Overlawyered » The Rule of Lawyers 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 “Toyota: The Media Owe You an Apology” http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/toyota-the-media-owe-you-an-apology/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/toyota-the-media-owe-you-an-apology/#comments Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:47:11 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21433 Ed Wallace at Bloomberg Business Week tells why the Toyota sudden-acceleration debacle merely replays a long and sad history:

I don’t mean to single out CBS for criticism. Plenty of other media outlets share the blame. For 30 years they have treated us to Jeep, Suzuki, and Isuzu Trooper rollovers, Audi unintended acceleration, side-saddle gas tanks exploding, police cars catching on fire, Firestone tires blowing out, and then the Toyota case. And each time the media took the word of those with a vested financial interest in the outcome—and every time they got burned for doing so.

I wrote about this in my article “It Didn’t Start With Dateline NBC” and in the chapter “Trial Lawyer TV” of my book The Rule of Lawyers.

Plus: For comic relief, here’s a New York Times editorial claiming the findings “did nothing to dispel concerns” about safety. And welcome listeners of Ray Dunaway’s morning show on WTIC (Hartford).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/toyota-the-media-owe-you-an-apology/feed/ 6 The Rule of Lawyers reviewed http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/the-rule-of-lawyers-reviewed/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/the-rule-of-lawyers-reviewed/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:07:02 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18324 George Leef at The Freeman newly reviews my book on the abuse of mass litigation from a few years back. “Well-researched and deliciously written” — thanks!

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/the-rule-of-lawyers-reviewed/feed/ 0 Pattis on “The Rule of Lawyers” http://overlawyered.com/2010/03/pattis-on-the-rule-of-lawyers/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/03/pattis-on-the-rule-of-lawyers/#comments Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:34:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=16580 Premier criminal defense blogger Norm Pattis takes a look at my 2003 book on mass litigation and agrees with much of what I have to say, while still winding up with a feeling of “ambivalence.” A sample:

I end where I started. Lawyers have too much power. We play with the lives of others with impunity. I think Olson’s on to something.

I await his next book, and encourage him to take a look at the lives or ordinary lawyers. Not all of us own jets. I’m thrilled with first class on the few times I’ve tried it. Most often I fly coach.

Whole thing here.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2010/03/pattis-on-the-rule-of-lawyers/feed/ 0 Letting jurors ask questions during trials http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/letting-jurors-ask-questions-during-trials/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/letting-jurors-ask-questions-during-trials/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:16:31 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=10803 As Steve Chapman notes in a recycled but still-relevant column, a Seventh Circuit experiment along those lines seems to have served justice well. Commenters at Reason “Hit and Run” say the practice has long been in use in the military justice system. I mention the issue toward the end of this 2003 Reason piece adapted from my book The Rule of Lawyers (which I notice now has a Kindle edition).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/04/letting-jurors-ask-questions-during-trials/feed/ 5 Wrapped and gift-ready http://overlawyered.com/2004/12/wrapped-and-gift-ready/ http://overlawyered.com/2004/12/wrapped-and-gift-ready/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2004 00:55:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=1677 I’ve noticed that many readers buy copies of The Rule of Lawyers (and my earlier books) to give as presents to family members, friends, soon-to-be-graduates, doctors and so forth. Order for the holidays through Amazon at this link and you can choose from services such as gift wrapping and express delivery. You’ll also be supporting this site, which gets a commission on sales through our Amazon store. The store link also works (as do the commissions for us) if you’re shopping for items such as DVDs, toys, music and so forth.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2004/12/wrapped-and-gift-ready/feed/ 0 Welcome KION-AM Salinas listeners http://overlawyered.com/2004/08/welcome-kion-am-salinas-listeners/ http://overlawyered.com/2004/08/welcome-kion-am-salinas-listeners/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2004 11:28:27 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=1359 I was a guest on Mark Carbonaro’s a.m. show this morning on KION-AM in Salinas, Calif. to discuss The Rule of Lawyers. To book a broadcast interview on the book, email me directly or contact Jamie Stockton at the St. Martin’s/Griffin publicity department: 212-674-5151, ext. 502.

Some other recently noted publicity on The Rule of Lawyers: reviewer Art Taylor of Metro Magazine in North Carolina’s Research Triangle named it as one of the top ten nonfiction books of 2003 (Jan.). Writing in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, Hal Heaton of the Brigham Young University Center for Entrepreneurship devoted much of a column to discussing the book’s contents (”Litigation hinders new ideas, growth”, Jul. 11, not online). And Maurice Neligan, a distinguished cardiac surgeon in Ireland, recommends the book as “most revealing” in a piece published in Irish Times (”Common sense, fat chance”, May 11, not online).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2004/08/welcome-kion-am-salinas-listeners/feed/ 0 Vermont and Alberta radio http://overlawyered.com/2004/07/vermont-and-alberta-radio/ http://overlawyered.com/2004/07/vermont-and-alberta-radio/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2004 13:11:10 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=1252 On Monday I was again a guest on Laurie Morrow’s True North Radio show reaching listeners around Vermont and nearby states. And yesterday I was a guest on QR77 in Calgary, Alberta, on the afternoons with Dave Taylor, with guest host Rob Breakenridge substituting for Taylor. To book a broadcast interview on my book The Rule of Lawyers, email me directly or contact Jamie Stockton at the St. Martin’s/Griffin publicity department: 212-674-5151, ext. 502.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2004/07/vermont-and-alberta-radio/feed/ 0 Bay Area radio appearances http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/bay-area-radio-appearances/ http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/bay-area-radio-appearances/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2004 00:57:22 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=1176 I’ll be a guest Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. PDT on Napa, Calif.’s KVON radio 1440 AM. And then on Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. PDT I’ll be joining host Lee Rodgers on his popular show on KSFO 560 AM. In both cases I’ll be discussing my book The Rule of Lawyers, which came out in paperback earlier this month (more). To book a broadcast interview on the book, email me directly or contact Jamie Stockton at the St. Martin’s/Griffin publicity department: 212-674-5151, ext. 502. (bumped 6/28)

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/bay-area-radio-appearances/feed/ 0 The Rule of Lawyers on radio http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/the-rule-of-lawyers-on-radio/ http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/the-rule-of-lawyers-on-radio/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2004 12:59:21 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=1129 I’m scheduled to be a guest tomorrow morning (Tues.) at 8 a.m. EDT on Jim Blasingame’s “Small Business Advocate” nationwide radio show (more), and then at 10 a.m. EDT on Cincinnati’s WLW. And then on Wednesday from 11 to 12 a.m. EDT I’ll be the guest of Laurie Morrow on Vermont’s “True North Radio“. In each case I’ll be discussing my book “The Rule of Lawyers”, just out in paperback from St. Martin’s/Griffin (more).

If you’re a booker for a broadcast show or other news outlet, you’re aware that it’s at times like this, with books just reaching the stores, that authors and publishers are most eager to cooperate. To ask about appearances, contact Jamie Stockton at the St. Martin’s publicity department: 212-674-5151, ext. 502, or email me directly.

While we’re at it, you just know that The Rule of Lawyers would make an ideal Father’s Day gift, and Amazon (although its stocks are low) offers special shipping guaranteed to arrive by the weekend. It’s also available from Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, and (hardcover) Laissez Faire Books.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/the-rule-of-lawyers-on-radio/feed/ 0 Rule of Lawyers thanks http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/rule-of-lawyers-thanks/ http://overlawyered.com/2004/06/rule-of-lawyers-thanks/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2004 06:24:34 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=1107 Thanks to David Bernstein (Volokh Conspiracy, Jun. 2) for his kind words recommending that people buy my book The Rule of Lawyers, newly out in paperback. Also to Key Monk, who calls it “another good read” (Jun. 1). Reviews of the book, from numerous perspectives, can be found here. Also, we’ve noticed a few more reviews of the book online in addition to those previously noted: Richard R. Forsten, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, In Re: (Delaware State Bar Association), Oct. 2003; “Keeping Up With New Legal Titles”, review by Harvey K. Morrell, 95 Law Library Journal (2003), (PDF)(scroll to p. 588)(”In clear, lucid prose Olson keeps the reader enthralled as he recounts his tales of horror”), and George Leef, “The Learning Curve #145 — Rule of Lawyers: A Feeding Frenzy of National Proportions”, Carolina Journal, May 24, 2004 (”sardonic wit. …a well-researched and deliciously written expose of a serious national problem.”) Evan Schaeffer (Jun. 5) already has sent off for his copy, Paul of Right Side of the Rainbow (Jun. 6) plans to do the same, and you should too (revised and bumped 6/7).

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