“In a strange twist to Britain’s newest terrorism scare, a regional police force admitted Monday that it had sent officers for ‘diversity training’ to an Islamic school that the police searched Sunday as part of a crackdown on jihadist recruiters and trainers. In a statement, the Sussex police said the Jameah Islameah school south of London ‘has been used by officers and staff undergoing advanced training for their role as diversity trainers to the rest of the work force.'” (Alan Cowell, “British School, Searched in Inquiry, Was Used to Train Police”, New York Times, Sept. 5).
Archive for 2006
CNBC “Morning Call” today
I’m scheduled to be a guest this morning at 11:45 Eastern Time on CNBC’s “Morning Call“, discussing the possibilities that employers will get sued over their employees’ “BlackBerry addiction“. I’ll be arguing that such suits are unlikely to get anywhere if filed.
ACS Panel on Habeas
I’m not convinced it was the most edifying panel on habeas corpus ever, but if you prefer to watch me on video than read me on the subject, the American Constitution Society has streaming video of the June panel “Limiting the Great Writ: Restrictions on Habeas Corpus.”
“Juror took loans from plaintiff in Texas Vioxx case”
Merck wants Leonel Garza’s $13 million verdict reviewed. (AP/Boston Globe, Sept. 1). For other doubts about the case, see Ted’s post of Apr. 23 and Point of Law coverage here.
Billing fraud at a major law firm?
No, that couldn’t possibly be true. There must be some error in the report. (WSJ law blog, Aug. 30; Nathan Koppel, “Lawyer’s Charge Opens Window On Bill Padding”, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 30 ($); Stephen Bainbridge, Aug. 30; Carolyn Elefant, Aug. 31; Matthew Farmer (ex-Holland & Knight) letter to judge in PDF format).
U.K.: “Inmate sues for falling from bunk”
A prisoner at Bullingdon near Bicester, Oxfordshire, “is suing the Prison Service after he cut himself falling from the top bunk in his cell”. The inmate told a prisoners’ magazine that bunk beds were “an accident waiting to happen”. (BBC, Aug. 27). As Ted noted Aug. 16, a New Jersey appeals court recently overturned a jury verdict awarded to a student who fell from a loft bed, ruling the dangers obvious.
Eating their own: Fred Baron v. Baron & Budd
Apparently there is no honor among thievesplaintiffs’ attorneys. The Texas Shark Watch Blog tells us that John Edwards’ money-man, Fred Baron, has sued his former law firm:
Never one to overlook any conceivable cause of action, Baron alleges in his petition filed in Dallas state district court breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty, tortious interference, conspiracy to tortious interference, fraud or alternatively negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy to fraud, fraudulent transfer, conversion, legal malpractice, negligence, unjust enrichment, and alternatively promissory estoppel or quantum meruit.
The blog has much more about plaintiffs’ bar involvement in Texas politics, including the use of over a million dollars of trial-lawyer money to support the independent-Republican candidacy of Carole Strayhorn, presumably to split the Republican vote and unseat a governor who has done much for reform. Efforts by trial lawyers to supplant reform-friendly Republican legislators with their own stalking-horse candidates in Republican primaries were unsuccessful, however.
“Ben, take off your clown suit for a minute”
Larry Ribstein has some advice for Times business columnist and not always intentional comedian Ben Stein (Sept. 3).
McDonald’s coffee lawsuit and 1Ls
I suppose Evan Schaeffer pointed to this post by a USD 1L who is being incorrectly taught that the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit isn’t frivolous to get my goat, but I just find it very, very sad that a generation of law students is being taught to twist the tort system improperly. Of course, if someone googles “McDonald’s coffee lawsuit”, nine out of the top ten links will be happy to share with them the ATLA fictions about the lawsuit; it’s only a matter of time that the trial lawyer wikiality replaces the truth.
“Helping Christians who’ve been injured”
Thus reads the advertising tagline of Colorado Springs law firm McCormack & Murphy P.C. Shrewd marketing? Disturbingly exclusionary? A manifestation of sincere religious conviction? All of these? (David Lat, Above the Law, Aug. 31, who got it from Parenthetical Statement).