Overlawyered » New Zealand

April 25 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:15:01 +0000

Eugene Volokh on civil liberties problems with the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization [first, second posts]
More coverage of the “N.C. vs. diet advice blogger” story we noted in February [Sara Burrows/Carolina Journal, Brian Doherty/Reason]
A case for an administrative alternative to asbestos litigation [Michael Hiltzik, L.A. Times] More on administered compensation funds [Adam Zimmerman, Prawfs]
Scuttle-the-boat insurance fraud scheme goes amusingly wrong [Lowering the Bar]
“To lower prices at the pump, abolish the boutique fuel regime” [Steven Hayward, Weekly Standard]
Supreme Court denies certiorari in NYC rent control case [Trevor Burrus, Cato; earlier here and here] But it does grant cert in Cato-backed property rights action [Ark. Fish & Game v. U.S.; Shapiro]
New Zealand’s innovative public policies: left, right or something else? [Eric Crampton] Let’s be more like the Scandinavian countries [Tim Worstall, UK] Don’t forget loser-pays…

Tags: asbestos, bloggers and the law, domestic violence, eat drink and be merry, insurance fraud, loser pays, New Zealand, North Carolina, oil industry, Supreme Court, Sweden, Victim Compensation Fund

April 25 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

November 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:29:23 +0000

“Kentucky antidiscrimination law doesn’t bar discrimination based on litigiousness” [Volokh]
“Lawyer sues to stop fireworks show; now wants $756K in fees from taxpayers” [CJAC, San Diego]
Leahy bill reauthorizing VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) includes language codifying OCR assault on campus due process [Bader, Daily Caller, Inside Higher Ed, FIRE, earlier here, here]
“One-Ninth the Freedom Kids Used To Have” [Free-Range Kids] “WARNING: Baby in pram! Anything could happen!” [same]
New Zealand considers criminalizing breaches of fiduciary duty [Prof. Bainbridge]
From libertarian Steve Chapman, a favorable rating for Rahm Emanuel as Chicago mayor [Chicago Tribune]
Did California privacy legislation just regulate bloggers? [Eric Goldman, Paul Alan Levy]

Tags: attorneys' fees, bloggers and the law, California, Chicago, discrimination law, New Zealand, privacy

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

Woman finds “demonic” face on canned pear

Walter Olson — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:42:22 +0000

And wants recompense from the fruit canner, in New Zealand. [Stuff.co.nz]

Tags: food safety, New Zealand

Woman finds “demonic” face on canned pear is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:42:20 +0000

Suit by Hurricane Katrina victims against Army Corps of Engineers set for trial April 20 [WSJ law blog, Frankel/AmLaw Daily, earlier]
Some criminal defense arguments are creative, which doesn’t mean they’ll work [Ambrogi/Legal Blog Watch]
Words to avoid in real-estate ads: safe, quiet, family-friendly, bachelor’s, walking distance [UrbanDigs.com, New York Post] And better not mention the quadruple murder in the house either [Fountain]
The questionable science of repressed memories [Joann Wypijewski, The Nation]
National coverage of 14 states’ ban on fish-nibble pedicures [WSJ via OpenMarket; earlier]
States move to revoke medical license of Dr. Ray Harron, accused of falsely diagnosing thousands of plaintiffs in asbestos cases [(Chamber-backed) SE Texas Record]
Conan tales are public domain in New Zealand, but online reading of them there draws nastygram anyway [BoingBoing and followup]
“Wrestler stages a fall at 7-Eleven in attempt to collect $50,000″ [Obscure Store, Philadelphia Daily News]

Tags: advertising, asbestos, copyright, Katrina, New Zealand, real estate, taxpayers

March 24 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Locked-out Overlawyered readers, in Australia and elsewhere

Walter Olson — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:14:46 +0000

For quite a while I’ve been getting complaints that readers in other countries — Australia, in particular — are locked out of Overlawyered with a “403 — you don’t have permission to access the server” error message. (Similarly, see these bulletin board discussions from New Zealand and Germany). Reader Stephen Mepham from Australia wrote to alert me when he encountered this problem on switching to a new cable provider, and helpfully included his IP number (the 777.77.7.777 thing). That allowed me to track down what had happened: in response to a series of spam and denial-of-service attacks, our hosting providers over the years have taken aggressive measures to exclude various large blocks of IP numbers (as well as country domains associated with spam and DOS attacks). I’ve now taken a few gingerly steps to relax these controls, which I hope should let more Australian readers access the site in particular. Should the attacks resume, of course, we’ll need to go back to tougher blocking.

If you’re a reader who’s encountered this problem or knows someone who has, give it a try again, and feel free to email me with a message along the lines of “Yes, now it works again” or “No, I still get blocked” — and try to include your IP address if convenient, which you can identify here.

Tags: about the site, Australia, Germany, New Zealand

Locked-out Overlawyered readers, in Australia and elsewhere is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Problems with access to Overlawyered

Walter Olson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:28:13 +0000

We continue to hear reports, scattered and so far unexplained, from readers around the world who get an “unavailable” or “forbidden” message when they call up http://www.overlawyered.com in their browser. Thus some readers in Australia have no problem with access to the site, while others have reported that they are blocked; and we got a similarly inconsistent report the other day from New Zealand.

The Australian lawyer who writes the interesting blog Stumblng Tumblr writes to say that

I have outflanked the problem. I only regret that it took me so long to think of it. I use Bloglines and it permits me to choose how much of a feed I want to see in Bloglines itself. It finally occurred to me to change the setting for Overlawyered to show the full post in Bloglines in every case, rather than just a summary. That means that I don’t have to go to your site. I just read it all in Bloglines.

I’m very happy to be able to read Overlawyered again!

Tags: about the site, Australia, New Zealand

Problems with access to Overlawyered is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Welcome New Zealand radio listeners

Walter Olson — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:12:38 +0000

I was on Marcus Lush’s Radio Live talk show out of Auckland this morning, discussing American employment law. My book The Excuse Factory: How Employment Law Is Paralyzing the American Workplace is available on Amazon.

Tags: disabled rights, New Zealand, on TV and radio, The Excuse Factory, workplace

Welcome New Zealand radio listeners is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Banning spanking in Massachusetts?

Walter Olson — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:35:55 +0000

Since 1979 nineteen countries led by Sweden have banned corporal punishment by parents of kids in the home. A bill scheduled for debate today before the Massachusetts legislature would make that state the first to join the trend. (Laurel Sweet, “Bay State’s going slap-happy”, Boston Herald, Nov. 27; “Anti-spanking bill is folly” (editorial), Nov. 28; Stephen Bainbridge, Nov. 22 (New Zealand)). Earlier: Apr. 19, 2004 (U.K.); Feb. 14 and Feb. 24, 2007 (proposal in California).

More: such laws in both Sweden and New Zealand have been softened (i.e., made more lenient toward parents) by the interpolation of reasonableness standards, per Kiwi website Big News (via QuizLaw).

Tags: family law, Massachusetts, New Zealand, Sweden

Banning spanking in Massachusetts? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

NZ: You can immigrate, but your spouse can’t

Walter Olson — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:51:40 +0000

At least not unless she loses some weight (Paul Chapman and Graeme Baker, “New Zealand bars British man’s ‘fat’ wife”, Daily Telegraph, Nov. 21; Zycher, Medical Progress Today, Nov. 21). Australia “last year refused citizenship to a healthy British woman who wasn’t heavy enough.” (Aida Edemarian, “Are you too fat to emigrate?”, Guardian, Nov. 20).

Tags: Australia, New Zealand

NZ: You can immigrate, but your spouse can’t is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system