With the popularity of Netflix, New York magazine notes the rise of a new type of crime: postal employees’ stealing the easily identifiable red-jacketed DVDs from the mail. In addition to at least three such cases in New York City, “Inspectors have rounded up thieves in Detroit, San Diego, and Lyons, Colorado — where a carrier stole 503 discs before capture. Because civil-service rules make it nearly impossible to fire corrupt mail carriers, U.S. attorneys often agree to dismiss charges in exchange for their quitting.” (Eric Wolff, “Intelligencer: A Stranger In Your Queue”, New York, Feb. 20). But do their lawyers succeed in negotiating neutral references for them?
Archive for 2006
Restrained, tasteful lawyer advertising, cont’d
A lawyer’s commercials depict him spinning “like a human tornado, generating cash for his clients,” and proclaim “GOAL” in soccer style as he gets checks. “As long as my ads are not false or misleading, I can say what I want to say,” says Glen Lerner, who’s currently in a dispute with the State Bar of Nevada about the wording of one of his slogans, “The Heavy Hitter”. “I’m selling a product. Me … I’m like the Ty-D-Bol man.” (Glenn Puit, “‘Heavy Hitter’ will sue”, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Mar. 2)(via Lattman).
Jailing outdoor smokers
If the city of Calabasas, Calif., has no intention of doing so, how come it gave itself that authority in its recently enacted ordinance? (Jacob Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, Mar. 9). Among its other provisions, the ordinance also bans smoking in nonresidential outdoor spaces in the presence of even consenting non-smokers — including, apparently, a smoker’s spouse, parents, etc. — and provides for enforcement through bounty-hunting lawsuits by uninjured parties. (“Clean Air Calabasas”, Reason, Mar. 8).
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Organ obbligato
Long before their current “medical adventure”, I was a besotted fan of the writings of Virginia Postrel and Sally Satel, and also proud to count them both as friends. Now Virginia has single-handedly (single-kidneyedly?) refuted the old calumnies that tar libertarians as selfish, only out for Number One, etc. (Mar. 3, Mar. 7). Best wishes to them both for a speedy recovery.
“‘Bedbug’ pair back days later”
“A couple who filed a $20 million lawsuit against a Catskills hotel after allegedly being attacked by bedbugs returned to the resort for another stay just nine days later, a lawyer for the hotel told the Daily News yesterday. Leslie Fox and Stephen Cohen checked in at the Nevele Hotel on July 15, 2005 – then returned from July 24 to July 29, attorney Joseph O’Connor said. ‘The claim for a $20 million injury is not substantiated by her willingness to stay in the same section of the hotel two weeks later,’ he said.” Fox and her husband are being represented by Alan J. Schnurman of the law firm of Zalman & Schnurman, who says he has been contacted by another hotel patron reporting bedbug bites. (Helen Peterson, New York Daily News, Mar. 9; “Pair Suing Hotel Over Bedbugs Bites Return”, AP/Washington Post, Mar. 9).
“There’s just no there there”
Mark Kleiman, on the alleged link between autism and thimerosal in vaccines (Mar. 6), commenting on the latest from Respectful Insolence (Mar. 6). Orac of Respectful Insolence also takes another whack (Mar. 2) at the emissions of the egregious Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on the same controversy, as published (Mar. 1) in the Huffington Post. More: Feb. 21, etc.
P.S. And here’s Kathleen Seidel, who’s been covering the issue in depth at Neurodiversity Weblog (Mar. 1): “It’s time for RFK Jr. to come clean about the fact that he represents the interests of private litigants seeking compensation for supposed vaccine injury when in fact many of those litigants have no evidence that such injury occurred.. …Widespread suspicions are fueled by an aggressive public relations campaign engineered by wealthy PR maven and pioneering ‘mercury mom’ Sally Bernard, early litigant Lyn Redwood, their close associates, faux-journalists David Kirby and Dan Olmsted, and a core of personal injury lawyers who have cultivated this market for years. A lot of money has gone into convincing parents of autistic children that their kids were poisoned.”
Defensive medicine — no big deal?
That’s what some bloggers (like these two) seem to think. Emergency room physician “Shadowfax” (Feb. 10) finds this point of view a “little maddening”, given that it conflicts with the experience of “every day of my working life, every patient I see, every diagnostic/therapeutic decision I make”. (via KevinMD).
“Court bars rapist from suing victim”
Connecticut:
A Superior Court judge in New London Friday permanently barred a convicted rapist who had harassed his victim with a series of legal actions from filing further lawsuits without the permission of a judge. Judge Clarance J. Jones issued a permanent injunction against Allen Adgers, who is serving a 13-year sentence for kidnapping and raping his former wife at knife-point, said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose office sought the order….
[The wife] moved six times, but Adgers was able to learn her new address each time by filing a legal action that resulted in her being served with a subpoena. As part of the subpoena process, Adgers would get a receipt recording the address where service was made. He sent her harassing letters, which has added four years to his original 13-year sentence. But he still was allowed to force his former wife into court. Acting as his own attorney, the rapist was able to question and taunt his victim….
Blumenthal said that Adgers, in addition to harassing his victim, also filed 16 frivolous lawsuits against government officials since 2001. That will end with the order issued Friday.
(Mark Pazniokas, “Judge Halts Rape Victim’s Ordeal”, Hartford Courant, Feb. 25). Jonathan B. Wilson, who spotted the case, says one lesson — given that it took a situation this extreme to trigger an injunction — is that the system is likely to allow a great deal of litigation abuse in less facially outrageous cases: “So long as plaintiffs have the capacity of filng suit and engaging in discovery without satisfying any minimal standard of justification, unscrupulous plaintiffs will be able to use the compulsive power of the courts to impose frustration and costs on defendants.” (Feb. 26).
No more anonymous commenting
…if a New Jersey legislator gets his way. (Reason “Hit and Run”, Mar. 7). The idea is to make sure legal remedies are available “to persons injured by false or defamatory messages posted on public forum websites”. More: Michael Krauss. Update May 9: the legislator is reportedly going to withdraw the bill, following a storm of online criticism (via Reynolds).