Overlawyered » Oklahoma

December 12 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:04:59 +0000

Liability suits bankrupt manufacturer of gasoline cans [Tulsa World]
Faces life imprisonment: “Greece’s statistics chief faces criminal probe” for “not cooking the books” [FT via @OlafStorbeck]
Man injured by runaway car can sue county on grounds bus shelter was built too close to street [Seattle Times]
Title IX trips up track teams [Saving Sports: Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland]
“‘Not gay enough’ softball players settle suit” [SF Chron]
Now it’s the Obama administration that’s upset with ABA over ratings of judicial nominees [Whelan]
Lawyer kiosks in UK newsstands [Knake, LEF] Lawyers open kiosk at Florida mall [ABA Journal]

Tags: bar associations, judicial nominations, Oklahoma, product liability, roads and streets, Title IX

Court dismisses suit blaming cellphone firms for driver distraction

Walter Olson — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:39:29 +0000

A novel lawsuit theory that obtained more-than-respectful coverage in the New York Times did not succeed in convincing the Oklahoma courts, notes Russell Jackson. “The Court of Civil Appeals’ decision in Doyle is a strong demonstration that trying to use civil legal duties to make the US a Nanny State is simply wrongheaded.”

Tags: cellphones, New York Times, Oklahoma

November 1 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:58:30 +0000

Election edition:

On Oklahoma ballot: grossly overbroad measure to ban use of foreign law [Atlantic Wire, Transplanted Lawyer, earlier Volokh]
Michigan race: “Dems cross the line with bigoted Supreme Court ad” [Stephen Henderson, Freep; earlier on attacks on Justice Robert Young]
Jacob Sullum is another non-fan of Andrew Cuomo’s record;
What was the exact nature of that Vancouver fundraiser so many Senate hopefuls attended? Carter Wood wishes he could add a footnote to an already strong column by George Will on the Linda McMahon-Richard Blumenthal Senate race in Connecticut;
Speaking of which, Will’s latest election roundup column is just out, while Nate Silver at the NYT’s Five Thirty Eight blog offers an outstanding hour-by-hour election-night guide;
Iowa poll shows former AAJ/ATLA president Roxanne Conlin, of SomePeopleJustNeedToBeSued.com fame, trailing far behind in bid to unseat Sen. Chuck Grassley [WHO-TV via Carter Wood's PoL election roundup;
Trial lawyers pour cash into California insurance commissioner race [CJAC]
Latest effort by New York Times to lionize activist AGs as “next Eliot Spitzers” recalls earlier Times pieces written to same formula, in the most amusing of which it lionized as the next Spitzer Ohio’s since-disgraced Marc Dann. Yet (the shaky electoral performance of such Times favorites as Massachusetts’ Martha Coakley aside) there’s reason to suspect voters this year will return a roster of AGs that’s less inclined toward business-bashing, not more [Jack Fowler at NRO].
Government a threat to liberty? Doesn’t just depend on whether “our” team’s in charge [Gene Healy, Examiner]

Tags: Andrew Cuomo, attorneys general, California, Connecticut, Iowa, judicial elections, Michigan, Oklahoma, politics

Mauch Chunk once more?

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:17:07 +0000

The historic town of Mauch Chunk, Pa. changed its name to Jim Thorpe, Pa. as part of a deal to honor the Native American-descended athlete. Now a lawsuit is invoking the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) to demand removal of Thorpe’s remains to Oklahoma [Never Yet Melted]

Meanwhile, scientists, universities and museums are considering their legal options in the face of new Interior Department interpretations of NAGPRA mandating “that after appropriate tribal consultation, transfer of culturally unidentifiable remains is to be made to a tribe from whose tribal or aboriginal lands the remains were excavated or removed.” [Indian Country Today, April; earlier posts on Kennewick Man controversy]

Tags: Indian tribes, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, science and scientists

Delegate to Durban conference up for 10th Circuit nod

Walter Olson — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:32:27 +0000

Keith Harper, now with Kilpatrick Stockton, is a longtime Native American Rights Fund attorney and class counsel in the gigantic Indian trust fund litigation, Cobell. Some critics focus on his prospective appointment for an “Oklahoma seat” on the court, others are not happy with developments in Cobell. [Tulsa World, Kimberly Craven/Billings Gazette]

Tags: Indian tribes, Oklahoma, Tenth Circuit

$1 million awarded in bicycle crash

Walter Olson — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:07:02 +0000

Most curious angle, as reported in the Tulsa World:

The plaintiffs alleged that the bike was “inherently defective and dangerous” because of the defective front fender bracket, which broke within the first week the bike was used.

Pacific Cycle countered that it had designed and manufactured an ordinary “pedal powered” bicycle but that a third party had retrofitted it with a motor.

The company claimed that the mounting of the motor was “unforeseeable misuse and modification” of the bike.

Tags: Oklahoma, product liability

Law firm ad: “The California Switchblade”

Walter Olson — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:01:19 +0000

“You don’t need to worry about nothin’, baby — I’ll cut up the competition”. [via "Five Ridiculous Lawyer Ads", CriminalJustice.Change.org]

Tags: chasing clients, Oklahoma

March 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:35:42 +0000

Jury orders Dutchess County, N.Y. school district to pay $1.25 million for not adequately addressing classmate harassment of “very dark skinned” half-Latino student; district protests that it had extensively pursued diversity/sensitivity programs [Poughkeepsie Journal]
More unwisdom: “Oklahoma House of Representatives Proposes Ban on Use of Foreign Law in Oklahoma Courts” [Volokh, earlier on Arizona bill]
Update: California environment czars won’t ban black cars, but watch out for what reflective-layer window mandates might do to cellphones and tollgate transponders [ShopFloor, earlier]
“Firm Sanctioned for ‘Perfect Storm’ of Improper Practices in Debt Collection” [NYLJ]
Critic of lie detector technology says U.K. libel law has silenced him [Times Online] Science journalist Simon Singh says fighting chiropractors’ libel suit is so draining that he’s quitting his column for the Guardian [Guardian, Citizen Media Law]
Florida: father who lost wife, son in murder/suicide at gun range drops lawsuit against the store [Orlando Sentinel]
Appeals court declines to overturn Mary Roberts sextortion conviction [MySanAntonio.com, opinion, related, earlier]
Corporation for Public Newspapering? Stimulus bucks go to “public-interest investigative journalism” [SFWeekly]

Tags: autos, California, debtor-creditor law, environment, Florida, guns, harassment law, international law, libel slander and defamation, newspapers, Oklahoma, Roberts sextortion, schools, United Kingdom

“Prosecutor Pays a Price for Chasing Commenters”

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:57:35 +0000

An Oklahoma district attorney issues a subpoena in search of the identities of critical online commenters. Events don’t develop in the way he was hoping, though, and he’ll be leaving office at the end of his term. [Eric Robinson, Citizen Media Law; McAlester, Okla.]

Tags: Oklahoma, online speech, prosecutorial abuse, subpoenas

November 2 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:06:22 +0000

Worst, most dangerous legal trend of the moment: trial lawyers continue big Capitol Hill push to overturn Supreme Court’s valuable Iqbal and Twombly decisions on lawsuit procedure [Point of Law and more, Thomas Dupree/WLF, Beck & Herrmann and more, earlier]
Lawyers rush to courthouse to beat deadline for new Oklahoma limits on liability suits [Tulsa World]
Spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown admits he’s taped reporter conversations without their consent, seeming violation of California law [SF Chronicle]
UK: motorist could face prosecution for splashing kids by driving through puddle, at what she says was kids’ request [BoingBoing]
“Is the pay czar unconstitutional?” [Bainbridge on McConnell, WSJ; Ribstein on link to PCAOB case]
More “deceptively named fruity cereal” suits in California [Lowering the Bar ("I still think this is like claiming emotional distress because you just learned 'The Hobbit' isn't a true story,") Ken at Popehat ("Froot of the Poisonous Tree of Litigiousness"), earlier here, here, here, here, etc.]
A city of stool pigeons: Chicago to pay those who inform on tax cheats [NBC Chicago]
Ill-fated stint as pole dancer leads to lawsuit against Arizona bar [Above the Law]

Tags: advertising, California, Chicago, Jerry Brown, Oklahoma, pleading, strippers and exotic dancers, United Kingdom, whistleblowers

Overlawyered » Oklahoma

December 12 roundup

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