Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that online legal-ad spending has risen nearly 500% in the last year, as law firms pay $50 to $70 a click to have their web sites associated with search terms like “mesothelioma” — because such cases can lead to quick settlements with asbestos-related defendants with low-risk contingent recoveries to attorneys of hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a result of other search-engine gaming efforts, “eight of the top 10 nonpaid listings in a recent Google search of ‘mesothelioma’ were for sites sponsored by law firms, pushing down nonlawyer sites such as the National Cancer Institute.” (Carl Bialik, Wall Street Journal, Apr. 8 (subscription only)). Meanwhile, far less is spent each year on mesothelioma research than on lawsuits. (Wall Street Journal, Apr. 8 (subscription only)).
Texas court stops workers comp end-around
Workers’ compensation laws generally prohibit workers from suing their employers, but three pipeline workers tried to circumvent this and supplement their workers’ compensation payments by suing their employer’s owner, a holding company. A trial court judge allowed the suit to proceed, and a jury awarded $122 million in 2000; the Corpus Christi appeals court has now reversed. (“El Paso wins appeal in plant blast”, Houston Chronicle, Apr. 7; Coastal Corp. v. Torres, Mar. 25).
Teacher’s relationship with 15-yo not grounds for firing
Australia is in an uproar after a New South Wales teacher, Jeff Sinclair, won a A$28,000 payout for “psychological injury” for being fired for starting a relationship with a 15-year-old student a third of his age. The Department of Education has been ordered to pay him an additional A$317 a week until he finds “suitable” employment. The government is appealing. (Bruce McDougall, “Teacher’s cash over student love”, news.com.au, Apr. 5; Miranda Devine, “The teacher who played victim”, Sydney Morning Herald, Apr. 8) (via Jacobs). Update Jun. 3: jilted wife wants damage from school authority too.
Update: PetsWarehouse case
Latest chapter in the ongoing PetsWarehouse saga (Dec. 28, Oct. 5 and links from there): Robert Novak’s lawsuit against Google and two other search engines was allowed to stand. Novak accused the search engines of violating the law by selling advertising tied to his trademarked phrase “pets warehouse”. (Declan McCullagh, “Judge won’t toss out Google, Overture suit”, CNet News, Apr. 6; Mar. 25 opinion). Update Oct. 16 (Novak prevails in a different action).
Eligible for “I Sued” sticker?
Stamford resident Robert Bonoff was handed an “I Voted” sticker on election day, and promptly ruined a suede coat by placing the sticker on it. He’s asked the city to pay to replace the coat, and, so far, the city has said no. (AP, Apr. 7).
Update: A reader expressed skepticism because of the similarity to a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode, but a more detailed Stamford Advocate piece shows it’s for real. “Bonoff said poll workers, who are paid by the city, should be given a list of fabrics that can be damaged by the stickers. … Bonoff said he is not going to give up until the city pays. ‘What’s $100? Big deal,’ he said. ‘They waste so much money anyway, why not give me a new jacket?'” (Donna Porstner, “A sticky situation”, Apr. 7).
Drunk driver’s family: blame it on the road
17-year-old Steven Terrell had a blood-alcohol level of .162 and had taken OxyContin when he lost control of his car, swerved off the road, hit a culvert, and overturned; not wearing a seatbelt, he died from the resulting injuries. “Roy Terrell and Donna F. Moore, the parents of Steven L.R. Terrell, notified [Morgan County] officials that they blamed the death on the county’s failure to maintain the roadway in a reasonable safe condition, failure to warn, defective road construction and design and failure to have a proper sign. They intend to seek $2 million in damages.” This time, the local press is outraged. (R. Joseph Gelarden, “Couple to sue over son’s death”, Indianapolis Star, Apr. 5; Editorial, “Don’t blame road for this tragedy”, Indianapolis Star, Apr. 7; Editorial, “Lawsuit instigators attempt to defer responsibility”, Purdue Exponent, Apr. 7).
Foam dance lawsuit
Tissue analysis and toxicology tests are still being performed to determine the cause of death of Margaret Piton, a 21-year-old with a heart condition who was found dead with a .260 blood-alcohol level (three times the legal limit) after a “foam party” in a South Padre Island nightclub, but her family’s lawyers have already filed a lawsuit blaming the death on “excessive foam.” (Allen Essex, “Parents file suit against SPI club”, Valley Morning Star, Apr. 7; “Report: Woman found dead had .260 blood alcohol, heart condition”, AP, Mar. 26).
Moody’s blamed for Bolshevik bond renunciation
The French Association of Russian Bondholders (or AFPER) is unhappy that the government of the Soviet Union repudiated the debts of its czarist predecessor, leaving it (or, more accurately, its members’ predecessors) with worthless paper. So in an interesting inversion of causality, in June 2001 it misguidedly sued Moody’s and S&P for providing ratings to the debt of the new post-Soviet Russian government in 1996, and sought to hold the rating companies liable for the debts of the earlier iterations of the Russian government. A Paris court finally got around to throwing the case out today. (Reuters, April 6).
Update: California french-fry suit
Approximately forty percent of the food the world eats contains acrylamide, a chemical that is formed by cooking starches and that has uncertain carcinogenic effect. The LA Times reports on the pending lawsuit against fast food vendors in California under Proposition 65 (Sep. 19; Dec. 27, 2002), which requires labeling of all carcinogenic substances with warnings–never mind that if a warning is posted everywhere, it effectively renders all the warnings meaningless, as they essentially are in California, where the warning can already be found in nearly every parking garage. While Burger King and other large corporations are fighting against extending the labeling requirements to french fries, it’s hypothesized that smaller mom-and-pop shops will simply cave and post warnings rather than pay lawyers to defend the use of heat in preparing food. (Miguel Bustillo, “Are We Ready to Fret About Our Fries?”, LA Times, Apr. 6; Andrew Bridges, “Studies find no acrylamide, cancer link”, AP, Mar. 29; Center for Consumer Freedom, “Wayward Warnings”, Aug. 5).
Epstein on class actions
University of Chicago Law School Professor Richard Epstein has a concise essay in the National Law Journal explaining what is wrong with current class action procedure and where reform is needed. (“Warping the law”, Mar. 22).