Overlawyered » slip and fall http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Judge: blind plaintiff can sue landlord, guide-dog provider over fall http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/judge-blind-plaintiff-can-sue-landlord-guide-dog-provider-over-fall/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/judge-blind-plaintiff-can-sue-landlord-guide-dog-provider-over-fall/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:02:40 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26158 A judge has ruled that an elderly Manhattan woman can sue her landlord and a guide-dog provider over a fall she suffered on a step at her building. Gloria Clark argues that her earlier guide dogs had always guided her around a dangerous step over 26 years of living in the building but that while she was auditioning a new guide dog the dog’s trainer did not properly take care against the hazard. [New York Daily News]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/judge-blind-plaintiff-can-sue-landlord-guide-dog-provider-over-fall/feed/ 4 November 14 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-14-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-14-roundup-3/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:28:58 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25582
  • Seeking to address widespread pharmaceutical shortages, Obama executive order downplays government role in causing them [Fair Warning, WSJ editorial, earlier here, here, here, here, etc.]
  • “The school has a strict no-hugging policy….” [WKMG Orlando]
  • Retired Justice John Paul Stevens isn’t buying the “Thomas should recuse” meme [USA Today via Legal Ethics Forum]
  • Not COPPA-cetic: among other unintended consequences, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has encouraged parents to help kids to falsify ages online [Danah Boyd via Jim Harper, Suderman, Reason, Stewart Baker, earlier]
  • Lawmaking from the bench: Maryland high court strikes down law limiting landlords’ lead paint liability [Ronald Miller] “Maryland court sides with plaintiffs in slip-and-fall cases” [Emily Babay, Examiner]
  • Trial lawyers help bail out Bexar County Democratic party [San Antonio Express-News]
  • Supreme Court agrees to hear case arguing that aggressive enforcement of local housing code violates federal Fair Housing Act [Magner v. Gallagher, SCOTUSBlog, Illinois Municipal League, http://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2011/11/potemkin-village-hawaiian-style.html">Fisher/Forbes]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/november-14-roundup-3/feed/ 0     The dangers of corn shucking http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/the-dangers-of-corn-shucking/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/the-dangers-of-corn-shucking/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:50:55 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24202 British Columbia lawyer Erik Magraken shares this photo.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/the-dangers-of-corn-shucking/feed/ 5     March 30 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/march-30-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/march-30-roundup/#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:41:06 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22257
  • “Woman Sues Adidas After Fall She Blames on Sticky Shoes” [Lowering the Bar]
  • Texas lawmakers file loser pays proposals [SE Tex Record] Actual scope of proposals hard to discern through funhouse lens of NYT reporting [PoL] Marie Gryphon testimony on loser-pays proposals in Arkansas [Manhattan Institute, related]
  • Google awarded patent on changing of logo for special days [Engadget via Coyote]
  • “Civil Gideon in Deadbeat Dad Cases Would Be ‘Massive’ Change, Lawyer Tells Justices” [Weiss, ABA Journal, Legal Ethics Forum]
  • Amateur-hour crash-fakers in Bronx didn’t reckon on store surveillance camera [NY Post]
  • “Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in Cobell Defend $223M Fee Request” [BLT]
  • Show of harm not needed: FDA kicks another 500 or so legacy drugs off market, this time in the cold-and-cough area [WaPo]
  • “Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Rough Justice Without Due Process” [Andrew Trask, WLF]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/03/march-30-roundup/feed/ 0     “Let us know of a slippery location” http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/let-us-know-of-a-slippery-location/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/let-us-know-of-a-slippery-location/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:44:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21289 A Wisconsin personal injury firm wants locals to send them word of icy conditions in shopping walkways and suchlike places — as part of a public service campaign, it goes without saying. [Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Warshafsky law firm Spread the Sand]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/let-us-know-of-a-slippery-location/feed/ 5     Slipping in the grocery aisle, accidentally on purpose http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/slipping-in-the-grocery-aisle-accidentally-on-purpose/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/slipping-in-the-grocery-aisle-accidentally-on-purpose/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:52:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21197 CBS News takes a look at some instances in which in-store cameras captured footage of, e.g., victims carefully positioning the spills on which they intended to slip. More: Legal Blog Watch.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/slipping-in-the-grocery-aisle-accidentally-on-purpose/feed/ 4     August 30 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-30-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-30-roundup/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:51:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=19051
  • 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]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-30-roundup/feed/ 4     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     Draft a slip-fall complaint in 9 easy steps http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/draft-a-slip-fall-complaint-in-9-easy-steps/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/draft-a-slip-fall-complaint-in-9-easy-steps/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:17:22 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17125 More fun from The Namby Pamby (language). More: Legal Blog Watch (”slip and fall complaint Mad Libs”).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/draft-a-slip-fall-complaint-in-9-easy-steps/feed/ 0     JAMA: back surgeries overprescribed http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/jama-back-surgeries-overprescribed/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/04/jama-back-surgeries-overprescribed/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:49:41 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=16872 Commenter “Anonymous Attorney” writes:

    Part of the litigation explosion includes every other person with a back injury claim being sent for invasive “fusion” or other drastic spinal surgery. Of course, defendants, often through insurance, foot the bill for these very expensive procedures. In my time I saw dozens of cases involving, say, a 5-mph fender bender that resulted in these surgeries. It was almost as if plaintiff attorneys and doctors worked together to push them through because they would multiply damages 5-fold for the lawyer, and of course the doctor gets paid handsomely, too. The cost of some surgeries can approach $100,000. A few doctors were known for never seeing a patient who didn’t “need” these surgeries. Courts and juries, of course, take anything a doctor says on its face, and so they’d go along.

    A study in JAMA now confirms these are grossly overprescribed and often a really bad idea, medically. Note that this particular study excluded patients admitted as a result of vehicle crashes or with vertebral fractures or dislocations, which nonetheless leaves many other injuries that can fit the pattern: slip-falls, workers comp back strains and so on. I think it’s safe to say that if the JAMA authors ever do a study looking at car crash plaintiffs, they’ll make similar findings.

    By the way, the New York Times actually beat JAMA to the punch on some of this, like the doctors owning financial stakes in the surgical equipment companies.

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