- Lawyer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving: better not call yourself Mothers Against Anything Else without our say-so [Phoenix New Times]
- Ohio insurer agrees to refund $51 million in premiums, but it’s a mutual, so money’s more or less moving from customers’ left to right pockets — except for a big chunk payable to charity, and $16 million to you-know-who [Business First of Columbus; Grange Mutual Casualty]
- Sources say Judge Pearson, of pants suit fame, isn’t getting reappointed to his D.C. administrative law judge post [WaPo]
- Between tighter safety rules and rising liability costs, more British towns are having to do without Christmas light displays [Telegraph]
- So strong are the incentives to settle class-action securities suits that only four have been tried to a verdict in past twelve years [WSJ law blog]. More: D&O Diary.
- It’s so cute when a family’s small kids all max out at exactly the same $2,300 donation to a candidate, like when they dress in matching outfits or something [WaPo via Althouse]
- Idea of SueEasy.com website for potential injury plaintiffs [Oct. 19] deemed “incredibly stupid” [Turkewitz]
- New at Point of Law: med-mal reports from Texas and Colorado; Lynne-Stewart-at-Hofstra wrap-up (more); immune to reason on vaccines; turning tax informants into bounty-hunters?; and much more;
- $800,000 race-bias suit filed after restaurant declines to provide free extra lemons with water [Madison County Record]
- Settling disabled-rights suit, biggest card banking network agrees to install voice-guidance systems on 30,000 ATMs to assist blind customers [NFB]
- Think twice before publishing “ratings” of Pennsylvania judges [six years ago on Overlawyered]
Archive for 2007
Wildfires and land management litigation
No doubt the search for policy lessons from the catastrophic Southern California wildfires (N.Z. Bear, CBS8) is in its early stages, and no doubt multiple contributing factors will wind up being implicated. Many, though, recall the controversy that hit the front pages after disastrous 2002 wildfires in Arizona, when it was revealed that Forest Service attempts to reduce fire risk by clearing underbrush, installing firebreaks and permitting logging of excessive growth had been heavily litigated and delayed in court by environmental groups (Jul. 1-2 and Jul. 12-14, 2002). Just last month scientists testified that efforts to “step up tree removal efforts and prescribed fire programs” were needed to counter growing fire risk (Ben Goad, “Speed forest thinning to ease fire threat, experts say”, Riverside, Calif., Press-Enterprise, Sept. 24). Michelle Malkin and readers have a big discussion (Oct. 23; & welcome readers from there). More from CEI’s Hans Bader and Robert Nelson and again from Michelle Malkin (per L.A. Times report, brush clearance and forest thinning credited with saving homes around Lake Arrowhead).
Butter knife expulsion
“Amber Dauge was by all accounts a good student at Goose Creek High School” in South Carolina, until the fateful toast-assistive implement got her busted under the school’s zero-tolerance-for-weapons policy. (Chris Francescani, “Expelled for Possession of a Butter Knife”, ABCNews.com, Oct. 22). See Oct. 23-24, 1999 (knife to cut cake), Aug. 25, 2003 (bread knife). Related: May 2, 2005.
Mikal Watts drops Senate bid
The San Antonio trial lawyer and Democratic donor says he’s realized he’d like to spend more time with his family. Surely it couldn’t have had anything to do with controversies like the ones covered here or here or here. (Peggy Fikac, “Watts ends bid for Democratic Senate nomination”, Houston Chronicle, Oct. 23).
Update: Baseball players can’t sue over fantasy baseball statistics
As a Judge Morris Arnold opinion holds (h/t Slim) baseball players can’t prohibit fantasy baseball players from playing games based on their statistics. Earlier: May 2006; April 2005.
Not only does this post allow me to celebrate one of my favorite judges, but I can also use this platform to note that Kenny Lofton was out: not because he didn’t beat Manny Ramirez’s throw into second base (he did), but because he bounced off the bag afterwards while still being tagged.
Bad idea: Barney Frank legislation on mortgages
House Democrats have introduced legislation that would hold third-party banks liable for packaging and reselling mortgages that the borrower decides to sue on. Back in April, I wrote in the Wall Street Journal why this earmark for trial lawyers would be disastrous to the economy and make the subprime crisis far worse than it is now.
Broken Heart? Sue!
Thanks to Walter Olson for welcoming me back after a short hiatus from my last guest blogging stint. I often see stories worth sharing, this one in particular [excerpt below, full story here.]
A group of well-heeled women who paid up to $1,500 to snag a man through one of the nation’s priciest and fast-growing online dating services — It’s Just Lunch — has filed a civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, claiming the lunchtime setups were not what they bargained for.
This reminds me of this hilarious YouTube clip which is strikingly on point in this instance. Overlawyered indeed. And, $1,500 for a date? That’s about as out-of-touch as $27K for wedding flowers (with accompanying lawsuit.) Well, these “well-heeled” women expected George Clooney but (apparently) got Gilbert Gottfried instead. Maybe, simply, their hopes were just too high. Especially if they were prepared to fork over $1,500 for a date. Caveat emptor, I’m afraid.
“Your old junk could come back to haunt you”
Disposing of a worn-out vehicle, appliance, computer, even maybe a house in the state of Oregon? Maybe you’d better worry that a subsequent user will get injured by or in or with it and blame the mishap on your negligent failure to perform proper maintenance. That theory is getting a plaintiff to trial past a motion to dismiss in a case where a crash victim is suing not only the owner of the truck that hit him, but also a former owner that had sold the truck about a year earlier. The Oregon Supreme Court, reversing a trial and appeals court, is allowing the case to go to trial. Lewis & Clark lawprof Jack Bogdanski writes:
How far does the rule of this case go? Would it cover tools that you unloaded at a garage sale last year? How about the house you sold last year, or five years ago? Surely, it would cover that used car you got rid of, although the court hinted that maybe you’d be off the hook if the dangerous condition was obvious when you sold it, or if you traded the car in at a dealership.
What can you do to protect yourself? I doubt that your insurance covers it — at least auto policies end when the vehicle is sold, and I’d be surprised if a standard homeowners policy wouldn’t work the same way. There’s no way to get a release in advance from everyone who might be hurt by breakdowns of your former stuff while it’s in the hands of future owners whom you don’t even know.
(Jack Bog’s Blog, Oct. 21; Bailey v. Lewis Farm, Inc., Oregon Supreme Court, Oct. 11). P.S. Corrected procedural posture of case following reader comment.
Annals of creative patent lawyering
Highly placed attorney with intellectual-property specialists Fish & Richardson accumulates his own portfolio of patents, quits the firm, begins suing Fish & Richardson clients, things get messy fast (Patent Troll Tracker, Oct. 21). Patent Troll Tracker (h/t Ambrogi) looks likely to become part of our regular blog rounds.
Republican presidential debate
Liability reform provided an early flashpoint last night, with Giuliani assailing Fred Thompson’s Senate voting record and Sen. Thompson offering a federalism defense. (Althouse, Oct. 21)(more; ritual disclaimer). More: the Giuliani site is hitting Thompson hard on the issue.