The Transport Workers Union has filed suit to block the legalization of private van services that could run along city bus routes Mayor Michael Bloomberg has targeted for cuts. [Richard Epstein, Forbes]
Archive for 2010
August 10 roundup
- Oregon 7-year-old gets apology, she can go on running her lemonade stand after all [Skenazy, Josh Blackman]
- “Judicial recusals and politics make a bad mix” [Bainbridge]
- Sypher guilty in extortion trial [Above the Law and followup, earlier]
- “Chevron’s Explosive Filing on Collusion Between Plaintiffs and the Ecuadorian Court-Appointed Expert” [Roger Alford, Opinio Juris and more, Alison Frankel/American Lawyer, Anderson, Volokh, ShopFloor]
- Meet author of “How to Sue Your Doctor … and Win!” [Media Matters via Popehat]
- FBI writes to Wikipedia demanding removal of representation of its official seal [Ron Coleman]
- “Kagan’s Confirmation Could Be High-Water Mark for Big Government” [Shapiro, Cato]
- “Righthaven’s lawsuits are ‘the McDonald’s coffee cases of copyright litigation'” [Las Vegas Sun via Romenesko]
A reminder: anti-arbitration is anti-consumer
The Center for Class Action Fairness filed an amicus brief yesterday on behalf of consumers in the Supreme Court case of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion; Public Citizen brought a suit successfully striking an arbitration provision in a cell-phone contract as “unconscionable” because it did not provide for bringing class actions—even though consumers as a whole would be better off with the generous arbitration provision than with opportunity for the class action. Of course, then trial lawyers lose out. More at Point of Law; and Public Citizen’s page on the case has other briefs and links to (generally pro-trial-lawyer) blog commentary.
On trial for vehicular homicide, sues family she killed
Citing text messages she sent her boyfriend shortly before the incident, Montana prosecutors contend that Justine Winter’s crash at 85 mph into an oncoming vehicle was a deliberate suicide attempt. Winter, who faces trial on homicide charges in the deaths of Erin Thompson, the woman she ran into, and Thompson’s 13-year-old son, has now sued Thompson’s estate as well as the construction company that built the interstate overpass where the accident occurred. [Daily Inter Lake, Siouxsie Law]
“Lerach, feds spar over Wall St. woes class”
The disgraced class action king plans to teach an ethics-of-capitalism course at Irvine. Prosecutors wonder whether it’s really aimed at doing penance for his ethical failings, or instead will offer him a chance to blast away at his enemies while garnering “community service” credit. [Josh Gerstein, Politico; David Lat, Above the Law]
Update (sub-only NLJ via Ted at PoL): Judge John Walter denies Lerach’s request for the course credit and lambastes the unrepentant felon more generally:
“He misled and fooled the court into believing he had remorse at the time of his sentencing.” Walter said that he now believes the sentence was “way too lenient” and regretted having accepted Lerach’s plea deal.
(& welcome Bainbridge readers)
Allegation: “Deposition toe-tapping”
Plaintiffs in a Florida case say they caught the defense at it red-footed. [Bruce Carton, Legal Blog Watch]
“Family of man hit by train suing railroad, canoe company”
Springfield, Ohio: “The family of a man who was hit by a train while jumping off a trestle into a river two years ago is suing the railroad and a local canoe center.” The canoe company, according to the complaint, “knew or should have known that individuals frequently went onto the train trestle and jumped into the Mad River.” [Springfield News-Sun]
“Passive Aggressive Settlement Disbursements”
The Namby Pamby offers reasons to be nice to one’s lawyers.
Litigation slush funds, cont’d: Arkansas
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has bestowed $100,000 to assist in construction of the Arkansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial on the grounds of the state Capitol. The money came from the settlement of a lawsuit against the Pfizer drug concern, the connection of which to the cause of fallen firefighters is at best obscure. [Arkansas Online]
“Teachers Unions vs. Online Education”
Organized labor blocks a potentially valuable pathway of innovation. [Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason]