Great moments in economic regulation, cont’d: now it’s Maryland that’s cracking down on service stations for the sin of pricing gasoline too cheaply. (Justin Blum, “Maryland Hits Brakes on Fleeting Gasoline Price War”, Washington Post, May 6). For an example from Minnesota, see Jun. 5, 2004.
S.F.’s move to regulate bloggers
…is now officially dead, reports Bill Quick (May 16)(via Instapundit)(see Apr. 6). The Federal Election Commission, on the other hand, remains a threat, according to Redstate.org (May 20)(also via Instapundit)(see Mar. 17, Mar. 31). More on campaign finance law and free speech: Jonathan Rauch, “McCain-Feingold at Rest”, National Journal/Reason Online, May 9.
“Lawyers pose health risk: study”
A team of researchers led by Richard Gun, visiting research fellow at Adelaide University, “has found patients who engage a lawyer after receiving their injury are five times less likely ever to return to work. He says they also appear to suffer more pain and for longer periods than accident victims who do not have lawyers.” Even allowing for an expected correlation between the two variables — persons with more serious injuries are presumably more likely to retain lawyers — legal representation appears to have an independent effect in prolonging the process of recovery, Sun says. (Nick Grimm, ABC News Online (Australian), Feb. 23 (summary); “Accident victims who hire a lawyer take longer to recover: study”, The World Today, ABC News Online (Australian), Feb. 23)(interview transcript); Gun et al., “Risk Factors for Prolonged Disability After Whiplash Injury: A Prospective Study”, Spine, Feb. 15 (abstract and $ link to study). For similar findings from a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine based on Saskatchewan data, see Apr. 24, 2000.
Students’ dance performance
Students at San Francisco’s Farragut Elementary School and an educational foundation are scrambling to raise funds to make it possible for students to perform a Congolese dance routine in the city’s May 29 annual Carnival parade. “In previous years, the school has supported the Foundation’s efforts financially, but this year, the school has withdrawn its support ‘[d]ue to liability concerns.'” (Sarah Rohrs, “Students step lively for Carnivale”, Vallejo Times-Herald, May 17)(via Common Good Society Watch).
Federal prosecutors probe silica/asbestos fraud
Major news on the asbestos front: the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, one of the most powerful prosecutorial offices in the country, has convened a grand jury to probe allegations of fraud in the mass prosecution of silica and asbestos claims in Texas and elsewhere. In recent court proceedings in Corpus Christi, doctors admitted that they had never met or interviewed claimants for whom they had provided written diagnoses of silicosis, often after the same claimants had been accorded diagnoses of asbestosis. Federal judge Janis Graham Jack said one doctor’s testimony was raising “great red flags of fraud”. (Jonathan D. Glater, “Civil Suits Over Silica in Texas Become a Criminal Matter in New York”, New York Times, May 18). Ted Frank has been following the developing story in detail at Point of Law: Feb. 2, Feb. 17, Feb. 27, Mar. 2, Mar. 14, Mar. 16, Mar. 21, and other entries on that site’s asbestos page. This site’s product liability page has also extensively covered dubious litigation of this sort (examples: Jan. 21 and Aug. 5, 2004, Sept. 13 and Nov. 12, 2003 and earlier items).
Russian court: astrologer can sue NASA
“A Russian court has ruled that an astrologer can sue NASA over plans to bombard a comet whose destruction would ‘disrupt the natural balance of the universe’.” Reversing a lower court, the panel ruled that it was appropriate for Russia to take jurisdiction over Marina Bai’s lawsuit, which demands $310 million. According to her lawyer, Alexandra Molokhova, Ms. Bai “believes that the project infringes upon her spiritual and life values, as well as the natural life of the cosmos”. (“Astrologer courts trouble for NASA”, Melbourne Age, May 8; Anna Arutunyan, “Russian Astrologist Plans to Crash NASA’s Independence Day”, MosNews, Apr. 19; “Russian astrologer seeks $310 million of moral damage compensation from NASA”, Pravda, May 6).
Like a John Steinbeck novel
“The Las Vegas man whose severed fingertip ended up in a cup of Wendy’s chili gave his mangled digit to a co-worker to settle a $50 debt — but had no idea it would be used in an alleged scheme to swindle the fast-food chain, the man’s mother said Tuesday.” (Alan Gathright and Meredith May, “Worker gave his finger to settle $50 debt”, San Francisco Chronicle, May 18)(see May 16, etc.).
Preschool expulsions
Researchers at the Yale Child Study Center led by Walter S. Gilliam have found that a surprisingly large number of 3 and 4 year olds are expelled from community and private preschools, perhaps 5,000 or more annually. Zero tolerance and liability fears may be among the factors at work: “The study did not gather information on why the children were expelled. But Dr. Gilliam said a wide range of behavior could lead to expulsion: aggression toward the teacher or other children; actions that violate a zero-tolerance policy, like taking a toy gun to school; or anything that might cause a teacher to worry about injury and liability, like running out of the classroom to the parking lot.” (emphasis added) (Tamar Lewin, “Research Finds a High Rate of Expulsions in Preschool”, New York Times, May 17). Last December the Times reported (Dec. 7) on how liability fears sometimes drive colleges’ decisions to impose involuntary leave on students; colleges, like preschools, generally enjoy greater flexibility in expulsion and discipline than do conventional K-12 public schools.
Coleman v. Morgan Stanley
Financier Ronald Perelman wins $604 million, with a request for punitive damages still to come, against Morgan Stanley on claims that the Wall Street firm defrauded him seven years ago when he sold camping equipment maker Coleman to Sunbeam Corp., a Morgan client. (Bloomberg/New York Times/AP). The unexpectedly large verdict came after the Florida state judge presiding over the case blasted Morgan and its law firm for not responding in a forthcoming way to requests for discovery of electronically stored records, and instructed the jury to infer that the withheld documents demonstrated fraud. Blog commentary: Monica Bay, Francis Pileggi, Lisa Stone (and earlier), Litigation Support Guy (and again), Tom Kirkendall (and earlier), Really Think. More: jury votes $850 million in punitive damages (Jill Barton, “Perelman Wins $1.4 Billion Total in Suit Against Morgan Stanley”, AP/Law.com, May 19); Tom Kirkendall comments (May 18). Updates Dec. 17: Morgan Stanley files appeal; Mar. 22, 2007: appeals court overturns verdict.
Negligent sex
Eugene Volokh and Christine Hurt (both May 17) analyze the Massachusetts case everyone is talking about, in which a man sued his girlfriend after suffering a particularly intimate (and awful-sounding) trauma in bed. The court decided that the standard for liability over sexually inflicted injury should be wantonness and recklessness, rather than mere lack of reasonable care.