Overlawyered » September 11

October 31 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:14:37 +0000

A pack of gum, e.g.: “What the Proceeds of a BlackBerry Class Action Could Buy” [Rebecca Greenfield, Atlantic Wire]
A million law firm ads later: “Pfizer’s Anti-Smoking Drug [Chantix] Isn’t Riskier Than Patches, FDA Says” [Bloomberg]
Over 9/11 attacks: “Court Recommends al-Qaida Pay $9 Billion to Insurers” [NYLJ]
Green alarmism over cosmetics — justified? [Dana Joel Gattuso, CEI; related here, here]
Arpaio-Thomas follies continue in Arizona courtroom [Coyote, earlier]
Upcoming: November 4 conference “Silenced” in D.C. on blasphemy laws and hate speech; Bruce Bawer, Nina Shea et al. [Federalist Society]
“I dreamed I swayed the jury… in my Maidenform bra” [Retronaut, scroll]

Tags: Arizona, BlackBerry, hate speech, pharmaceuticals, September 11

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

October 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:39:43 +0000

Dodd-Frank, arms-trade laws serve to entrench bigger business against smaller [Tim Carney, Rand Simberg] Similarly with automakers and coal producers [David Henderson]
One guess as to why: “Many Physicians Feel They’re Delivering Too Much Care” [WSJ health blog, CJAC] Insurers report incidence of med-mal claims has dropped, severity has increased [National Underwriter] Roundtable on defensive medicine [Orthopedics Today]
Pinball Hall of Fame adversary doesn’t like being called a vexatious litigant [Las Vegas Weekly via @loweringthebar]
U.K. “Solicitors from Hell” gripe site has so far defied multiple efforts to shut it down [Independent]
WTC dust inhalation suits grind on on despite doubts on scientific effect [PoL, more] “Improbable Chain of Events Dooms Con Ed’s 9/11 Lawsuit” [Mark Hamblett, NYLJ]
Nathan Glazer’s work in perspective, and an interview [City Journal];
In the mail: Curtis Wilkie’s Dickie Scruggs book, “The Fall of the House of Zeus.”

Tags: autos, banks, defensive medicine, Dickie Scruggs, Ground Zero dust lawsuits, September 11, serial litigants, small business

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

March 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:28:17 +0000

A San Francisco cosmetic surgeon sues her online critics — in Virginia? [Paul Alan Levy, CL&P]
SCOTUS ruling in “cat’s-paw” case could gut summary judgment in many bias suits [Hyman]
Cuomo spokesman’s smart retort to Litigation Lobby attack on Medicaid reform panel [LoHud.com]
“Tennessee Cops Posed as a Defense Attorney To Get Suspect To Incriminate Himself” [Reason]
“Illinois golfer not liable for head shot” [Lowering the Bar]
Trade friction mounts due to anti-India provisions in Zadroga (9/11 recovery workers) compensation bill [PoL]
Is a tax-funded federal nonprofit entity funneling money to environmental suits against the government? [Ron Arnold, Examiner]
FCRA class action deemed “lawsuit abuse problem in a nutshell” [Examiner editorial]
“Fatherhood by Conscription: Nonconsensual Insemination & the Duty of Child Support” [Michael Higdon, SSRN via Instapundit]

Tags: Andrew Cuomo, Center for Justice & Democracy, debtor-creditor law, discrimination law, environment, family law, golf, India, libel slander and defamation, police, September 11

March 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:57:44 +0000

Trouble with hunting bad/burdensome regulations: most of them have entrenched advocates [NY Times] “Obama — the Great Deregulator?” [Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe]. Earlier here and here;
Now we find out: tax hikes on outsourcing in 9/11 compensation bill infuriate India, were never vetted by Hill tax panels [PoL; more on Easter eggs in bill] Law firm that advertises for 9/11 dust clients is fan of Sen. Gillibrand [Stoll]
France will stop censoring some historical images of smokers in ads [NY Times]
“2010: The Year of the Angry, Company-Suing Plaintiff” [WSJ Law Blog] “The most sued companies in America” [Fox Business, counting federal-court suits only]
Death by drunk driving: As bad as purposeful murder? Worse? [Greenfield]
EPA gets specific on its plans to advance “environmental justice,” combat disparate racial impact in project siting, etc. [WLF, Popeo, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
Winners of Chamber’s “Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010″ competition [US Chamber ILR]
“If the FCC had regulated the Internet” [Jack Shafer, Slate]

Tags: advertising, alcohol, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Communications Commission, France, India, regulation and its reform, September 11, tobacco

January 24 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Plaintiff Who Alleged Airport Concealment Has Litigation History”

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:24:38 +0000

Lowering the Bar (channeling Dave Eyvazzadeh at Wired/Autopia) has some word on other unusual lawsuits filed by that Hillsborough, Calif. man who’s suing multiple defendants over San Francisco Airport noise and congestion [earlier]

Tags: elevators and escalators, George W. Bush, San Francisco, September 11

“Plaintiff Who Alleged Airport Concealment Has Litigation History” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:28:59 +0000

The wages of addiction: former basketball star Roy Tarpley settles his $6.5 million ADA lawsuit against NBA and Dallas Mavericks [Randy Galloway, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sports Law Blog]
One result of litigation-fed “vaccines cause autism” scare: parents turn to dangerous quack treatments [Arthur Allen, Slate; in-depth coverage at Kathleen Seidel's and Orac's sites]
Julie Hilden on First Circuit “true statements can be defamatory” ruling [FindLaw, earlier here and here]
More coverage of conviction of Kentucky lawyers for grabbing much of fen-phen settlement [Louisville Courier-Journal, earlier]
Judge dismisses most counts in lawsuit against Richard Laminack of Texas’s O’Quinn law firm [Texas Lawyer, earlier; FLSA overtime claims remain]
All but three of the outstanding 9/11 airline suits due to settle for $500 million [AP/NorthJersey.com]
One needn’t make the Community Reinvestment Act a scapegoat for unrelated credit woes to recognize it as an ill-conceived law [Bank Lawyer's Blog]
U.K.: Woman who plays classical music to soothe horses told she must pay for public performance license [Telegraph]

Tags: autism, aviation, banks, copyright, Dallas, disabled rights, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, September 11, sports, vaccines

April 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Congress Is Again Weighing Aid for Ground Zero Rescuers”

Ted Frank — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:13:40 +0000

The New York Times quotes my testimony to the hearing on H.R. 847.

Unfortunately, the story incorrectly refers to AEI as a “lobbying organization,” which it is definitively not. It is unimaginable how the Times could have made this mistake, given that just three weeks ago, they had to correct an identical mistake; the senior editor has promised me a correction.

Tags: Ground Zero dust lawsuits, media bias, New York, New York Times, September 11, Ted Frank, workers' compensation

“Congress Is Again Weighing Aid for Ground Zero Rescuers” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

New Yorker magazine on James Zadroga

Ted Frank — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:54:38 +0000

I just got to the September 15 issue near the bottom of my pile of unread mail, and there’s an excellent piece of reporting by Jennifer Kahn on the case of James Zadroga, the police officer who worked at Ground Zero in the wake of 9/11 whose death was attributed to exposure to dust and was a symbol for the thousands of plaintiffs in that litigation–until the New York medical examiner found evidence that prescription drug injections were responsible for the lung scarring. Kahn’s article is tremendously damning on that question. Zadroga’s name was successfully used to get legislation passed in New York state, and similar legislation (on which I testified) is pending in Congress to open the taxpayer fisc to thousands of questionable claims.

Tags: Ground Zero dust lawsuits, New York, September 11

New Yorker magazine on James Zadroga is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 17 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:39:06 +0000

Anyone suing over anything dept.: Kansas City attorney Mary Kay Green sues McCain, Palin, for supposed hate speech against Obama [KC Star, Feral Child, Above the Law; related, my article the other day for City Journal]
Got $331K from victim fund claiming severe injuries from Pentagon 9/11 attack, yet “kept playing basketball and lacrosse and ran [NYC] marathon in under four hours two months after the attacks” [Maryland Daily Record]
Krugman claims Fannie/Freddie not big culprits in mortgage meltdown, but Calomiris and Wallison show him wrong [Stuart Taylor, Jr., National Journal; also note this Goldstein/Hall unlabeled opinion piece from McClatchy pushing the Krugman line]
Government bailout of newspapers? Who’s trying to float this idea, anyway? [Bercovici/Portfolio via Romenesko] Update: maybe this?
Colluded with chiropractor to generate bills for imaginary treatment, then pocketed clients’ insurance settlements without telling them [Quincy, Mass., Patriot-Ledger; Bruce Namenson sentenced to 5 years and "cannot practice law for at least 10 years after he gets out of jail"]
Ontario: “Killer awarded $6K over wrong shoes in prison” [National Post]
“Is there any doubt that Lucy grew up to be a lawyer?” [Above the Law on Doyle Reports, Judge Robertson ruling in patent case]
Jury hits Jersey City, N.J. rheumatologist with $400K verdict (including $200K punitives) for not hiring sign language interpreter at his own expense for deaf patient [NJLJ, Krauss @ PoL]

Tags: chiropractors, disabled rights, ethics, hate speech, Massachusetts, medical, mortgages, newspapers, September 11

October 17 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

September 3 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:05:21 +0000

Eeeeeeuw: House of Meats employees show reporter “they have all ten of their fingers” after customer reports human digit in her dish of oxtails [BayNews 9 Tampa]
Press keeps digging into Joe Biden ties to asbestos bar [American Lawyer, more links in PoL roundup]
Black eye for big law site FindLaw with reports that it’s been selling law firms links in editorial material, a practice sure to raise Google wrath [Oilman, Kevin O'Keefe/Real Lawyers Have Blogs, ABA Journal, Search Engine Land, National Post] More: WSJ on FindLaw’s denial; O’Keefe.
Overlawyered favorite Fred Baron, of Rielle Hunter generosity, much in evidence at Democratic convention [Dallas Morning News, ABC News] Texas trial lawyer Steve Susman is only individual lawyer listed as convention sponsor [AmLaw Daily, scroll]
As if legislative expansion of the Americans with Disabilities Act weren’t worry enough, 1,000 pages of new DoJ regulations will add billions in costs, as by requiring that 50 percent of miniature golf holes be wheelchair-accessible [Las Vegas Review-Journal via ABA Journal]
“Bond reduced for two fen-phen attorneys” in Kentucky [Lexington Herald-Leader, more]
Cozen O’Connor and insurers dealt big setback as Second Circuit’s Judge Jacobs rules they can’t sue Saudi government over 9/11 [Philadelphia Inquirer, more; related on FOIA, Legal Intelligencer; earlier here and here]
Jury awards $500,000 in malpractice suit against D.C.-based plaintiffs’ firm Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll [Legal Times]
Australia: “A serial protester who injured a policewoman during the G20 riots wants her conviction overturned so she can still practise as a lawyer.” [Melbourne Herald Sun, Julia Dehm]

Tags: asbestos, Australia, Biden, Cozen O'Connor, disabled rights, finger in the chili, Fred Baron, insurers, Joe Biden, Kentucky fen-phen settlement fraud, Michael Hausfeld, miniature golf, politics, Rielle Hunter, Saudi Arabia, September 11, stephen susman

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