Lawsuits filed against the city of Baltimore demand hundreds of millions of dollars, but the city pays out only a minute fraction of that sum — one of many reasons being that “the city caps awards for lawsuits at $200,000, save for intentional bad acts by city employees.” An editorial in the Baltimore Examiner quotes me on the subject (“Slow lawsuits; charge losers fees”, Jul. 13). For more on New York City’s tort predicament, see Jun. 15.
Last month Overlawyered.com was named “Web Site of the Day” by the Bulletin Board at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, one of the Twin Cities’ two big papers (Jun. 2). The British publication The Lawyer cited our coverage of Bill Lerach’s Enron fees (Jun. 5). And New York-based journalist Robert A. George (the “good” Robert George) calls this website “great”, though he erroneously thinks me a lawyer (Jun. 5).
I’ve also been quoted on same-sex marriage issues in a variety of venues, including by Lou Chibbaro Jr. in the Washington Blade (“Amendment bars states from marrying gay couples: experts”, Apr. 20); Jonathan Rauch at MarriageDebate.com (May 6); Andy Humm, “Gay Marriage Ruling Highlights a Changing Court”, Gotham Gazette, Jul. 10); and the Robert A. George post above. For more of my views on that subject, see Jun. 2, etc.
One Comment
Wow – Baltimore employs 11 attorneys and pays out 400K. NYC employs several hundred and pays out half a BILLION.
And the only difference is a whisk of the legislative pen. I hardly think NYC is that many more times “negligent” than Baltimore, even adusting for size difference. They’re both big northeastern metropolitan areas with probably similar demographics.
Legislative failure to stop the hemhorraging in NYC is nothing less than a breach of the public’s trust. These same legislators often enrich themselves by these very lawsuits. Doesn’t federal law have “deprivation of honest services” as a violation?