David Nieporent has completed the customary week in the guest-blogger’s chair but we’ve invited him to stay on and do some more posting, and he’s generously agreed to give it a try. Congratulate us/him…
Posts Tagged ‘guestbloggers’
Thanks for listening…
I want to thank Walter Olson and Ted Frank for honoring me by giving me an opportunity to guest blog here while Ted is away this week.
First, I guess I should introduce myself, for those of you wondering who the heck I am. I’m an attorney licensed in New Jersey, with a practice which focuses on commercial litigation. Aside from myself, I have several relatives who are attorneys, so it should be clear that I have nothing against lawyers. (In fact, despite all the evidence to the contrary here on Overlawyered, I happen to think we perform a useful function.)
My axe to grind is with those (such as the folks over at the website Ted affectionately calls “Bizarro-Overlawyered”) who want to use the courts, not to enforce agreements or to compensate the victims of wrongdoing, but merely as a way to transfer wealth from corporations to trial lawyers, ostensibly on behalf of consumers.
One of my first close encounters with overlawyering was in the early 1990s, when a classmate of mine got drunk, climbed up on a train, and electrocuted himself; coincidentally, this old incident was mentioned on Overlawyered just a few weeks ago. At the time, I was perhaps naively shocked to find out that someone who was so obviously in the wrong could successfully point a finger elsewhere (or in this case, a lot of fingers) and cash in. The case had everything: a grossly irresponsible plaintiff, innocent defendants whose only fault was having deep pockets, and even the failure of immunity laws to prevent abuse of the tort system. Since then, I’ve become less naive, but I’m no less shocked at these types of stories.
Oh, and I used to blog about politics more generally at Jumping to Conclusions, although I haven’t updated that in quite a long while. In any case, I’m happy to be here.
Thanks to guestbloggers
My sincerest thanks to all three of the guestbloggers who (along with Ted) have kept things lively over the past two weeks: George M. Wallace, whose work you can follow at Declarations and Exclusions and A Fool in the Forest; Kevin Underhill of Lowering the Bar; and Skip Oliva of the Voluntary Trade Blog. Well done! I also notice that the comments section has been humming along busily. I should go away more often.
More Guestblogging
Greetings, Overlawyered readers. I’m your other post-Christmas guestblogger, Skip Oliva. I’m not a lawyer, but I do write about legal subjects. For the past four years, I’ve run the Voluntary Trade Council, a public policy group that focuses on antitrust regulation. I maintain VTC’s weblog as well as write for the Mises Economics Blog. During my stint here I’ll be discussing some of the more interesting antitrust cases from the past year.
Thank You and Good Night
Given that home and hearth will likely keep me distracted throughout December 25, I have pre-posted this parting message:
Thank you to Walter Olson for the opportunity to guestblog here over the past week. Thank you to Ted Frank for sharing the space. And thank you to Overlawyered readers for reading my posts here. Walter has additional top quality guestblogging in store to see you through to the New Year. Since he hasn’t shared the secret with me, I will be checking in bright and early Tuesday to learn who it might be. I encourage you to do the same.
It has been a pleasure doing justice with you.
Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself
Hello. My name is George, and I am a weblogging lawyer. I would like to take this occasion to thank Walter Olson for the opportunity to guestblog this week at Overlawyered. I will be posting starting today — I have two posts below and more in the hopper — and will continue here through next Monday (ho ho ho). Beginning next Tuesday, December 26, Walter promises two special guests who will step in and post you through to the new year.
I am one half of a two-man law firm in Pasadena, California, and I reached my 25th year in practice earlier this month. That practice has emphasized insurance law (representing both insurers and insureds), professional liability defense (representing veterinarians), general business litigation and civil appeals. I am more of a "law-lawyer" than a "fact-lawyer," generally happier writing and arguing motions and appeals than in showing off for a jury.
For the past three and a half years, I have maintained two weblogs of my own. Declarations and Exclusions is devoted to "News and Comment on California Insurance Law, the Politics of Insurance, and Other Risky Business." My non-law-related interests are vented through a fool in the forest, where I write about books, music, art, poetry, random nonsense, and culture both high and low.
Again, I offer profuse thanks to Walter and to all at Overlawyered, and thanks in advance to Overlawyered readers. I hope to contribute at least a little something worthwhile to the ongoing conversation on law and personal responsibility over the next seven days.
New guestbloggers on deck
Over the coming holidays we’re expecting no fewer than three guestbloggers to join us, each of them an experienced blogger new to posting on this site. Drop by tomorrow to see who’s the first.
Guestbloggers welcome
The holiday season, like the summer vacation season, makes a traditional time to invite in guestbloggers to enliven the site. If you think you might enjoy posting in this space for a week, email editor – at – thisdomainname – dot – com. Those with a blogging track record, or at least a track record of published writing, get first consideration.
Guestblogger thanks, welcome, etc.
Our thanks to Peter Morin, who’s been pitching in as guestblogger over the last week to supplement Ted’s efforts. Peter’s writing can be found at his blog Wave Maker. And welcome to Chris Tozzo of KipEsquire, who joins today in the same role. I’ll be posting occasionally, but probably less often than usual.
Also, over at Point of Law, check out the contributions of guestbloggers Gail Heriot (San Diego lawprof associated with The Right Coast) and Al Adomite (Illinois Civil Justice League). In particular, Gail’s post on the contrasting liability treatment accorded to “doers” and “talkers” deserves a wide audience.
Gone for a while (but stay tuned)
I expect to be away for the next ten days or so. Aside from Ted’s contributions, one of our most popular past guestbloggers will be dropping by starting Monday to keep things interesting. Later in August, look for a second guestblogger, well known in the blogosphere but new to this site, to join us as well.