Archive for April, 2005

Batch of reader letters

We’ve just added four more entries to our stack of reader correspondence, which constitutes its own page with a blog-like format. Among topics this time are high-speed cop chases; a reader asks equal time to bash defense lawyers; step right up and grab your class action prizes, advises a garish GoogleAd; and a family’s pipe and valve distribution business gets caught in the asbestos-litigation snare.

“A Suit That Makes More Cents for the Lawyers”

A check for 49 cents arrives in the mail, in settlement of a class action against Bank of America. A staff writer for the L.A. Times starts digging and finds that the lawyers who filed the suit are going to swallow half the $4.2 million settlement. As for residual unclaimed funds, they’re going to a charity, but one the parties are unwilling to name. (Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times, Apr. 11). On the Schwartz v. Citibank class action, filed by the same lawyer (Brian Strange) and involving the same issues, see our coverage of Dec. 14, 2003 (letter to the editor), Jan. 10 and Jan. 16, 2004.

Distinguished co-thinker of this site

From a report on an Apr. 5 Phoenix symposium on health care sponsored by Arizona State University: “[Former Sen. and vice presidential candidate John] Edwards, once a highly successful plaintiff’s personal-injury lawyer, also pointed to lawyers as a problem. They need to be held accountable for frivolous lawsuits that help drive up the cost of malpractice insurance.” (Jodie Snyder, “Ex-senator urging changes in U.S. health care system”, Arizona Republic, Apr. 6).

“Garbage Plate” vs. “Plat du Refuse”

In Rochester there’s a food fight going on in court over a dubious local culinary specialty, the “Garbage Plate”, which consists per AP of “a heaping platter of hot dogs or hamburger, home fries, macaroni salad and baked beans smothered in a meaty hot sauce”. Nick Tahou’s restaurant has held a registered trademark to the Depression-era dish since 1992 and may fear, like the promoter of the breakfast health food in the Saki story, losing its market supremacy once rivals introduce yet more unpalatable-sounding concoctions. Copycat platters sold by other Rochester restaurants include Messy Plate, Sloppy Plate, Dog Dish and Plat du Refuse. (Ben Dobbin, “In Rochester food fight, ‘Garbage Plate’ takes on ‘Plat du Refuse'”, AP/Buffalo News, Apr. 9).

Banks’ international customer records

The feds want unprecedented authority to snoop into them, but say it’s only to combat money laundering and terrorist finance — for now, at least. They’ve been tightening the screws on banks that aren’t forthcoming enough in reporting cash transfers deemed suspicious: “Some smaller community banks have sold out to larger companies for fear of increased liability, banking officials say, and banks have dropped some money-transmittal businesses that do significant business overseas because of the risk. Some executives, meanwhile, are steering away from serving on bank boards, concerned that they will be hit with punitive measures, banking industry officials say.” But the regulations do not seem especially promising in blocking money transfers intended to abet terrorism, most of which are smallish in size or otherwise not facially suspicious. (Eric Lichtblau, “U.S. Seeks Access to Bank Records to Deter Terror”, New York Times, Apr. 10). For more, see my Reason column for Mar. 1999.

Gift card shenanigans and other Madison County follies

When one uses a Wal-Mart gift card for a purchase of less than the amount of the gift card, the remainder remains on the gift card for use in future purchases. This wasn’t enough for Ashley Peach, who used two $10 gift cards to buy $18.61 worth of stuff at Wal-Mart, and was upset that she wasn’t given $1.39 in cash as change. So she’s suing, demanding punitive damages, and seeking class action status in Madison County. Her lawyers: the Lakin Law Firm. Having found gift cards such a traumatic experience, you’d think Peach would avoid them, but she has two essentially identical suits pending against K-Mart and Fashion Bug for similar misunderstandings. (Steve Gonzalez, “$1.39? Wal-Mart next in line for Peach”, Madison County Record, Nov . 7).

The Peach family are frequent Madison County litigants, with at least five suits going in the system, including a very strange suit against Granite City, where Armettia Peach paid $68,900 (including $20,000 in cash) for a house she had never seen, sued Granite City and some bystanders for allegedly failing to inspect a leaky roof, sold the house for $40,000 to a LLC that then sold it to Granite City’s mayor’s sister-in-law for $57,000–and then received a $104,000 default judgment from Granite City (including $26,000 in legal fees to the Lakin Law Firm), when the town failed to respond to the complaint. Something fishy is going on here, but one doesn’t know what, and whether Granite City officials are victims or participants in something sinister. (Steve Korris, “Plaintiff Peach awarded windfall judgment against Granite City”, Madison County Record, Mar. 31; Steve Korris, “Anatomy of Peach v. Granite City”, Madison County Record, Mar. 31; Steve Korris, “Home repairman gets trapped in legal web”, Madison County Record, Mar. 31).

Regulation of non-profits

The aim of proposals before the Senate Finance Committee may be to crack down on financial abuses by some charitable entities, but the result could be to impose onerous regulatory burdens on the good and bad alike. (Heather Higgins, “Death by Bureaucracy”, OpinionJournal/WSJ, Apr. 10).

Apology privilege

Last year (see May 19) Jack Henneman of TigerHawk discussed the “apology privilege” for doctors that is under debate in a number of states (which would shield physicians from having apologies to patients used as evidence against them in court), and suggested that it might make sense to apply the principle to everyone, not just doctors. Now he’s got some further thoughts and a concrete proposal (Apr. 9).