Turnabout in demon-nurse case

St. Luke’s Hospital in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley is suing a lawyer and law firm “for proceeding with cases that the attorneys [allegedly] knew were ‘baseless and lacking in evidence,'” and is also suing an expert for allegedly filing a “boilerplate” certificate of merit. The cases in question are among many filed claiming that patients were killed by notorious “Angel of Death” nurse Charles Cullen; hospitals say that while some of the suits were filed on behalf of actual Cullen victims, others piled on seeking compensation for bad outcomes that had nothing to do with the murderer. Damages for wrongful litigation are notoriously hard to win in American courts. [White Coat]

“Character” and law licenses

Ontario’s Law Society has rejected a would-be lawyer despite strong academic credentials because of concerns about his character, specifically episodes in which he harassed fellow apartment owners during a condo leadership fight and forged a letter supposedly from an owner. “Character” screening was once a common prerequisite for admission to the American bar, but fell largely into disuse following complaints that it could be subjective and applied unevenly. [Toronto Star]

Law school appearances: AU, Dickinson

Following my swing last week through Colorado, Wyoming and McGeorge (Sacramento), I’m speaking at lunchtime today at American University-Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. And — this one a new last-minute booking — on Monday I’m scheduled to speak at Dickinson/Penn State in Carlisle, Pa. (simulcast at the State College campus). Events are sponsored by the Federalist Society and I’ll be discussing Schools for Misrule, my new book on law school progressivism.