Michael Fumento has a noteworthy statistical update on the case that made Erin Brockovich famous.
Archive for March, 2010
Speaking at Duke Law on Monday
I’ll be speaking at Duke Law Monday about the Grand Theft Auto and other class action settlements. Come say hi.
Open MySpace invitation to house party did not make assault “reasonably foreseeable”
A California appeals court has declined plaintiffs’ invitation to hold that “a public invitation posted on MySpace to a free party offering music and alcohol was substantially certain to result in an injury to someone.” Three men were “allegedly attacked by a group of unknown individuals as they arrived at the party,” which was thrown by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and announced on the social media site. [OnPoint News]
Shame, not law or regulation, as remedy for rudeness
Reason TV interviews advice columnist-author (I See Rude People), blogger and frequent Overlawyered commenter Amy Alkon.
Update: judge allows “giraffe attack” spoof back on web
“Nicholas Brilleaux, publisher of Hammond Action News, got a big victory yesterday when a Louisiana judge dissolved an order prohibiting him from posting a satirical news story about a fictional giraffe attack on his blog.” [Citizen Media Law, OnPoint News, earlier]
Ferran Adria, stay away?
The Italian government passes a law against “molecular cuisine”, barring use of liquid nitrogen and chemical additives in restaurant kitchens. It expires in less than a year, though. [Caput Mundi Cibus via Tyler Cowen]
New warnings at McDonald’s
Bruce Nye has a photo of a pointless new warning McDonald’s has posted in California stores to avoid litigation. The warning seems to have a side safety benefit: by the time you finish reading it, your coffee won’t be hot any more.
News flash: prosecutor in celebrity case stays mum pending results
Adam Goldberg and Joshua Galper note the commendable spectacle of a prosecutor — District Attorney Fred Bright of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit in Georgia, leading the probe into charges against Pittsburgh Steeler Ben Roethlisberger — actually waiting until the results of his investigation are in before blaring them to the press. [HuffPo via Legal Ethics Forum]
CCAF amicus brief in fen-phen fees case
Overlawyered readers are well aware of the sorry history of the fen-phen litigation; those that aren’t are advised to check out Professor Lester Brickman’s summary.
In April 2008, the Diet Drugs MDL district court awarded $567 million the class counsel in that case, basing the award in part on representations by class counsel about future class recovery. A year later, a plaintiff’s attorney requested the court reopen the question of the fee award because the class counsel had exaggerated those estimates. The district court refused, holding that the one-year delay in bringing the Rule 60(b) motion was not a “reasonable time.” There has been an appeal to the Third Circuit, and, today, the Center for Class Action Fairness filed an amicus brief in support of the appeal that itself provides a short overview of the history of the fen-phen MDL. Many thanks to Chris Arfaa for his generous help in filing the brief.
NYC: “Smoke-easies” under siege
The city moves to yank the licenses of nightclubs that it considers too tolerant of covert cigarette use. [NYT via Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”]