“A Tree Falls in Connecticut”

Officials in Milford, Ct. agreed to take down three healthy hickory trees along an avenue after resident Una Glennon “demanded that the trees be removed because one of her grandchildren is allergic to nuts and can’t play in the pool with the other children when the nuts are falling.” Author and Common Good president Philip K. Howard detects the distortive influence of what he calls “legal fear”. (New York Times, Jul. 30). Also: Emily Bazelon, “Trees vs. children: Are nut allergies taking over the planet?”, Slate, Jul. 27.

Calif. high court: Flatley can sue for extortion

Updating our Sept. 14, 2004 post: The California Supreme Court has ruled that Irish dancing impresario Michael Flatley (“Riverdance”, “Lord of the Dance”) can proceed with a suit against a woman who falsely accused him of rape and a lawyer who demanded money on the threat of proceeding with the accusation. “Lawyers for [Tyna Marie] Robertson and [D. Dean] Mauro argued that the lawsuit brought by Flatley should be thrown out because the letter was a settlement offer and was protected under the First Amendment. The state Supreme Court rejected the argument. ‘Mauro’s communications constituted criminal extortion as a matter of law and, as such, were unprotected by constitutional guarantees of free speech or petition,’ the six-member panel wrote.” (“Michael Flatley wins court ruling in extortion case”, AP/San Jose Mercury News, Jul. 27; “California court OKs Flatley’s extortion lawsuit”, AP/Chicago Sun-Times, Jul. 30).

Healthier potato chip? Better ask customers first

The mandatory-health movement is seeking to curb restaurants’ use of trans fats, often by way of lawsuit-filing (see Jun. 14) and legislation (e.g., “Alderman proposes trans fat ban”, AP/Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph, Jun. 30, on Chicago alderman Edward Burke). So why don’t foodmakers just do the right thing and banish the offending ingredients? Parkersburg, W. Va.-based Mister Bee, the only producer of potato chips in West Virginia, found out the hard way when it replaced its hydrogenated oils with healthier cottonseed oil in its frying formula. It soon backed off after a 6 percent drop in sales and a steady flow of angry calls from buyers. The “new chip drew immediate reactions from customers who said if they wanted healthy, they wouldn’t be eating chips. Fans of the old chips said the new chip was darker in color, greasier and left an aftertaste. Mister Bee President Alan Klein acknowledged there was a ‘noticeable difference’ in the new chip’s taste after being in the package for a couple of days. The company tried modifying its recipe by using different oils, but consumers still didn’t like the new chip.” (“Customers Pan ‘Healthy’ Potato Chips”, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, Jul. 19).

Congressman sued for breaking “Contract with America”

U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker, a Republican who represents Mississippi’s First District, is being sued by Democratic opponent Ken Hurt on the grounds that he breached a promise made in connection with the “Contract with America” not to run for a seventh term. The Contract, which Republicans put forth as part of their successful campaign for control of Congress in 1994, proposed 12-year term limits for House members, and Hurt says Wicker promised to serve no more than that span. The term limit idea was never enacted into law. Wicker’s campaign manager, Kirk Sims, called the new suit “frivolous and, quite frankly, a little nutty”. (Joshua Cogswell, “Challenger sues Wicker for breaking ‘Contract with America’”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Jul. 28).

AAJ… AAJ… AAJ… who?

Gesundheit! Among other problems with the decision of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America to rename itself the “American Association for Justice” — like, that the new name is vague, defensive and presumptuous — Robert Ambrogi points out that it also has the disadvantage of being “cumbersome. ‘ATLA’ is a phonetically pleasing acronym that is easy to say and easy to remember. ‘AAJ’ sounds like the beginning of a sneeze.” (Jul. 20). Longtime ATLA antagonist Victor Schwartz said, “If a shark called itself a kitten fish I would still not put my daughter in to play with it.” (“The profession formerly known as lawyering”, UPI, Jul. 19). George Wallace weighs in with more links (Jul. 14). And Norm Pattis bids the organization farewell (Jul. 21). See Jun. 29, Jul. 14.

Rhymes for “AAJ”, incidentally, include “hodge” and “podge”, “stodge”, “lordly as the Raj”, “wealthy as a Lodge”, and “obvious dodge”.

Sponsor a surf event? Too scary for ABA

The American Bar Association, which is holding its annual meeting in Hawaii next week, has shied away from co-sponsoring the National Lawyers on Longboards Surfing Contest. “They were freaked out about the liability issue related to a surf contest, even though we had liability insurance and everything,” said Honolulu attorney Lea Hong, an organizer of the event. Instead, the Hawaii state bar and LexisNexis will be serving as sponsors. Hong says “participants have signed what she calls ‘a pretty serious liability waiver'” and the contest rules have been drafted with an eye to making them loophole-free given the nature of the contestants. The competition used to be called the Land Shark Contest, but Hong says “that seemed a little too negative”. (Stewart Yerton, “Liabilities scare lawyers’ group away from surf meet”, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jul. 26).

Church abuse: suing the laity?

In Spokane, Wash., where the local Roman Catholic diocese has declared bankruptcy under the pressure of sex-abuse lawsuits, a recent ruling by a federal judge deemed individual church parishes “unincorporated associations” that could themselves potentially be sued. Now plaintiffs in the cases are talking about suing the local parishes “and might even explore the legal liability of individual churchgoers”. (John Stucke, “Abuse victims may sue parishes”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, Jul. 27). More: PoL May 5, etc.

When obtaining medico-legal diagnoses…

…do try to obtain one from a doctor who exists, rather than from one who doesn’t. Former railway worker Rodney Chambers, suing CSX Transportation on a claim of asbestosis, claimed to have been examined by a certain Dr. Oscar Frye on May 14, 2005 in support of his claim. Lawyers for CSX attempted to trace the doctor and found that the phone number Chambers had given for him belonged to someone else, state boards could find no record of ever licensing a doctor by that name, and the street address Chambers gave for the doctor in Huntington, West Virginia wasn’t a real street address. A further problem: the form Chambers submitted to attest to his asbestosis diagnosis “was identical to several other medical questionnaires received from doctors around the country.” Now the CSX lawyers would like to probe whether there is a wider pattern to be found among other asbestos claimants represented by Chambers’ lawyers. (Beth Gorczyca, “Claimant’s Diagnosis Challenged”, West Virginia State Journal, Jul. 27).

Oz: “Boarder in the spare room wins A$450,000”

Peculiar case from Australia: “It barely raises an eyebrow when a spurned daughter, former de facto or homosexual lover challenges a deceased person’s will, asking for a share of the estate. But when the boarder in the spare room challenges – and the Supreme Court awards him nearly $450,000 – seemingly innocuous domestic relationships are revealed as financial minefields.” Frances Lan Fong Fung allowed Michael Ye to live rent free and paid some of his tuition fees; in return he helped with household chores and some of her personal care needs, like insulin injection. Her will left her estate to her siblings and nothing to him, but a judge accepted Ye’s argument that she had wrongfully failed to recognize a relationship akin to that of aunt and devoted nephew. An elder care lawyer “said elderly people either had to have a paid contract with their live-in boarder, or go to the expense of an application to the Supreme Court for the person to rescind their right to make a claim against the estate…. Ms Fung’s brother, Keith, said his family wished to maintain their privacy but said it had been an important lesson for people not to take anybody into their home.” (Leonie Lamont, Sydney Morning Herald, Jul. 8).

Combating the copyright cops

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have filed thousands of lawsuits accusing individuals of unlawful downloading of films and music, “but largely because of the legal costs few have been contested and none have gone to trial. This has left several controversies unresolved, including the lawfulness of how the associations get access to ISP records and whether it’s possible to definitively tie a person to an IP address in the age of Wi-Fi.” That may change, however. Universal Pictures and the MPAA have told Shawn Hogan that they’re suing him for downloading Meet the Fockers over BitTorrent, but Hogan says he didn’t do it and already owned the film on DVD. Hogan happens to be a software millionaire and says he’s prepared to spend $100,000 or more in legal fees to put MPAA and Universal to their proof rather than fork over the demanded $2,500. (David Goldenberg, “Shawn Hogan, Hero”, Wired, Aug.).