We can’t really add much to the month’s most over-publicized story, which has now graduated to allegations of disability discrimination and California labor code violations as well as contract breach [NLJ, ABA Journal], but we can refer you to the analysis of Jon Hyman, Daniel Schwartz, Christine Hurt, and David Boaz.
You can’t look at your own genome without going through a professional?
Daniel MacArthur (Wired) and Razib Khan (Discover Blogs) question paternalism at the FDA.
“I’m no longer comfortable posting publicly about CPSIA…”
A thrift store owner explains why. [Rick Woldenberg] More: Timothy Carney, Examiner.
Texas asbestos and silica lawsuit reform
For years the Lone Star State led the nation in the volume of asbestos litigation filed in its courts, much of it dubious, but that has changed drastically in recent years. A new report from the Texas Civil Justice League (PDF) says the state’s reforms have worked well:
The great bulk of asbestos litigation in Texas resulted from entrepreneurial activity by lawyers who filed lawsuits on behalf of tens of thousands of people suffering no discernable illness. Enterprising lawyers then decided to replicate the asbestos-litigation model with silica litigation, again filing cases on behalf of thousands of people suffering no injury. With the passage of S.B. 15 in 2005, the Texas Legislature took a leading role in the national effort to end the abusive aspects of asbestos and silica litigation.
Claims without significant impairment were moved to an “inactive docket”, while cases alleging malignancy — which make up most of the docket of what are regarded as stronger asbestos cases — were expedited in several ways, particularly for claimants who were alive during the process. At the same time, Texas law and judicial practice were developing in other ways so as to allow easier dismissal of unmeritorious silica claims, and to hold asbestos claimants to a standard of causation more similar to that of other toxic torts (Borg-Warner v. Flores). The study examines and defends these developments as well. More: Chamber-backed Legal NewsLine.
“SAFETY NOTICE: this heater will get hot”
Sign spotted at Yarmouth station, UK [via @TimMontgomerie @wallaceme]
Pedestrian complainant characterizes Google Maps as “advisor”
“The woman who claims faulty walking directions on Google Maps caused her to be hit by a car is trying to salvage her case with the novel argument that Google is liable for negligent publication because it provided her with ‘individual advice.'” [Matthew Heller, OnPoint News; Google brief, PDF, at OnPoint News; earlier here and here]
“A Comic-Book History of Comic-Book Lawsuits”
Evil Twin Comics:
Get ready for non-stop action, action, action — LEGAL action, that is! The incredible, insane true story of the American comic book industry continues with the ALL-LAWSUIT ISSUE! DC vs. Fawcett! Disney vs. the Air Pirates! Jack Kirby vs. Marvel over his stolen artwork! Steve Gerber over Howard the Duck! Don De Carlo over Josie and the Pussycats!
[“Comic Book Comics #5” via THR Esq. and Lowering the Bar]
The high cost of our broken IPO market
Marc Hodak traces the consequences of legal dysfunction for successful start-ups hoping to unlock value for their contributing talents.
Update: teen who rode oil pump loses case
Reversing a state appeals court, the Louisiana Supreme Court has reinstated summary judgment in favor of a defendant manufacturer in the case of a 13-year-old injured while playing unsupervised with an oil pump, “finding that riding an oil-well pump like it was an amusement park ride was not a reasonably anticipated use of the pumping unit at the time of its manufacture in the 1950’s.” [Wajert; Payne v. Gardner, PDF; earlier]
Claim: Starbucks tip jars too tempting to thieves
Crestwood, Mo.: “The Starbucks coffee shop here should have known it was inviting trouble by placing a tip jar on an open counter, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the estate of a customer who died defending it.” Customer Roger Kreutz saw a teenager grab the jar and gave chase on foot; he was killed when the miscreant backed his car over him. Kreutz’s estate has now filed a suit alleging “that Starbucks ‘did not employ security to prevent the perpetration of such crimes’ and that it ‘invited the act of perpetration of said crime’ by having a tip jar.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]