Posts Tagged ‘Chicago’

Upcoming Midwest speeches

Tomorrow, Tuesday, I’ll be on a lunchtime panel at Capital University Law School in Columbus to discuss Gov. John Kasich’s proposals for revamping public-employee labor law in Ohio. And next Tuesday, I’ll be in Chicago speaking at an Illinois Policy Institute breakfast on my new book on legal academia, Schools for Misrule (sign up here). Afterward, I’ll talk with students at Northwestern thanks to a kind invitation from the Federalist Society.

To book me for a speech at your group, contact Diane Morris at dmorris – at – cato – dot -org or contact me directly at editor – at – overlawyered – dot – com.

Filed under: Chicago, live in person

Fall speaking (and your chance to book): Chicago, S.C., Denver…

I’m currently planning speaking trips that will take me to Chicago Nov. 7-8, Greenville, S.C. Dec. 7, Denver Dec. 13, and possibly Phoenix Dec. 1. If you’ve got a speaker’s series or organization that’s in one of these places or an easy travel jump away, consider saving on travel expenses by booking me for a talk around these dates. You can contact me directly at editor – [at] – overlawyered – dot – com or Diane Morris at the Cato Institute: dmorris – [at] – cato – dot – org.

Filed under: Chicago, Denver, live in person, Phoenix, South Carolina

August 29 roundup

Even before federal raid on Gibson, Lacey Act scared owners of vintage instruments: “I don’t go out of the country with a wooden guitar.” [Eric Felten/WSJ, AW, PoL, Trevor Burrus/Cato]
Dear NYT contributor Bakan: getting your kids’ attention may not require overthrowing world corporate economy [Nancy French, NR “Home Front”] More: Sullum.
“West Memphis Three” freed [Damon Root, Greenfield]
Forest Labs case: after outcry, feds drop effort to force firing of drug company CEO not charged with wrongdoing [WSJ, WLF] Background: Charles Hooper & David Henderson, Hoover (“The FDA’s War on Drugs”), The Economist (“The government seeks to sack an innocent boss”, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Steve McConnell/Drug and Device Law, Josh Wright/Truth on the Market]
Google paid dearly in smartphone deal for our dysfunctional patent system [Gordon Crovitz] “Google Should Publicly Oppose Software Patents” [Timothy Lee, Forbes]
Lawyer’s suit: Kasowitz firm ignored his “superior legal mind” [Lowering the Bar, Above the Law]
“In Chicago, You Need a License To Help Others Get a License” [Mark Perry]

Filed under: cellphones, Chicago, child protection, environment, Google, music and musicians, patent quality, pharmaceuticals

August 2 roundup

Yikes! “House Committee Approves Bill Mandating That Internet Companies Spy on Their Users” [EFF; Julian Sanchez, New York Post/Cato and podcast]
Australia courts skeptical about claim that sex injury is covered under workers’ comp [Herald Sun]
Well-off community doesn’t need annual HUD grant, seeks to sell it [Dan Mitchell]
Report: playful City Museum in St. Louis has taken down signs criticizing lawyers [Bill Childs/TortsProf, earlier]
Chicago neurosurgeons pay $4500 a week in med-mal premiums, blame lawless Illinois Supreme Court [Medill Reports] Supreme Court declines to review Feres doctrine, which shields military doctors (among others) from suits [Stars and Stripes] Why is the most widely cited number of medical-misadventure deaths such an outlier? [White Coat; more here, here, etc.]
After “Facebook broken heart” suit, will pre-nups for Mafia Wars relationships be next? [Tri-Cities Herald]
Another horrific report of poppy seed positive drug test followed by child-grabbing [Radley Balko]

Filed under: Australia, Chicago, Child Protective Services, Facebook, illegal drugs, medical malpractice, workers' compensation

Chicago neurosurgeons pay $4500/wk in med-mal premiums

Neurosurgeons in Cook and four other counties pay nearly $230,000 a year, obstetricians nearly $140,000, and general surgeons nearly $100,000. The legislature in Springfield had voted liability limits, but last year the Illinois Supreme Court, in a decision hailed by organized plaintiff’s lawyers but condemned as lawless by many others, struck down those limits. [Heather Perlberg, Medill]

Filed under: Chicago, Illinois, Madison County, medical malpractice insurance

April 27 roundup

“Bioblitz”: Environmental groups file thousands of actions demanding endangered species listings [NYT; related discussion with Jonathan Adler and Steven Hayward at NYT’s Room for Debate]
War on painkillers could turn many more Florida docs, druggists into criminals [White Coat]
Feds flex muscle, using debarment to oust company CEOs [Jim Doyle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
“Madigan’s List”: powerful Illinois pol sways selection of Cook County judges [Chicago Tribune]
Nick Gillespie interviews education reformer Jay Greene [Reason]
Social conservatives misplay recusal card against Judge Vaughn Walker in Prop 8 case [Richard Painter, LEF, more, AW, LAT] Other views: Whelan, Gillers, motion.
Why TV shows like “WKRP in Cincinnati” appear in compromised DVD versions [Alex Tabarrok updates a story we had in ’06]

Filed under: Chicago, endangered species, Florida, movies film and videos, music and musicians, pharmaceuticals, prosecution, recusals, schools

Reminder: Milt Rosenberg show tonight

A reminder that I’m scheduled to be a guest on the incomparable Milt Rosenberg’s 50,000-watt radio show tonight, 10-12 p.m. Central Time. Talkers magazine has described him as the “nation’s leading author interviewer. A Chicago institution for the literate” and I’m not surprised. He had me on his show for an earlier book and I was bowled over by what a close and intelligent reading he’d given my words and what a wide-ranging yet relaxed conversation we had as a result. Definitely a don’t-miss show!

Filed under: Chicago, on TV and radio, Schools for Misrule

Schools for Misrule: next week at Heritage and in Chicago

At NRO “Corner”, Hans von Spakovsky invites readers to my noon talk next week at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. And on Thursday the Heartland Institute in Chicago will have me at a lunchtime member event.

I’m also happy to announce that next Thursday night, barring news-related bumps, I’m set to appear on one of radio’s premier discussion shows, WGN’s Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg.

You can (and should) buy the book here, or at your favorite bookseller.

Filed under: Chicago, live in person, on TV and radio, Schools for Misrule

“Why bad teachers survive”

A chart from the Chicago Tribune editorial opinion section on the stages needed to remove an inadequate Chicago educator.

Meanwhile, some Andrew Sullivan readers point out that contrasts between the public and private sectors can be overdone, since it can be legally troublesome for private managers, too, to fire poorly performing workers. I wrote a whole book tackling related themes some years back.

Filed under: Chicago, teacher tenure, The Excuse Factory

February 24 roundup

Judge Ciavarella defiant after racketeering conviction in Pennsylvania cash-for-kids horror [TheLegalIntel, Sullum and more, WSJ Law Blog, Greenfield, earlier]
Widener lawprof Lawrence Connell facing discipline over hypotheticals in class [Orin Kerr, NLJ, interview at NAS]
“Do we even want to remain a child care center if we have to eliminate all the parts we love?” [Free-Range Kids] Lawsuit fears tame a Frederick, Md. ice playground [same]
Marquette lawprof Rick Esenberg on Wisconsin showdown [first, second, third posts]
A patent owner, the Chicago Tribune and Sen. Durbin: Anatomy of a pool drain scare story [Woldenberg, AmendTheCPSIA.com]
Mayor Thomas Menino vows to save Boston from scourge of everyday low prices [Mark Perry]
“Comp Hearing Scheduled ‘On the Sly’ for Texting Cop Who Caused Fatal Accident” [Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal] “Paying for bad cops” [Balko]
Demand for shaker abstinence: nosy, hectoring CSPI files suit asking that salt in food be subjected to FDA regulation [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Filed under: Boston, Chicago, law schools, Luzerne County judicial scandal, police, pools, Wal-Mart, Wisconsin, workers' compensation