Madison County: let the joyous news be spread…

Tuesday’s judicial election results in the notorious Illinois county amounted to a “cataclysmic” defeat for the county’s powerful personal-injury lawyers: “I feel like a Munchkin who just came out and saw the house drop on the witch,” said [longtime prosecutor Don] Weber, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Supreme Court in 1992. “A lot of us are going around today saying, ‘Did the house really drop on the witch?'” (Paul Hampel, “Karmeier win means big changes in Madison County, prosecutor says”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 3). For others who might wish to celebrate, here’s a song page. (& see PointOfLaw coverage, here, here, here, here, and here). More: Madison County Record, Nov. 5, Nov. 7.

Things your auto can’t do

In many vehicles nowadays, you can check your e-mail, view Web sites, even watch television, from the comfort of your driver’s seat.

You can, that is, if you live in Europe or in Japan….

Fear of legal action has also stopped Toyota from offering its Intelligent Parking Assist feature, which is now available on the hybrid gas-electric Prius model sold in Japan.

Executives say they “must worry about lawsuits” if potential dashboard distractions fall into the hands of Americans. A Toyota corporate sales manager says there are no plans to make the intelligent-parking feature available in the United States, either: “This is a very litigious society.” (Eric A. Taub, “Three Amazing Things Your Automobile Can’t Do”, New York Times, Oct. 27).

“Lost an election that wasn’t your fault?”

While Democratic candidate John Kerry was reaching his decision to concede President Bush’s victory in the presidential race, rather than pursue an almost certainly unsuccessful challenge to the Ohio vote count, running mate John Edwards “counseled [him] against swift surrender”, according to the AP:

One senior Democrat familiar with the discussions said Edwards was suggesting to Kerry that he shouldn’t concede.

The official said Edwards, a trial lawyer, wanted to make sure all options were explored and that Democrats pursued them as thoroughly as Republicans would if the positions were reversed.

The mischievous headline is that of James Taranto at WSJ “Best of the Web“.

Death of a Red Sox fan

A pepper-ball injury to the eye is a very, very unlikely way to die, but those who know most about what happened to Victoria Snelgrove on Oct. 21 aren’t talking. CodeBlueBlog thinks some combination of fear of tort liability and HIPAA, the federal medical privacy law, explains much of authorities’ reticence (Oct. 30, Oct. 28).

“New Evidence on Main Cause of Cerebral Palsy”

Another blow to the theories that have proved such a fertile source of litigation over the past few decades: “A new study undermines the long-held belief among obstetricians that oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia, is the main cause of cerebral palsy in premature infants. The study, published in the October issue of The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that the brain injury that leads to cerebral palsy was much more commonly associated with infection than with hypoxia.” (Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, Nov. 2). Virginia Postrel comments (more on stored Google search page — note the nature of most of the advertising).

Gee, thanks, campaign reformers

In battleground states and on cable TV “the airwaves are choked with campaign ads that are hysterically conceived and factually deceptive — much worse, if such a thing is possible, than the ads that tortured the electorate in the pre-McCain-Feingold era. And most of them — note the irony — are paid for by fat cats. The irony, of course, is lost on supporters of McCain-Feingold, who continue to insist the reform has been a success.” (Andrew Ferguson, “Soros Might Not Be What Reformers Had in Mind”, Bloomberg News, Nov. 2). (more on the law: Nov. 1, Oct. 17, Aug. 23, Jul. 20).

Agenda: gun suit pre-emption, class action reform

The U.S. Senate has been the graveyard of federal liability reform legislation for years now, but yesterday’s election may start upheaving the tombstones in an entertaining manner. The new Senate should be perceptibly more favorable to litigation reform than the old — by three or four votes, at least. Gone, for example, will be the Carolinas’ Ernest Hollings and John Edwards, two lions of the trial bar.

The most obvious impact will be on measures which already commanded a substantial majority of Senators, including many Democrats, but had nonetheless been blocked by parliamentary gamesmanship — specifically, the bill to pre-empt lawsuits against lawful gun sellers over the illegal later use of their products, and the bill to redirect most national class actions into federal courts. Also significant will be the defeat of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, whose tendency to talk like a litigation reformer back home in South Dakota, while working closely with trial lawyer interests in Washington, has been the subject of scrutiny in this space (Apr. 12, Aug. 19, Dec. 18).

Daschle’s defeat may cause prudent Democratic colleagues to rethink the policy of filibustering all major liability measures rather than letting them come to a vote. Also significant is the greatly strengthened hand of organized gun owners in the next Senate, on which see Dave Kopel’s roundup. If the Republicans know what they’re doing, they’ll call up and pass gun-suit pre-emption at an early point, with some version of class action reform not far behind.