Minimum deposit required $4,420 and 19.8 cents, actual proffered deposit $4,420 and 19 cents even, result: misery. After the tax auction of a piece of Ontario vacation land, a rival successfully challenged the high bid on the grounds that it should have included a deposit that was eight-tenths of a cent higher. We’re all in favor of formalism in the law, but… (Paul Waldie, “A penny saved . . . is a cottage lost”, Globe and Mail, Jun. 5).
Archive for June, 2004
Rule of Lawyers thanks
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).
Ultimate in buyer’s remorse
“A transsexual who spent ?60,000 on surgery to become a woman is suing her doctor after claiming that he misdiagnosed her with gender dysphoria.” Samantha Kane, 44, of Newcastle-under-Tyne, England, had been a millionaire property owner and father of two named Sam Hashimi until deciding to change his gender in an operation seven years ago. Now Kane says she does not enjoy living as a woman and misses the parts of her body that were cut off. She is suing consultant psychiatrist Dr Russell Reid, saying he advised her improperly and should never have permitted the operation. (Helen Nugent, “Sex-change woman sues over ‘terrible mistake'”, London Times/Gender Trust, May 27).
West Virginia M.D.s
…won the enactment of far-reaching liability reform in their state last year. How they did it (“The story of tort reform in West Virginia”, David A. Kappel, M.D., Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, May (PDF)). See also “Malpractice Liability in West Virginia” (survey), U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, Nov. 19, 2002 (PDF); American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “Ob-Gyns Praise West Virginia’s New Law On Medical Liability Reform” (press release), Mar. 19, 2003. For the other side’s views, see Public Citizen, Jul. 9, 2003, and Stephanie Mencimer, “Malpractice Makes Perfect”, Washington Monthly, Oct. 2003 (& see Howard Kurtz, “Fox’s Middle Man”, Washington Post, Apr. 5 on publishing history of last-named piece, which was nominated for a National Magazine Award although the New Republic had “rejected it as flawed after a couple of rounds of rewriting”).
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004
“Said Petko Bocharov, a prominent Bulgarian journalist: ‘The fact that today Bulgaria is a member of NATO could happen only after the efforts of this great American president. His name will forever remain in history.’ … ‘For us, Reagan was important because we knew he was really anti-Communist, emotionally anti-Communist,’ said Zdenek Kosina, 65, a Czech computer specialist. ‘For us, he was a symbol of the United States’ genuine determination to bring communism to an end.’ Laurentiu Ivan, 35, a customs officer in the Romanian capital, struggled to describe Reagan’s legacy and then said: ‘It is due to him that we are free.'” (William J. Kole, “International reaction: ‘It is due to him that we are free'”, AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Jun. 6).
Ohio reforms asbestos, silica litigation
A breakthrough? With Gov. Robert Taft’s signature, Ohio has now enacted the nation’s first legislation establishing medical guidelines for eligibility to file lawsuits over exposure to asbestos and silica (see Sept. 13, Nov. 12). Claimants not ill enough to meet the criteria will have their names placed on an “inactive docket” and will be allowed to proceed with suits if their physical condition worsens. The bill was a major objective of business and insurance groups and faced stiff opposition from trial lawyers, who’ve vowed to challenge it in court. (Jim Provance, “Taft signs bill curbing asbestos suits”, Toledo Blade, Jun. 4; “Taft signs law limiting lawsuits over lung damage from silica”, AP/Ohio News Network, Jun. 2). See also opinion pieces: Doug Bandow, “Asbestos Liability Should Be On Domestic Reform Agenda”, Investors Business Daily/Cato Institute, Feb. 20; “Finding an asbestos compromise”, Copley/TownHall, Apr. 26; Dana Joel Gattuso, “Asbestos Litigation Choking Courts with False Claimants”, Heartland Institute Environment News, May 1). More: Point of Law, Aug. 20.
Great moments in economic regulation
With soaring gasoline prices beginning to cause economic hardship, Minnesota’s Commerce Department is cracking down on gas stations for charging prices that are too low. “The state adopted a law in 2001 that bars gas stations from selling gas without taking a minimum profit. These days, stations must charge at least eight cents per gallon more than they paid. The Commerce Department is now issuing its first fines for breaking the law. It fined Arkansas-based Murphy Oil $70,000 for breaking the law at its ten state stations, which are based at Wal-Mart stores,” and also fined one Kwik Trip station. (“Commerce Department Cracks Down on Under Priced Gas”, KARE11.com (Minneapolis-St. Paul), May 29)(via Truck and Barter). Another example, from Maryland: May 21, 2005.
Impersonating a tribe
Ronald A. Roberts of Granville, N.Y., who has called himself Sachem Golden Eagle of the Western Mohegans, awaits sentencing June 17 after pleading guilty to federal charges of perjury and submitting false documents in proceedings asking for recognition as an Indian tribe. Last year Mr. Roberts “sued New York State, seeking millions in rent over the last 200 years on 900,000 acres of public land throughout the Hudson Valley, including land around the Capitol. In another suit, in 1999 he had tried to stop the development of a state park on Schodack Island in the Hudson River near Albany, asserting that it was the ancestral burial grounds of his people. Judges eventually threw out both suits.” According to prosecutors, Roberts advanced his claims to represent a surviving Indian tribe by submitting “an altered death certificate for his grandfather, Arthur E. Smith, on which the cursive ‘W’ for white on the form had been changed to ‘Indian.’ But prosecutors pointed out that it was not much of a forgery, since the clumsy alteration was made with a ballpoint pen, invented after the grandfather’s death.” Roberts “also gave the federal government a doctored version of the 1845 census of Indians in New York, in which someone had conveniently inserted his great-grandfather’s name into a list of Indian household heads.” (James C. McKinley Jr., “Man With Flair for Reinventing Himself Goes a Step Too Far”, New York Times, Jun. 3; Hallie Arnold, “Ex-leader admits lying on tribal application”, Kingston Daily Freeman, Feb. 10). For more on the curious, high-stakes legal world of tribal recognition, casinos and land claims, see May 17, Feb. 9 and links from there.
Update: “Ten Commandments” slate
In Alabama’s GOP primary Tuesday, where a slate of religious-right judicial candidates backed by former chief justice Roy Moore was financially supported by the state’s leading plaintiff’s lawyers (see Jun. 1), Moore loyalist Tom Parker succeeded in knocking off business-favored incumbent Jean Brown by a narrow margin; a second “Ten Commandments” candidate lost outright, while a third trailed badly in voting but may have succeeded in forcing a runoff. (William C. Singleton III, “Roy Moore’s clout swings high court race”, Birmingham Post-Herald, Jun. 2). Mike DeBow of Southern Appeal (Jun. 2) has more, and notes that the Democrat who will be facing off against Mooreite Parker in November, Robert Smith of Mobile, is — unusually for a Democratic candidate in that state, it would seem — a defense- rather than a plaintiff’s-side litigator and indeed a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel.
Oz: jilted wife wants stress damages too
Two months ago (see Apr. 8) a workers’ comp tribunal caused a furor in Australia by awarding $A28,000 to teacher Jeff Sinclair, who was fired over an affair with a teenage student. (“School for scandal”, Melbourne Age, May 3). Now Sabina Sinclair, the educator’s spurned wife, is also seeking compensation for psychological injury from the New South Wales education department over the incident. “I am really fragile,” she said. (Martin Wallace, “Jilted wife seeks damages”, Daily Telegraph/News.com.au, May 31).