Archive for 2006

“Not About The Money” Files: Ronan Public Schools lawsuit update

Updating our Nov. 8, 2004 entry, plaintiffs’ attorney Gary Zadik made our favorite argument when asking a jury to award $1.7 million of damages against the school district for the parents of schoolchildren who cut class and died after imbibing a half-gallon of vodka.

“This case is not about money,” plaintiffs lawyer Gary Zadik of Great Falls told the jury in his closing statements Wednesday morning.

Members of the jury apparently took him at his word, because they awarded none.

The parents argued that if the school had called them earlier, they would’ve been able to find the boys, a claim that is somewhat weakened by the fact that their bodies weren’t found until three days after they died, as well as the fact that one of the parents was called. Justin Benoist’s mother testified that “she was an alcoholic, that one of her sons had recently died in a fire because he had passed out drunk at a party and failed to smell the smoke, that none of her surviving children remained in her legal custody, and that Justin at age 11 already had a probation officer supervising him because of behavioral problems.” (John Stromnes, “Jury finds Ronan School District not liable for drinking deaths of two boys”, The Missoulian, Mar. 2; John Stromnes, “Trial over boys’ drinking deaths opens”, The Missoulian, Feb. 28).

Pellicano scandal, cont’d

More prominent L.A. lawyers continue to be named as “persons of interest” in the investigation of wiretapping and privacy invasion, and at least half a dozen of them have retained criminal counsel on their own behalf. (WSJ law blog, Feb. 27; Greg Krikorian and Andrew Blankstein, “Feds Working New Pellicano Indictments”, Los Angeles Times, Mar. 1). And here come the civil suits, with an emphasis naturally on targeting deep-pocketed bystanders: attorneys Brian Kabateck and Matthew Geragos are seeking class-action status on behalf of Pellicano wiretap victims in a suit against AT&T, formerly SBC (Justin Scheck and Kellie Schmitt, “Lawyers Rev Up for Hollywood Wiretapping Case”, The Recorder/Law.com, Feb. 28). ” More coverage: Feb. 18, Feb. 16, etc.

When jurors bring expertise

The decay of occupational exemptions to jury service means that more doctors, nurses and other persons with considerable professional expertise are making it into jury pools and even sometimes being allowed to sit as jurors, at least assuming that lawyers decline to use challenges to exclude them. One Nassau County, N.Y. judge even recalls “presid[ing] over a business dissolution case in which the lawyers allowed an accountant to sit on the jury. ‘Why they left the accountant on I’ll never know, but the lawyers were quite satisfied,” he said. (Imagine — relevant life experience not being screened out in the course of the jury selection process!) Oregon prosecutor Joshua Marquis, an official with the National District Attorneys Association, does harbor a prejudice against one particular kind of professional called to jury service, namely lawyers themselves. “They’re terrible jurors — I should hit myself in the face with a stick if I ever let a lawyer on a jury again.” (Leonard Post, “Dealing With Jurors’ Expertise”, National Law Journal, Dec. 23).

Future sexually-frustrated-fan celebrity class actions

1) Ever since a tabloid story broke claiming that former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken was gay, there have been rumors that fans would file a class action lawsuit alleging consumer fraud. To date, noone has been that ridiculous (though the suit would be no more ridiculous than many successful consumer-fraud class actions), but the New York Post reports that gay-bashing fans have filed an FTC complaint alleging that they were misled as to the star’s sexuality by record-company promotions. If the theory holds water, celebrity magazines could use consumer-fraud-class-action civil discovery to uncover whether maverick movie stars have been engaging in risky business in the closet, with the firm chance that a few good men could suffer collateral damage to their privacy. (Other discussion of civil discovery and privacy: Feb. 9.)

2) The Smoking Gun has published correspondence from Jessica Alba’s attorneys threatening Playboy with suit over using her image on the cover. Without getting into the merits of her claim, I was entertained by the argument that Alba’s presence on the cover implied falsely that she would appear nude within the magazine (in fact, the magazine merely had a publicity still of Alba inside). One wonders if, should Alba fail to win an injunction against magazine distribution, there will be a creative class action from readers alleging consumer fraud by the failure to meet the implicit promise of photos of a naked Alba. (h/t to Slim)

“Tripped over your mail? File suit”

“You never know when a flower pot, stray cat, man in a monkey suit or cunning birthday package might reach out and grab your ankle. But, if the latter happens, suing is probably the best option. It is definitely the mailman’s fault you were not watching where you were going.” (Kristie Busam, University of Alabama Crimson White, Mar. 1). Howard Bashman has MSM press coverage of the Supreme Court decision that we covered Feb. 23.

Nancy Grace

The CNN legal commentator, famous for her throw-away-the-key opinions on criminal justice matters, is perhaps equally famous for her own backstory as a crime victim. But how well does her version of that story stand up to scrutiny? (Rebecca Dana, “Did Nancy Grace, TV Crimebuster, Muddy Her Myth?” New York Observer, Mar. 6). Take it away, Prof. Bainbridge

“Nominate a favorite post” thread

Recently we introduced a sidebar on the front page with a sampling of a few of the site’s “Greatest Hits” — stories and posts that made a big hit with readers, have been much linked to, or are otherwise especially memorable. (More information about the list here). If you’re a longterm reader or even if you’re not, feel free to use the comments section to nominate your own favorites that you think belong on the list. To look up older posts, use the search function for posts since mid-2003 or before that, or try a Google search.

Katrina cruise-ship evacuees dig in

“A federal court hearing on whether some two dozen hurricane evacuees can remain on a cruise ship past a mid-week deadline was delayed Monday while lawyers for the evacuees and the federal government tried to work out a compromise.” (“Settlement efforts underway in lawsuit over cruise ship deadline”, AP/KATC, Feb. 27). The Scotia Prince, on loan by its owners to FEMA to house St. Bernard Parish evacuees, was supposed to set sail this week. “Evacuees’ attorney Michael Ginart Jr. said he would work to keep the evacuees on the ship as long as possible but declined to say what exactly what the settlement might entail.” (“Hurricane Evacuees Head to Court Over Cruise Ship Housing”, AP/FoxNews.com, Feb. 27; Steve Ritea, “Cruise ship residents sue over Wednesday eviction”, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Feb. 25).