Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Archive for 2007

Update: flying-imams suit can proceed

A federal judge has declined to dismiss the controversial lawsuit. “The imams have argued that they were removed because of religious and ethnic bias. The airline says they were ejected solely because of security concerns raised by passengers and crew members.” In August, the imams dropped the most widely criticized portion of the suit, which had named as defendants fellow passengers who had expressed fears for the flight’s security. (Dan Browning, “Flying imams score points in suit vs. US Airways”, Arizona Republic/Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nov. 21; Audrey Hudson, “Judge grants imams day in court”, Washington Times, Nov. 22). See Dec. 6, 2006, Mar. 15, 2007, etc.

More from Ann Althouse (Nov. 21): “Yes, let’s get to the factfinding. No need to throw this out on a motion to dismiss when the plaintiff’s version of the facts must be taken as true.”

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Wildfires and land management suits, cont’d

Controversy continues over the extent to which litigation has tended to obstruct brush and understory removal as well as post-blaze recovery efforts in the fire zones: Damien Schiff (Pacific Legal Foundation), “Misguided litigation magnifies wildfires”, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 5); John Berlau, “The Environmentalist Fires”, American Thinker, Oct. 29; BioStock blog, Oct. 5. The Sierra Club defends environmental litigation in this Oct. 23 statement. Last year the Society of American Foresters last year released a study entitled “Forest Service Land Management Litigation 1989-2002”, which is available at the Society site. Earlier: Oct. 24, etc.

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UK: Law forbids dying while in house of Parliament

It was named the most absurd law in Great Britain, but there’s a certain logic behind it:

…the reason people are banned from dying in parliament is that it is a Royal palace.

Nigel Cawthorne, author of The Strange Laws of Old England, said: “Anyone who dies there is technically entitled to a state funeral.

“If they see you looking a bit sick they carry you out quickly.”

(Gary Cleland, “Don’t die in parliament, it’s the law”, Daily Telegraph, Nov. 6).

And for readers here in America, happy Thanksgiving, and see you after the holiday.

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Post office requires releases to participate in Operation Santa

“Under the revised system, the post office will still hand out Santa letters to people who want to donate [gifts to needy local kids]. However, people who want to give must come to the Post Office at Federal Plaza, present a photo ID and sign a contract holding the U.S. Postal Service blameless, ‘…against any and all causes of action, claims, liens, rights or interests of any kind or type whatsoever…'” (Judy Peet, “‘Dear Santa’ letters come with legal catch”, Newark Star-Ledger, Nov. 19; BaristaNet, Nov. 20). More: Nov. 27.

“The Libel Tourist”

Eight-minute documentary short from Moving Picture Institute (“Indoctrinate U.”, etc.) examines a Saudi billionaire’s London defamation suit against American author Rachel Ehrenfeld, whose book Funding Evil (never published in the U.K.) had charged him with funding terrorism. (Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, Nov. 19). Earlier: Oct. 26, 2003, Jun. 11, 2007. Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz “has won so many defamation claims that he publishes an anthology of apologies on his website. … The sheikh denied being a libel tourist in England where he and his sons had for many years had substantial connections, including residences and a London-based oil company.” (Dominic Kennedy, “US writer fights gagging order on al-Qaeda claims”, Times Online (U.K.), Nov. 1).

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Escorts are legit expense, Oz court told

Tas Sinadinos was fired by his employer in Australia after it found he had used a company credit card for “inappropriate and unacceptable” personal spending including thousands of dollars for escort services. He sued for unfair dismissal and argued that such expenses “could be considered entertainment” and that the need for “company” was “not dissimilar” to other expenses for a relocating executive such as fitting out a new apartment. An Industrial Court judge was not receptive, asking whether Sinadinos lived in the “real world”. (Jennifer Cooke, “Escorts a work expense, court told”, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 13) (via Stumblng Tumblr).

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FBI’s feeble forensics

“Hundreds of defendants sitting in prisons nationwide have been convicted with the help of an FBI forensic tool that was discarded more than two years ago. But the FBI lab has yet to take steps to alert the affected defendants or courts, even as the window for appealing convictions is closing, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and ’60 Minutes’ has found.” The bureau has now agreed to release the files involved (John Solomon, “FBI’s Forensic Test Full of Holes”, Washington Post, Nov. 18; more Post coverage; Obbie, Nov. 18; Ambrogi, Nov. 19; Althouse).

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November 20 roundup

  • Dickie Scruggs will host Dec. 15 Hillary fundraiser headlined by Bill [Clarion-Ledger via WSJ law blog]

  • Megabucks campaigns for state judicial office: Symptom? Illness? Both? [Justice O’Connor @ OpinionJournal.com, Adler @ Volokh; Pero]

  • U.K. kids’ author says publisher’s safety worries vetoed depiction of fire-breathing dragon in book [Daily Mail]

  • Roger Parloff describes the Judith Regan complaint as bizarre, and angry commenters are soon denouncing him as a Fox’s-paw [Fortune Legal Pad; Althouse; ritual disclaimer]

  • Wonder why booking a dance venue can get pricey? Here’s one reason [WV Record]

  • “Why should I take a dollar out of [my neighbor’s] pocket?”: a Virginia Tech family wrestles with the temptation to sue [Mundy, WashPostMag]

  • Essential silliness of the “media diversity” scare [Welch, LAT]

  • Boston’s James Sokolove, known for his heavy rotation of personal-injury TV ads, is now chasing for … patent plaintiffs? [WSJ law blog; earlier]

  • Great big gobs of mutilated monkey meat could bring five years in slammer for NYC immigrant [IHT]

  • Recounting the tale of Miami’s one-time high-living “King of Torts” Louis Robles, who stole from around 4,500 clients [AJP “CEO Alert” series, PDF]

  • Campaign regulation laws spell incumbent protection in New Zealand too [Bainbridge]

  • Influence of newspaper lobby retards natural migration to the web of fine-print legal notices [Liptak, NYT]

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