- Criminal charges dropped against Oregon 13-year-olds over fanny-swatting in school corridors [CBSNews.com, Malkin, KGW.com and AP; earlier]
- Elasticity of “medical error” concept: Medicare will stop paying hospitals for treatment of “reasonably preventable” injuries that happen in hospitals, such as patient falls — we all know those are preventable given enough duct tape [NCPA, Right Side of the Rainbow; and before assuming that bed sores invariably result from negligent care, read this](more: Turkewitz)
- Yale University Press beats back libel suit in California court by Muslim charity over allegations in book scrutinizing terrorist group Hamas [Zincavage]
- Law firms, including Philadelphia’s senatorially connected Kline & Specter, already advertising for clients following Mattel toy recall [Childs]
- First class action against RIAA over its scattershot anticopying suit campaign [P2PNet]
- Four Oklahoma inmates claim copyright to their own names, demand millions from warden for using those names without permission, then things really start getting wild [UK Telegraph and TechDirt via Coleman]
- UCLA’s Lynn LoPucki, scourge of corporate bankruptcy bar, has another study out documenting soaring fees [WSJ Law Blog]
- Man who knifed school headmaster to death is expected to win right to remain in Britain on grounds deporting him would violate his human rights [Telegraph]
- Among targets of zero tolerance bans: jingle of ice cream trucks in NYC, screaming on Sacramento rollercoasters [ABCNews.com]
- Does California antidiscrimination law require doctors to provide artificial insemination to lesbian client against religious scruples? [The Recorder]
- Alabama tobacco farmers got $500,000 from national tobacco settlement, though fewer than 300 acres of tobacco are grown in Alabama [five years ago on Overlawyered]
Posts Tagged ‘United Kingdom’
Criticizing Saudi financiers
Whether or not you reside in the U.K., the range of reading material available to you regarding the tangled banking relationships of the Middle East is being shaped and constrained by the London libel courts. (Gary Shapiro, “Libel Suit Leads to Destruction of Books”, New York Sun, Aug. 2; Mark Steyn, “The vanishing jihad exposés”, syndicated/Orange County Register, Aug. 5; earlier here and here).
Scottish smoking violation
It’s a bit of humor (via Stuttaford).
P.S. And a bit of medical humor too. Enjoy the July 4 holiday and see you on Thursday.
Stop using the word “accident”?
Revising terminology with the goal of revising attitudes?
The word ‘accident’ is to be banned from the new edition of Britain’s Highway Code, which is published by the UK Department of Transport. Instead the words ‘collision’, ‘crash’ or ‘incident’ will be used to describe events that once were known as accidents.
This adoption of new terms for everyday events does not only have linguistic significance. The banning of the A-word is a consequence of a broader cultural outlook which insists that nothing happens accidentally these days and that there is always someone to blame. …
In June 2001, the prestigious British Medical Journal signed up to the crusade, explaining in an editorial why it had decided to ban the word accident from its pages. ‘[S]ince most injuries and precipitating events are predictable and preventable’, the word accident should not be used to refer to ‘injuries or the events that produce them’.
(Frank Furedi, “The crusade against the A-word”, Spiked-Online (U.K.), May 15)
Welcome BBC listeners
I was a guest this hour on the BBC Radio 4 evening program “PM” with Eddie Mair, discussing the Roy Pearson lost-pants case. While most of our items on this site inevitably come from the USA, note that we have a section devoted to items from the UK as well.
U.K.: Clown told to stop blowing bubbles
Sheffield, U.K.: “Tony Turner, also known as Barney Baloney, will now stick to clowning and juggling after being refused insurance by several companies which feared youngsters might slip on the bubbles’ residue.” (Paul Stokes, “Safety mania bursts clown’s bubbles”, Daily Telegraph, Jun. 15). Earlier on clown liability, also from the U.K.: Apr. 9, 2001.
Welcome TimesOnline readers
And thanks to the TimesOnline for naming us one of the top three business legal blogs worldwide as part of its list of the top fifty business blogs. Here’s a link to our coverage of UK issues, or read Walter’s posts about Walter Olson’s Times (UK) columns.
U.K.: Recliner training?
Resting the wrong way in the U.K. Midlands:
…the men and women of the Greater Manchester fire service have been told they can only rest in prescribed reclining chairs – and only after they have been trained to use them.
Now, however, three experienced firemen are facing disciplinary action over “involvement in the use of unauthorised rest facilities”. …
Many fire stations have already been transformed by health and safety rules with the disappearance of the traditional fireman’s pole, deemed too dangerous to use.
(James Tozer, “Firemen feel the heat from health and safety for sleeping on the floor”, Daily Mail, Jun. 1).
Non-KFC “Family Feast” still OK
U.K.: Fast-food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken has backed off its attempt to browbeat the proprietress of the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire into no longer billing her traditional Christmas dinner as a “Family Feast”. In a letter from its lawyers, Freshfields, KFC had claimed trademark ownership of the phrase. (Will Pavia, “Fast food giant is licked in battle with pub”, Times Online, May 11; Weigel, Reason “Hit and Run”, May 10).
Basset hound ban?
“Dog breeders have warned that some of Britain’s best-loved breeds including dachshunds, bulldogs and basset hounds could disappear because of new and potentially far-reaching government animal-welfare measures.” Animal welfare groups have campaigned against the breeding of pedigreed animals, saying the pursuit of distinctive characteristics such as head size in bulldogs often comes at the expense of the animal’s health. A controversial Europe-wide treaty on animal breeding would translate the idea into law. “Dog breeders fear that the treaty’s terms are so broad that it would effectively forbid the breeding of distinctive types of dog because their defining characteristics could be seen as risking their welfare. According to the Scottish Kennel Club, ratifying the treaty would mean that anywhere between 30 and 40 breeds would effectively be outlawed.” The director of Edinburgh-based Advocates for Animals calls the argument “scaremongering nonsense”. (James Kirkup, “Euro rules ‘could outlaw 40 dog breeds'”, The Scotsman, Apr. 30).