings of Muslims and other minorities” [WSJ; "Gregorius Nekschot"]

• Calling it “oppressive”, committee chair in Mississippi legislature vows to defeat proposal to ban restaurants from serving obese patrons [AP/Picayune-Item; earlier]
• Latest in whales vs. sub sonar: judge deep-sixes Bush’s attempt to exempt Navy from rules against bothering marine mammals [CNN; earlier]
• Much-criticized opener of ABC’s new series Eli Stone aired last Thursday, and Orac takes a scalpel to the vaccine-scare script [Respectful Insolence, which also covers new autism studies]
• Scary proposal approved by California assembly would strong-arm larger private foundations — and businesses that deal with them — into “diversity” numbers game [Lehrer/Hicks @ L.A. Times]
• New Dutch study finds thin people and nonsmokers cost health system more in long run than obese and smokers — theories behind Medicaid-recoupment litigation are looking more fraudulent every day, aren’t they? [AP]
• Late, but worth noting: blogger nails John Edwards’s demagoguery on Nataline Sarkisyan case [Matthew Holt @ Spot-On, via KevinMD; more here, here, and from Ted here]
• Puff piece on food-poisoning lawyer William Marler [AP/KOMO]
• Ready, set, all take offense: Sen. McCain likes to tell lawyer jokes [WSJ law blog]
• In suit charging UFCW with “racketeering”, Smithfield cites as an underlying offense union’s having lobbied city councils to pass resolutions condemning the meatpacker; company has hired Prof. G. Robert Blakey, who denies the RICO law he drafted is a menace to liberty [Liptak, NYT; some earlier parallels in federal tobacco suit]
• Golden age of comic books was 1930s-1950s, but golden age of comic book litigation is now [NLJ]
• New at Point of Law: Hillary’s “disastrous” mortgage scheme; Qualcomm sanctions ruling could curb discovery abuse; if Mel Weiss has been kind to you, why drop him down memory hole?; new academic theory on uniformity of contingency fees; the trouble with patenting tax avoidance strategies; and much more [visit][bumped Wed. a.m.]

You can’t win if you don’t play: “A Dutch woman who claimed she suffered emotional damages due to not winning the lottery missed the jackpot in court too. Amsterdam District Court judges Wednesday rejected the claim of Helene de Gier, who said she was traumatized by not winning the country’s National Postcode Lottery, which she didn’t enter, while her neighbors did.” DeGier said one lucky neighbor had rubbed in his good luck by showing off a new Porsche, and claimed lottery ads had engaged in “emotional blackmail” by suggesting that non-entrants like herself might be sorry afterward. (AP/IHT, Reuters).

• Divorcing Brooklyn couple has put up sheetrock wall dividing house into his and hers [L.A. Times, AP/Newsday]


• Boston Herald appeals $2 million libel award to Judge Ernest Murphy, whom the paper had portrayed as soft on criminals (earlier: Dec. 8 and Dec. 23, 2005) [Globe via Romenesko]


• Updating Jul. 8 story: Georgia man admits he put poison in his kids’ soup in hopes of getting money from Campbell Soup Co. [AP/AccessNorthGeorgia]


• Witness talks back to lawyer at deposition [YouTube via Bainbridge, %&*#)!* language]


• Prominent UK business figure says overprotective schools producing generation of “cotton wool kids” [Telegraph]


• State agents swoop down on Montana antique store and seize roulette wheel from 1880s among other “unlicensed gambling equipment” [AP/The Missoulian]


• “You, gentlemen, are no barristers. You are just two litigators. On Long Island.” [Lat and commenter]


• Some Dutch municipalities exclude dads from town-sponsored kids’ playgroups, so as not to offend devout Muslim moms [Crooked Timber]


• As mayor, Rudy Giuliani didn’t hesitate to stand up to the greens when he thought they were wrong [Berlau @ CEI]


• Australia: funeral homes, fearing back injury claims, now discouraging the tradition of family members and friends being pallbearers [Sydney Morning Herald]


• Asserting 200-year-old defect in title, Philly’s Cozen & O’Connor represents Indian tribe in failed lawsuit laying claim to land under Binney & Smith Crayola factory [three years ago on Overlawyered]

Partners in crime dept.: “A Dutch man who served time in jail and was deported for running one of the largest escort services in the Southeast has sued six former customers.” Arthur Vanmoor, 46, who used aliases such as “Big Pimpin’ Pappy” and whose South Florida enterprise “accounted for up to 90 percent of the escort service listings in Broward County’s 2002 Yellow Pages”, claims his customers got him in trouble by breaking the law and violating their contracts with him. “To pay the $245-per-hour escort fee, the men signed a credit card slip that said, ‘Cardholder states that this transaction is not for illegal activity,’ said Vanmoor’s attorney, Montgomery Sibley.” (AP/NBC6.net, Feb. 27).

Montgomery Sibley, attorney for Vanmoor, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s “The Situation” Mar. 1 to explain his client’s case; see this amusing account with video. A Google search reveals that a Florida attorney named Montgomery Blair Sibley, proceeding pro se, sued federal judicial officials including the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court (including “Steven” Breyer) demanding a million dollars in damages from the Justices individually for various purported offenses which included not granting certiorari review to a domestic dispute Sibley was involved in. Sibley took his case up to the Eleventh Circuit (PDF), but did not prevail.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “Vanmoor is known for his litigious nature. In the past decade, he has been a plaintiff or defendant in 29 lawsuits in Broward County alone. He has sued businesses that challenged him, police departments that investigated him, an assistant state attorney who prosecuted him and journalists who reported on him.” (Sean Gardiner, “Man charged in Broward prostitution ring sues his clients”, Feb. 27). The alleged johns have not been named in the latest round of news coverage, so far as a cursory search of coverage reveals. One wonders whether the possibility of such publicity might be one factor influencing the prospective settlement value, if any, of the new round of suits.

We’re one of the “Wekelijkse aparte links” on the Netherlands portal Leukestart.nl. If this is your first time here, our page on personal responsibility is especially popular with readers; we’ve also got pages on, among many other topics, Great Britain, lawsuits against schools, and aviation.

The 11-minute film on the subjection of women in fundamentalist Muslim communities, for which the Dutch filmmaker was murdered by an Islamist assassin, may be viewed here (via Andrew Sullivan). Instapundit has a link roundup (Nov. 9).

While national alcohol prohibition in the US is widely (if not quite universally) regarded as a failure, there remains substantial support for our current tragic folly, drug prohibition. The respective prohibitions are not identical, however, and I want to point out two ways in which drug prohibition is worse than alcohol prohibition. First, during alcohol Prohibition, purchase and (for the most part) possession of alcohol were not crimes. (People often seem surprised to learn this these days, as if the drug war has made a firm link in their minds between prohibition and the criminalization of possession and purchase.) In other words, what we refer to as a “decriminalization” regime with respect to drugs today is pretty much what we had with alcohol prohibition: drug prohibition is much more severe than alcohol Prohibition.

The second major difference is that alcohol prohibition was restricted to a handful of countries, whereas drug prohibition is global. As a result of the limited geographical scope, there was plenty of legally produced alcohol during Prohibition, such as that made in Canada (and then illegally smuggled into the US) by Seagrams. But more importantly, the fact that other countries had legal alcohol — and were often just as successful in reducing consumption and alcohol-related problems as the US — provided ongoing evidence of the extent to which Prohibition was a policy blunder. With global drug prohibition, we are very limited in the types of policy experiments that can be run; even in the Netherlands, marijuana is technically just as illegal as it is in the US. This helps to explain the odd “self-justifying” nature of drug prohibition. Bad outcomes under drug prohibition should tend to discredit prohibition as a policy. This is what would likely occur if there were a visible alternative policy with outcomes that were better. Instead, bad outcomes under drug prohibition are met with the logic that if there were fewer drugs, there would be fewer bad outcomes. So to reduce bad outcomes under prohibition, we need… a stronger, more committed prohibition!

In the late 1930s, Edward Kasner was asked to come up with the name for a large number; as legend has it, he asked his nine-year old nephew, who said “googol,” and Kasner’s 1940 book “Mathematics and the Imagination” popularized the term for the number 1 followed by a hundred zeroes. Over a half century later, a variation of that word was used to name a popular search engine, which you may have heard is going public in an e billion dollar offering.

Now Kasner’s great-niece, Peri Fleisher, is going public herself, complaining that her family hasn’t been compensated for Google’s choice of a name, and “exploring” the possibility of legal action. Fleisher has said that she would settle for being allowed to participate as an “insider” in the IPO; the interviewer, either out of ignorance or charity, doesn’t point out that because the Google IPO is a “Dutch auction,” Fleisher already has the right to participate as an “insider” (presuming she means a “friends and family offering”), which is merely the right to buy shares in an IPO at the issuing price. (Gerald P. Merrell, “Have your Google people talk to my ‘googol’ people”, Baltimore Sun, May 16).

Blessed are those who just don’t get involved in the first place dept.: “Relatives of victims of Europe’s bloodiest post-war massacre are to sue the United Nations and the Dutch government for ?370 million.” Since no adequate recovery is to be had from Bosnian Serb war criminals for the Srebrenica massacre, reparations lawyers now wish to extract money from the well-meaning neutrals and noncombatants whose bungling efforts failed to prevent it. That should provide a good incentive for anyone to volunteer as peacekeepers in future, no? U.S. lawyers are said to be involved. (”Srebrenica relatives sue UN and Dutch for ?370m”, Daily Telegraph, Nov. 10).

American women who get routine mammograms are more likely to be called back for additional tests than women in other countries, even though such caution does not result in more cases of breast cancer being found, a new study has found. ‘Higher callback rates would be fine if we had evidence we’re getting more bang for the buck,’ said Dr. Joann Elmore, lead author of research published Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ‘But we’re not.’” The study found that “American mammographers do not detect any more cases of breast cancer, nor do they detect cancer at earlier stages, than their counterparts in such countries as Australia, the Netherlands, Italy or Britain.” They do, however, have a much higher false-positive rate: “According to one of Elmore’s earlier studies, one in every two U.S. women will have at least one false positive after 10 years of annual screening. … the authors say they have adjusted for most of the other factors that could lead to higher false-positive rates and hint strongly that America’s litigious culture is implicated.” (”Callbacks don’t increase detection”, Chicago Tribune/San Diego Network of Care, Sept. 17). See also Nov. 2, 2000; May 12, 2003; “Study suggests false-positive mammogram results linked to radiologists? experience”, UW School of Medicine Online News, Sept. 27, 2002 (earlier Elmore research).

Last week this site’s editor visited the Sooner State to speak to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, in conjunction with which visit commentator/radio host Brandon Dutcher recorded this informal Q & A which touches on the tobacco and fast food litigation, the prophetic role of former Okla. Sen. Fred Harris, and more (”No Joke: Lawsuit Abuse Hurts Us All”, interview with Walter Olson, OCPA Perspective, August)

This Thursday, Aug. 14, our editor will be giving a luncheon speech to the Milwaukee chapter of the Lawyers Division, Federalist Society (details). And on Wed., Aug. 20, he’ll address the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs as the final speaker in its Summer Speaker series in Oklahoma City (flyer) (Tulsa Today). In conjunction with the OCPA event he’ll be heard on several broadcast shows in the Sooner State, including, on Tues. Aug. 12 at 1 p.m. CDT, station WKY with host Brandon Dutcher, and on Fri. Aug. 15 at 7:15 a.m. CDT, station KTOK with host Cam Edwards, as well as a discussion show (time TBA) on KFOR-TV (NBC, ch. 4).

In the latest high-profile lead paint suit to go down to defeat, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy G. Dugan dismissed the city of Milwaukee’s lawsuit demanding $85 million from NL Industries, maker of Dutch Boy paint, and Mautz Paint Co. Although Milwaukee’s contingency fee agreement with private lawyers was widely billed as one in which city taxpayers faced no risk, it turns out that the city will owe the private lawyers a substantial sum for expenses if it chooses to abandon the case rather than pursue appeal. (Tom Held, “Judge dismisses lawsuit against lead paint companies”, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul. 30; AP/Madison Capital Times, Jul. 30). The lawsuit had already contributed to the demise of the family-owned Mautz Paint Co., which sold itself to Sherwin-Williams in part because it could not afford to shoulder a legal defense (see Nov. 13, 2001). “The African American Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce praised the court’s action in prepared statements. ‘This lawsuit has hurt efforts to clean up lead paint problems,’ a statement from the African American Chamber said.” (”City’s lead paint suit dismissed”, Milwaukee Business Journal, Jul. 28).

The following essay was written circa 1999 by our editor and formerly appeared on the site’s topical page on loser-pays.

* * *

America differs from all other Western democracies (indeed, from virtually all nations of any sort) in its refusal to recognize the principle that the losing side in litigation should contribute toward “making whole” its prevailing opponent.  It’s long past time this country joined the world in adopting that principle; unfortunately, any steps toward doing so must contend with deeply entrenched resistance from the organized bar, which likes the system the way it is.

Overlawyered.com’s editor wrote an account in Reason, June 1995, aimed at explaining how loser-pays works in practice and dispelling some of the more common misconceptions about the device.  He also testified before Congress when the issue came up that year as part of the “Contract with America”.  Not online, unfortunately, are most of the relevant sections from The Litigation Explosion, which argues at length for the loser-pays idea, especially chapter 15, “Strict Liability for Lawyering”.

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Archived entries before July 2003 can also be found here.

2003: “Stuart Taylor, Jr. on lead paint litigation“, Mar. 5-7.

2002: “R.I. lead paint case goes to jury“, Oct. 28-29 (& Oct. 30-31: mistrial).

2001: “From the paint wars: a business’s demise, a school district’s hypocrisy“, Nov. 13; “Forbes on lead paint suits, cont’d“, Jun. 8-10; “Ness monster sighted in Narragansett Bay” (Rhode Island, Ness Motley), Jun. 7 (& see Dec. 27-28, 1999 re R.I.); “Reparations: take a number“, Apr. 17 (& see Olson, Reason, Nov. 2000); “‘Painting the town — with lawsuits’“, Mar. 7-8; “‘Bogus’ assault on Norton“, Jan. 18.

2000: “The right to be poisoned“, Nov. 30; “A job offer for the judge“, Sept. 25-26 (see also April 12, 2001); “Maryland: knowledge, notice not needed to sue landlords over lead“, Apr. 24; “Game over four decades ago: let’s change the rules” (retroactive Md. legislation), Mar. 15; see also Baltimore Sun special coverage); “New York court nixes market-share liability for paint“, Jan. 17.

1999: “‘The Dutch Boy isn’t Joe Camel’“, Nov. 10; “Covers the earth with litigation“, Oct. 14.

Thanks to…

Among those who’ve sent us leads for items that have appeared on Overlawyered.com or PointOfLaw.com since 7/1/08: Patrick Anders, Cory Andrews, Jason Barney, Jim Bauer, Erik Bell, Otis Bricker, Jocelyn Cornine, Edward Craig, Mike Desmarais, Bob Emery, Art Fougner, Chris Gilmer, Mark Grapentine, Phil Grossman, Ananda Gupta, Steve Headley, Mark Hofmann, James Huff, Doug Iverson, Brian Jones, Alan Kellogg, Samara Klar, Adam Kolakowski, Paul Laven, Marylou Lavoie, Dusty Louwerens, Micah McOwen, Peg Manning, Jay Markowitz, Hannah Martone, John Nolan, David Nowlan, Bill Poser, Chris Rathfoot, Raymond Reichelt, Will Richardson, Todd Rogers, Jamie Schell, Tom Scott, Victor Serby, Nancy Swan, Harry Tashjian IV, Francis Turner, Rogers Turner, Robert VonBuskirk, Kirt Walker, Patrick Warren, Earl Wertheimer, Dave Westheimer, David Whelan, E. Thomas Wood, and Moin Yahya.

1/08-6/08: Dennis Ambler, Dana Anderson, David Anderson, John Anderson, Jason Barney, David Behar, John Berry, Richard Belzer, Debra Bokulic, Sidney Bondurant, Marc Bosem, Robert W. Bruce, Kenneth Casarsa, Michael Cernovich, Steve Chapman, Jim Copland, Ryan Crompton, Mel Dahl, Baron Davis, Tas Dienes, Bob Emery, Steven Erickson, Shannon Ferguson, Cathy Gellis, Chris Gilmer, Linda Gorman, Adam Graff, Mickey Gray, Josh Greenman, Phil Grossman, Mark Guenin, Ananda Gupta, William Hammond, David Hanna, Dave Haxton, Steve Headley, Glen Hoffing, James Huff, James Ingram, Andrea Kalish, Hikaru Katayamma, Samara Klar, Joel Koerner, Adam Kolakowski, William Larson, David Link, Peggy Little, Rob McDaniels, Peg Manning, Brian Moore, David Nowlan, Richard O’Donnell, Joseph O’Neil, Brooks Parfitt, Marco Parillo, Tom Patterson, William Poser, Chris Rathfoot, Jonathan Rauch, Raymond Reichelt, Jeremy Richey, Todd Rogers, John Rohan, Gerald Rossi, Harsha Sankar, Kim Scarborough, Chris Schmitthenner, David Schwartz, Victor Serby, Lisa Simon, Stan Sipple, Clark Sprague, Carl Starrett, Mike Styczen, Nancy Swan, Keith S., Franco Tarulli, Amber Taylor, David Townsend, James Trainor, Rogers Turner, Eve Tushnet, Richard Underwood, Antony Vickery, Pete Warden, Earl Wertheimer, David Wilson, Wiley Winters, Timothy Wise, Ryan Zempel, Teri Zuckerman, and Ben Zycher.

7/07-12/07: Jackson Adams, Peter Alrich, Dennis Ambler, Christopher Annunziata, Jack Archer, Marc Arkin, Jason Barney, Charles Barry, Ed Bartlett, Mark Behrens, Erik Bell, Rich Bennett, David Boaz, Debra Bokulic, Sidney Bondurant, Kent Budge, Ken Casarsa, Michael Cernovich, Brian Chase, Terry Christiansen, Robert Clarke, Ron Coleman, Benjamin Cooper, Phil Cosgrove, Ed Craig, Beverly Davidson, Thomas Delchamps, Nick DiCiaccio, Wayne Dunham, Peter Eipers, Drew Elliot, Bob Emery, Andy Engel, Bill Evans, Anthony Falanga, Michael Garrett, Keith Genter, David Giacalone, Chris Gilmer, Josh Greenman, Phil Grossman, John Guggenheim, Ananda Gupta, Tom Hancock, Kobi Haron, Tom Hazlett, Steven Headley, Glen Hoffing, Tim Holt, Justin Hopkins, James Huff, James Ingram, Doug Iverson, Hikaru Katayamma, David Kirschman, Samara Klar, Joel Koerner, Bruce Korol, Bryce Kustra, George Lenard, Jeff Lewis, Barb Lindsay, Ron Long, Rob McDaniels, Jay Markowitz, Paul Meyer, Gunner Miller, Velma Montoya, C.G. Moore, Ed Murnane, Franklin Nachman, Brian J. Noggle, Barry Nordin, David Nowlan, Skip Oliva, Dan Parker, Chris Rathfoot, Raymond Reichelt, Pascal Rettig, Allen Roberts, Todd Rogers, John Rohan, Gerald Rossi, George Sabatino, Christian Schneider, Daniel A. Schwartz, Pietro Semifero, Victor Serby, Deirdre Sheehan, Eric Soskin, Mike Styczen, Nancy Swan, Jason Thornton, David Townsend, I. Turnbull, W. Rogers Turner, Jr., Antony Vickery, Patrick Warren, Dave Westheimer, Sean White, Joe Windish, Timothy Wise, Moin Yahya, Teri Zuckerman, and Ben Zycher.

1/07-6/07: Peter Alrich, Dennis Ambler, David M. Anderson, Alex Beam, David Behar, David Boaz, Debra Bokulic, Sidney Bondurant, Matthew Caplan, Wade Carvell, Ken Casarsa, Terry Christensen, Jim Copland, Douglas Cudd, Peggy Decker, Nick DiCiaccio, Dick Dillehunt, Carrie Durham, Greg Dwyer, Peter Eipers, Bob Emery, Bill Evans, Jason Frank, Ray Futrell, David Giacalone, John Steele Gordon, Linda Gorman, Joshua Greenman, Phil Grossman, Sean Harrington, Peter Hauser, Chris Helton, Lewis Herman, Mark Herrmann, Sean Higgins, Howard Husock, Hikaru Katayamma, Samara Klar, Joel Koerner, Werner Kranenburg, Bryce Kustra, Shawn La Douceur, Jim Leitzel, Patrick Lewis, Peggy Little, Leah Lorber, Daniel Lurker, Alec McAusland, Michael McKinney, Kevin M. Moore, Brian Mount, David Nowlan, William Nuesslein, Frank Nusbickel, Jeffrey Nye, Bob O’Neale, Don Padgitt, Marco Parillo, Dan Parker, Glen Per, Neil Polstein, Jeff Poulin, J.C. Ravage, Raymond Reichelt, Bill Reynolds, Todd Rogers, John Rohan, Christopher Rust, Harsha Sankar, Kelly Sessoms, Joe Severs, Greg Shoom, Stan Sipple, Ira Smith, Mark Steckbeck, Mike Styczen, Nancy Swan, Sandy Szwarc, Eve Tushnet, Antony Vickery, Robert VonBuskirk, Patrick Warren, David Weiss, Dave Westheimer, Steve White, Chuck Willing, Timothy Wise, Moin Yahya, William Zeiser, Teri Zuckerman, and Ben Zycher.

7/06-12/06: David Allen, Dennis Ambler, Angus Barrs, Erik Bell, Rich Bennett, Vic Benstead, David Boaz, S. W. Bondurant, Rob Bray, Ray Burtoff, Chuck Carter, Ken Casarsa, Mike Cernovich, Terry Christensen, Robert Clarke, Loren Collins, Jim Copland, Jocelyn Cornine, Mel Dahl, Jason D’Amico, Rebecca Davidson, Nick DiCiaccio, Matthew Dudley, Greg Dwyer, Peter Eipers, Bob Emery, Bill Evans, Mark Everingham, Sean Fosmire, Laura Fredericks, Ray Futrell, John Gnodtke, Jeffrey Gordon, Mark Grapentine, Julian Haley, Christine Hall-Reis, Will Heckman, Sean Higgins, James Ingram, Bill Jempty, Aaron Johnson, Judah Kelber, Samara Klar, Joel Koerner, David Kundysek, James Link, Leah Lorber, Eugene Lublinsky, Jay Markowitz, Scott Michael, Allan Nadel, John Nolan, David Nowlan, Othell, Tom Patterson, Lindsay Peet, Brian Piccioni, Steve Pippin, Raymond Reichelt, Todd Rogers, Harsha Sankar, Neil Schumacher, Kelly Sessoms, Kristyn Shayon, Richard Sincere, John H. Smith, Mike Styczen, Sandy Szwarc, Christopher Tozzo, Antony Vickery, Anna Vinding, Patrick Warren, Meredith Wright, Phil Ytterberg, Teri Zuckerman, and Ben Zycher.

1/06-6/06: Allan Adomite, Dave Allen, Peter Alrich, Tom Austerberry, Richard Berry, S. W. Bondurant, Isaac Brodsky, Ken Casarsa, Mike Cernovich, Mackenzie Chambers, Mark Chenoweth, Jon Cipriani, Matt Conigliaro, Ryan Crompton, Joe Dasenbrock, Peggy Decker, Peter Eipers, Bob Emery, Bill Evans, Mark Everingham, Leonard Ferrucci, Ray Futrell, John Gabel, Ronald Gans, Jane Genova, Christine Hall-Reis, Terry Hammons, Larry Heisler, Ben Henick, Aaron Hill, Tim Holt, Randall Hough, James Ingram, Charles Johnson, Robert Johnson, Kevin Keane, Doug Levene, Marc Levin, Patrick Lewis, Colin Scott MacDonald, Matt Manor, Allan Nadel, Micah McOwen, Michele Miller, Jon Moceri, Peter Morin, Peter Nordberg, David Nowlan, Alan Nye, Skip Oliva, Dorothy Olson, Dan Parker, Brian Picchioni, Raymond Reichelt, Todd Rogers, Flavio Rose, Joel Rothman, Harsha Sankar, Suzanne Saunders, Victor Serby, Kelly Sessoms, Deirdre Sheehan, Roland Sheler, Lisa Simon, Stan Sipple, John H. Smith, Mike Styczen, Brian Summers, Nancy Swan, Thaddeus Swanek, Christopher Tozzo, Jane Tucker, Alan Tysinger, Richard Van Coevering, Antony Vickery, Al Waters, David Wilson, Jim Wilson, Meredith Wright, Moin Yahya, Teri Zuckerman, and Ben Zycher.

7/05-12/05: David Boaz, S. W. Bondurant, Rob Bray, Dwight Brown, Barie Carmichael, Ken Casarsa, Mike Cernovich, Mackenzie Chambers, Derek Conti, Adrian Coombes, John Crowell, Pedro J. Diaz, Eduardo De Diego, Nick DiCiaccio, Steve Egan, Peter Eipers, Debbie Elam, Tom Elia, Bob Emery, Bill Evans, Howard Feinberg, Leonard Ferrucci, John Fund, Rob Goodman, Mark Gordon, Terry Hammons, Dennis Harrison, Mark Hemingway, Tim Holt, Bryan Hryszkanich, Leah Lorber, Eugene Lublinsky, Michael MacKay, Michael Mcfarlane, Nicolas Martin, Mary Anne Mitchell, Scott Mitchell, C.G. Moore, Mark Noeltner, David Nowlan, Frank Nusbickel, Richard O’Donnell, Jon Opelt, Bill Oppenheimer, Daniel Parker, Steve Pippin, Kevin Prudlow, Raymond Reichelt, Scott Replogle, Lyle Roberts, Flavio Rose, Harsha Sankar, Kelly Sessoms, Stan Sipple, John H. Smith, Mike Styczen, Nancy Swan, Charles Sykes, W. Daniel Troyka, Jane Tucker, Rogier van Bakel, Paul Varnell, Eduardo Veiga, John Walsh, David E. Wilson, Larry Wimble, and Moin Yahya.

1/05-6/05: David G. Allen, Eric Bainter, Patrick Balester, Vic Benstead, David Bernstein, Ellen Bisnath, S. W. Bondurant, Ray Burtoff, Kenneth Casarsa, Mackenzie Chambers, Brian Chase, Mark Chenoweth, Ron Coleman, David Cornutt, Laurie Davis, Eduardo de Diego, Michael DeBow, Nick DiCiaccio, Stephen Dow, Karen Doyne, Brandon Dutcher, Peter Eipers, Bob Emery, Bill Evans, Tom Fenton, Leonard Ferrucci, Sean Fosmire, Dan Galvin, Adam Geffen, Daniel Gertson, David Giacalone, Frank Giovinazzi, Jeff Goldblatt, Carlos Gomez, Matthew Guerreiro, Zan Hale, Terry Hammons, Joseph Hazelwood, Rick Henderson, Troy Hinrichs, Dave Hitt, Tim Holt, Bryan Hryszkanich, James Ingram, Judah Kelber, Richard King, Cal Lanier, Mark Littlehale, Kevin Lopata, T.J. McIntyre, Brian McNamara, Jon Moceri, Chester Moore, Jeremy Moore, Charles Moran, Brian J. Noggle, David Nowlan, Richard O’Donnell, Skip Oliva, Amy Phillips, Joe Phillips, Raymond Reichelt, Charles Robbart, Flavio Rose, G. David Rubin, Tim Sandefur, Harsha Sankar, Nadia Scott, Thomas Scott, Victor Serby, Kelly Sessoms, Roland Sheler, John H. Smith, Mike Styczen, Charles Sykes, Cole Thompson, Christopher Tozzo, W. Daniel Troyka, Jim Ventola, Pete Warden, David Wilson, Moin Yahya, and Ben Zycher.

7/04-12/04: Jason Barney, Kent Bell, Ellen Bisnath, Dave Boaz, S. W. Bondurant, Alan Brain, Rob Bray, Mike Buchin, Ray Burtoff, Michael Cammack, David Chamowitz, Shawn Chapman, Jim Copland, David D’Andrea, Mike DeBow, Peggy Decker, Peter Eipers, Bob Emery, Len Ferrucci, Seth Goldhamer, Arthur Gurevitch, Jeffrey Hall, Christine Hall-Reis, Dave Haxton, Steve Headley, Jack Henneman, Dave Hitt, Glen Hoffing, Tim Holt, James Huff, Richard Hunsaker, James Ingram, David Kane, Larry Keane, Alex Kozinski, George Lenz, Peggy Little, Kevin Lopata, Leah Lorber, Mike Manley, Jon Moceri, Erich Neumann, John Nolan, David Nowlan, Jon Opelt, Robert Owen, Neil Polstein, Raymond Reichelt, Scott Replogle, Allen Roberts, Duane Roelands, George Sabatino, Evan Schaeffer, John Schoffstall, Thomas Scott, Roland Sheler, Ed Sodaro, Mike Styczen, John Sullivan, Charles Sykes, Sandy Szwarc, David Thorguson, Henry Treftz, Garett Trietsch, Jane Tucker, Antony Vickery, Larry Wimble, Moin Yahya, Kelly Young, and James Zirin.

1/04-6/04: Mark Alesse, William Azevedo, Kyle Beckley, Rich Bennett, S. W. Bondurant, Beverley Brackett, Rob Bray, R. D. Bridges, Ray Burtoff, Mike Carney, Jim Copland, Terry Corcoran, Frederick Cox, Mike DeBow, Nick DiCiaccio, Wayne Dunham, Peter Eipers, Bob Emery, Len Ferrucci, Ed Finkelstein, Kevin Fleming, Ed Frechette, Michael Fumento, Sam Gaines, David Giacalone, Keith Gordon, Mark Grapentine, Richard Gray, Terry Hammons, Earl Hathaway, Steve Headley, Dave Hitt, Mark Hofmann, Tim Holt, Alexander Ignatiev, Steven Jones, Suzanne Kyro, Matt Lawson, George Lenard, Peggy Little, Michael Lombino, Leah Lorber, Nathan Lord, Eugene Lublinsky, T.J. McIntyre, Charley Meng, Jon Moceri, Erich Neumann, David Nowlan, Jon Opelt, Bard Parker, Raymond Reichelt, Ben Richter, Scott Replogle, Douglas Ross, Tom Scott, David Serena, Michael Siegel, Peter Smith, Ed Sodaro, Clark Sprague, Mike Styczen, John Sullivan, Peter Swanson, Charles Sykes, Garett Trietsch, Antony Vickery, Jeff Volberg, Earl Wertheimer, Sean White, Richard Whitlock, Larry Wimble, Tim Wise, and Ben Zycher.

7/03-12/03: David G. Allen, Daniel Abrams, Jason Barney, John L. Barton, David Bernstein, Tom Bohr, S. W. Bondurant, Roger Bournival, Alan Brain, Rob Bray, Owen Breck, Amy Brown, Michael Buchin, Beth Caucci, Jim Copland, David A. Cristol, Douglas Cudd, David Cushing, Stefan Czerniawski, Ray Davis, Michael DeBow, Pedro J. Diaz, Nick DiCiaccio, Nicholas DiVita, Brandon Dutcher, Bob Emery, Mark Everingham, Howard Feinberg, Ted Frank, Robert Goodman, John Steele Gordon, Earl Goudie, Julio Gundian, Ananda Gupta, Julian Haley, Mark Harris, Earl Hathaway, Chris Hayes, Edward Holman, Alexander Holt, James Ingram, Mike Johnson, Shirl Kennedy, Rebecca Kippen, Fritz Liess, Leah Lorber, Jason McNamara, Peg Manning, Jack Marchel, Charley Meng, Will Middelaer, R. Geoffrey Newbury, Laura Nichols, David Nowlan, Jon Opelt, Raymond Reichelt, Larry Ruane, Harsha Sankar, Kristin Scalisi, Chris Schneider, Steve Schoeffel, Harvey Scobie, David Serena, Chuck Shepherd, Paul Forrester Smith, John Sullivan, Henry Treftz, Garett Trietsch, Frank Varnavas, Antony Vickery, Bob Ward, Harmon Ward, Earl Wertheimer, Rhys Wilkins, Ken Willman and Larry Wimble.

1/03-6/03: Byron Annis, William Azevedo, Joshua Bennett, Tom Bohr, S. W. Bondurant, Alan Brain, Owen Breck, Wade Carvell, Beth Caucci, Mike Clawson, Michael DeBow, Russell DePalma, Pedro J. Diaz, Nick DiCiaccio, Rod Dillehay, Darian Drake, Bob Emery, Howard Feinberg, John Fund, Sam Gaines, Jack Gostl, Daniel Haus, James Ingram, Aaron J., William Leary, John LeBlanc, Doug Levene, Peggy Little, John McVey, Peg Manning, Jack Marchel, Charley Meng, Rob Metzler, Nate Neff, Cletus Nelson, Brian Noggle, David Nowlan, Stephen O’Neil, Jon Opelt, Marco Parillo, Roger Parloff, John Pope, Robert Racansky, Ben Richter, Kara Robinson, Donna Rovito, Larry Ruane, Leah Rudolph, Stephen Ryan, Robert Saye, Tom Scott, Bernard Slattery, Kevin Slebioda, Dan Sweeney, Stewart Vardaman, Jennifer Zambone, and Ben Zycher.

For earlier thanks to sources before 2003, click here.

May 9-11 – Senate panel nixes tobacco-fee clawback. “Senators working on a tax bill Thursday stripped a proposal that would have forced attorneys in a landmark tobacco lawsuit to give $9 billion in fees back to the states they represented.” Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., had proposed requiring plaintiff’s lawyers in the tobacco affair to return to their state-government clients fees in excess of $2,500/hour or thereabouts. “But Democrats, led by Sen. John Breaux, D-La., and joined by Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Gordon Smith of Oregon, won a 12-8 vote to strike the language. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said that if Congress can change the terms of the tobacco settlement, there is nothing to stop it from telling every business in America to change the way they pay their executives.” It’s almost as if Sen. Kerry doesn’t realize that 1) a host of federal laws already on the books, notably tax provisions, do purposely shape the way businesses compensate their executives; 2) lawyers, unlike business execs, practice under professional ethical codes which are supposed to bar them specifically from charging excessive fees; 3) lawyers who claim to represent the government (and thus the public) come under some of the most stringent ethical constraints of all. (”Senate Democrats Strike Proposal to Limit Fees for Lawyers in Tobacco Case”, AP/Tampa Bay Online, May 8; Stephen Moore, “Targeting lawyers who got rich off tobacco trials”, Scripps Howard/Nando Times, May 2) (& welcome Law.com readers). (DURABLE LINK)

May 9-11 – Update: “U.S. is sued for deaths of crossers”. “The families of 14 illegal entrants who died crossing the desert east of Yuma in May 2001 have filed a $42 million lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior.” As we reported a year ago when the cases were at an earlier procedural stage, “The suit charges the government with failing to authorize the placement of water stations intended for use by unlawful visitors, though it knew smugglers of immigrants were active in the desert area.” (Michael Marizco, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), May 8). (DURABLE LINK)

May 8 – “No Crueler Tyrannies”. Dorothy Rabinowitz’s long-awaited book on the mass-child-abuse accusation frenzy of the 1980s and 1990s is now available at this link. It collects and extends the widely acclaimed Wall Street Journal reporting that prepared the way for the author’s 2001 Pulitzer Prize (review by Carol Iannone, Commentary, May; C-SPAN “Booknotes” interview with Brian Lamb, May 4; Suzanne Fields, “A cruel tyranny at home”, syndicated/TownHall, Apr. 3; other reviews at Amazon site). (DURABLE LINK)

May 8 – More on Edwards’ law-firm donations. Washington periodical The Hill digs deeper into the curiously uniform $2,000 contributions Sen. John Edwards’ presidential campaign got from so many receptionists, paralegals and other low-level staffers at plaintiff’s law firms. The $2,000 donors include many employees who had not given to candidates or even voted in the past, and others who are listed on the voting rolls as Republicans. Many spouses and relatives of the staffers likewise contributed the maximum. Some of the munificent staffers have recently gone through the kind of personal financial reverses — bankruptcy filings, for example — which would not seem to correlate in the natural order of things with having a large available checkbook for political donations. “In many instances, all the checks from a given firm arrived on the same day — from partners, attorneys, and other support staff.” Employees denied that their law-firm employers had signaled any willingness to reimburse the donations, which would constitute a violation of federal law. (Sam Dealey, “Donations to Sen. Edwards questioned”, The Hill, May 7). (DURABLE LINK)

May 7 – Mississippi investigation heats up. Per the Times of South Mississippi (Hattiesburg), the “net may be widening” in the FBI’s previously reported investigation of improper ties between Mississippi judges and well-known trial lawyers (see Oct. 9-10 and 11-13, 2002). “Sources said this week as many as 25 indictments could be issued …While reports of the investigation have focused on the Gulf Coast, sources said the probe now includes campaign contributions from trial lawyers connected to Southwest Mississippi,” renowned as the center of intense litigation against pharmaceutical companies. (”Bob Pittman, “FBI widening its investigation of campaign funding”, Times of South Mississippi (Hattiesburg), May 5. See also “Diaz’s dad testifies before grand jury”, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Apr. 12; Jerry Mitchell, “Judicial probe intensifying”, Jackson Clarion Ledger, May 2).

“Meanwhile,” the Hattiesburg paper continues, “four trial lawyers who have been active in lawsuits against prescription drug manufacturers are named as defendants in a growing number of court actions in Jefferson County. In at least four suits filed to date, trial lawyers Dennis Sweet, Shane Langston, Richard Freese and Richard Schwartz, all of Jackson, have been named as defendants in cases in which it is alleged that the four either withheld settlement money from clients or failed to pay hired ‘runners’ who were employed to enroll plaintiffs in cases which the lawyers filed in several different counties in Mississippi, including Jasper County.” (May 5 article, cited above). See also Bob Pittman, “Judge asked to step aside in trial lawyer suit”, May 1; Bob Pittman, “Suit alleges lawyer used ‘fake clients’”, May 1. (DURABLE LINK)

May 7 – Jury selection in Britain. Notwithstanding the understandable outcry over a recent case in which a British judge excluded prospective jurors from a politically sensitive trial based on their religion, the general rule in the English system is for jurors to be drawn from a near-universal pool and selection to be made at random. “English lawyers are not pestered by jury consultants: they do not exist here. We do not have days of jury selection before a trial starts, as I have seen for myself several times in the United States, with prospective jurors questioned in depth and sometimes with aggression by lawyers anxious to explore possible prejudices. Defense barristers in England used to have the right of seven (then whittled down to three) peremptory challenges without any need for courtroom interrogation….But Parliament abolished peremptory challenges by the defense in 1989, and although not technically abolished, ’standing by for the Crown’ [the equivalent for the prosecution] now seldom occurs.” For-cause challenges are rare as well. (Fenton Bresler, “Picking juries — or not”, National Law Journal, Mar. 17, not online). (DURABLE LINK)

May 6 – “Robber sues clerk who shot him during holdup”. Muncie, Ind.: “A convicted robber is suing the convenience store clerk who shot him as he fled after a holdup. Willie Brown, 44, claimed the clerk acted ‘maliciously and sadistically’ in firing five shots as Brown ran out of Zipps Deli with money from the store’s cash register.” Brown, who was struck by bullets in the back and side, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to four years in prison. His earlier convictions included one for robbery and two for burglary. (AP/Indianapolis Star, Apr. 18). And in Great Britain, “Government lawyers trying to keep the Norfolk farmer Tony Martin behind bars will tell a High Court judge tomorrow that burglars are members of the public who must be protected from violent householders.” (Robert Verkaik, “Government lawyers say burglars ‘need protection’”, The Independent (UK), May 5). Plus: in Bentonville, Ark., inmate Kenneth J. Lewis II is suing Nina Baugh for $140,000 in damages; according to affidavits, Lewis was shot by Baugh after he attempted to burglarize her family’s pawn shop and another business. Lewis was sentenced in January to 12 years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to commercial burglary and aggravated assault (Tracy M. Neal, “Convicted burglar sues woman who shot him during crime”, Benton County Daily Record, Apr. 19). (DURABLE LINK)

May 6 – Year’s most injudicious judges. The National Law Journal’s annual survey of misbehavior on the bench includes jurists alleged to have slept with litigants, offered to fix cases, set new records for rudeness, and run a Ponzi scheme from chambers, not to mention the jurist who is said to have referred to himself as “God”. (Gail Diane Cox, “The Injudicious: Judges who crossed the line — or erased it”, May 5). (DURABLE LINK)

May 5 – Friends in high places, cont’d. A bill expanding wrongful death damages — a top priority of the state’s trial lawyer association — is moving quickly through the GOP-controlled New York state senate; it happens that the “head of the Judiciary Committee and the sponsor of the bill is big-time trial lawyer John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse). It’s not just Democrats like Assembly Speaker (and trial lawyer) Shelly Silver who are in the lawyer lobby’s pocket.” (”Lawyer leeches would bleed N.Y.C.” (editorial), New York Daily News, Apr. 18)(more on bill, Business Council of New York State)(see Dec. 13-15, 2002, Oct. 4, 2000). And in Kansas, “Gov. Kathleen Sebelius used her first veto to reject a bill designed to promote rural tourism. Specifically, the bill would shield from lawsuits farmers and ranchers who, for a fee, let people watch and take part in some farm activities. … The strongest opposition to the bill came from the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, which employed Sebelius as executive director before her election to the House in 1986.” (Steve Painter, “Sebelius vetoes farmer liability shield”, Wichita Eagle, Apr. 16). While with the KTLA Sebelius “worked closely with the Legislature as a lobbyist” (bio) and then went on to attract widespread notice as her state’s insurance commissioner before running for governor. (DURABLE LINK)

May 5 – Prospering despite reform. Some observers thought the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 law “was aimed at putting [class action firm] Milberg Weiss — and especially partner William Lerach, the lawyer many corporate executives love to hate — out of business. … Instead, according to a new study by Stanford Law School’s Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and Cornerstone Research, Milberg Weiss is doing better than ever.” (Tamara Loomis, “Milberg Weiss Stronger Than Ever Despite Reform Act”, New York Law Journal, Apr. 24). An analysis for the Cato Institute by Adam S. Pritchard of the University of Michigan Law School concludes that the law has, as intended, worked to raise the average quality of securities suits and weed out those with least merit. (”Should Congress Repeal Securities Class Action Reform?”, Cato Policy Analysis, Feb. 27 (executive summary, full text in PDF format)). (DURABLE LINK)

May 3-4 – “Streets Strewn With Glass, Gold”. Don’t miss this profile of D.C.’s subculture of “accident investigators” who solicit participants in car crashes to file lawsuits, often bombarding their phones with evening and early-morning calls for days. “The lawyer who introduced him to the business was killed by a car while standing on an exit ramp, apparently talking with accident victims, ["personal injury specialist" Warren] Johnson says.” (Libby Copeland, Washington Post, May 1). (DURABLE LINK)

May 3-4 – By reader acclaim: “Student sues over top title”. “A Moorestown [N.J.] High School senior, contending that the district superintendent is engineering new rules that would force her to share the title of valedictorian with another student, sued school officials yesterday. Blair L. Hornstine, 18, who aspires to be a lawyer, asked a federal judge to prevent the school from declaring valedictorian anyone other than the student with the highest GPA.” (John Shiffman, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 2; Tanya Barrientos, “Student’s lawsuit shows lack of class”, May 3). Update May 13: Hornstine wins suit (DURABLE LINK)

May 1-2 – It ain’t heavy to him, he’s my brother. In September, according to the National Law Journal’s “Verdicts and Settlements” column (Oct. 7, 2002, not online) a Texas jury awarded $134,000 to Jennifer Grobe, an employee of the Granite & Iron Store in Fredericksburg. “According to Grobe, she suffered two herniated lumbar discs when she lifted one of two 100- to 125-pound granite tables that the store’s owners had left in the entrance”. Why Grobe’s claim went to a jury in the form of a lawsuit, rather than to the workers’ comp system, is not clear from the context.

The bit in the NLJ’s report that drew our attention was the following: Grobe’s suit alleged that her employer was negligent “for placing the tables in the entrance and for failing to comply with store policy by not having two male employees available.” Perhaps we’re missing something, but wouldn’t the employer have faced likely liability exposure if it had enforced a policy of “having two male employees available” to handle heavy deliveries? As any self-respecting sex-discrimination litigator would point out, such a policy closes off some work opportunities to women and trades on impermissible (no matter how generally accurate) stereotypes of men as wielding greater upper-body strength. (DURABLE LINK)

May 1-2 – Those litigious Americans. “An ad for Dutch brewer Heineken NV depicts lawsuit-happy Americans suing each other over spilled beer…The idea is that Heineken is so good it makes Americans abandon their litigious natures.” (Erin White, “National Lampoon: U.K. Ads Satirize American Demeanor”, Wall Street Journal, Apr. 28, online subscribers only). (DURABLE LINK)