Third Circuit: relative ability to pay not get-out-of-jail-free card against cost awards

Losing plaintiffs in a medical malpractice case “argued that it would be unfair to assess costs given the financial disparity between the parties,” but the court found that argument unpersuasive. It should be noted that the “costs” being shifted in this and most other federal cases do not include attorneys’ fees and most other big-ticket expenses of litigation. Or, as Beck et al put it in their summary of the case, “No, it’s not fee-shifting – but at least it’s something.”

“Judge tosses ‘mother-in-lawsuit’ vs. comedian”

“Sunda Croonquist, whose shtick for years has been to describe her life as a half-black, half-Swedish woman who marries into a Jewish family, was sued two years ago after her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law said her jokes were holding them up to public ridicule.” A federal judge in New Jersey, however, has now ruled that the comedy routines were not actionable: many were opinion, not susceptible to being taken literally or otherwise protected under the First Amendment. [AP/MSNBC, earlier] More: Tim Cavanaugh, Reason “Hit and Run”.