Overlawyered » product liability http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sun, 27 May 2012 14:01:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 April 30 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/april-30-roundup-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=april-30-roundup-2 http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/april-30-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:10:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27426 Because Washington knows best: “U.S. ban sought on cell phone use while driving” [Reuters, earlier here, here, here, etc.] More here; and LaHood spokesman says Reuters overstated his boss’s position. Janice Brown’s Hettinga opinion: Lithwick can’t abide “starkly ideological” judging of this sort, except of course when she favors it [Root, earlier] At Yale law [...]

April 30 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Because Washington knows best: “U.S. ban sought on cell phone use while driving” [Reuters, earlier here, here, here, etc.] More here; and LaHood spokesman says Reuters overstated his boss’s position.
  • Janice Brown’s Hettinga opinion: Lithwick can’t abide “starkly ideological” judging of this sort, except of course when she favors it [Root, earlier] At Yale law conclave, legal establishment works itself into hysterical froth over individual mandate case [Michael Greve] And David Bernstein again corrects some Left commentators regarding the standing of child labor under the pre-New Deal Constitution;
  • Latest antiquities battle: Feds, Sotheby’s fight over 1,000-year-old Khmer statue probably removed from Cambodia circa 1960s [VOA, Kent Davis]
  • Sebelius surprised by firestorm over religious (non-) exemption, hadn’t sought written opinions as to whether it was constitutional [Becket, Maguire] Obamanauts misread the views of many Catholics on health care mandate [Potemra, NRO]
  • “20 Years for Standing Her Ground Against a Violent Husband” [Jacob Sullum] How Trayvon Martin story moved through the press [Poynter] And Reuters’ profile of George Zimmerman is full of details one wishes reporters had brought out weeks ago;
  • Coaching accident fraud is bad enough, making off with client funds lends that extra squalid touch [NYLJ]
  • Kip Viscusi, “Does Product Liability Make Us Safer?” [Cato's Regulation magazine, PDF]
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    April 30 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/april-30-roundup-2/feed/ 6     Dangerous sleepers http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/dangerous-sleepers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dangerous-sleepers http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/dangerous-sleepers/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:12:42 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=28545 “Philip Morris Not Liable for Fire Started By Cigarette” That title says it all, except for the part about it taking eight years for the defense to win a summary judgment. [Nick Farr, Abnormal Use] Tweet Tags: fires, product liability, tobacco

    Dangerous sleepers is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     “Philip Morris Not Liable for Fire Started By Cigarette” That title says it all, except for the part about it taking eight years for the defense to win a summary judgment. [Nick Farr, Abnormal Use]

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    Dangerous sleepers is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/dangerous-sleepers/feed/ 2     Great moments in foreseeable misuse http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/great-moments-in-foreseeable-misuse/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=great-moments-in-foreseeable-misuse http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/great-moments-in-foreseeable-misuse/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:56:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27669 Cybex International, a manufacturer of exercise equipment, has agreed to pay $19.5 million to a Buffalo-area woman “who was injured by a piece of Cybex equipment when she improperly used a leg machine to stretch her shoulder.” A jury had awarded $66 million and a New York appellate court upheld the verdict, while reducing the [...]

    Great moments in foreseeable misuse is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     Cybex International, a manufacturer of exercise equipment, has agreed to pay $19.5 million to a Buffalo-area woman “who was injured by a piece of Cybex equipment when she improperly used a leg machine to stretch her shoulder.” A jury had awarded $66 million and a New York appellate court upheld the verdict, while reducing the sum to $44 million. [Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York; Lintoid/Seeking Alpha and more; Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association]

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    Great moments in foreseeable misuse is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/great-moments-in-foreseeable-misuse/feed/ 6     December 12 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-12-roundup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=december-12-roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-12-roundup/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:04:59 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26022 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, [...]

    December 12 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • 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]
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    December 12 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-12-roundup/feed/ 4     “Buying a product specifically because it doesn’t have doors…” http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/buying-a-product-specifically-because-it-doesn%e2%80%99t-have-doors/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=buying-a-product-specifically-because-it-doesn%25e2%2580%2599t-have-doors http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/buying-a-product-specifically-because-it-doesn%e2%80%99t-have-doors/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:46:04 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25876 “…then suing for the same reason seems illogical.” [Nick Farr, Abnormal Use, on Yamaha Rhino cases] Tweet Tags: autos, product liability

    “Buying a product specifically because it doesn’t have doors…” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     “…then suing for the same reason seems illogical.” [Nick Farr, Abnormal Use, on Yamaha Rhino cases]

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    “Buying a product specifically because it doesn’t have doors…” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/buying-a-product-specifically-because-it-doesn%e2%80%99t-have-doors/feed/ 1     November 11 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-11-roundup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-11-roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-11-roundup/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:56:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25363 Manhattan Institute’s “Trial Lawyers Inc.” series looks at cozy relations between state attorneys general and plaintiff’s bar [report, related featured discussion, Copland, Examiner] Report comes down hard on Ohio’s Richard Cordray, nominee to head CFPB [Copland, Gorodetski/PoL] Judge tosses Cordray suit against credit rating agencies [O'Brien/LNL, Krauss/American Thinker] Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller denounces report [...]

    November 11 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Manhattan Institute’s “Trial Lawyers Inc.” series looks at cozy relations between state attorneys general and plaintiff’s bar [report, related featured discussion, Copland, Examiner] Report comes down hard on Ohio’s Richard Cordray, nominee to head CFPB [Copland, Gorodetski/PoL] Judge tosses Cordray suit against credit rating agencies [O'Brien/LNL, Krauss/American Thinker] Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller denounces report [IowaPolitics.com]
  • “The Tort of Internet Mobbing Is Perfect For Suing The Internet” [Popehat]
  • Canada faces challenge to hate speech law [Arthur Bright, Citizen Media Law] Do not put a frog down Her Majesty’s back at the county fair [Lowering the Bar]
  • “Markopolos eyes a fortune from BNY whistleblowing” [Felix Salmon] “Bounty hunters in Korea” and closer to home [Alex Tabarrok] “Developments in Whistleblower Laws: Advantage Whistleblower” [Larry Wood & Richard William Diaz, Federalist Society "Engage"]
  • As third party liability for crime anecdotes go, the case of Bonilla v. Motel 6 is on the lurid side [Point of Law]
  • Prospect of cyberwar: official U.S. response is commando lawyering [Stewart Baker, Foreign Policy]
  • Why it’s hard to stimulate manufacturing through product liability reform in one state [Rick Esenberg]
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    November 11 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-11-roundup/feed/ 0     October 27 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-27-roundup-3/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=october-27-roundup-3 http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-27-roundup-3/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:41:10 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25293 “Table Saw without ‘saw stop’ technology defective: First Circuit” [George Conk, Ted Frank, earlier here, here] Court OKs burned patron’s flaming-rum suit against Bacardi [Reuters] Feds won’t pursue Title IX complaint against 60 Oregon school districts [Oregonian] IRS putting the squeeze on small tax preparers [WaPo] How the incinerator (and decades of bad decisions) bankrupted [...]

    October 27 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • “Table Saw without ‘saw stop’ technology defective: First Circuit” [George Conk, Ted Frank, earlier here, here]
  • Court OKs burned patron’s flaming-rum suit against Bacardi [Reuters]
  • Feds won’t pursue Title IX complaint against 60 Oregon school districts [Oregonian]
  • IRS putting the squeeze on small tax preparers [WaPo]
  • How the incinerator (and decades of bad decisions) bankrupted Harrisburg [Bond Girl]
  • “The most thoughtful, reasonable guy in the whole symposium” — aw [Greenfield on law licensing, earlier] P.S. And similarly from David Lat;
  • Adam Freedman and readers on Florida “wrongful birth” case [Ricochet, earlier]
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    October 27 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-27-roundup-3/feed/ 5     October 7 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-7-roundup-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=october-7-roundup-2 http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-7-roundup-2/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:39:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24535 Prodded by UNICEF and the Hague Convention, countries cut back on international adoption, leaving kids to future of orphanage life [Reason.tv video, interviewing among others Harvard's Elizabeth Bartholet; more] Critics: lawyers are main winners in NYC rent settlement [NYDN] NYC rent stabilization rules gave landlords incentive to do luxury conversions [FWIW] Breast-aurant rivals in court: [...]

    October 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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  • Prodded by UNICEF and the Hague Convention, countries cut back on international adoption, leaving kids to future of orphanage life [Reason.tv video, interviewing among others Harvard's Elizabeth Bartholet; more]
  • Critics: lawyers are main winners in NYC rent settlement [NYDN] NYC rent stabilization rules gave landlords incentive to do luxury conversions [FWIW]
  • Breast-aurant rivals in court: “Hooters Suing Twin Peaks, Which Previously Sued Grand Tetons” [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
  • Jonathan Chait: it’ll be “useful” for debate if CEOs “fear for their personal safety” [Matt Welch, related, similar (see "Patterns of Intimidation"), also related to "occupation" as tactic]
  • Ethics complaint charges that boilerplate affidavits led to fee approval for lawyer in Bronx Surrogate’s Court [ABA Journal]
  • “Widow allowed to sue tobacco companies [whose products] husband didn’t use” [Florida, DBR] Appeals court: manufacturer not under legal duty to warn of asbestos injury caused by another manufacturer’s products [Business Insurance]
  • Debit card fee: made in D.C. [Glenn Reynolds; related, Joe Weisenthal]
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    October 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-7-roundup-2/feed/ 1     The cost of light planes http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/the-cost-of-light-planes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-cost-of-light-planes http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/the-cost-of-light-planes/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:37:40 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24381 The cost of buying a Piper Cub or similar sport/light aircraft has risen very steeply as measured in constant dollars or labor hours since 1947, in contrast to the cost of most other engineered goods. Economists David Henderson and W. Kip Viscusi know why. Tweet Tags: aviation, product liability

    The cost of light planes is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     The cost of buying a Piper Cub or similar sport/light aircraft has risen very steeply as measured in constant dollars or labor hours since 1947, in contrast to the cost of most other engineered goods. Economists David Henderson and W. Kip Viscusi know why.

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    The cost of light planes is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/the-cost-of-light-planes/feed/ 2     “Invacare wheelchair not equipped with flags” http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/invacare-wheelchair-not-equipped-with-flags/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=invacare-wheelchair-not-equipped-with-flags http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/invacare-wheelchair-not-equipped-with-flags/#comments Wed, 27 Jul 2011 05:02:38 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24035 Illinois: “The daughter of a St. Clair County man killed while crossing a DuQuoin street in his wheelchair is suing the makers of the wheelchair and the driver of the car that allegedly hit him. … [Candess] Higgerson claims the wheelchair, made by Invacare and sold by The Scooter Store, was defective because it was [...]

    “Invacare wheelchair not equipped with flags” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     Illinois: “The daughter of a St. Clair County man killed while crossing a DuQuoin street in his wheelchair is suing the makers of the wheelchair and the driver of the car that allegedly hit him. … [Candess] Higgerson claims the wheelchair, made by Invacare and sold by The Scooter Store, was defective because it was not equipped with flags or other devices to make it visible to motorists.” [Madison County Record]

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    “Invacare wheelchair not equipped with flags” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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