• “Trial Lawyers vs. Toyota” [Holman Jenkins, Jr./WSJ] Rep. Towns’s hearing didn’t even pretend to be other than showcase for trial bar [Wood, PoL; Henry Payne coverage in National Review here, here, here, and here] And make way for the inevitable investor suits [Daily Breeze]
• “Obama open to curbing medical malpractice suits” [AP/WaPo] Related: The Hill; advice from Newsweek’s Evan Thomas [Jim Pinkerton]
• Why doesn’t the Securities and Exchange Commission hire finance people? “They’re overlawyered. They’re poisoned by lawyers.” [Harry Markopolos interviewed by Deborah Solomon, N.Y. Times]
• “Plaintiffs Lawyer’s ‘Reptile’ Strategy Bites Back” [Fulton County Daily Report] Plus: Max Kennerly wonders why it was admitted into evidence;
• “Facebook plus divorce equals flammable situation” [Tampa Bay Online]
• Officials get wined, dined and more: “Paying public pensions to sue” [Forbes]
• Parents sue many defendants in Colorado ice cream shop crash [Denver Post]
• Called for jury duty yesterday, and Tweeting the results: arts critic/biographer Terry Teachout and conservative writer Michelle Malkin.

Filed under: Bernard Madoff, Colorado, divorce, Facebook, Georgia, medical malpractice, securities litigation, shotgun defendant selection, Toyota, Twitter