Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Archive for December, 2005

Welcome Baltimore Sun readers

The newspaper of H.L. Mencken gave this site a nice recommendation Nov. 24 (not online) in its column about the Web, “The Monitor”:

What’s the point? — This site explores the ever-increasing litigiousness of society by reviewing law blogs (aka “blawgs”), and linking to and discussing articles and papers on cases, laws and so on.

What to look for — Check out posts on such recent cases as a man who says he got glued to a toilet seat in the bathroom of a Home Depot and last week’s accusations that Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffee is too hot.

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Update: Morgan Stanley $1.5 billion verdict

The financial services firm has now filed its appeal of the mega-verdict (see May 18) awarded in a Florida court to billionaire financier Ron Perelman, who sued Morgan over its role in a 1998 deal involving Sunbeam Corp.’s acquisition of the Coleman camping equipment firm. “Before trial, Judge Maass issued an order for partial summary judgment based on a violation of her discovery order. Her ruling prevented Morgan Stanley from disputing any of the facts alleged by Perelman.” (Carl Jones, “Morgan Stanley: ‘Record Is Clear’ That Florida Judge Erred”, Miami Daily Business Review, Dec. 14). Update Mar. 22, 2007: appeals court overturns verdict.

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Update: Yosemite rockslide suit dismissed

Following up on our Aug. 24 post: “A federal judge threw out a $10-million wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a young rock climber killed in a 1999 slide in Yosemite Valley, short-circuiting a legal battle that some climbers feared could threaten a mecca of the sport.” (Eric Bailey, “Suit by Climber’s Family Dismissed”, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12).

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Florida emergency rooms

They’re facing an emergency of their own:

An increasing number of Palm Beach County doctors, including many who no longer have malpractice insurance coverage, are refusing to work in the emergency room or reducing the days they are willing to work there because they fear the added liability risk.

The problem has led to delays in treatment and required some emergency patients to be transferred to — or “dumped” on — hospitals in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and as far away as Gainesville.

(Phil Galewitz, “Cures sought for ER doctor shortages”, Palm Beach Post, Dec. 11)(via KevinMD).

Also from KevinMD regarding emergency rooms, here’s some advice from a plaintiff’s lawyer on how to behave if you’re a patient using an ER. It does not go over well with Kevin’s readers.

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Dianne Reading v. Ford

Dianne Reading was speeding in foggy conditions in her Ford Explorer, when she jerked her wheel to the right to avoid a deer, and flipped her vehicle. Unfortunately, she had not belted her minor son, Andrew, and he died. A Texas jury found Reading 65% responsible, but attributed 35% of the accident to Ford for not using “wider tires,” and then assessed so much in damages that Ford is still on the hook for $16.6 million. Ford will appeal. (Scott E. Williams, “Ford hit with historic $16.6M verdict”, Galveston County Daily News, Dec. 15).

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FedEx Sued In Child Sex Assault Case

Paul Sykes had a criminal record when he was hired by FedEx Kinko’s; FedEx says their background check didn’t turn it up. Sykes solicited Kinko’s customers for work for his outside computer repair business; one family hired Sykes and his disturbingly-named “Facts and Fantasy” service, and Sykes went on to (allegedly) molest their eight-year-old son, a crime for which he has been arrested, charged, and has pled not guilty. The family is suing FedEx. (Bloomberg News, “FedEx Sued In Child Sex Assault Case”, Dec. 15; AP/Newsday, Dec. 14).

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Ollie v. the world

The Oxford English Dictionary recognizes “ollie” as a skateboarding move, but now Alan “Ollie” Gelfand, who invented the move as a teenager in 1976, and got around to registering a trademark in 2002, claims exclusive use of the term, and is suing Disney, Sega, and numerous other defendants $20 million for their use of the word. (Patrick Danner, “If you use the ‘ollie,’ pay Ollie”, Miami Herald, Dec. 7).

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“Grinch, Esq.”

Let’s face it, Dahlia Lithwick points out: “the law offers a whole host of opportunities for wrecking the lives of others”. In fact, lawyers have been known to boast about the way they’ve spoiled the other side’s holidays:

Consider the perfectly timed restraining order, or the spontaneous motion for an order to show cause — or in fact anything that could bury the other side in research and paperwork the day before Christmas. Think about the possibilities for 11th-hour changes in the visitation schedule for the children — requiring canceled plane tickets and Christmas Eve court appearances. Or the last-minute effort to have a local crèche or tree deemed unconstitutional.

So Slate, for which Ms. Lithwick writes, is holding a contest in which lawyer-readers can submit “the meanest thing you’ve ever done to an opponent on the holidays”:

The best stories will be reprinted here shortly, and the Most Evil Attorney in the World will be showered with Slate paraphernalia. This contest is also open to anyone, anywhere with stories of hideous pre-holiday lawyer shenanigans, whether they were perpetrated upon you by counsel on the other side, by bosses in your law firm, or you merely heard about them from some sad-sack lawyer in a bar on Christmas morning.

All forced jollity aside, doesn’t this present bar authorities — forever fretting about the profession’s image — with a goal worth working toward, namely, find ways to revamp the practice of litigation to make such “hideous…shenanigans” rarer? (“Billable Horrors”, Slate, Dec. 13).

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