May 31 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Richard Epstein: “Throttled by compliance” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

P.S. It looks as if from Congress will accord lawyers and some other professionals an exemption from Federal Trade Commission regulations on identity theft that would have lumped them in with more traditional lenders because they often do not bill clients at the time work is performed. Fair enough, one supposes, but also another indication of the truism that one’s success in dodging nonsensical regulation is often a function of one’s status as a potent lobby in Washington.

Product liability as model for consumer finance regulation? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 26 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

NYC bus drivers’ union in court is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

June 21 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

P.S. Commenter VMS points out that despite my choice of original headline, blurbing of books has by no means been made safe, since the judge dismissed Royall’s claim only on jurisdictional grounds that Epstein was not within the reach of the Texas courts. I’ve added to the post title accordingly.

Blurbing of books possibly safe again (or not) is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

I want to write a blog post about H. Walker Royall, the Dallas developer who sues people when they criticize his abuse of eminent domain, but I’m afraid he’ll sue me. After all, he sued Wright Gore III over a website that detailed the city of Freeport’s attempt to condemn land occupied by the Western Seafood Company, a business owned by Gore’s family, so Royall could use it for a luxury marina project. And he sued Carla Main, a journalist who wrote a book about the legal struggle over the Gores’ land, along with her publisher, Encounter Books [also a publisher of mine -- W.O.]. He sued University of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein, one of the country’s leading authorities on eminent domain, for writing a blurb that appeared on the cover of Main’s book. He even sued two newspapers that published reviews of the book.

So after thinking carefully about my potential legal exposure, I have decided not to say that Royall…

I can’t go on. I just can’t. I’m so scared of Royall that I can’t even repeat the colorful epithets that Sullum might apply to Royall if he dared (which he doesn’t) for fear that Royall will then find some excuse to sue me too. But you can go read them if you dare. More: Tim Sandefur, PLF on Eminent Domain.

Royall pain to his critics is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Microblog 2008-11-18 is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

…it is folly to act as if the private lawsuits attacking FDA warnings just backstop a porous and lax FDA. Often those lawsuits add an unwanted deterrent against the sale of desperately needed drugs. That risk is multiplied by hyperventilated state tort law that, in many instances, is lopsidedly pro-plaintiff.

(“Wyeth v. Levine Could Endanger Your Health”, Forbes, Nov. 11). Much more on the debate at Point of Law here, here, here, etc.

Richard Epstein on Wyeth v. Levine is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system