Overlawyered » politics http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:28:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Wisconsin lawyer: I won’t represent GOPers since they voted to limit fees http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/wisconsin-lawyer-i-wont-represent-gopers-since-they-voted-to-limit-fees/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/wisconsin-lawyer-i-wont-represent-gopers-since-they-voted-to-limit-fees/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:32:24 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26345 “A Milwaukee lawyer who calls himself the ‘lemon law king’ is vowing to never take on a Republican client because of a new law limiting attorney fees in Wisconsin. … In a statement issued on Monday, [Vince] Megna compared Wisconsin to North Korea.” [ABA Journal]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/wisconsin-lawyer-i-wont-represent-gopers-since-they-voted-to-limit-fees/feed/ 13 October 12 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-12-roundup-4/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-12-roundup-4/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:13:02 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24881
  • After President Obama’s Orlando photo-op with construction workers came the high-ticket fundraiser at the home of med-mal titan John Morgan [Orlando Sentinel]
  • “Lawyer Sues Facebook, Says Tracking Cookie Violates Wiretap Laws” [ABA Journal]
  • The bone-marrow bounty that could save a life — and the law that gets in the way [Virginia Postrel]
  • New coalition to repeal New York’s unfair Scaffold Law;
  • “How the FDA Could Cost You Your Life” [Scott Gottlieb on medical device lags, WSJ]
  • Mississippi: new release of sealed Scruggs-scandal documents [YallPolitics, Freeland]
  • What I learned (about false accusation) at Dartmouth [Gonzalo Lira]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-12-roundup-4/feed/ 4     Spare EPA’s heavy hand — they’re a swing state http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/spare-epas-heavy-hand-theyre-a-swing-state/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/spare-epas-heavy-hand-theyre-a-swing-state/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 05:54:21 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24618 My newest Cato at Liberty post raises an eyebrow at some remarkably cynical calculations — who’s making them isn’t entirely clear — about a recent Obama administration backtrack on environmental initiatives (& welcome Neal Boortz readers). More: ShopFloor (Texas power plants).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/spare-epas-heavy-hand-theyre-a-swing-state/feed/ 0     “Patent Bill Viewed as Bailout for a Law Firm” http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/patent-bill-viewed-as-bailout-for-a-law-firm/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/patent-bill-viewed-as-bailout-for-a-law-firm/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:32:08 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24480 Congress might provide a do-over for a drug firm that inadvertently missed filing for a patent extension by a day or two, and in so doing spare the prominent law firm WilmerHale a possible malpractice payout [Andrew Pollack, New York Times]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/patent-bill-viewed-as-bailout-for-a-law-firm/feed/ 0     “Don’t tell anyone that this petition has been assigned to me” http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/dont-tell-anyone-that-this-petition-has-been-assigned-to-me/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/dont-tell-anyone-that-this-petition-has-been-assigned-to-me/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 05:40:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24330 The disclosure of a Pennsylvania judge’s email to interested parties in a politically charged redistricting case may have stalled his hopes for advancement to the federal bench. [The Legal Intelligencer]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/dont-tell-anyone-that-this-petition-has-been-assigned-to-me/feed/ 1     June 20 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/june-20-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/june-20-roundup-3/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:11:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23460 Politics edition:

    • Mother ship? White House staffers depart for Harvard Law School [Politico]
    • New York: “Lawmakers consider lawyer-friendly med-mal bills,” even as many key legislators moonlight at personal injury firms [Reuters]
    • David Brooks on explosive political potential of Fannie Mae scandal [NYTimes] After Kentucky bar panel’s vote to disbar Chesley, Ohio AG pulls him off Fannie Mae suit [Adler, Frank, Beth Musgrave/Lexington Herald-Leader]
    • Alabama legislature removes Jim Crow language from state constitution — but black lawmakers oppose the idea [Constitutional Daily]
    • AAJ lobbyist Andy Cochran works GOP turf, has convinced trial lawyers to sponsor Christian radio program [Mokhiber, "Seventh Amendment Advocate"]
    • Centers for Disease Control funnels grants to allies for political advocacy on favored public-health causes [Jeff Stier, Daily Caller]
    • Must have mistaken her for a jury: “John Edwards Sought Millions From Heiress” [ABC News] “One thing [worse than Edwards's] conduct is the government’s effort to put him in jail for it.” [Steve Chapman]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/june-20-roundup-3/feed/ 1     Senate confirms McConnell to federal judgeship http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/senate-confirms-mcconnell-to-federal-judgeship/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/senate-confirms-mcconnell-to-federal-judgeship/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 05:53:41 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22870 By a mostly partisan vote of 50 to 44, the U.S. Senate confirmed Rhode Island plaintiff’s lawyer and political kingmaker Jack McConnell to a federal district judgeship. McConnell made his Motley Rice law firm, based in South Carolina, into Rhode Island’s biggest political donor during the same period that state officials were hiring him to run, on contingency fee, what it was hoped would be a hugely lucrative suit against former makers of lead paint. The Motley firm, with associated law firms, is credited with having made billions from tobacco and asbestos litigation and has recycled large sums into the campaign coffers of state attorneys general and other friendly politicians. [Daily Caller, Plains Daily (North Dakota contributions), Politico, ShopFloor] Earlier here, here, here, etc.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/senate-confirms-mcconnell-to-federal-judgeship/feed/ 1     Donald Trump, litigation bully http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/donald-trump-litigation-bully/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/donald-trump-litigation-bully/#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:35:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22776 At Cato at Liberty, I recall a couple of the tycoon’s ventures into the use of defamation litigation to intimidate critics — Reason #1,001 for thoughtful voters to stay well away from him.

    P.S. And here’s Radley Balko with Reason #1,002.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/donald-trump-litigation-bully/feed/ 0     February 21 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-21-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-21-roundup/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:48:33 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21594
  • Estate of Anna Nicole Smith may sue over opera based on her life [Daily Mail via Surber, other Daily Mail]
  • Maryland Department of Environment: yep, we put tracking devices on Eastern Shore watermen’s boats [Red Maryland]
  • Trial lawyers’ federal contributions went 97% to Dems last cycle [Freddoso, Examiner]
  • $6.5 million for family abuse: unusual sovereign-exposure law costs Washington taxpayers again [PoL]
  • Canadian court: no, we can’t and won’t waive loser-pays for needy litigants who lose cases [Erik Magraken]
  • CPSC considers mandating “SawStop” technology [Crede, background]
  • Gun groups alarmed over ATF pick [Chicago Tribune]
  • Jury blames hit-run death on wheelchair curb cut [four years ago on Overlawyered]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-21-roundup/feed/ 5     Election results http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/election-results-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/election-results-2/#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:41:31 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19964 Feel free to discuss in comments. Some results (our preview post from Monday is here):

    * In Iowa, Rep. Bruce Braley, a former plaintiff’s lawyer and leading spokesman for trial bar interests on Capitol Hill, appears to have squeaked through, but former ATLA/AAJ president Roxanne Conlin came nowhere close in her Senate bid against incumbent Chuck Grassley.

    * Demagogic attacks on Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bob Young failed, as Michigan voters retained him. Illinois Supreme Court justice Thomas Kilbride, greatly aided by cash from unions, Democrats and you-know-who, won’t pay a retention price for a lawless decision striking down legislated limits on med-mal suits.

    * The New York attorney general race wasn’t that tight after all, with Democrat Eric Schneiderman winning by 11 points, nor was the Connecticut senate race, where perennial Overlawyered bete noire Richard Blumenthal won by 10. Despite suggestions that attorney general candidate Kamala Harris was too far left even for California, she was running slightly ahead in late returns.

    * Rhode Island voters turned down a proposal to change the official name of their state, “”State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” to appease the misplaced sensitivities of some who imagine that the word “plantations” implies a connection to slavery.

    * Oklahomans ill-advisedly voted to forbid their courts from considering international law, even in the relatively narrow and well-defined circumstances where it has been traditional for them to do so. More: Roger Alford, OJ.

    * Big news from Ohio, where voters turned out of office Democratic attorney general Richard Cordray, lately lionized by the New York Times as the next big activist A.G. The “next Eliot Spitzer” Times curse lives on!

    * Via B.L.T., the House Judiciary Committee is set for a truly monumental ideological remake assuming that Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) is replaced by Lamar Smith (R-Tex.). Some changes will be coming along at Senate Judiciary as well.

    * Republicans scored surprise inroads in Madison County, Illinois, the pro-plaintiff jurisdiction near St. Louis that has long generated vastly more than its share of high-ticket litigation. In particular, they managed to beat influential state representative/trial lawyer Jay Hoffman of Collinsville, a one-time floor leader for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, per reports by Ann Knef at the Chamber-backed Madison County Record and the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

    * Mandatory employer recognition of unions on a “card check” basis without so much as a secret ballot? No thanks, say voters in four states [Wood; Hirsch/Workplace Prof].

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