New York City viewers who tuned in to WABC-TV (channel 7) may have seen me this evening in a taped interview discussing Harriet Miers’ withdrawal and the prospects for the high court vacancy. I was also mentioned Tuesday in a New York Times article on the Manhattan Institute and its role in municipal policy debates in Gotham; the article quotes me describing Mayor Bloomberg’s bill banning smoking in bars as “nannyism” (see this and this and this for particulars). (Nicholas Confessore, “Giuliani Guide Is Bloomberg Gadfly”, New York Times, Oct. 25).
Posts Tagged ‘about the site’
At DRI in Chicago Thursday
The Defense Research Institute has been kind enough to invite me to speak on two panels at its annual meeting in Chicago on Thursday. The first panel will touch on topics including litigation-curbing reforms (a topic on which DRI and I have been known to come down on opposite sides), while the second will discuss the changing role of state attorneys general. I know many DRI members read this site: if you see me at the conference, feel free to come up and say hello.
Latest newsletter
Our free periodic newsletter went out to subscribers last night, summarizing recent postings in terse yet wry style. There is some evidence, however, that the mailing has still not reached many subscribers. To read the latest installment — or to join or leave the list, change your address, etc. — visit this page (requires Google registration).
Home stretch on rehosting
I’ve got a prototype of the new Overlawyered (powered by Movable Type 3.2) up and running at Hosting Matters and it shouldn’t be long before we’re ready to switch over, once I can transfer miscellaneous files and resolve some archiving issues. Thanks for readers’ patience during this transition.
Radio shows
I was a guest on Kirby Wilbur’s nationally syndicated radio show last Friday, based at Seattle’s KVI, to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy. Yesterday I appeared on Danny Fontana’s Charlotte-based show and Ron Smith’s popular show on Baltimore’s WBAL to discuss President Bush’s selection of Harriet Miers and other legal issues.
Welcome Dutch readers
We’re one of the “Wekelijkse aparte links” on the Netherlands portal Leukestart.nl. If this is your first time here, our page on personal responsibility is especially popular with readers; we’ve also got pages on, among many other topics, Great Britain, lawsuits against schools, and aviation.
Latest newsletter
Our free periodic newsletter went out to subscribers this evening, summarizing a few weeks’ worth of postings in terse yet wry style. To join the list, change your address, etc., visit this page (requires Google registration).
Around the blogs
Philadelphia lawyer/blogger “Eh Nonymous”, who has been reading this site since law school without necessarily agreeing, now offers some more than generous comments about us (Aug. 17). Nobody’s Business has a picture of an overprotective warning sign which we can only assume is a parody and which in any case is funny (Aug. 15). Dozens of blogs, including Gypsy Speaks and Rev. Marge, are onto the sequel of the Kelo v. New London eminent-domain case: the city of New London, having won its case against the homeowners, now is charging them back rent for the five years it took to kick them out of their homes, not unlike the foreman in the old labor song who, after an on-the-job explosion, docked the worker for the time he spent up in the sky. And Jason Kuznicki at Positive Liberty (Aug. 15) explores the question of “Why the [New York] Times likes Kelo so much”. More: Gunner at No Quarters has identified (Aug. 17) a provision in Connecticut law that might prove unexpectedly helpful to the Kelo “tenants”.
“When Lawyers Make Good TV”
The quick sinking from sight of NBC’s reality show “The Law Firm” raises the question why the public so often enjoys watching television shows about law and lawyers (and why this particular show proved an exception). In a piece in Sunday’s New York Times “Week in Review”, reporter Jonathan D. Glater quotes me speculating on the subject. (“The Basics: The Oil Price To Be Scared Of” (scroll to second item), Aug. 14).
Other recent publicity, in both cases subscriber-only: the New York Sun quoted me on Friday in an article about the New York City Health Department’s campaign to persuade restauranteurs and grocery stores to get rid of trans fats (which the city itself continues to feed, in some quantities, to schoolchildren among others) (Jill Gardiner, “War on Trans Fats May Lead to Slippery Slope of Lawsuits”, Aug. 12-14). And BestWire, the news service for the insurance business, quoted me last month on what’s in the offing for the Supreme Court after the Senate confirms John Roberts (R.J. Lehmann, “Supreme Court Nominee’s Stance on Insurance Issues Open To Speculation”, Jul. 25).
Ted’s habeas debate
Ted’s debate with lawprof David Bruck (Washington & Lee) on federal habeas corpus reform at Legal Affairs has now wrapped up (for more on the bill itself, see Jul. 17). Not only is it highly illuminating and a great read (Ted: “We’re not talking about a sacrosanct legacy for which General Grant fought; we’re debating a malleable judicial rule that’s younger than two of the stars of ‘Desperate Housewives.'”) but (for readers who think they’re only interested in the civil and not the criminal side of the courtroom) Ted discusses in passing the general paucity of means by which miscarriages of justice in state court litigation can be reviewed by federal courts (see his Aug. 2 post).