Overlawyered » San Diego

January 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:10:30 +0000

What, no more monkeys or snakes? Starting March 15 new federal regulation will restrict definition of “service animals” to dogs alone [Central Kitsap Reporter, earlier, more]
“Appeals court: SD prosecutor’s conduct denied man a fair trial” [San Diego Union-Tribune]
A tale of local regulation: “A septic system at the crossroads” [Roland Toy, American Thinker]
Firm sues Fark, Reddit, Yahoo, etc. etc. over 2002 patent on “structured news release generation and distribution,” draws rude reply from defendant TechCrunch;
UK schools minister: “no touching pupils” policy keeps music teachers from doing their job [Telegraph]
Legal ethicist Stephen Gillers hired at $950/hour to approve ethics of Ken Feinberg’s BP compensation fund work [two views: Andrew Perlman and Monroe Freedman; earlier, Byron Stier]. Per Ted at PoL, trial lawyers criticizing the arrangement “complain that BP is using the same tactic plaintiffs’ lawyers regularly use to prove their own ethics.”
Is WordPress’s quirky “Hello Dolly” plugin a copyright infringement? [TechDirt]
Congrats, you’re eligible for a job with the D.C. public school system [ten years ago on Overlawyered; more on criminal records and hiring, subject of a current EEOC crusade]

Tags: copyright, ethics, patent quality, prosecution, San Diego, schools, service animals, United Kingdom, WordPress

January 18 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 30 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:51:14 +0000

Ghastly CPSIA law reaches two-year anniversary [AmendTheCPSIA; related, CPSC Commissioner Northup]
Longtime Overlawyered mentionee Andrew Thomas in GOP primary cliffhanger for Arizona AG [Coyote, background]
Biased bar-b-q? “Suit challenges air pollution from restaurant as civil rights violation” [Alexandria, Va. Gazette-Packet via Mystal/AtL]
Canada: “Lawyer Awarded $6M for Fall on Dance Floor After Firm-Sponsored Dinner” [ABA Journal]
San Diego taxpayers rub their eyes and ask what went wrong with municipal-employee pensions [Union-Tribune via Alkon; more from Steven Greenhut and Megan McArdle]
FM radio phone mandate? “Dying industry tries to regulate its way back into your life” [Freddoso/Examiner]
“Judge assailed for fraud in Kentucky fen-phen case” [Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier-Journal]
Taco Bell not liable for cost of Ganges purification pilgrimage after devout vegetarians inadvertently consume meat [eleven years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Arizona, Canada, CPSIA, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, public employment, San Diego, slip and fall

August 30 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

CCAF on KOGO (San Diego) this evening

Ted Frank — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:49:29 +0000

I’ll be on KOGO-600 AM’s Top Story with Chris Reed tonight at 6:35 pm Pacific discussing recent CCAF cases and the problem of bad class action settlement cases generally.

Tags: CCAF, on TV and radio, San Diego, Ted Frank

CCAF on KOGO (San Diego) this evening is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

On video: California bookstore owner’s ADA suit

Walter Olson — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:04:14 +0000

Alzada Knickerbocker’s bookshop in ~~Davis~~ Sacramento, California, the Avid Reader, was hit with a complaint from a serial ADA filer. She went on camera to explain what happened for the Sick of Lawsuits video series. More on ADA serial filers here. And the Desert Sun in southern California profiles the activities of San Diego resident Roy Gash, who “is or was the plaintiff in more than 200 ADA lawsuits,” and his lawyer Theodore Pinnock, whose San Diego firm Pinnock and Wakefield “has filed about 2,000 such suits.”

P.S. Thanks to commenter B.P. for correction: the suit was against the store’s Sacramento, not Davis, branch.

Tags: ADA filing mills, San Diego

On video: California bookstore owner’s ADA suit is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 27 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:12:26 +0000

High-profile Pennsylvania attorney John P. Karoly Jr. pleads guilty to tax evasion, faces possible prison term [Allentown Morning Call, Legal Intelligencer, Lehigh Valley Live, WFMZ, his website; earlier]
Tennessee congressman pushes to overturn NBA age limit [Fanhouse, Sports Law Blog]
$262 million in bankruptcy fees to date for Lehman, ultimate figure could approach $1 billion [Hartley]
Complaint by gay altar server to Ontario Human Rights Tribunal menaces church’s autonomy [National Post via Box Turtle Bulletin]
Lawsuit seeks shutdown of Domelights.com, private message board for Philadelphia cops that has had “racially offensive” posts and comments [CNN, Post @ Volokh] 2002 Sotomayor decision in Pappas v. Giuliani may be on point [Popehat, Kennerly]
New Jersey organ scandal should come as little surprise given our failed policies on kidney donation [Satel, WSJ]
Deputy D.A. arrested for drunk driving lands on her feet, hired by local DWI Resource Center [KRQE, Albuquerque]
“San Diego Judge Denies Class Action Motions in 2007 Wildfires” [California Civil Justice]

Tags: bankruptcy, online speech, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, police, San Diego, sports, wildfires

July 27 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 19 roundup

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:08:09 +0000

Federal court rules “shy bladder syndrome” an ADA-protected disability [World of Work via Hyman]
“Goldman Sachs Backs Down in Long Legal Battle With Blogger” [American Lawyer, WSJ Law Blog, Coleman, earlier]
San Diego: unforeseen consequences of “anti-blight” lender regulation [Outside the Box]
1,000 lose jobs as environmental litigation halts Northern California refinery project [Wood, ShopFloor, update]
City of Detroit lawyers on ethical hot seat after former mayor’s texting coverup scandal [ABA Journal, earlier]
What happens when IP law firms breed homegrown patent trolls? [Ron Coleman]
“It’s kind of like the practice of law, except that the clients are more likely to leave happy.” [Glenn Reynolds being naughty on Instapundit]
U.K.: Owner of copyright to John Cage’s avant-garde “four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence” work sues later impresario whose album track includes one minute of silence [seven years ago on Overlawyered; New Yorker treatment]

Tags: bloggers and the law, Detroit, disabled rights, environment, mortgages, music and musicians, oil industry, patent trolls, San Diego

July 19 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Thumb-in-the-eye II: Cal Supremes affirm Buell-Wilson

Ted Frank — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:57:53 +0000

We’ve been following Buell-Wilson v. Ford for some time, including the U.S. Supreme Court remand. Curt Cutting’s blog has the latest in two April posts here and here. Cal Biz Lit also has good commentary.

Tags: autos, Buell-Wilson v. Ford, California, Ford Motor, punitive damages, San Diego

Thumb-in-the-eye II: Cal Supremes affirm Buell-Wilson is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

California: “Three Offices of Attorney Declared ‘Vexatious Litigant’ Shut Down”

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:20:41 +0000

Mitchell W. Roth had offices in Sherman Oaks, San Diego, and Riverside, per the NLJ. Roth’s appearances on the Internet include CaliforniaSpineInjury.com and the “Middle Class Advocate” blog.

Tags: California, San Diego

California: “Three Offices of Attorney Declared ‘Vexatious Litigant’ Shut Down” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

$55 million in Marine helicopter crash

Walter Olson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:46:06 +0000

Curt Cutting at California Punitive Damages takes note of a jury’s very large verdict against San Diego Gas and Electric last month, including $40 million in punitive damages, after a helicopter fatally collided with a 130-foot utility tower located on the base at Camp Pendleton. “The plaintiffs claimed that SDG&E was negligent for not installing safety lights on the tower. SDG&E says the tower had been on the base for 25 years and they would have installed lights if the Marine Corps had asked. They contend the crash was the result of errors by the crew and they plan to appeal.” (Sept. 3; Tony Perry, “$55.6 million awarded in fatal Marine helicopter crash”, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4). Bruce Nye at Cal Biz Lit calls the verdict a “stunner” (Sept. 8).

Tags: aviation, military, punitive damages, San Diego

$55 million in Marine helicopter crash is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Require that employees get permission first before using their BlackBerrys after work hours”

Walter Olson — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:52:17 +0000

Otherwise, the employer may just be setting itself up for wage-hour suits based on the premise that the after-hours use constitutes uncompensated overtime, says Mitch Danzig, “an attorney in the San Diego office of Boston-based Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. Danzig advises his clients to give BlackBerrys only to employees who are exempt from overtime laws. ‘Plaintiffs’ firms are trolling for this,’ he said. ‘Now what you’re seeing on [plaintiffs'] firms’ Web sites are, “Have you been assigned a BlackBerry or a phone? If so, give us a call.”‘” (Ashby Jones, WSJ law blog, Apr. 22; Tresa Baldas, NLJ, Apr. 28). More: Jeffrey Hirsch, Workplace Prof Blog.

Tags: BlackBerry, San Diego, technology, workplace

“Require that employees get permission first before using their BlackBerrys after work hours” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system