A fair-use 40-second clip:
Judge Kozinski once told a crowd of Chicago Law students that he didn’t get to go to Mexico; the other contestant had a boyfriend, and asked to substitute him in the future judge’s stead.
“Alchemy in the Courtroom? The Transmutation of Public Nuisance Litigation”
Those interested in the issue of the growing abuse of “public nuisance” as a cause of action can do little better than to read the law review article by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP partners Richard O. Faulk and John S. Gray at 2007 Mich. St. L. Rev. 941, cited by the Rhode Island Supreme Court four times in its unanimous opinion rejecting public nuisance theory as a means to sue lead paint manufacturers (via Androvett).
Best of June 2008
Welcome back from the July 4 weekend. Here are some popular stories you might have missed from a busy last month:
- Milberg settles; Weiss sentenced; Bill Lerach gloats. Scruggs also sentenced, but Fieger beats the rap.
- Yeah, my client’s son jumped two fences labeled with a “danger” warning, but Six Flags over Georgia should have done more to keep him from being decapitated by a Batman roller coaster.
- Another lawyer blames the lawn mower manufacturer for the fact that his client was backed over with it by his father.
- My client’s 18-year-old daughter got drunk and fell off a stranger’s hotel balcony; this is the chaperone’s fault.
- I briefed and argued an objection to a bogus class action settlement–and got New York Times press coverage in the process. I also filed an amicus brief on behalf of economists in Wyeth v. Levine.
- Most-read post: Judge Kozinski’s web site and Cyrus Sanai. A gift that kept on giving.
- Jack Thompson finally faces legal discipline. But Stan Chesley gets immunity to testify.
- Two more parts of Jim Copland’s excellent series on asbestos.
- Sued for dangerous workplace if you allow loose-fitting clothing, sued for religious discrimination if you don’t.
- The case against Civil Gideon.
- Judge claims never to have heard of an attorney working a 15-hour day.
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Jackpot justice in Tennessee: $105 million verdict reduced to “only” $5 million on appeal as Chrysler blamed for death caused by car being hit at 70 mph. And, in Texas, forum-shopping plus failure to wear seat-belt leads to $29 million verdict against Ford over tires where car owner ignored recall of ten-year-old tire.
- New York court: just because you have proof of insurance fraud doesn’t mean you’re entitled to summary judgment.
- Trial Lawyers Inc.: Michigan.
- Former West Virginia Justice Richard Neely makes implausible claims about his earlier forthright statements about judicial bias in favor of wealth-redistribution.
- Spineless sycophants of the world, unite!
July 6 roundup
- Beck and Herrmann fisk a NEJM anti-preemption editorial. [Beck/Herrmann; NEJM]
- Lessons of the Grasso case. [Hodak]
- You think BigLaw has it bad? Plaintiffs’ attorney who invented the benefit-of-the-bargain theory for pharmaceutical class actions where no one has suffered any cognizable injury, has made his firm tens of millions, but still hasn’t made partner. “Zigler said he never meets most of the people he represents in these high-profile cases.” [St.L. Post-Dispatch; related analysis from Beck/Herrmann]
- Speaking of harmless lawsuits, “an atrocity in Arkansas,” as Arkansas Supreme Court ignores basic principles of due process and civil procedure to certify an extortionate pre-CAFA class action from MIller County. [Hmm, that’s Beck/Herrmann again; General Motors v. Bryant; related from Greve]
- Speedo competitor: unfair competition to say your innovative swimsuit has an advantage just because 38 out of the last 42 world records (as of June 30) were broken in the suit. [Am Law Daily]
- Background on bogus shower curtain scare story (earlier). [NYT; related AEI event]
- EMTALA-orama: don’t discuss payment in the emergency room if you don’t want to get sued. [ER Stories]
Exxon Shipping v. Baker podcast
I’ve done a podcast for the Federalist Society on the Supreme Court punitive damages decision in Exxon Shipping v. Baker.
July 3 roundup
- Texas probate and estate lawyers seldom prosecuted when they steal funds, clients told they should just sue to get it back [Austin American-Statesman investigation]
- About a third of the way down the center strip, then just a bit to the right, you’ll find us on this much-linked map of the campaign season’s most influential websites [Presidential Watch ’08]
- Given the enormous liability exposure, would a doctor rationally want a major celebrity as a client? [Scalpel or Sword via KevinMD]
- The loser-pays difference: Canadian franchisees pursue failed class-action claim against sandwich shop Quiznos, judge orders them to pay costs of more than C$200,000 [BizOp via ClassActionBlawg]
- Annals of extreme incivility: judge condemns “heartless attack” at deposition on opposing lawyer’s pin honoring son killed in Iraq [Fulton County Daily Report]
- You keep an open wi-fi connection at home and your neighbor uses it to download music improperly. Are you an infringer too? [Doctorow via Coleman]
- As you’ve probably heard if you read blogs (but maybe not otherwise), one Canadian “human rights” tribunal has dropped action against Mark Steyn and Maclean’s; another still pursuing case [SteynOnline]
- Prison-overcrowding lawsuit could lead to early release of 27,000 California inmates [TalkLeft]
- “He absolutely would’ve gotten this DOJ job but for the anti-liberal bias … and he can’t land any other jobs?” [commenter KenVee on lawsuit over politicized Department of Justice Honors/Intern programs, Kerr @ Volokh, background]
Richard Neely’s lack of irony (III)
You may recall a manufactured dispute over the former West Virginia Justice Richard Neely‘s quote in The Product Liability Mess:
As long as I am allowed to redistribute wealth from out-of-state companies to in-state plaintiffs, I shall continue to do so. Not only is my sleep enhanced when I give someone else’s money away, but so is my job security, because the in-state plaintiffs, their families and their friends will re-elect me.
Sun glare on the diamond? You might hear from our lawyer
Parents of a young pitcher at an American Legion baseball game were worried that the way the sun shone right toward the pitcher’s mound could hurt their son’s eyes. The next thing you know they were talking about a future lawsuit and the risk managers swung into action. The upshot is that Northwestern University, owner of Rocky Miller Park in Evanston, have told the teams that they can no longer play their home games at the park. Head coach Frank Consiglio said, “When it comes to the sun, you could say that about any ballpark in the country at any time. … It’s unfortunate that one person can ruin this.” (Dennis Mahoney, “Lawsuit threat forces NU to ban evening Legion games”, Pioneer Local, Jun. 26 via Chronicle of Higher Education and Pero)
War crimes trials? No thanks
Stuart Taylor agrees that the courts are right to rebuke some of the Bush administration’s aggressive war-powers claims, but that doesn’t make it anything other than a “deeply misguided” notion to try its leaders for supposed “war crimes”, let alone encourage other countries to snatch traveling U.S. ex-officials for trial there (“Our Leaders Are Not War Criminals”, National Journal, Jun. 28).
One of the most dedicated enthusiasts for such trials is attorney/controversialist Scott Horton, who writes at Harper’s and Balkinization and is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia Law School; after noticing how often Horton’s output seemed to be in need of fact-checking, I spent a few minutes just for the fun of it stringing together a sampling of such instances which appears here (scroll).
Sorry, we’re not going to raise your neighbors’ taxes
Attorney Steven Irwin of Monmouth County, N.J., whose specialty is tax appeals, is apparently not trying to win any neighborhood popularity contests: he argued to the county tax board that his neighbors weren’t paying their fair share and that their property taxes should be raised as much as fourfold. The board unanimously ruled against him without comment; an assessor had testified that a couple of the neighbors had carried out major improvements, but only after the official cut-off date for taking such improvements into account in the tax valuation. (Bob Jordan, “Man loses try to hike neighbors’ taxes”, Asbury Park Press, Jul. 2; “Belmar man loses bid to boost neighbors’ property taxes”, AP/Newark Star-Ledger, Jul. 2).