Overlawyered » recreation

Jim Vance on overprotected childhood

Walter Olson — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:42:38 +0000

When it comes to the dangers of the demand for a zero-risk childhood, veteran Washington, D.C. broadcast personality Jim Vance seems to be on much the same page (auto-plays video) as Lenore Skenazy of Free-Range Kids.

Tags: nanny state, recreation, Washington D.C.

Jim Vance on overprotected childhood is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Isometric government: Malibu beach paths

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:24:41 +0000

Speaking as I was in the Times farm-bill symposium of what I call isometric government, in which different subsidies or regulations tend to cancel out each others’ effect, reminds me of this L.A. Times story recently blogged by Gideon Kanner: government has required that public beaches be carved out of prime Malibu coastline, but then keeps those beaches mostly inaccessible to the public: “In fact, officials discourage visitors from trying to reach the shore from the highway above out of concern that they will be injured scrambling down the 20-foot bluff,” in the words of reporter Tony Barboza.

Tags: isometric government, Los Angeles, recreation

Isometric government: Malibu beach paths is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Liability-proof your Mardi Gras parade watch party

Walter Olson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:14:07 +0000

Among ways to add to the festive atmosphere: sign-in and sign-out sheets, monitors hired to look out for slip-inducing bead spills, and rules against letting supervisors or employees pour drinks. [Melissa Landry, The Hay Ride] Earlier on Mardi Gras liability here (tossed coconuts), here (floats), here (King cake figurine), and here (flasher’s-remorse cases.

Tags: Christmas and other holidays, Louisiana, recreation

Liability-proof your Mardi Gras parade watch party is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Great moments in foreseeable misuse

Walter Olson — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:56:14 +0000

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]

Tags: jackpot justice, New York, product liability, recreation

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

February 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:02:14 +0000

“A 4-Page Playdate Waiver? Is This the New Normal?” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids; our 2000 post on "Rise of the High-School Sleepover Disclaimer"]
Spirit Airlines sets what it calls DOTUC fee, for “Dept. of Transportation Unintended Consequences” [Stoll]
How fairly are fathers treated in family court? [Nina Shapiro, Seattle Weekly via Alkon]
“‘Insider’ Trading by the Representative Plaintiff in Shareholder Litigation” [Bainbridge]
“Donation controversy focuses attention on Madison County asbestos litigation” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chamber-backed LNL]
Update: Appeals court reinstates Duluth doc’s defamation claims [DNT, earlier here, here, here; "bedside manner" criticism]
U.K.: “‘Psychic’ Sally Morgan Sues Critics for £150,000 After Refusing $1 Million to Prove Her Powers” [D.J. Grothe, HuffPo] “She’ll be calling witnesses such as ‘an uncle, or father, or a man… with a b in his first name’.” [@thegagthief]

Tags: airlines, asbestos, divorce, family law, libel slander and defamation, Madison County, recreation, Seattle, securities litigation, United Kingdom

February 6 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

That treehouse has to go

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:11:42 +0000

Kids at a Long Beach preschool had enjoyed it for thirty years without incident, but a state inspector said no. Headline on the resulting article: “Obsession with safety is ruining our playgrounds.” [Gale Holland, L.A. Times]

Tags: Los Angeles, recreation

That treehouse has to go is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 3 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:16:13 +0000

Popehat’s Ken to the rescue after Maine lawyer/lawmaker assists naturopath in bullying critical blogger [Popehat]
Newt’s “patriotism made me stray” among highlights of the year in blame-shifting [Jacob Sullum]
Nifong sidekick, now in a spot of legal bother himself, hits back with lawsuit [K C Johnson, Durham in Wonderland]
Shareholder action: “Delaware approves $285 Million in Plaintiffs’ Lawyers’ Fees” [Bainbridge, WSJ Deal Journal, WSJ Law Blog]
“Even one death is too many — WE MUST BAN NETI POTS!” [NYDN via Christopher Tozzo]
Debatable premise of Joe Nocera analysis on Stephen Glass case: bar admission turn-down = “rest of his life … destroyed” [NYT, Howard Wasserman/Prawfs, earlier]
Who says Connecticut never reforms liability? Towns won protection last year from some recreation-land tort exposure [CFPA, earlier here, here]

Tags: bar associations, bloggers and the law, Connecticut, Delaware, Duke lacrosse, recreation, safety

January 3 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Montana: “Bicyclist Gets Nearly $100G After Fall on Icy Trail”

Walter Olson — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:37:03 +0000

“The president of the Florence Park District says he’s disappointed in a system that allows a man riding a motorized bicycle on a winter night on a trail that doesn’t allow motorized vehicles to receive an insurance settlement. Half of the settlement came from a Florence bar because snow was pushed onto the trail when the bar parking lot was plowed.” [AP]

Tags: deep pocket, Montana, personal responsibility, recreation

Montana: “Bicyclist Gets Nearly $100G After Fall on Icy Trail” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Park Service sued over fatal Olympic goat goring”

Walter Olson — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:04:28 +0000

“The family of a man who was gored to death by a mountain goat in Olympic National Park is suing the Park Service.” [AP, National Parks Traveler, earlier]

Tags: animals, recreation

“Park Service sued over fatal Olympic goat goring” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Swan song for swings?”

Walter Olson — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:35:10 +0000

“The state inspectors strongly advised us against it,” said the director of a New Jersey preschool. [Greg Olear at Free-Range Kids]

Tags: recreation, safety

“Swan song for swings?” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system