“Lawyers Extract ‘Merger Tax’ From Shareholders, Study Says”

“The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform today released a study on merger-related litigation that concludes plaintiff lawyers take advantage of the court system to extract tens of millions of dollars a year in fees from companies at the expense of shareholders. A loophole in the federal law designed to cut down on securities class-action abuses allows lawyers to file suits challenging mergers in multiple state and federal courts, the study found, making it impossible for companies to consolidate the litigation in one place and increasing the odds they’ll pay the lawyers a fee to go away.” [Daniel Fisher, Forbes]

The threat from Michigan’s Proposal 2

Richard Epstein on an overreaching ballot measure that would insert labor union prerogatives into the Michigan constitution (earlier here, here). The measure is flagging in polls, despite a robo-call in favor by Bill Clinton, and has drawn opposition even from the stoutly liberal Detroit Free Press [Shikha Dalmia]

P.S. The WSJ is reminding us again about the not-wholly-unrelated battle for the Michigan Supreme Court (earlier).

Interviewed on Wagner case


Mary Reichard interviewed me about Teresa Wagner’s suit against the University of Iowa law school for the broadcast show “The World and Everything In It.” More on the Wagner case and its recent mistrial here, here, etc. Also on the politics of law faculties: is it believable that roughly 19 percent of law professors are going to vote for Romney, or is that number implausibly high? [Prof. Bainbridge; Tom Smith, Right Coast]

“Cinemark Agrees to Provide Audio Description at All First-Run Theaters”

Settling a prospect of litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act:

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), one of the world’s largest motion picture exhibitors, today announced that it is providing an audio description option for people who are blind or have visual impairments in all of its first-run theatres. …

In audio description (also known as descriptive narration) a narrator provides vocal description of key visual aspects of a movie, such as descriptions of scenery, facial expressions, costumes, action settings, and scene changes, described audibly during natural pauses in dialogue or critical sound elements.

[Lainey Feingold via Sam Bagenstos, Disability Law]

Labor and employment law roundup

  • Maryland: “Montgomery County Police ‘Effects’ Bargaining Bludgeons Public Safety” [Trey Kovacs, CEI, earlier] Time to revisit “effects” bargaining for other employee groups too [Gazette]
  • “A New Whistleblower Retaliation Statute Grows Up: Dodd-Frank is the new Sarbanes-Oxley” [Daniel Schwartz]
  • Proposal for disclosure of “persuaders” would threaten many employers [Michael Lotito/The Hill, earlier]
  • Judge greenlights union suit challenging new Indiana right to work law [RedState]
  • “Discovery of Immigration-Status Denied in FLSA Case” [Workplace Prof]
  • “Same Song, Umpteenth Verse – No Discrimination, Retaliation Worth $2 Million” [Fox/Employer’s Lawyer; Ithaca, N.Y.]
  • NLRB on collision course with Indian tribal sovereignty [Fred Wszolek, Indian Country Today]

“It Was the Curb’s Fault”

Lowering the Bar on the complaint in a San Francisco trip-fall case:

Sure, you could write “plaintiff tripped on the curb,” but that almost makes it sound like it might have been plaintiff’s fault. Writing instead that “the curb disrupted the motion of plaintiff’s foot” makes it clear that the curb was the bad actor here. …

The curb’s co-defendant, Gravity, settled before trial.

Why New Jerseyans, Vermonters can’t enter NatGeo photo contest

Because, as the magazine explains, “Those states do not allow operation of a skill contest that requires an entry fee.” Which results in the following rather awesome disclaimer (via Petapixel):

CONTEST IS VOID IN CUBA, IRAN, NEW JERSEY, NORTH KOREA, THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, SUDAN, SYRIA, VERMONT AND WHERE PROHIBITED.

Rubbing it in a bit about the unfreedom, no?

Woody Allen movie quotes William Faulkner, Faulkner estate sues

Sony Pictures has decried the suit as frivolous:

In Midnight In Paris, Gil Pender, the disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter played by Owen Wilson, says, “the past is not dead. Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.” The rightsholder[s] say the slightly paraphrased quote could “deceive the infringing film’s viewers as to a perceived affiliation, connection or association between William Faulkner and his works, on the one hand, and Sony, on the other hand.”

David Olson, a professor of law at Boston College (and no relation), disputed the notion that a license was needed just because the movie was intended to make a profit. “Commercial use isn’t presumptively unfair” he said. He said no one watches “Midnight in Paris” as a substitute for buying “Requiem for a Nun.” [Deadline.com, Washington Post]

P.S. “Is the complaint written in Faulknerese?” [@jslubinski]

October 31 roundup