Attorneys at the powerhouse Alabama plaintiff’s firm of Beasley Allen “gave more than $600,000 to a candidate for the state Supreme Court in 2008 without appearing on a list of her contributors, a recent report shows.” [Chamber-backed Legal NewsLine via PoL, Justice at Stake (PDF)]
Archive for 2010
UK: Student goes to court to appeal university grade
“A Belfast graduate has taken his university to court after they awarded him a 2:2 degree. … [Andrew] Croskery claimed if he had received better supervision [from Queen’s University] he would have obtained a 2:1, the High Court was told on Monday.” [BBC]
September 24 roundup
- “Appeals court dismisses Oneida Indians’ 40-year-old land claim” [Syracuse Post-Standard; Howard Bashman links to more coverage including opinion; much more on the case in my forthcoming book]
- When blogging, careful about using the sort of hypotheticals common in law school discussion [Kerr]
- Beacon, N.Y.: Retro Arcade Museum falls victim to retro town ordinance banning pinball [NYT]
- Prosecutor suspended from law practice over misconduct, which almost never happens [Greenfield]
- George Mason U. Law & Econ Center unveils new website;
- On Polinsky and Shavell’s “The Uneasy Case for Product Liability” [Beck, Drug & Device Law]
- What did other defendants pay? “Company wants look at asbestos bankruptcy trust payments” [LNL, Maryland]
- Measuring tape? The many items you’re not allowed to bring into Detroit’s City Hall [Amy Alkon]
“How Title IX Is Stifling High School Baseball in Florida”
Parents at a Brevard County school want to chip in to upgrade the local team, but that would risk triggering an impermissible gender imbalance. [Saving Sports] Also, why Title IX has been less helpful than one might think for women’s gymnastics; and Alison Schmauch has a new paper on Title IX for the Federalist Society. Update: school board rejects parents’ request (Florida Today h/t Gitarcarver, Saving Sports)
Will Congress overturn Twombly/Iqbal?
Yielding to the Litigation Lobby’s push to overturn the two landmark Supreme Court decisions “would be the real revolution in pleading,” notes Verizon’s John Thorne at Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, and would come at a time when the rulings are showing signs of real promise in weeding down some busy areas of speculative litigation.
“Norman Tugwater, Fantasy Sports Lawyer”
From the VitaminWater beverage folks, a series of videos about an obnoxious lawyer who supposedly champions athletes’ rights.
September 23 roundup
- Could bald employees sue under genetic-bias law? [Delaware Employment Law]
- EPA under pressure in bedbug battle [Atlantic Wire, Time]
- “Child Safety Advocates Push for Changes to Prevent Hot-Car Deaths” [Fair Warning]
- Proof of Living Constitution Theory? iPhone Constitution app is now on version 1.3.8 [Magliocca, Co-Op]
- “North Carolina’s Corrupted Crime Lab” [Radley Balko]
- “The folly of needless alcohol laws” [Conor Friedersdorf, The Daily Dish]
- “Judge Posner opinion on overwarning” [PoL, Drug and Device Law]
- Annals of zero tolerance: No scissors allowed at ribbon-cutting ceremony at Pittsburgh airport [eight years ago on Overlawyered]
John Stossel’s show…
…will be taking on class action lawyers tonight, with guests that include Ted Frank, Texas lawyer Mark Lanier, and Marie Gryphon of the Manhattan Institute. (9 p.m. EST)
“Paycheck Fairness Act poised for passage”
Proponents are making the usual you-mean-you’re-against-equal-pay? noises, but the bill would go much farther than that in undercutting employers’ litigation defenses. Jon Hyman says business should be afraid — be very afraid. More: Christina Hoff Sommers, New York Times; Hans Bader and more; Keith Smith/ShopFloor.
Woman sues airline over emergency landing
No physical injuries were reported at the time, but “passenger Jewel Thomas said she has suffered severe mental and emotional problems because of the incident on Sept. 22, 2008” in which an American Airlines plane skidded off the runway onto grass. [AP/WFAA]