Overlawyered » Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

January 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:42:18 +0000

Per Chevron, Kerry Kennedy getting undisclosed percentage of the take, potentially in millions, to side with plaintiffs in Ecuador suit [NY Post] Long New Yorker take-out on case [Patrick Radden Keefe]
Freetail Brewing fields a nastygram: “How to Comply With a Cease-and-Desist Letter But Still Win” [Lowering the Bar]
I.e. boycotts illegal? Odd Minnesota law bans economic “reprisals” based on “political activity.” [Volokh]
“Chris McGrath v. Vaughan Jones: An Unpleasant Peek Into U.K. Libel Law” [Popehat; suit over science-and-theology book review] Related: “You Can’t Read This Book: why libel tourists love London” [Nick Cohen, Guardian, on his new book]
Business experience isn’t be-all or end-all for presidential qualifications, but might avert some policy howlers [Kling]
“Arbitration Is Here to Stay and One Lawyer Says That Is Good for Consumers” [Alan Kaplinsky interview, Mickey Meese/Forbes, PoL]
Off-topic random thought: “Iranian nuclear scientist who moonlights in Broadway Spider-Man cast” must be world’s most uninsurable job description;
“D.C. Lawmakers Propose Requiring Students to Apply to College” [Fox]

Tags: arbitration, beer and brewers, Chevron, Minnesota, nastygrams, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., schools, United Kingdom, Washington D.C.

Environmental law roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:03:02 +0000

Peter Schweizer: “To RFK, Jr: I’m No Sock Puppet, But You Sir Are a Bootlegger” [Huffington Post; some background on America's Most Irresponsible Public Figure®]
Will legal campaign succeed in shutting down natural gas fracking? [WLF, David Oliver, CL&P, Abby Wisse Schachter/NYP]
Nice work if you can get it: key figure in dubious Chevron-Ecuador expert report slated for National Academy of Sciences reappointment [WizBang, earlier]
EPA’s move-cement-production-to-China plan runs into uncooperative judge [Josiah Neeley, Daily Caller]
Spare that tree? Environmentalists battle Montana underbrush clearance aimed at preventing catastrophic fires [William Perry Pendley, MSLF] More on trees and power outages in Connecticut [WSJ, related earlier]
New book on Endangered Species Act reform [James Burling, Federalist Society]
Rural property owners foot the bill for California green policies [Steven Greenhut]
“What are you in for?” “Backed-up toilets” [Shannen Coffin, NRO]

Tags: California, Chevron, Connecticut, endangered species, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, Montana, oil industry, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., trees

April 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 05:11:58 +0000

Time to put teeth back into sanctions: more on reintroduction in Congress of LARA, the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act [Wajert, Wood, more, earlier]
RFK-Jr.-&-friends watch: Environmentalists wrangle in court over “keeper” monicker [Coleman]
More on Chicago school that bars home-brought lunches [Adler, Welch, earlier]
Definition of “cyber-bullying” in newly passed Arkansas bill could imperil legitimate speech [Volokh] Related: Harvey Silverglate video.
Thoughts on a new Hungarian constitution [Ilya Shapiro, Cato at Liberty]
Court reveals Righthaven’s operating agreement with client newspaper chain [Legal Satyricon, PaidContent, Las Vegas Sun]
Cops: Ohio man stole gavel from judge [Lorain Chronicle-Telegram, Smoking Gun]

Tags: Arkansas, bullying, constitutional law, RightHaven, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sanctions

Salon yanks discredited RFK Jr. vaccine piece

Walter Olson — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:48:32 +0000

Six years late, the online publication is throwing in the towel on a notorious venture into antiscientific claptrap by America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure®, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Meanwhile, Carter at Point of Law reports that the newly civility-aware celebrity environmentalist will be headlining a “Progressive Voices Cruise” of the Caribbean that by total coincidence will also feature attorney Michael Papantonio, with whose Levin Papantonio injury-law firm the hothead scion has long been associated, a connection curiously absent from his current Wikipedia page and most other coverage (& welcome Jonathan Adler readers).

Tags: autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., vaccines

January 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:19:23 +0000

When naming a new law, please, no acronyms, no victim names, and no assumptions about what it will accomplish [WSJ Law Blog on Brian Christopher Jones's recommendations] More: Wood.
America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure® — that would be RFK Jr. — sounds off on Tucson massacre [Hemingway, Examiner]
More press attention for CPSC’s dubious consumer complaint database [Washington Post; my take last month]
An appellate win for Internet anonymity in Pennsylvania [Levy, CL&P]
Santa Clara lead paint case: Supreme Court won’t review government misuse of contingency lawyers [Wood, ShopFloor]
DC cops’ “post and forfeit” policy deserves scrutiny [Greenfield]
“Philosophy Explains How Legal Ethics Turn Lawyers Into Liars” [Kennerly]
“Marshall, Texas: Patent Central” [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: contingent fee, CPSC, online speech, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Washington D.C.

New at Point of Law

Walter Olson — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:22:17 +0000

Things you’re missing if you’re not keeping up with my other site:

Despite New Yorkers’ outrage over railroad retirement disability abuses, Cuomo probe accomplishes little;
Founded by America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure® RFK Jr., the Waterkeeper Alliance is with reason a highly controversial group. Should the University of Maryland be enlisting students regularly in its litigation campaigns?
NYT relies on plaintiff lawyer source in accusatory story about Pope, then has to walk the story back;
Louisiana judge: “gradual”, “environmental” insurance exclusions don’t apply to bad-drywall claims;
New CPSC product complaint database could invite erroneous or even malicious submissions, critics say;
CBS “60 Minutes” stonewalls Columbia Journalism Review critique of its Chevron-Ecuador segment.

Tags: Catholic Church, CPSC, CPSIA, insurance, Maryland, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

September 11 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:13:15 +0000

House Ways & Means — yep, Charlie Rangel’s own — passes bill slamming taxpayers for innocent errors [James Peaslee, WSJ, via Alkon]
Must protect the children! “Parents banned from British school sports event” [Common Room] After-school pickup procedures can get a little crazy too [Free-Range Kids, Florida]
Once again, America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure® (that’d be RFK Jr.) sounds off on an environmental dispute to which he turns out to have personal financial ties [Greenwire via Eco-Pragmatism]
Allegations in ugly Florida law firm breakup include misallocation of Hillary Clinton campaign money [DBR]
When in court, try to avoid following the example of “Girls Gone Wild” impresario Joe Francis [Lowering the Bar and more, earlier]
“Judge Allowed to Sue N.Y. Daily News, But Not a Lawyer Thought to Be a Source” [ABA Journal, NYLJ]
New Hampshire judge rules for divorced father who disapproves of homeschooling [Volokh]
ABA Journal is taking nominations for its annual best-of “Blawg 100″ list [hint, nudge]

Tags: child protection, Hillary Clinton, libel slander and defamation, New Hampshire, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., schools, taxes, United Kingdom

“Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?”

Walter Olson — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:27:39 +0000

A major article in the new Discover. We’ve been covering Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (and his ties to the mass-tort litigation business) for a long time.

Tags: autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., vaccines

April 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:59:04 +0000

The customer who couldn’t be stopped? “Family of car salesman killed in 90 mph test drive gets $13M” [Obscure Store]
Arizona bar disciplinary authorities move toward possible suspension for two high-volume consumer lawyers [ABA Journal]
Trial begins on claim U.S. Army Corps of Engineers liable for Katrina levee breaks [John Schwartz, New York Times]
Always good for copy: now Jack Thompson is riling Utah lawmakers [GameSpot]
America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure® (that’d be RFK Jr.) is now blasting Obama [Brian Ross, ABCNews.com "Blotter" via ShopFloor]
“Burning of Surreal Boat Sparks $1M Artists Rights Suit” [Heller/OnPoint News]
Nice profile of author Philip K. Howard [The New Yorker] And a big spread from the Examiner’s Quin Hillyer including a Howard profile, some tidbits on Washington politics and why overly legalistic schools can’t teach.
Law firm of Dewey, Cheatham, & Howe moves into Somali pirate defense [satire, h/t @trafficcourt]

Tags: art and artists, discipline, Jack Thompson, Katrina, Philip K. Howard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., schools

RFK Jr. defends Paul Minor

Walter Olson — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:35:51 +0000

Over the years we’ve traced some of the shifting theories by which it’s been argued that once-prominent attorney Paul Minor was railroaded and didn’t really deserve conviction in that seedy Mississippi cash-for-judges scandal. Now America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure®, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has started banging his bowl in Minor’s cause, prompting Alan Lange to do what Kennedy does not do, namely provide supporting documents and links by which the interested reader can check out the actual details of the Minor-Whitfield-Teel scandals rather than taking someone’s word for it.

P.S. Tom Freeland analyzes the legal issues in the Minor oral argument, and follows up. P.P.S. Freeland’s reaction to the RFK Jr. work is not a placid one.

Tags: Paul Minor, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Overlawyered » Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

January 16 roundup

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Environmental law roundup

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April 18 roundup

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Salon yanks discredited RFK Jr. vaccine piece

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January 14 roundup

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New at Point of Law

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September 11 roundup

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“Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?”

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April 24 roundup

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RFK Jr. defends Paul Minor

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