Overlawyered » Richard Blumenthal http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:22:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 October 11 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/october-11-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/october-11-roundup/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:09:19 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19630
  • “Feds seek to halt inmate’s frequent lawsuits” [AP; J.L. Riches]
  • “SeaWorld Blasts ‘Improper’ Suit Over Trainer’s Death” [OnPoint News, earlier]
  • Does new NY law serve as road map for charities that wish to defy donor intent? [CultureGrrl]
  • Cruise ship case an example of tensions that arise when defense lawyers jump fence to join plaintiffs’ side [Julie Kay, DBR]
  • More on Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal’s “my lawsuits create jobs” stance [Bainbridge; related, New York Times Magazine (opponent MacMahon: "His business is suing people.")]
  • Australia: “Autistic student sues over test” [The Age]
  • “The most conservative court? Hardly” [Jacoby, Globe] And Justice Breyer, for one, has “rejected the notion that the U.S. Supreme Court has a pro-business slant and said the court doesn’t rule in favor of companies any more frequently than it has historically.” [Bloomberg via Adler, Volokh]
  • “Abducted by aliens? Call now for compensation” [four years ago on Overlawyered; Germany]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/10/october-11-roundup/feed/ 0     September 9 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/09/september-9-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/09/september-9-roundup-2/#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:00:10 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19179
  • “Bullying Busybody for Senate: How Connecticut’s attorney general beat Craigslist into submission” [Sullum, Harper] Blumenthal’s Senate campaign sputtering despite huge advantages [Jack Fowler, NRO] Lloyd Grove interview with challenger Linda McMahon [Daily Beast]
  • “How Much Does Defensive Medicine Cost? One Study Says $46 Billion” [WSJ Health Blog, NY Times] Plus: a cardiologist’s comment;
  • “Man sues over parking ticket, says it disclosed too much info” [Obscure Store, suburban Chicago Daily Herald]
  • New allegations emerge in much-discussed “rape by deception” case in Israel [FrumForum, earlier, an academic comments]
  • A Connecticut village turns down money from Hartford and tackles a historic preservation project on its own [me at Cato]
  • NY Governor signs bill giving housekeepers, nannies new powers to sue employers for overtime, vacations [Workplace Prof] Plus: Hans in comments wonders whether the duty to avoid “hostile environment” harassment will collide with the right of free speech on sexual matters taken for granted (heretofore, at least) in a home environment.
  • “Lawyers sue Facebook for letting kids like advertisements” [Gryphon, PoL]
  • Per his foes, Gilded Age NYC trial lawyer William Howe used onion-scented handkerchief to summon tears at command [five years ago at Overlawyered]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/09/september-9-roundup-2/feed/ 6     “Blumenthal: The ‘A’ in AG is for Activist” http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/blumenthal-the-a-in-ag-is-for-activist/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/blumenthal-the-a-in-ag-is-for-activist/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:54:44 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18958 His hometown newspaper, the Greenwich Time, profiles the Connecticut attorney general who’s now running for Senate against Republican nominee and televised wrestling impresario Linda McMahon. Jane Genova, previewing the race at Pajamas Media, quotes me on the competing forms of showmanship involved:

    Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute… puts it this way: “So now Blumenthal, known for years of legal posturing and grandstanding against business opponents, will face off against someone known for building the World Wrestling Entertainment empire. I’d say the two operations actually resemble each other in many ways, except the spectacles Blumenthal puts on have been more stagy and less dignified, and the opponents getting beaten up aren’t there of their own free will.”

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/blumenthal-the-a-in-ag-is-for-activist/feed/ 0     August 13 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-13-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-13-roundup/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:06:17 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18865
  • Lawyer sued for sexual harassment countersues, wins $1.55 million in damages [The Recorder]
  • Court rejects another challenge to tobacco multistate settlement agreement [Sullum, Reason]
  • European human rights claim: “Fury as German doctor seeks injunction against victim’s sons” [Daily Mail]
  • New CPSC rulemakings on CPSIA testing frequency and component testing could sink many small businesses [Woldenberg]
  • Connecticut AG Blumenthal picks fight with life insurers [Hartford Courant, with comments]
  • Undies moral: “Excess litigiousness is part of the whole shebang of dangerizing everything.” [Skenazy, Free-Range Kids]
  • “False-Marking Suits Head for a Showdown” [Robbins, Texas Lawyer]
  • “I think my years in the [adult film] industry will make me a great lawyer.” [Above the Law]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-13-roundup/feed/ 2     July 30 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/july-30-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/july-30-roundup-2/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:55:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18655
  • Hilton Head dispute over pet turkeys leads to $4.25 million verdict [Island Packet via Lowering the Bar]
  • “Lucasfilm lightsaber legal threat letter sells for $3,850″ [BoingBoing, earlier]
  • Raw milk: “If The Government Says That It’s Not About Freedom, Then It’s Just NOT” [Ken at Popehat vs. L.A. Times]
  • Dell “failed to stress” accounting disclosure. SEC: that will be $100 million [TJIC]
  • Dodd-Frank dubbed “Lawyers’ and Consultants’ Full Employment Act of 2010″ [Mark Perry, WSJ Law Blog]
  • “Did liberal judges invent the standing doctrine? An Empirical Study of the Evolution of Standing, 1921-2006″ [Ho/Ross, Stanford Law Review]
  • Office of Connecticut AG Blumenthal doesn’t emerge with glory from fertility doctor case [Pesci]
  • Massachusetts high court tosses 125-year-old rule: owners now face wider liability for snow/ice hazards [Globe]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/july-30-roundup-2/feed/ 2     “Worst state attorneys general”, cont’d http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/worst-state-attorneys-general-contd/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/worst-state-attorneys-general-contd/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:54:29 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18420 Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute informs me that Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal has in a sense won his recount after all: a recalculation taking into account a bit of overlooked data has now moved him up from #3 to #2 on this year’s list, though he’s still essentially tied with Oklahoma’s Drew Edmondson. In first place: California’s Jerry Brown, while perennial favorites Patrick Lynch of Rhode Island and Darrell McGraw of West Virginia fill the #4 and #5 places, and a newcomer, William Sorrell of Vermont, makes an appearance at #6.

    More: Bader in the Examiner on the selection process.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/worst-state-attorneys-general-contd/feed/ 1     “The Nation’s Worst Attorneys General” http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/the-nations-worst-attorneys-general/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/the-nations-worst-attorneys-general/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:09:28 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18378 At only #3, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal demands a recount [Hans Bader, CEI, PDF]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/the-nations-worst-attorneys-general/feed/ 3     June 23 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-23-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-23-roundup-2/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:07:19 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17906
  • Judge blocks sweeping Obama administration ban on new offshore drilling [Roger Pilon, Cato] Some reasons judge may have found ban irrational [Lowry, NRO, scroll to reader comment; Gus Lubin, Business Insider] More on Jones Act waivers in the Gulf [Bainbridge, earlier]
  • Connecticut AG Blumenthal launches investigation of Google Street View [Rick Green, Courant]
  • Florida judge tosses out $10 million libel verdict against St. Petersburg Times [St. P.T.]
  • Lawyer in British Columbia suspends practice after bizarre jury tampering charges [CBC]
  • “Disclosed to death”: why laws mandating disclosure are so overused and overbroad [Falkenberg, Forbes on work of Omri Ben-Shahar and Carl E. Schneider, via PoL]
  • Judge dismisses controversial Pennsylvania case against Johnson & Johnson over Risperdal marketing, Gov. Rendell had hired major donor to run suit on contingency [LNL, McDonald/NJLRA, earlier]
  • Rick Hills vs. Ilya Somin on federalism and constitutional enforcement of property rights [Prawfsblawg, Volokh]
  • Beware proposed expansion of Federal Trade Commission powers [Wood, ShopFloor]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-23-roundup-2/feed/ 2     June 14 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-14-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-14-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:16:53 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17779
  • Study: Lawyers overestimate their chance of prevailing in litigation [Post, Volokh]
  • Novell court victory might spell end to SCO Linux-infringement claims [GrokLaw, earlier]
  • “Law firms violating copyrights?” [Mister Thorne]
  • Lawyers say New Jersey money-laundering statute “uniquely criminalizes the mere possession of U.S. currency” [NJLJ]
  • Ted Frank vs. critic on $28 million Sacramento nursing home award [PoL]
  • Advocates push “right to development” for developing countries [Kelly, Global Governance Watch]
  • For once Connecticut AG Blumenthal wants a damage award reduced [Hartford Courant, earlier at PoL]
  • “Did You Know That the Real World Has an STD Waiver?” [Mystal, AtL]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-14-roundup-2/feed/ 4     June 10 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-10-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/06/june-10-roundup-3/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:12:39 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17725
  • Compensation awards to soldiers in the UK: £161,000 for losing leg and arm, but £186,896 for sex harassment? [Telegraph]
  • Judge in banana pesticide fraud case says threats have been made against her and against witnesses [AP, L.A. Times]
  • Teacher plans to sue religious school that fired her for having premarital sex [Orlando Sentinel]
  • Now sprung from hoosegow, class-actioneer Lerach on progressive lecture circuit and “living in luxury” [Stoll, Carter Wood at PoL and ShopFloor (Campaign for America's Future conference), San Diego Reader via Pero]
  • Connecticut law banning “racial ridicule” has palpable constitutional problems, you’d think, but has resulted in many prosecutions and some convictions [Volokh, Gideon]
  • Gone with the readers: newsmagazines, metro newspapers facing fewer libel suits [NY Observer] More: Lyrissa Lidsky, Prawfs.
  • Having Connecticut press comfortably in his pocket helped Blumenthal turn the tables against NY Times [Stein/HuffPo] Must not extend to the New Britain Herald News, though;
  • Interview with editor Brian Anderson of City Journal [Friedersdorf, Atlantic] I well remember being there as part of the first issue twenty years ago.
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