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ARCHIVE -- JANUARY 2002
(III)
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January 30-31 --
Don't mess with the taste cops. Arizona: Angelica Flores
was handcuffed by police officers in front of her daughter and packed off
to jail because "she and her husband, Tony, last year violated a code requiring
Christmas decorations to be removed 19 days after the holiday." Thinking
that the charges had been dropped, the couple had skipped a court date
with officials of the town of Peoria. (Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor, "Couple
jailed for Christmas lights see charge as humbug", Arizona Republic,
Jan. 28).
January 30-31 --
"Legal Lesson for Afghanistan: War's Not a Slip-and-Fall Case".
"For centuries, it has been accepted that damage caused in wartime cannot
be claimed as injuries deserving compensation. ... combatants are not required
to treat every invasion like a massive slip-and-fall case," notes law prof/pundit
Jonathan Turley of George Washington University (L.A. Times, Jan.
29) (via InstaPundit).
January 30-31 --
Washington Post blasts HMO class actions. The paper's
editorialists warn of "a new rash of abusive class action lawsuits" that
"are being filed by an array of plaintiff's lawyers, led by Richard Scruggs
--
of tobacco litigation fame and fortune -- and David Boies". The suits'
premise that managed health care
cost control amounts to "racketeering" is a "novel but silly" theory that
has already been rejected by one federal appeals court, the Third Circuit.
"The notion of a national class of HMO enrollees is absurd. ... The suits
are a transparent effort to hijack the policy debate about managed care."
("More actions without class", Jan.
28).
January 30-31 --
All things sentimental and recoverable. Down, attorney,
down! cont'd: trial lawyers are salivating at the prospect of getting the
law changed so they can file malpractice suits against veterinarians
not just for a pet's economic or replacement value as an animal, as is
mostly the rule now, but for its personal and sentimental value, which
would clear the way for six- and even seven-figure recoveries. In
a closely watched case called Bluestone v. Bergstrom, an
Orange County, Calif. judge has ruled in favor of a plaintiff's right to
pursue the larger scope of damages. At present only one veterinarian
in sixteen faces a malpractice claim every year, but insurance specialist
Mike Ahlert of Mack & Parker predicts skyrocketing rates if courts
adopt the new doctrines: "it will drive up the cost of claims and attract
plaintiff's attorneys looking for new sources of income". (Jennifer
Fiala, "Court rulings could up ante on DVM malpractice", DVM (veterinary
newsmagazine), Sept., reprinted
at ABD Services site); see also Thomas Scheffey, "Putting a Price on
Pets", Connecticut Law Tribune, Nov. 21).
January 28-29 --
"Probe of Milberg Weiss Has Bar Buzzing". Rumors fly that
a grand jury is investigating class-action behemoth Milberg
Weiss. Accounts differ, but the focus of the investigation is
said to be the firm's financial relationships with clients serving as plaintiffs
in securities cases. (Jason Hoppin, The Recorder, Jan. 28).
(DURABLE LINK)
January 28-29 --
State of prosecution in Iowa. In a bizarre application
of federal sentencing guidelines, the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa has gotten Dane Allen Yirkovsky, 38, sentenced to prison for 15 years
for possessing a single .22 caliber bullet. "Yirkovsky's saga began
when he happened to come across a loaded .22-caliber round while pulling
up carpets in the home of a friend who was putting him up in exchange for
some remodeling work. He stuck the bullet in a box in his room. The bullet
was discovered by police who were searching Yirkovsky's room after his
ex-girlfriend asserted he had some of her belongings." ("Editorial:
One bullet, 15 years", Des Moines Register, Jan.
21). "The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Polk County
authorities were within their rights to confiscate a $9,000 car for a $35.81
crime." (Frank Santiago, "County seizure of $9,000 car for $35.81 crime
is upheld", Des Moines Register, Jan.
25) And thank the Iowa attorney general's office for this one:
"Critics say a state law aimed at confining sexual predators past their
prison terms is being used to punish offenders for crimes that aren't sex-related."
(Jeff Eckhart, "Predator law used in non-sex crimes, critics say", Des
Moines Register, Dec.
23 -- via Free-Market.Net).
(DURABLE LINK)
January 28-29 --
Strain, sprain injuries get $350K. "A California shopper
who sustained a lower-back injury after a slip and fall in a department
store settled her case for $349,999. On Dec. 26, 1998, plaintiff
Bianca Hernandez, an unemployed female in her early 50s, was shopping in
the sportswear section of a J.C. Penney store when she slipped and fell
on coat hangers, clothes and other debris that were left on the floor."
Hernandez was taken to an emergency room. "She suffered sprain and
strain injuries to her lumbar spine, left knee and left ankle." Her
suit alleged "that the store was inadequately supervised because the department
manager and the assistant manager were both on break at the time, and sales
associates were fully occupied serving customers." Hernandez
v. J.C. Penney Co. Inc., No. VC 030 725 (L.A. County) ("Fall during
post-holiday sale costs J.C. Penney", National Law Journal, Jan.
21, not online). (DURABLE LINK)
January 28-29 --
Third Circuit nixes Philly gun suit. Goodbye to
the city's nuisance of a suit against the gun
industry: "gun manufacturers are under no legal duty to protect citizens
from the deliberate and unlawful use of their products," said the federal
appeals court, which also ruled the city couldn't show the gunmakers were
the "proximate cause" of harm suffered. (Shannon P. Duffy, "Philadelphia's
Gun Suit Off Target, 3rd Circuit Says", Legal Intelligencer, Jan.
14). (DURABLE LINK)
January 25-27 --
Warning on fireplace log: "Risk of Fire". Michigan Lawsuit
Abuse Watch has released the results of its fifth annual contest for the
wackiest warning label,
with the warning on the fireplace log coming in second. The winning
entry, found on a CD player: "Do not use the Ultradisc2000 as a projectile
in a catapult." Third prize went to the label on a box of birthday candles:
"DO NOT use soft wax as ear plugs or for any other function that involves
insertion into a body cavity." (Larry Hatfield, "Dumbest warning
labels get their due", San Francisco Chronicle, Jan.
24; M-Law press release, Jan.
22). (DURABLE LINK)
January 25-27 --
Goodbye to zero tolerance? Democratic state senator Richard
Marable is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Georgia legislature
who want to give school authorities
more discretion for lenience in cases of students found with weapons or
weapon-like objects in their possession. The public has been soured
on zero-tolerance policies by cases like that of Ashley Smith, the Cobb
County sixth-grader suspended for 10 days for bringing to school a Tweety
Bird keychain (see Sept. 29, Oct.
4, 2000), and an Eagle Scout punished after "return[ing] to school
from a weekend expedition with a broken ax in his car ... An Atlanta Journal-Constitution
poll this past Friday found that 96 percent of respondents supported examining
each case individually. Only 1 percent liked zero tolerance the way
it was, and 3 percent wanted school safety laws to be stricter."
("Georgia Pols Want 'Common Sense' to Trump 'Zero Tolerance'", FoxNews.com,
Jan. 21). (DURABLE LINK)
January 25-27 --
McMouse story looking dubious. Brett B., 32, "said he
found a mouse inside his Big Mac sandwich in June of 2001." His story
has been looking a little peaked, however, since he and four others were
busted "as part of a methamphetamine ring in Berkeley County. Police
say [he] was also part of a scam that went around the state stealing people's
identities and credit cards. But one of his alleged accomplices spoke
up about last June's mouse incident, telling police, 'Brett had got together
with myself ... and had planned to come up with a scam to pull on McDonald's
where Brett was going to say he had bit into a mouse that the employees
of McDonald's had put in there.'" (Dan Krosse, "McMouse Case Looks Like
a Hoax", WCIV-TV (Charleston, S.C.), Jan. 15). (DURABLE
LINK)
January 25-27 --
"Companies may be liable for drugs used in rapes". "Drug
manufacturers whose products
are used by offenders to help them commit rape could be held legally responsible
for the crimes, according to a Melbourne lawyer. Eugene Arocca was
commenting on reports of increasing drug-assisted date-rape in and around
Melbourne clubs and entertainment venues. ... However, the managing director
of Roche Australia, the drug company that produces several drugs that have
allegedly been used in date-rapes, described the whole idea as 'bloody
ridiculous'." (Heather Kennedy, The Age (Melbourne), Jan.
6). (DURABLE LINK)
January 23-24 --
Life imitates parody: "Whose Fault Is Fat?" By reader
acclaim: "Some say the food industry
-- particularly fast food, vending machine and processed food companies
-- should be held accountable for playing a role in the declining health
of the nation, just as the tobacco industry ultimately was forced to bear
responsibility for public health costs associated with smoking in its landmark
$206 billion settlement with the states. Although no one is taking
such legal action against the food industry, nutrition and legal experts
say it is reasonable to think that someday, it may come to that.
'There is a movement afoot to do something about the obesity problem, not
just as a visual blight but to see it in terms of costs,' says John Banzhaf,
a George Washington University Law School professor." (Geraldine
Sealey, "Whose Fault Is Fat? Experts Weigh Holding Food Companies Responsible
for Obesity", ABCNews.com, Jan.
22). OpinionJournal.com "Best of the Web" (Jan.
22) reports that "This past Sunday, 'The Simpsons' aired a new episode
in which Marge, shocked to learn that Springfield is the fattest town in
America, hires a lawyer to sue 'big sugar.'" See Michael Y. Park, "Lawyers
See Fat Payoffs in Junk Food Lawsuits", FoxNews.com, Jan.
23 (quotes our editor).
January 23-24 --
"Law hurts men, women". Title IX, the feminist sports
law run amok, is taking an ever-increasing toll: "Baseball at Boston University
-- gone. Kent State hockey -- goodbye. Swimming at New Mexico --
finished. The list goes on and on, more than 350 programs in virtually
every sport on campus, and
with it go the scholarships earned by student athletes and their dreams
of competition to which most have devoted a lifetime. Incredibly,
that has happened to more than 22,000 college athletes in recent years."
(Mike Moyer (executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association),
Yahoo/USA Today, Jan. 21)(see Nov.
3, 2000, and our
1998 take).
January 23-24 --
"Dangerous compensation". "It seems that envy has
replaced acceptance as the final stage of grief. ... Washington's payments
to the victims of terrorism exposes the government to a potentially limitless
array of future claims. Families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of
Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, received nothing from Washington;
relatives of federal employees killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
collected approximately US $100,000 each. But if US $1.6-million per decedent
is the going rate, then a proper accounting for past and future terrorist
attacks might bleed the coffers dry." (National Post (editorial),
Jan. 21).
January 23-24 --
Drug demagogy and needless pain. Doctors still underprescribe
opioids for the control of chronic pain, and it doesn't help when CBS "60
Minutes" lends its assistance to the campaign against one of the most important
recent pain advances, the drug
OxyContin (Jane E. Brody, "Misunderstood Prescription Drugs and Needless
Pain", New York Times, Jan.
22 (reg); Jacob Sullum, "Killing a Painkiller", Dec.
18; Geov Parrish, "A junkie's confession", Seattle Weekly, Dec.
20-26) (see Aug. 7, 2001).
A Google search on the drug's name immediately calls up ads from the websites
AboutOxyContin.com and OxycontinInfoCenter.com, which might
sound neutrally informative but turn out to be client intake sites for
trial lawyers.
January 21-22 --
Med-mal: should doctors strike? Insurance rates
for doctors are soaring in New
Jersey, and the legislature in Trenton is too deeply entwined with trial
lawyers to pass anything likely to curtail the bar's prosperity.
"Calling the supply of surgeons tenuous, Dr. Michael Goldfarb, chief of
surgery at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, said that unless action
is taken soon, New Jersey and the rest of the nation will have a surgeon
shortage." Neptune, N.J. ob/gyn Dr. George Lauback "gave up the obstetrical
side of his practice, realizing that paying the $170,000 annual premium
would mean he was working for the insurance company, not his family."
Brick, N.J. obstetrician Dr. Charles Brick suggests the state's physicians
stage a work stoppage of non-emergency care to draw attention to their
plight (Naomi Mueller, "Malpractice costs driving doctors out", Asbury
Park Press, Jan.
19). In neighboring Pennsylvania, where payouts per doctor are
said to be the highest in the country, the "Pennsylvania Medical Society
reports that, according to data compiled by CASCO Consulting, a typical
obstetrician in the regions of Pennsylvania with the highest average premiums,
pays $83,541 a year in insurance premiums ...[a] typical orthopedic surgeon
in Pennsylvania's highest region pays $96,199 a year ... the average neurosurgeon
in the same Pennsylvania region pays $111,296 a year." ("Focus on
medical malpractice", Law.com, Oct.
31).
One Delaware County, Pa., orthopedic surgeon calculates that his liability
insurance costs him $300 per surgery, which is more than some of the procedures
are reimbursed for, so that "he's losing money before other expenses are
even factored into the equation." (Tanya Albert, "Liability rates squeezing
out specialties", American Medical News (A.M.A.), Dec.
3; Tanya Albert and Damon Adams, "Professional liability insurance
rates go up, up; doctors go away", Jan.
7). On the withdrawal from delivering babies of half or more
of the obstetricians practicing in various Mississippi Delta counties since
just a year or two ago, see Hugh A. Gamble (president, Mississippi State
Medical Association), letter to the editor, Mississippi Medical News,
Dec.,
(PDF format, large download), at p. 4. (DURABLE
LINK)
January 21-22 --
"In a class of his own". Profile of famed class-actioneer
Melvyn Weiss of Milberg Weiss
Bershad Hynes & Lerach. Quotes our editor (The Economist,
Jan.
17).
January 21-22 --
Student: clown college harder to get into than law school.
Soon after graduating with his law degree from the University of California,
Berkeley, David Carlyon left it all behind to enroll in the Ringling Bros.-Barnum
& Bailey clown training program. "Hey, listen, it's harder to
get into that Clown College than it is into a law school," he told the
Saginaw (Mich.) News. "Some 3,000 apply to it each year, only
60 get in and only 30 get contracts after they graduate." ("Berkley [sic]
grad says getting into clown school harder than getting into law school",
AP/AZcentral.com, Jan. 18). (DURABLE
LINK)
January 21-22 --
"Judo champion refuses to bend in lawsuit". Challenging
the ritual which begins sanctioned judo matches, a suit by three students
"against three U.S. judo groups, as well as the International Judo Federation.
...claim[s] that the forced bowing to inanimate objects, such as judo mats
and pictures of the Japanese martial art's founder, is religious in nature
and violates federal and Washington state discrimination laws." (Sam
Skolnik, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec.
7) (via OpinionJournal.com "Best
of the Web").
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