A plaintiff’s lawyer offers reasons (or rationalizations) for his ultra-speedy filing of a putative class action following an industrial explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Only minor injuries were reported, but the blast blew out windows and forced evacuations. [WSJ Law Blog, New York Times]
Archive for 2009
“Lawyers warn: Bosses who ‘friend’ are begging to be sued”
“Bosses who ‘friend’ their subordinates on social networking sites may seem warm and harmless, but they’ve got liability risk written all over them. So warn employment lawyers.” [Tresa Baldas, National Law Journal]
Blawg Review #234
It’s hosted by Victoria Pynchon, who’s guestblogged in this space, at her site Settle It Now.
“Just say no to blasphemy laws”
“Perhaps in an effort to rehabilitate the United States’ image in the Muslim world, the Obama administration has joined a U.N. effort to restrict religious speech. This country should never sacrifice freedom of expression on the altar of religion.” [Jonathan Turley, USA Today via Balko; & welcome Above the Law readers]
Claim: Facebook infringes our patent
“Phoenix Media/Communications, which owns The Boston Phoenix and other local alternative weeklies and websites, is suing popular social networking site Facebook for allegedly violating a patent related to setting up online personal profile pages.” [Boston Globe]
Do not let kids climb onto them
“Jury clears companies in lawn mower lawsuit” [Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard]
U.K.: Children seized from obese parents
A remarkable story of government power from Dundee, Scotland [Daily Mail via Steyn/NRO, earlier]
Food safety law expansion barreling through Congress
And per this L.A. Times account, business — at least business with an organized Washington, D.C. presence — is on board, just as it was when CPSIA passed. So what could go wrong?
Reporters and victim stories
Jack Shafer has some thoughts about the soft center of the supposedly hard-boiled press when it comes to stories like that of Megan Williams of Charleston, W.V., who has just recanted some elements of a sensational 2007 kidnap/assault story that sent six accused persons to prison for long terms.
October 23 roundup
- Is it against the law to report police movements on Twitter? [Valetk, Law.com; Volokh]
- “Attorney Charged With Posting Ad Seeking ‘Secretary With Benefits'” [Legal Profession Blog via Bruce Carton, Legal Blog Watch]
- Maker of Monster energy drinks drops its cease and desist demand against Vermonster beer [Burlington Free Press, earlier] More: Turkewitz.
- Putative class action filed against University of Illinois over clout-in-admissions scandal; a contest challenges readers to come up with best arguments for dismissal [Russell Jackson]
- Settlement in case where wrongful suspicion of shoplifting/counterfeiting led to $3.1 million verdict against Target [Greenville News via Turkewitz, earlier]
- Things you can’t bring on the school bus: softball bats, canned vegetables [Free Range Kids and again]
- “Veil-Wearing Muslim Woman Drops Battle With Judge” [OnPoint News]
- Great moments in voting rights law: no, you can’t have nonpartisan elections [Washington Times] (& Popehat)