Overlawyered » railroads

Illinois court: don’t blame railroad for asbestos delivery

Walter Olson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:43:21 +0000

“This January, the justices stopped [attorney James] Wylder’s argument dead in its tracks once again, concluding that the McLean County Circuit Court should have dismissed his three negligence suits against Illinois Central Railroad. Wylder had argued that Illinois Central was responsible for the alleged asbestos-related injuries of workers at an asbestos plant because the asbestos had arrived there by rail.” [Chamber's Madison County Record, more; background on "asbestos conspiracy" line of Illinois cases, LNL]

Tags: asbestos, deep pocket, Illinois, Madison County, railroads

Illinois court: don’t blame railroad for asbestos delivery is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Amtrak Bans 12-Year-Old Unaccompanied Child Riders”

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:14:58 +0000

Because Something Might Go Wrong, though there seems a shortage of evidence that much actually has been going wrong for youthful travelers on the railroad. If the new policy prevents youngsters from spending holidays or weekends with their loved ones, does that also count as Something Going Wrong? [Lenore Skenazy/WSJ, Hans Bader, CEI; related on airline policies]

Tags: railroads, safety

“Amtrak Bans 12-Year-Old Unaccompanied Child Riders” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

L.I.R.R. disability scandal

Walter Olson — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:49:56 +0000

The abuse of disability claims by employees of the Long Island Rail Road, exposed by the New York Times’s Walt Bogdanich three years ago and noted in several items here at the time, has at last eventuated in indictments of eleven defendants, including doctors and “facilitators.” According to prosecutors, the bogus benefit claims could have exceeded $1 billion if paid out to completion. “The Times articles reported that virtually every career employee of the railroad was applying for and receiving disability payments, giving the Long Island Rail Road a disability rate three to four times that of the average railroad.” [NYT, NRO "Corner"]

Tags: public employment, railroads

L.I.R.R. disability scandal is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Amtrak damage limits and the Chatsworth crash

Walter Olson — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:20:52 +0000

Ted Frank rebuts a lame Atlantic column (& follow-up).

Tags: damages, railroads

Amtrak damage limits and the Chatsworth crash is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Family of man hit by train suing railroad, canoe company”

Walter Olson — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:15:29 +0000

Springfield, Ohio: “The family of a man who was hit by a train while jumping off a trestle into a river two years ago is suing the railroad and a local canoe center.” The canoe company, according to the complaint, “knew or should have known that individuals frequently went onto the train trestle and jumped into the Mad River.” [Springfield News-Sun]

Tags: Ohio, personal responsibility, railroads, recreation

“Family of man hit by train suing railroad, canoe company” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Oh man, you are so lucky….You are going to make a fortune”

Walter Olson — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:17:10 +0000

A nasty fall on a train platform puts Larry Mendte face to face with some widely held attitudes that seem to treat litigiousness as a given [Philadelphia Magazine via Common Good].

Tags: Philadelphia, railroads

“Oh man, you are so lucky….You are going to make a fortune” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Claim: underfunding of Chicago transit authority constitutes racial bias

Walter Olson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:06:33 +0000

Subsidies are better for the Metra commuter rail line than for the city subways, which carry a more heavily minority ridership, says the class-action lawsuit against the State of Illinois, the RTA and the Metra. [Jennifer Fernicola, ChicagoNow]

Tags: Chicago, discrimination law, railroads

Claim: underfunding of Chicago transit authority constitutes racial bias is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:09:51 +0000

Anti-vaccine activist files defamation suit over much-discussed Wired article against Dr. Paul Offit, author Amy Wallace and Conde Nast [Orac and many followup posts]
“Kid Suspended for Bringing Peppermint Oil to School” [Free-Range Kids]
Eric Turkewitz names his favorite Blawg Reviews of the year and has kind words for ours;
“New Guide to FTC Disclosure Requirements for Product Endorsements” from Citizen Media Law;
U.K. safety panel: press misreported our views, we do want businesses to grit icy public paths [update to earlier post]
Another kid trespassing on the railroad tracks, another case headed to court [Oregonian]
“Katrina negligence lawsuit has implications for all hospitals” [USA Today, earlier]
“Judicial Misconduct: The Mice Guard The Cheese” [WSJ Law Blog on this Houston Chronicle piece]

Tags: FTC endorsement rules, hospitals, judges, Katrina, legal blogs, libel slander and defamation, railroads, schools, vaccines

January 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“4-year-old survives being hit by train”

Walter Olson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:05:45 +0000

Perhaps the most urgent question raised by this Atlanta Journal-Constitution story is not: how did Elijah Anderson manage to emerge from such a collision sufficiently unscathed to resume life as a normal kid, aside from a scar? Nor is it: why is his mother, represented by attorney Fred Lerner, planning to sue railroad CSX despite an investigative report exonerating the railroad and the general principle that right of ways are not for trespassing? No, the real question is: whose idea was it to take that camera shot of him on the tracks?

More on railroad trespassers here, here, here, etc.

Tags: Atlanta, railroads

“4-year-old survives being hit by train” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Trespasser sues railroad

Walter Olson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:08:23 +0000

She “was taking pictures on the railroad tracks in Tupelo in 2006″ and things didn’t end happily. Now her lawsuit says the train was going too fast and that the BNSF Railway Company “should have posted trespassing signs to keep people away.” People like her, that is. [AP/Jackson Clarion Ledger]

Tags: assumption of risk, railroads

Trespasser sues railroad is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system