January 5 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

From Florida governor to TV lawyer pitchman is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 21 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Life after the Florida governorship is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Not long ago the U.S. Senate refused to accept an amendment to the stimulus bill by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that would have reformed some CPSIA provisions and delayed the implementation of others. Last night it rejected a similar DeMint effort in the form of a budget amendment, and this time there was a roll call, which confirmed that the rejection was largely along party lines: every Democrat voted against the measure except for Sens. Mark Begich (Alaska), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), and Ben Nelson (Neb.), while every Republican voted in favor except Susan Collins (Maine), John Cornyn (Tex.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Mel Martinez (Fla.), and John McCain (Ariz.). Independent Bernie Sanders (Vt.) voted against, while Sens. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) did not vote.

Following Wednesday’s rally on Capitol Hill, small business people who fanned out to visit their Senators brought back many encouraging-sounding stories of the favorable “We hear you!” “We get it!” reactions they had received visiting the offices of Democratic Senators like Roland Burris (Ill.), Joseph Lieberman (Conn.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), and Charles Schumer (N.Y.). Whether or not anyone in those offices hears or gets the outcry, it sounds as if the members even more clearly hear and get a different message: that of party discipline.

Kimberly Payne feels oddly hopeful: “The original vote on the CPSIA was nearly unanimous – this one was 39-58. I call that progress!”

The WSJ editorializes on the law again today, its third, concentrating this time on the youth motorcycle/ATV ban. More: Montana senators fiddle while small businesses perish (Mark Riffey, Flathead Beacon); the rally and the Democrats (Rick Woldenberg).

Public domain image: Yankee Mother Goose (1902), illustrator Ella S. Brison, courtesy ChildrensLibrary.org.

Senate rejects CPSIA reform on budget vote, 39-58 is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“The anti-business atmosphere was thick throughout the convention. … one of the most popular attractions was ‘Bob,’” a dummy identified by name tag as an insurance industry executive, on display “at the booth of the Center for Justice & Democracy, a consumer rights group in New York. … [Rebecca Hoffman, organizational director of the group,] said that both children and adults — including several lawyers — had been taking out their aggressions on the industry by taking a swipe at Bob. Despite punches to the face and gut, she said, Bob ‘is holding up pretty well.’” (Harriet Chiang, San Francisco Chronicle, Jul. 21) “There were rows of expert witnesses. MedQuest (medical expert testimony) and Martex (marine expert witnesses) and a pair of former truck drivers who offered their expertise in truck and school bus accidents. ‘ATLA is the greatest place in the world to be. From this, we’ll get 20-30 cases,’ said Don Asa of D&A Consultants of Scottsdale, Ariz.” (Wayne Slater, “Trial lawyers feel heat”, Dallas Morning News, Aug. 5)(also quotes Daschle and Kerry speeches)

ATLA’s politics is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system