It seems everyone else is (Michael Myser, Wired News, Aug. 21).
Archive for September, 2007
O’Quinn told to pay clients $41 million
Because of interest and attorneys’ fees, the figure ordered by an arbitration panel is up from the $35 million reported in our earlier coverage (Apr. 15, Jun. 9, Jul. 19, Jul. 20, Jul. 25). The panel agreed that O’Quinn had overcharged former breast implant clients. (Debra Cassens Weiss, “Lawyer O’Quinn Ordered to Pay $41.4 M”, ABA Journal Online, Sept. 12).
Overlawyered has been covering this particular scandal for more than eight years (Aug. 4, 1999), sometimes out in front of the conventional press.
When police officers drive drunk
When police officers are caught driving drunk, they naturally incur especially severe consequences, since it’s vital that they set an example of respect for the laws, and since recklessness is an especially dangerous trait to tolerate in persons who are issued public guns and given arbitrary authority over the lives and liberty of others.
Just kidding! For what really happens to police officers caught driving drunk, at least in one big metropolitan area, see this investigative series (week of Aug. 6) in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (via Ed Brayton). And for reminders of the law’s attitude toward ordinary citizens caught in the same circumstances, see, for example, Aug. 13, 2004, Apr. 19, 2005, and Dec. 2, 2005 (& welcome Instapundit readers).
“Most of the negative attention was from being an attorney”
TB-flying Atlanta lawyer Andrew Speaker tells his side of the story. (Meredith Hobbs, “Bad Image Lingers for Atlanta Lawyer With TB”, Fulton County Daily Report, Sept. 13).
City council spat: meter passes $700,000
Suburban Seattle: “A lawsuit accusing four current and former Shoreline City Council members of holding illegal secret meetings two years ago to oust the city manager and decide on his replacement could mean a few hundred dollars in fines for the politicians if they lose.” The legal fees, however, have already mounted to the $700,000 mark with no end in sight, as the parties prepare for a trial. Plaintiffs say the matter could have been settled early with an apology and a small fine; defendants say principle is at stake and that the suit is a way for their disgruntled opponents to cause trouble. (Jim Brunner, “Potential legal tab in Shoreline council lawsuit ‘ridiculous'”, Seattle Times, Sept. 13). And more: case settles for $159,000 (“Shoreline to pay $159,000 to settle open meeting lawsuit”, Sept. 14).
September 13 roundup
- Pearson Pants update: dry cleaners offered to drop their fee demand if Pearson would end case, but he declined [Marc Fisher, other Washington Post coverage, Beldar]
- Check your oil, ma’am? On second thought, if it’s going to get us sued, never mind [Reiland/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
- “Surprising and uncommon” resolution of med-mal case: Nebraska Methodist Health System admits error, cooperates with family on video memorializing victim and educating other hospitals about aortic dissection [Omaha World-Herald, Chamber reprint]
- Heated email exchange between perennial Overlawyered favorite Jack Thompson and Take Two game company exec [Ambrogi]
- Putting her image on a Hallmark card? Now that’s degrading and exploitative enough to make Paris Hilton want to sue [K.C. Star]
- Uncle sues nephew over season tickets to Chicago Bears at 40-yard line [Crain’s Chicago Business]
- Hurt her teeth on McDonald’s cherry pie, hurt her teeth on cheeseburger soon after — and what’s this about forged dental-work receipts? [Seattle Times]
- Wisconsin snuff users may soon be rolling in coupons following settlement of antitrust class action, lawyers to pocket $17 million [AP/Green Bay Press-Gazette]
- New at Point of Law: fiasco of UC Irvine’s withdrawn offer to Chemerinsky; judge says $500/hr is enough for lawyers in Northwest bankruptcy; law firm advertises for heart attack victims to sue over lack of defibrillators in public places; Astroturf detected in Washington-state insurance-suit referendum fight; NY Times takes skeptical look at Mount Sinai’s Selikoff Center; Jerry Brown sure fooled us, says San Diego paper; Ted expands his empire; and much more;
- A topic on which we’ve had a lot to say over the years — to what extent does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to websites? — may be heating up again [Corporate Counsel]
- Thanks for the incoming links from, among others, Instapundit (on Ted’s reclining-car-seat post, which has drawn a bodacious number of comments), Patterico (on Jarek Molski), Bainbridge (on animal welfare laws), and Adam Smith Institute (on lawyers suing each other: “Such a pity that only one side can lose”.)
“Should Trial Lawyers Make Terror Policy?”
Ted has a new essay out by this title in AEI’s Liability Outlook series (Sept. 11). To quote from the conclusion:
One can debate the appropriate role for each of the three branches in the post-9/11 world in coordinating domestic and foreign policy in responding to terrorism. But one matter should be beyond debate. Individual litigants in individual cases should not be able to use the combination of civil liability rules and the power of the civil courts to interfere with larger national policy. Congress can disagree with the executive branch, but should do so through legislation, rather than abdicating its responsibilities to trial-lawyer proxies. Civil liability is a poor tool for deterring suicide bombers, and civil anti-terrorism laws are bound to have their greatest effect when used against innocent parties.
Imus lawsuit: nevermind
Kia Vaughn, the Rutgers basketball player who filed a defamation lawsuit against Don Imus over his “nappy headed hos” comment, has withdrawn her suit:
Vaughn’s attorney, Richard B. Ancowitz, said in a statement yesterday that the junior from the Bronx decided not to pursue the suit so she could focus on academics and training for the upcoming season. Rutgers, which made it to the NCAA championship game last season, is expected to be one of the top teams in the country.
“Her strong commitments to both (academics and basketball) have influenced her decision to withdraw the suit at this time,” Ancowitz said in the statement. “We feel that we have made a strong and important statement against such hateful speech with the filing of this lawsuit.”
Translation: “Whoops. This case might be a little harder to win than I thought.”
I think the Overlawyered discussion thread (Aug. 15) about the case lasted longer than the lawsuit.
New owner for West Virginia water slide
Mike Wallace, a 41-year-old Charleston attorney, completed his bucolic riverfront playground with a 53-foot-long metal slicky slide from a defunct water resort, and spared no expense of cranes, trucks and barges to get it there. And the irony isn’t lost on him: “I’m a trial lawyer and it was probably trial lawyers that shut that place down.” Guests? “I’ll probably ask people to sign a release.” When the lake resort that had formerly owned the slide closed down in 1987, “its owners said astronomical rises in liability insurance forced their decision”. (Monica Orosz, “Slide from old Rock Lake Pool gets new life on river”, Charleston Daily Mail, Sept. 7)(& thanks to Eric Turkewitz for correcting “slicky slide” from the worse than nonsensical “sticky slide”, which I’d originally typed) .
Bills client $5,700 for brief copied off Internet
Ah, but knowing which material to plagiarize — that’s the skill the client is really paying for, right? But an Iowa court wasn’t pleased with West Des Moines lawyer Peter Cannon’s conduct, and ordered him to surrender fees and take an ethics course. (TaxProf, Sept. 10).