Overlawyered » Wikipedia 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 Breaching online anonymity http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/breaching-online-anonymity/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/breaching-online-anonymity/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:45:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23316 Some online-speech defenders are alarmed at the readiness with which a Colorado judge agreed to expose the anonymity of Wikipedia contributors in a defamation case brought by the fashion company Façonnable. [Paul Alan Levy via TechDirt; Citizen Media Law]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/breaching-online-anonymity/feed/ 0 August 10 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-10-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-10-roundup-3/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:12:46 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18808
  • Oregon 7-year-old gets apology, she can go on running her lemonade stand after all [Skenazy, Josh Blackman]
  • “Judicial recusals and politics make a bad mix” [Bainbridge]
  • Sypher guilty in extortion trial [Above the Law and followup, earlier]
  • “Chevron’s Explosive Filing on Collusion Between Plaintiffs and the Ecuadorian Court-Appointed Expert” [Roger Alford, Opinio Juris and more, Alison Frankel/American Lawyer, Anderson, Volokh, ShopFloor]
  • Meet author of “How to Sue Your Doctor … and Win!” [Media Matters via Popehat]
  • FBI writes to Wikipedia demanding removal of representation of its official seal [Ron Coleman]
  • “Kagan’s Confirmation Could Be High-Water Mark for Big Government” [Shapiro, Cato]
  • “Righthaven’s lawsuits are ‘the McDonald’s coffee cases of copyright litigation’” [Las Vegas Sun via Romenesko]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/august-10-roundup-3/feed/ 3     May 27 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/may-27-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/may-27-roundup/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 05:09:07 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17514
  • Third Circuit drop-kicks “spygate” football-fan class action against New England Patriots [Cal Civil Justice, Russell Jackson, earlier]
  • “Watch Those ‘Jury Duty’ Tweets, People” [Lowering the Bar]
  • Ninth Circuit Kozinski-O’Connor-Ikuta panel rules for free speech in big “hostile environment” workplace-discrimination case [Volokh first, second and third posts; Rodriguez v. Maricopa County Community College Dist., PDF]
  • “Accused Catholic priests left in legal limbo” [Religion News Service/National Catholic Reporter]
  • Suit against big plaintiff’s law firm: “Ex-Baron & Budd Lawyer Awarded $8.8M” [ABA Journal, Texas Lawyer, Above the Law]
  • Keep politics out of doings of New Jersey Supreme Court? Cue riotous laughter [Paul Mulshine, Star-Ledger via Dan Pero]
  • Report: rare genuinely-funny ads from injury law firm have boosted client leads 25% [Above the Law, earlier here and here]
  • Thanks to law bloggers Byron Stier and Eric Turkewitz for joining others in noting my move to Cato even if Wikipedia still hasn’t (and now Wikipedia has too).
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/may-27-roundup/feed/ 5     May 24 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/may-24-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/may-24-roundup/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 13:11:21 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17468
  • Pennsylvania attorney general subpoenas Twitter in search of critics’ identities, then backs down [Volokh and more, Levy/CL&P, Romenesko, Wired "Threat Level"]
  • Letting kids have unsupervised time in NYC park not actually against the law [Free-Range Kids on "Take Your Kids to the Park, and Leave Them There Day"] Related from Lenore Skenazy: Spiked Online and Salon, “The War on Children’s Playgrounds”
  • Uh-oh: New York chief judge Jonathan Lippman endorses massive new Civil Gideon legal-aid entitlement [ABA Journal, and the NYT cheers]
  • “Novartis Hit With $250 Million in Punitives in Gender Bias Case” [NYLJ, WSJ Law Blog (blaming bad defense trial strategy) and more, ABA Journal, Hyman]
  • Med-mal law has done very well for two attorney brothers in Georgia [Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Pero]
  • Kagan’s Oxford thesis revealed: judges shouldn’t make it up as they go along in quest of social justice. Sensation ensues! [WSJ Law Blog, related on political-branch deference] And were the SG’s judicial-restraint principles activated by Graham v. Florida? [Stuart Taylor, Jr., National Journal]
  • Federal Elections Commission as net regulator: “How the DISCLOSE Act will restrict free speech” [Brad Smith/Jeff Patch, Reason]
  • “Law Professor Confesses ‘I’m a Criminal’” [Tim Lynch, Cato]
  • Argentina: “Parts of Anti-Plagiarism Bill Lifted from Wikipedia” [Lowering the Bar, TechDirt]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/may-24-roundup/feed/ 2     Wanted to hire: one Wikipedia writer http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/wanted-to-hire-one-wikipedia-writer/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/wanted-to-hire-one-wikipedia-writer/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:06:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15512 A “celebrity attorney” is offering a gig on L.A. Craigslist [Virginia Postrel]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/01/wanted-to-hire-one-wikipedia-writer/feed/ 1     November 16 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-16-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-16-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:04:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14746
  • German law firm demands that Wikipedia remove true information about now-paroled murderers [EFF] More: Eugene Volokh.
  • “Class Actions: Some Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Fed Up, Too?” [California Civil Justice]
  • Drop that Irish coffee and back away: “F.D.A. Says It May Ban Alcoholic Drinks With Caffeine” [NYT]
  • Profile of L.A. tort lawyers Walter Lack and Thomas Girardi, now in hot water following Nicaraguan banana-pesticide scandal [The Recorder; my earlier outing on "Erin Brockovich" case]
  • Federalist Society panel on federalism and preemption [BLT]
  • Confidence in the courts? PriceWaterhouseCoopers would rather face Satyam securities fraud lawsuits in India than in U.S. [Hartley]
  • Allegation: Scruggs continuing to wheel and deal behind bars [Freeland]
  • Not much that will be new to longtime readers here: “Ten ridiculous lawsuits against Big Business” [Biz Insider] P.S.: Legal Blog Watch had more lists back in June.
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-16-roundup-2/feed/ 2     Lawsuits against God http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/lawsuits-against-god/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/lawsuits-against-god/#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:36:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=13386 The Wikipedia entry on that topic makes one list of the ten best Wikipedia entries. We covered the Ernie Chambers lawsuit here, here, and here. Law Is Cool points out that the entry for “Lawsuits Against the Devil” deserves a look as well. More: Advocates’ Studio (noting that “no pocket is deeper” than the Almighty’s).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/08/lawsuits-against-god/feed/ 1     Wikiality, part 732: The Federalist Society http://overlawyered.com/2008/03/wikiality-part-732-the-federalist-society/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/03/wikiality-part-732-the-federalist-society/#comments Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:35:33 +0000 Ted Frank http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=5943 There are numerous scholarly books and law review articles on the history of the Federalist Society. The only book or article the Wikipedia article cites in its references section? “101 People Who Are Really Screwing America,” also cited 9 times in the article. Second is the People for the American Way’s hit piece on the organization, cited five times. Also cited: Daily Kos. Welcome to Wikipedia’s NPOV policy, where the N apparently stands for Nader, rather than neutral.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2008/03/wikiality-part-732-the-federalist-society/feed/ 11     January 24 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2008/01/january-24-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/01/january-24-roundup-2/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:24:58 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=5777
    • Longtime Overlawyered favorite Judy Cates, of columnist-suing fame, is using large sums of her own money to outspend incumbent James Wexstten in hard-fought race for Illinois state judgeship; Democratic primary is Feb. 5 [Belleville News-Democrat, Southern Illinoisan]

    • City council told: we’ll cancel your liability coverage if you throw all meetings and city records open to public [Seattle Times]

    • Attorney member of Canadian Senate in spot of bother after revelation that she billed client for 30 hours in one day [Vancouver Province, edit]

    • A public wiki just for Scruggsiana? After Keker’s minions swoop in to do their edits, the Mississippi attorney may wind up portrayed as the next Mother Teresa, and not the Hitchens version either [WikiScruggs]

    • Same general category of point, my Wikipedia entry now suddenly describes me as “controversial”, when but a month ago I wasn’t;

    • $28 to $52 million in 18 months for serving as a DoJ “corporate monitor” sounds like nice work if you can get it, and former AG Ashcroft got it without competitive bidding [Lattman, St. Pete Times edit, PolitickerNJ, NJLJ]

    • The Amiable Nancy (1818), admiralty case that could prove crucial precedent in Exxon Valdez punitive appeal, has nothing to do with The Charming Betsey (1804), key precedent on international law [Anchorage Daily News; Tom Goldstein/Legal Times]

    • “First do no harm… to your attorney’s case” [Cole/Dallas Morning News via KevinMD]

    • Probers haven’t come up with evidence of more than middling tiger-taunting, and attorney Geragos says he’ll sue zoo’s p.r. firm for defaming his clients [KCBS; SF Chronicle; AP/USA Today]

    • UK’s latest “metric martyr” is Janet Devens, facing charges for selling vegetables in pounds and ounces at London’s Ridley Road market [WSJ; earlier]

    • Lawyer can maintain defamation suit over being called “ambulance chaser” interested only in “slam dunk” cases, rules Second Circuit panel [eight years ago on Overlawyered]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2008/01/january-24-roundup-2/feed/ 5     Wikiality and the media http://overlawyered.com/2007/02/wikiality-and-the-media/ http://overlawyered.com/2007/02/wikiality-and-the-media/#comments Sun, 11 Feb 2007 10:42:39 +0000 Ted Frank http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=4514 Glenn Reynolds posts on problems with Wikipedia. The problem is worse than he imagines, because lazy mainstream media are now relying on the site. I won’t embarrass the reporter by name, but he did a story on the ATLA name change; in the course of the story, he quoted fictional statistics invented by the Center for Justice & Democracy as “evidence” of the failure of medical malpractice reform. I dropped him an email pointing out the error, and the response included the following:
    “I have found that non-obscure entries in Wikipedia are usually policed carefully to prevent unfounded, unanswered spin.”

    At which point, he quoted back to me a Wikipedia entry on the subject that consisted entirely of ATLA talking points and spin that had been refuted numerous times on this site and Point of Law. That Wikipedia is inaccurate on this topic is no surprise: as I’ve noted earlier, a handful of trial lawyer advocates have systematically made thousands of edits to sanitize Wikipedia of just about anything that opposes the official ATLA line or criticizes trial lawyers, even on such minor entries as Jim Shapiro (see OL June 2002) and contingent fee (not to mention more major ones like asbestos, asbestos and the law, and medical malpractice). (And welcome Instapundit readers.)

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