Haunted-house operators scared by lawsuits

Matthew Heller of OnPoint News and AnnMarie McDonald of the New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance have roundups on Hallowe’en litigation.

P.S. Also holiday-related: a Hallowe’en sighting of lawyers’ tongues [Robert Burns, Tam O’Shanter at Scots law blog Absolvitor via LEF]

Filed under: Christmas and other holidays

“Law firm offers divorce vouchers for Christmas”

No word about reconciliation coupons, though, in this promotion by a London law firm. [Ananova, The Lawyer]

Filed under: chasing clients, Christmas and other holidays, divorce, United Kingdom

Employee holiday party lesson

Don’t phony up invoices in order to pay for an unauthorized off-site Christmas party for your staff. And if you do, and get fired, don’t file a lawsuit claiming it was all the fault of age discrimination. [Gorman v. Missouri Gas Energy, W.D. Mo., via Siouxsie Law]

Filed under: age discrimination, Christmas and other holidays, Missouri

Poole townspeople to get a real Christmas tree

The $22,800 fake one, though purportedly superior on health and safety grounds, was unpopular and got vandalized. [UPI, earlier; h/t reader VMS in comments]

Filed under: Christmas and other holidays, safety, United Kingdom

U.K.: Xmas tree “designed according to principles of health and safety”

The new holiday decoration in the town of Poole, Dorset,

has no trunk so it won’t blow over, no branches to break off and land on someone’s head, no pine needles to poke a passer-by in the eye, no decorations for drunken teenagers to steal and no angel, presumably because it would need a dangerously long ladder to place it at the top.

One onlooker describes it as “horrible”. [Times Online via Free-Range Kids; & welcome Damon Root/Reason “Hit and Run” (calling us “the indispensable Overlawyered.com”, Coyote, Ed Driscoll, Musing Minds readers]

Filed under: accolades, Christmas and other holidays, safety, United Kingdom

Daily Roundup 2008-12-28

Daily Roundup sounds better than Microblog, if you ask me.

I thought we already had a gas tax. Farmers protest EPA plans to tax greenhouse gas “emissions” from cattle (Via Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, who will probably have to come up with a new name in a few weeks);
Another way to reduce discrimination against fat people: taxpayer funded stomach stapling;
Navy settles anti-sonar environmental lawsuits filed by Natural Resources Defense Council. I can’t tell from reading this AP story precisely what good the settlement will do for the Navy, or for whales, porpoises, and dolphins, but it appears money is changing hands;
This explains a lot: former attorney general John Ashcroft makes his best decisions “when I have a lot of morphine in my system” (Via Classical Values);
A perfect season for the Detroit Lions;
You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch: Alabama man sets own home ablaze in rage over not receiving Christmas presents;
Newspapers are receiving and printing outsourced, slanted opinion pieces for free. Question: how does this differ from blogging? Answer: I’m wearing pajamas (well, a sweatshirt and sweatpants), as I write this, and I have a dog in my lap. Presumably the outsourced writers wear business casual in a fur-free environment;
If you read the European libertarian blog Samizdata, send good wishes to Brian Micklethwait, one of their best writers, who has unfortunate news to report.

Tomorrow, I predict that somewhere, someone will be sued.

Filed under: attorneys general, Christmas and other holidays, environment, Navy sonar, newspapers, United Kingdom

Microblog 2008-12-25

You really shouldn’t be reading this. You haven’t even played with the nice new toys Santa brought you.

Not so fast! According to Ray Beckerman, the lawyer the RIAA loves to hate, the RIAA is still clogging the courts with file-sharing suits, and shows no signs of stopping;
Matthew Yglesias gets paid to blog. I don’t. Matthew Yglesias has a huge audience. I don’t (this week is an exception). Matthew Yglesias can say almost anything he wants to say. I can say anything I want to say. I think I have the better deal;
The astonishing Christmas light display of Leon and Ann Paschal (last year’s version – this year’s was bigger);
Will the New York Times be the next major company to ask for a bailout? Perhaps if the paper reported news rather than burying it…
In what must be a record for one day, Wal-Mart settles 63 wage-and-hour class actions;
At what point will lawsuits challenging Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as President be sanctioned as frivolous? Here comes another one;
Thoughts on the constitutionality of revoking the pardon to real estate fraud artist Isaac Toussie. It depends on what the meaning of the word “issued” is.
Is “mark of the beast” litigation the next big thing? Hilarious;
Eartha Kitt, who had the sexiest voice on earth, has passed away. (Via folo).

Now go play with your toys.

Filed under: Barack Obama, Christmas and other holidays, New York Times, RIAA and file sharing, Wal-Mart

“A Lawyerly Holiday Party Invite”

Reprinted at Above the Law (Dec. 13).

Filed under: Christmas and other holidays

December 18 roundup

“Of all the body parts to Xerox!” Another round of stories on efforts to reduce liabilities from office holiday parties [ABA Journal, Above the Law, and relatedly Megan McArdle]

New edition of Tillinghast/Towers Perrin study on insurance costs of liability system finds they went down last year, which doesn’t happen often [2007 update, PDF]

Vermont student sues Burger King over indelicate object found in his sandwich; one wonders whether he’s ruled out it being a latex finger cot, sometimes used by bakery workers [AP/FoxNews.com]

Good discussions of “human rights commission” complaints against columnist Mark Steyn in Canada [Volokh, David Warren and again @ RCP, Dan Gardner; for a contrasting view, see Wise Law Blog]

Having trousered $60-odd million in fees suing Microsoft in Minnesota and Iowa antitrust cases, Zelle Hofmann now upset after judge says $4 million in fees should suffice for Wisconsin me-too action [Star-Tribune, PheistyBlog]

Australian rail operator will appeal order to pay $A600,000 to man who illegally jumped tracks, spat at ticket inspectors, hurt himself fleeing when detained [Herald Sun]

Lawyers’ fees in Kia brake class action (Oct. 29, Oct. 30) defended by judge who assails honesty of chief defense witness [Legal Intelligencer]

Who deserves credit for founding Facebook? Question is headed for court [02138 mag]

Yes, jury verdicts do sometimes bankrupt defendants, as did this $8 million class action award against a Kansas City car dealer [KC Star, KC Business Journal]

Dispute over Burt Neuborne’s Holocaust fees is finally over, he’ll get $3.1 million [NY Sun]

So long as we’re only fifty votes behind in the race for this “best general legal blog” honor, we’re going to keep nagging you to vote for Overlawyered [if you haven’t already]

Filed under: antitrust, Australia, Christmas and other holidays, Facebook, free speech in Canada, Iowa, Mark Steyn, Minnesota, roundups, Tillinghast, Vermont, Wisconsin