Writer sought on class-action project

Are you a skilled writer capable of tackling the topic of class action abuse? A reformist group (not us) is looking for a freelancer, old media refugee or other skillful wordsmith to tackle what could be a substantial project. If you’re a serious candidate, drop a line at editor – at- this-domain-name – dot – com and I’ll forward it to the group doing the search (cross-posted from Point of Law).

November 18 roundup

  • “Common sense makes a comeback” against zero tolerance in the classroom [USA Today]
  • Slip at Massachusetts antiques show leads to lawsuit [Wicked Local Marion]
  • Update: Washington Supreme Court takes up horn-honking case [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
  • MICRA as model: “California’s Schwarzenegger stumps for medical liability reform” [American Medical News]
  • “Inventing a better patent system” [Pozen, NYT]
  • Google Books settlement narrowed to countries with “common legal heritage” [Sag, ConcurOp]
  • One way to make ends meet: cash-strapped Detroit cops are seizing a lot more stuff [Detroit News via Business Insider]
  • What temperatures are hot coffee actually served at? Torts buffs (including our Ted Frank) want to know [TortsProf exchange with Michael Rustad and followup, more and yet more]

“Jackpot: Lawyers earn fees from law they wrote”

By reader acclaim, this report from AP’s Michael Blood in Los Angeles:

Every lawsuit filed or even threatened under a California law aimed at electing more minorities to local offices – and all of the roughly $4.3 million from settlements so far – can be traced to just two people: a pair of attorneys who worked together writing the statute, The Associated Press has found.

The law makes it easier for lawyers to sue and win financial judgments in cases arising from claims that minorities effectively were shut out of local elections, while shielding attorneys from liability if the claims are tossed out.

The law was drafted mainly by Seattle law professor Joaquin Avila, with advice from lawyers including Robert Rubin, legal director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Avila, Rubin’s committee and lawyers working with them have collected or billed local governments about $4.3 million in three cases that settled, and could reap more from two pending lawsuits.

Dozens of other California jurisdictions have been threatened with suits over at-large (undistricted) elections, and officials in many communities say they heard no complaints from voters until lawyers came around.

“It’s a money grab,” charged John Stafford, superintendent of the Madera Unified School District that was slapped with a $1.2 million attorneys’ bill even though it never contested a lawsuit. … A judge is reviewing the bill submitted to Madera. To pay, Stafford said the district would have to slash money for books and lunches for its mostly Hispanic students, an odd consequence for a law intended to aid Hispanics.

If you’re wondering about Prof. Avila of Seattle U., who agrees to being the law’s principal drafter, his biographical page is here, and it’s replete with elite law school connections. Excerpts:

…Professor Avila has taught courses at the University of California/Berkeley, University of Texas, and UCLA schools of law. Professor Avila has received numerous awards in recognition of his work in the voting rights area. He received a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1996 for his voting rights work. In the same year, he received the Vanguard Public Foundation’s Social Justice Sabbatical for his work in providing political access to minority communities. In 2001 he received the State Bar of California’s Loren Miller Legal Services Award for providing outstanding legal services to disadvantaged and underserved communities. …

“Rothstein got top national rating for ethics”

Scott Rothstein, the Florida lawyer at the center of the biggest fraud investigation since, oh, Marc Dreier’s, got an “AV Preeminent” rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which says its ratings “serve as an objective indicator that a lawyer has the highest ethical standards and professional ability and are used by buyers of legal services to justify their hiring decision.” [Buddy Nevins, BrowardBeat via John Darer]

P.S. Related, from Worcester, Mass.: “‘Lawyer You Can Trust’ Gets Prison for Theft” [Ambrogi, Legal Blog Watch]

Harrisburg mayor-elect traumatized out of pumping gas, suit says

“In a 2000 civil lawsuit filed in Bucks County, Linda Thompson claimed a faulty pump sprayed her with gasoline, leaving her in damaged clothing and with a lingering fear of filling up her cars with gasoline. … ‘(Thompson) is unable to psychologically pump her own gas,’ the suit states. It also notes that ‘(Thompson) becomes ill upon the smell of gas and will not seek to obtain gas until absolutely necessary as a result of this incident.'” Earlier this month Thompson was elected mayor of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital. [Harrisburg Patriot-News on still-pending lawsuit and election]