CalBizLit (Dec. 12) provides a guided tour to an area of disabled-rights litigation we’ve touched on several times in the past: see Aug. 1, 2004, Nov. 11, 2003, and links from there.
Comments policies
Overlawyered is lucky to have a valued set of commenters from whom I often learn things, and it’s been quite a while since our comments section has suffered from any outbreak of bad commenter behavior, flame wars, or that sort of thing. I was reminded of our good fortune since several bloggers have recently added guidelines on comments moderation or otherwise outlined their views. At Volokh Conspiracy, known for its busy and high-quality comments section, Orin Kerr has posted a “Clarified Comments Policy” which with perhaps a slight change here or there could also serve as a comments policy for this site. Meanwhile, the site I helped launch a couple of weeks ago, Secular Right, from almost its first day attracted a high comments volume (more than 2,000 comments in the first two weeks) including more than a few that were contentious or uncivil — not an unexpected consequence when there are sharp disagreements on the topic of religion. After one blowup I noted the following:
Read On…
Tyna Marie Robertson back in the news
Readers may remember the episode in which Michael Flatley, impresario of the “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance” Irish extravaganzas, was falsely accused of rape by a woman who then demanded money. After the California Supreme Court, in a pioneering ruling, found that Flatley could countersue for extortion, he obtained a large default judgment against Tyna Marie Robertson, who, as noted in a news report we quoted at the time, “had dated other wealthy and well-known men through the years — relationships that sometimes ended in litigation”.
Now Robertson is back in the news leveling bizarre charges against another of her former paramours, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. Lowering the Bar has details (Dec. 14).
The accomplishments of Marc Dreier
Even after being jailed in Toronto, the litigator managed to grift $10 million from an escrow into his personal account. And he let the malpractice insurance on his law practice lapse, as his horrified colleagues are now finding out. (Alison Leigh Cowan, Charles V. Bagli and William K. Rashbaum, “Lawyer Seen as Bold Enough to Cheat the Best of Investors”, New York Times, Dec. 13).
P.S. Eric Turkewitz (Dec. 14) has a sobering analysis of possible liability exposure for the non-equity partners of Dreier LLP.
Microblog 2008-12-13
- Holman Jenkins on auto bailout [WSJ] Bush’s willingness to use TARP helped the unions scuttle a reasonable deal with Corker; and why exactly did CEO Wagoner commit GM to the (dubious and self-injuring) position that buyers’d abandon the company in the event of a Chapter 11? [Hodak Value h/t Ted] So that’s what dragging Detroit down — domestic partner benefits [Brayton] And Ted wonders if it might be cheaper in the long run for the government just to buy a Senate seat from Gov. Blagojevich for every auto worker;
- Where’d Gov. Blagojevich pick up idea it was OK to sell official acts for $$$? Can’t imagine [Ribstein] Who is Advisor B? [Byron York] Sing, Rod, sing! [Coleman] “Blago’s decision to let SEIU and not AFSCME organize Ill. child-care workers” Hmmm [Freedom-at-Work, NRTW] “How do they think Chi pols talk in private when muscling some guy for cash? Like Helen Mirren playing the queen?” [John Kass, Tribune] A look at AG Lisa Madigan [PoL] Illinois pols have shaken down hospitals before, state’s “certificate of need” (permission-to-build) law is one culprit [StateHouseCall]
- J.K. Galbraith’s best bon mot: “bezzle” = inventory of unexposed embezzlement, revealed as tide of boom recedes [Cox, Breaking Views] Fascinating memoir of why Madoff had been giving off fishy smell for years [Tokyo Cassandra] So sleazy! “Many” investors put $ with Madoff because they suspected he was crooked — but cheating someone else [Blodget] “Madoff didn’t run one of these much-maligned, unregistered hedge funds. He was registered with the SEC. Here’s his latest 13-F, which looks perfectly normal.” [Weisenthal]
- Daily downer for media folk [@themediaisdying h/t @amyfeldman] “Remember, America, you can’t wrap a fish in satellite radio” — P.J. O’Rourke wants bailout for print [The Australian]
- Jurors’ political leanings predict whether they’re pro-plaintiff or defendant? Not as simple as that [Wisconsin Lawyer h/t @juryvox]
- Asbestos rise in Madison County, Illinois could signal return to “old school” tactics [MC Record h/t @icjl]
- Sue me harder, don’t stop now: competing Fla. fetish clubs feud in court, which’ll get whipped? [ABA Journal]
- Russian patent office grants trademark for 😉 emoticon, businessman asking royalties [BBC h/t @bodhi1 @mediadonis]
- Arnold Kling: loan modification way oversold as remedy for housing ills [EconLog h/t @tedfrank]
- Best line: “the goose was not our employee or our agent” [CKA Mediation h/t @vpynchon, earlier]
More on lawyer referrals and fee discounts
A week ago we quoted reader Phil Grossman’s comment on this subject, provoking a discussion among readers. Now Grossman writes in with a followup:
Here’s the story on bar associations forbidding “discounting of contingency fees for clients coming to lawyers directly so that those lawyers do not have to pay referral fees”.
I had told you that I had seen reports out on the Internet saying that. But it now appears that what those reports were reporting on was that bar associations do not allow lawyers to raise their contingency fees to make up for paying referral fees in those cases where they are paying referral fees. And that really amounts to the same thing as not allowing lawyers to discount fees in cases where they are not paying referral fees. Because if they were allowed to give discounts to clients where they didn’t have to pay referral fees, they would be charging clients who come to them with a referral fee to be paid, more than clients who come to them without referral fees to be paid.
Nativity-scene litigation
[walks up to blackboard]
I will NOT take at face value anything Bill O’Reilly says regarding the supposed “War on Christmas”.
[repeats 99x]
Australia: “Gambler sues casino over $900 million binge”
Gambling addict and wealthy property developer Harry Kakavas had the presence of mind to don a hidden recorder to build his case against Melbourne’s Crown Casino for luring him back to its tables despite an order banning him from every casino in Australia. He just didn’t have the presence of mind to avoid “a mammoth 14-month baccarat binge in which he lost A$37 million”. (Reuters, Dec. 12).
Kesey’s Oregon wrestling team gone
Another sad story from the annals of Title IX. (Charlotte Allen, Minding The Campus, Nov. 3).
Montgomery Blair Sibley update
Not that it’s any surprise to anyone who’s been following these matters, but on Tuesday, Chief Justice Roberts finally got around to denying Overlawyered reader-favorite Montgomery Blair Sibley‘s application for a stay of the order automatically suspending him from practice in the District of Columbia. While that stay application was pending, the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended in November that the suspension last three years, “with his reinstatement conditioned upon a showing of fitness to practice.” The D.C. Bar website still shows Sibley as an “active” member of the bar.