Update roundup

Further on stories we’ve noted in the past:

Objectors including CCAF and CEI challenge Cobell Indian trust settlement [Legal Times, PoL, earlier]
Post-mortems continue on Ohio S.B. 5 labor measure [Daniel DiSalvo, Christian Schneider, earlier]
More on divorced man’s dogged pursuit of case against wedding photographer [Above the Law, earlier]
Arkansas AG McDaniel: I’ll stop steering cy pres funds to charities [Arkansas Project, PoL, earlier]
Rochester: “Police Union Punishes DA’s Office for Not Illegally Charging Woman Who Recorded Cops” [Radley Balko, earlier]
“Men at Work lose appeal over Kookaburra riff” [Guardian via Legal Blog Watch, earlier here, etc.]
Wash. Supreme Court overturns woman’s horn-honking conviction [Seattle Times, opinion PDF, earlier here, here]

Filed under: Arkansas, cy pres, police unions

FCPA needs rollback, not just more clarity

I’ve got a new post at Cato at Liberty summarizing the case for rolling back, not just clarifying, the vague yet draconian Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (& Point of Law, @RameshPonnuru). More: FCPA Professor. Related: Open Society Foundation publishes lawprofs’ defense of FCPA. How convincing is it? [FCPA Prof]

More from Scott Greenfield, including some comments on the FCPA-entrenching tendency of the DoJ-white collar bar partnership, and this from commenter “Libertarian Advocate”: “Seen through a different prism, the FCPA is a loud and unambiguous statement by the federal government that it reserves unto itself the exclusive right to corrupt foreign entities and officials.” And FCPA Professor isn’t on board with our criticism. Further: PoL on specific reform proposals.

Filed under: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Federalist Society convention in D.C.

I’ll be there today, so feel free to step up and say hello if you’re a reader.

Filed under: Federalist Society

November 11 roundup

Manhattan Institute’s “Trial Lawyers Inc.” series looks at cozy relations between state attorneys general and plaintiff’s bar [report, related featured discussion, Copland, Examiner] Report comes down hard on Ohio’s Richard Cordray, nominee to head CFPB [Copland, Gorodetski/PoL] Judge tosses Cordray suit against credit rating agencies [O’Brien/LNL, Krauss/American Thinker] Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller denounces report [IowaPolitics.com]
“The Tort of Internet Mobbing Is Perfect For Suing The Internet” [Popehat]
Canada faces challenge to hate speech law [Arthur Bright, Citizen Media Law] Do not put a frog down Her Majesty’s back at the county fair [Lowering the Bar]
“Markopolos eyes a fortune from BNY whistleblowing” [Felix Salmon] “Bounty hunters in Korea” and closer to home [Alex Tabarrok] “Developments in Whistleblower Laws: Advantage Whistleblower” [Larry Wood & Richard William Diaz, Federalist Society “Engage”]
As third party liability for crime anecdotes go, the case of Bonilla v. Motel 6 is on the lurid side [Point of Law]
Prospect of cyberwar: official U.S. response is commando lawyering [Stewart Baker, Foreign Policy]
Why it’s hard to stimulate manufacturing through product liability reform in one state [Rick Esenberg]

Filed under: attorneys general, free speech in Canada, Iowa, Manhattan Institute, Ohio, product liability, third party liability for crime, whistleblowers

Lawyer’s suit: this breakfast’s no good

The complimentary breakfast provided with membership in the expensive Setai Club & Spa Wall Street used to be really good, according to injury attorney Richard Katz. Then they replaced it with just a cold buffet. The club said it offered Katz a prorated refund of his remaining membership after he complained, but he’s suing for $730,000, including a claim that he was defamed. [Gawker, Above the Law ]

Filed under: contracts, lawyers, NYC

“The 6 Most Poorly Thought Out Attempts At Insurance Fraud”

Cracked has a selection that includes disgraced Pennsylvania judge Michael Joyce (on whom), the pro wrestler on disability, a church with leaders who “have had so many X-rays that I wouldn’t be surprised if they glowed in the dark,” and — eeeeuw! — a couple of deliberately glass-eating restaurant-goers.

Filed under: insurance fraud, restaurants

Law schools roundup

Blog feature at National Law Journal on future of law schools stirs discussion with contributions by William Henderson, Brian Tamanaha and more, James Moliterno, followups here and here, plus a profile of renegade lawprof Paul Campos;
Richard Fallon: when should scholars sign amicus “scholars’ briefs”? [via Kenneth Anderson]
“If law school isn’t miserable, you aren’t doing it right.” [@Popehat]
“Chicago’s View on the Future of Law and Economics” [Josh Wright] Vanderbilt Law Review publishes tributes to Prof. Richard Nagareda [ConcurOp]
White House awards ceremony for Legal Left broadcast to >100 law schools [BLT]
“U of Illinois Law School Admits To Six Years of False LSAT/GPA Data” [ABA Journal]
Life in legal academia: 10/22 Temple confab on “Aging in the US: The Next Civil Rights Movement?” [via Post, Volokh]
“All law is public law.” No, not really [Solum on 10/21 HLS conference]
Thanks to Northwestern’s Federalist Society for inviting me to speak on Schools for Misrule this week as part of my Chicago visit. And thanks to Declan McCullagh for saying “all prospective law school students should” listen to the related Cato podcast. Why not book me for the spring semester to speak at your institution?

Filed under: accolades, age discrimination, law schools

A swipe at school choice?

“The Department of Justice has begun an investigation into Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, probing whether Milwaukee’s state-administered voucher system is discriminating against students with disabilities.” [Joy Resmowits, Huffington Post]

Filed under: disability & schools, Milwaukee, schools, Wisconsin

YouTube, Flickr in peril?

Concerns are mounting about something called the Stop Online Piracy Act, billed as giving authorities the power to close down “rogue” websites devoted to exchange of stolen content. [Timothy Lee, Cato at Liberty]

Filed under: copyright, YouTube

Who was that court-appointed expert again?

“Macomb County Probate Court officials can’t explain how a man falsely claiming to be a medical doctor was allowed to decide whether people were mentally competent to handle their own estates and whether jail inmates needed mental health care.” [Detroit News]

Filed under: expert witnesses, Michigan, psychiatry