Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Don’t

Another bunch of things not to do if you’re a member of the legal profession, all courtesy Law.com:

  • Don’t forge a judge’s name to a judicial order to lull your clients into thinking you’re properly pursuing their case [Laurence S. Jurman of Dix Hills, N.Y., who’s pleaded not guilty to the above allegations; NYLJ]

  • Don’t fail to inform your client in a criminal-defense trial that you yourself are facing criminal charges on charges of stalking in the same court [Steven Olitsky of Irvington, N.J., whose convicted client is arguing ineffectiveness of counsel on the grounds that the eventually-disbarred Olitsky was in no position to negotiate effectively with prosecutors; NJLJ]

  • Don’t read golf magazines during depositions or leave your client alone and unrepresented by walking out of an important deposition [Jonathan D. Herbst of Philadelphia’s Margolis Edelstein; client’s loss of $11 million defamation case led to professional liability award recently reinstated by Pa. high court; Legal Intelligencer]
Earlier entries in this series: Jun. 4, etc.

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Abusive cop’s stress at being fired results in disability

Milwaukee cop Robert Henry was fired after being caught on tape in 2002 roughing up an arrested suspect. A federal judge has now ruled against Henry’s lawsuit over his firing. However, that doesn’t mean taxpayers are off the hook for the wayward officer’s continued support: “Henry was not criminally charged, and he later successfully filed for lifelong disability payments after he said he suffered stress for being fired. He remains on disability leave from MPD.” (John Diedrich, “Proof & Hearsay” (Journal-Sentinel blog), Nov. 1).

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No naming the blackmailed royal — even on US websites?

Legally hazardous for a US-based website to make itself available for British readers to visit? “[Attorney Giovanni] Di Stefano claims that he has consulted several QCs and has been told that British authorities could have powers to act against foreign-based broadcasters and websites and issue a European arrest warrant. They could be liable for breaching an English court order guaranteeing anonymity to the blackmail victim and witnesses if their speculation reached Britain.” (Adam Fresco and Dominic Kennedy, “Charge anyone naming Royal ‘victim’, says accused’s lawyer”, Times Online, Oct. 31).

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November 2 roundup

  • Curlin gets 400 new owners, as the Kentucky fen-phen plaintiffs ripped off by their attorneys get the right to seize Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion’s 20% share of the Preakness Stakes winner. [AP/NYT; earlier]
  • As Lerach pleads guilty, LA Times editorial defends class action abuses, incorrectly says that the PSLRA fixed everything and that Lerach didn’t act illegally after it was passed. [LA Times]
  • That $10.9 million verdict against the Westboro Baptist Church was “not about the money.” [Reuters] Really, now, this case imposing bankrupting damages for a protest on a public sidewalk is appalling. Granted: Phelps is bigoted scum, and rude bigoted scum at that. But Albert Snyder’s claimed physical injury is that the protest exacerbated his diabetes: what sort of junk science is that? NB that Snyder was not even aware of the protest at the funeral until he watched it on television. Why not liability for the news program? Even those happy to see the anti-gay bigotry of the WBC punished should take pause: Snyder testified at length that the protest upset him particularly because his son was not gay.
  • Overlawyered favorite Willie Gary (Apr. 29, Oct. 2004), on the hook for $28,000/month in child support for love child. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
  • Deep-pocket search in Great White fire case. [Childs]
  • Lawsuit over which school 9-year-old can play football for. [Tulsa World (via TMQ G. Easterbrook)] Worse, the judge rewarded the plaintiff by second-guessing the league decision. [Tulsa World]
  • It only takes ten months of legal proceedings for Cal-Berkeley to evict trespassers squatting on university property. [SF Gate]
  • Don’t hold your breath: who’s watching the trial lawyers? [Examiner]

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Class action payouts: They know, but you can’t find out

When plaintiff attorneys were trying to get a Madison County judge to approve a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against the maker of Paxil, they touted that the company would have to pay up to $63.8 million.

How much did consumers actually get? The parties aren’t saying — and they’ll never have to.

According to the settlement, any money that didn’t get claimed by consumers goes back to GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Paxil, which is used to treat depression. And the attorneys for both sides, as well as the company that was hired to handle consumers’ claims, are not required [to] give the court a report on how many people made claims or how much money was actually paid to them.

But one payout is certain: The plaintiff attorneys got $16.5 million.

So-called reversionary settlements, where unclaimed money goes back to the defendant, give companies a particular incentive to collaborate in crafting payout schemes that end up reaching few consumers. According to the article, settlements of that sort are especially common in the famous class-action jurisdiction of Madison County, Ill. (Brian Brueggemann, Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, Oct. 21).

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Lawsuit demands drugstores hire bilingual interpreters

Immigrant advocacy groups are filing a complaint with the New York attorney general’s office naming 16 pharmacies in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, claiming “that federal civil rights law and state health regulations require pharmacies to provide linguistic help” to “people who speak little or no English”. “That assistance should include interpreters at pharmacies and written translations of medication instructions, the advocates say.” The advocacy groups are New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the New York Immigration Coalition and Make the Road New York.

It seems a creative reinterpretation of “national origin discrimination” has been going on for some time:

Health advocates have increasingly used federal civil rights law to push hospitals, nursing homes and clinics to provide language services. Language barriers to health services constitute discrimination based on national origin, they argue, a violation of federal civil rights law, which applies to hospitals because they receive federal funds through Medicare and other programs.

The latest effort aims to expand similar requirements to pharmacies.

As of the year 2000, according to one report, 138 languages were known to be spoken in the borough of Queens alone. (Anne Barnard, “Non-English Speakers Charge Bias in Prescription Labeling”, New York Times, Oct. 31).

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