Overlawyered » taxpayers 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 SEIU to Washington legislators: raise taxes or we’ll keep suing you http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/seiu-to-washington-legislators-raise-taxes-or-well-keep-suing-you/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/seiu-to-washington-legislators-raise-taxes-or-well-keep-suing-you/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:02:29 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26154 “Washington [the state] is getting hit with so many lawsuits over budget cuts that it’s not clear at times who controls the state’s purse strings: lawmakers or the court system. … Overall, the state has been sued more than a dozen times because of cuts lawmakers made in recent years to curtail state spending and balance the budget.” A spokesman for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the groups suing the state over cuts, describes program cuts as “violating people’s rights” and says the state should raise revenue if it doesn’t want to be sued. [Seattle Times] (& Bainbridge).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/seiu-to-washington-legislators-raise-taxes-or-well-keep-suing-you/feed/ 9 NJ lifeguards’ age-bias suits http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/nj-lifeguards-age-bias-suits/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/nj-lifeguards-age-bias-suits/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:51:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25123 Ocean City, N.J., a municipality of 12,000 residents, has recently been coping with nine lawsuits filed by municipal workers. Among them: lifeguards aged 66 and 68 who alleged employment discrimination against them based on their age. [Douglas Bergen, Ocean City Patch via AnnMarie McDonald, New Jersey Lawsuit Abuse Watch; Press of Atlantic City].

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/nj-lifeguards-age-bias-suits/feed/ 2 “Minivan-drownings suit could cost taxpayers plenty” http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/minivan-drownings-suit-could-cost-taxpayers-plenty/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/minivan-drownings-suit-could-cost-taxpayers-plenty/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:03:08 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24376 Following the horrific murder-suicide of a woman who intentionally drowned herself and three of her four children, the woman’s estranged boyfriend is suing the city of Newburgh, N.Y. and its surrounding county for failing to prevent the crime. Joint and several liability reform would help, if only Albany were more sympathetic to the cause. [Thomas Stebbins, Poughkeepsie Journal; Daily News]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/minivan-drownings-suit-could-cost-taxpayers-plenty/feed/ 1 New at Cato: public employee binding arbitration http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/new-at-cato-public-employee-binding-arbitration/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/new-at-cato-public-employee-binding-arbitration/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:16:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23807 I’ve got a new blog post up at Cato on the article in yesterday’s New York Times tracing how unsustainable police and fire contracts — the product, more specifically, of a pro-union state law imposing binding arbitration on municipalities — have driven the city of Central Falls to the brink of bankruptcy. Read it here. Matt Welch discusses the same article at Reason “Hit and Run.”

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/new-at-cato-public-employee-binding-arbitration/feed/ 0 “‘Social justice’ in contracts costs S.F. millions” http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/social-justice-in-contracts-costs-s-f-millions/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/social-justice-in-contracts-costs-s-f-millions/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 05:16:23 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23025 San Francisco’s public contracting requirements could drive both taxpayers and vendors batty: “[C]ity purchasing policies, if followed, would mean paying about $240 for getting a copy of a key that actually cost a worker $1.35 to get done at a hardware store on his break,” according to one whistleblowing employee. [SF Chronicle via Matt Welch]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/05/social-justice-in-contracts-costs-s-f-millions/feed/ 0 February 22 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-22-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-22-roundup-2/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:04:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21600
  • He wuz framed? Lawyers say wearing glasses will help a criminal defendant win acquittal [NYDN, ABA Journal]
  • “Are Judges ‘Employees’ Covered by State Antidiscrimination Law?” [Volokh, Fox]
  • Pursuing food safety, Congress ensures only unintended consequences [Paul Schwennesen, The Freeman]
  • High cost of litigation for Louisiana cities and towns [LLAW, PDF, via NJLRA; Daily Comet]
  • Calif. Kwikset decision not entirely a debacle for defendants [Russell Jackson, earlier] More: Cal. Civil Justice.
  • Pennsylvania lawmakers consider reform of joint and several liability [Post-Gazette]
  • Lawsuit fears tame a Frederick, Md. ice playground [Free-Range Kids]
  • Following scrutiny by Albuquerque newspaper, lawyer drops life insurance class action settlement [ten years ago on Overlawyered]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-22-roundup-2/feed/ 3     Update: Lodi emerges from water-suit “legal hell” http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/update-lodi-emerges-from-water-suit-legal-hell/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/update-lodi-emerges-from-water-suit-legal-hell/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:02:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21583 “The city of Lodi ended a long legal battle over groundwater contamination earlier this month,” accepting $6.3 million from insurers for local businesses. [Lodi News-Sentinel] We covered the convoluted litigation, in which the California city sued numerous local businesses, in reports here and here.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/update-lodi-emerges-from-water-suit-legal-hell/feed/ 2     February 2 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-2-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-2-roundup/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:38:55 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21273
  • Many of the best New Jersey sledding slopes are off limits now: “Litigators ruin pretty much everything” [Bainbridge]
  • Granola bar trans-fat lawsuit leaves Russell Jackson unimpressed;
  • “Criminal barbering”: license lapse gets 82-year-old Oregon hair-cutter in legal trouble [Perry]
  • Tomorrow’s economy won’t thrive if municipal authorities strangle innovative businesses where they incubate [Conor Friedersdorf, City Journal]
  • Need to bring property taxes under control? Try litigation reform [NJLRA]
  • Convicted at height of 90s child-abuse prosecution fever, Ohio pair seek to reopen case [Briefcase] More: Balko.
  • Here’s an idea: “Let the shareholders decide if SOX is worth the costs.” [Ribstein]
  • Retired Massachusetts attorney found in possession of stolen art trove [five years ago on Overlawyered] Updates courtesy reader Ronald Stimbert: Legal Blog Watch 2008 (attorney convicted); Cape Cod Times 2010 (paintings returned to owner).
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-2-roundup/feed/ 7     “Fighting Suits Saves Money for Chicago” http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/fighting-suits-saves-money-for-chicago/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/fighting-suits-saves-money-for-chicago/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:06:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21233 Vowing no longer to be Mister Nice City (assuming it ever qualified as such), Chicago is now willing to pay $50,000 to fight (successfully) a police-misconduct case it could have settled for $10,000:

    Even though the city stands to lose money litigating every case under $100,000, a spokeswoman for the law department said that recently compiled figures showed the strategy seemed to be saving taxpayer money by dissuading lawyers from suing the police unless they are confident of victory.

    (& welcome Coyote readers).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/01/fighting-suits-saves-money-for-chicago/feed/ 9     “Lawsuits have cost Atlantic City $39 million in just 10 years” http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/lawsuits-have-cost-atlantic-city-39-million-in-just-10-years/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/11/lawsuits-have-cost-atlantic-city-39-million-in-just-10-years/#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:53:52 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=20142 That includes $14 million in payouts to defense lawyers, many of whom have close ties to local politicians, and $25 million to claimants, a figure that “dwarfs what area municipalities and larger cities including Camden and Trenton have paid, and nearly equals payouts in Newark, where the population is eight times larger than Atlantic City.” The casino town’s population is 35,000. [Press of Atlantic City]

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