A local NBC affiliate covers the extraordinary lawsuit-abuse ring run by a tow-operator-gone-wrong in San Benito, Santa Clara and Monterey counties. Attorney Greg Adler deserves credit for cracking the scheme (via Legal Ethics Forum; earlier here and here).
MindingTheCampus.com excerpts Schools for Misrule
The Manhattan Institute publication Minding the Campus, which monitors higher education and its reform, is out with an excerpt from my forthcoming book Schools for Misrule. You can check it out here.
If Ms. Calvo-Goller is really worried about her reputation….
Stewart Baker has some advice for the complainant in a criminal (!) defamation proceeding filed in France against NYU law professor Joseph Weiler. Adam Liptak covers the case in the NYT here; earlier here, etc. More: Dan Markel, Prawfs.
New study: defensive medicine rife
“Nearly 35 percent of all the imaging costs ordered for 2,068 orthopaedic patient encounters in Pennsylvania were ordered for defensive purposes, according to a new study presented today at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).” [AAOS, ABA Journal, Frank]
Related: David Freddoso, “Trial lawyers release malpractice primer.“
February 22 roundup
- He wuz framed? Lawyers say wearing glasses will help a criminal defendant win acquittal [NYDN, ABA Journal]
- “Are Judges ‘Employees’ Covered by State Antidiscrimination Law?” [Volokh, Fox]
- Pursuing food safety, Congress ensures only unintended consequences [Paul Schwennesen, The Freeman]
- High cost of litigation for Louisiana cities and towns [LLAW, PDF, via NJLRA; Daily Comet]
- Calif. Kwikset decision not entirely a debacle for defendants [Russell Jackson, earlier] More: Cal. Civil Justice.
- Pennsylvania lawmakers consider reform of joint and several liability [Post-Gazette]
- Lawsuit fears tame a Frederick, Md. ice playground [Free-Range Kids]
- Following scrutiny by Albuquerque newspaper, lawyer drops life insurance class action settlement [ten years ago on Overlawyered]
Update: Lodi emerges from water-suit “legal hell”
“The city of Lodi ended a long legal battle over groundwater contamination earlier this month,” accepting $6.3 million from insurers for local businesses. [Lodi News-Sentinel] We covered the convoluted litigation, in which the California city sued numerous local businesses, in reports here and here.
Gaming New York’s new recusal rules
Ted Frank and Scott Greenfield suspect that some New York lawyers are soon going to be donating to judges they dislike, just to keep from drawing them for their case.
February 21 roundup
- Estate of Anna Nicole Smith may sue over opera based on her life [Daily Mail via Surber, other Daily Mail]
- Maryland Department of Environment: yep, we put tracking devices on Eastern Shore watermen’s boats [Red Maryland]
- Trial lawyers’ federal contributions went 97% to Dems last cycle [Freddoso, Examiner]
- $6.5 million for family abuse: unusual sovereign-exposure law costs Washington taxpayers again [PoL]
- Canadian court: no, we can’t and won’t waive loser-pays for needy litigants who lose cases [Erik Magraken]
- CPSC considers mandating “SawStop” technology [Crede, background]
- Gun groups alarmed over ATF pick [Chicago Tribune]
- Jury blames hit-run death on wheelchair curb cut [four years ago on Overlawyered]
Uh-oh: “Telecommuting: The Next Wave of Wage and Hour Litigation”
Such is the theme of a legal audio conference. The wave-after-next of employment litigation, presumably, consists of suits by workers infuriated because their employers have curtailed permission for telecommuting on advice of HR lawyers trying to avoid the wage-and-hour suits.
Speaking this week: Indiana, Illinois
I’ll be talking on Monday at noon at the University of Indiana-Bloomington Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Ind., about my forthcoming book Schools for Misrule. Prof. Bill Henderson will comment. On Tuesday I’ll speak to law students at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, again at noon, with Prof. Larry Ribstein commenting. Student chapters of the Federalist Society are sponsoring both events. If you’re there, please feel free to introduce yourself.