Overlawyered.com Sept. 1-Oct. 12
edi...@overlawyered.com
New since the last update:
* Check out our new design, on an upgraded Movable Type and new host;
TrackBacks are back, at least for the moment;
* Hurricane coverage: report from a reader on the scene at a N.O.
hospital (Sept. 2, 7); liability fears chill evacuation and relief
efforts (Sept. 4, 6); feds botch it (Sept. 5, 10); lawmakers move to
protect volunteers (Sept. 6, 15); better sit through harassment
training before rescuing victims (Feb. 8); did enviros' suits stall
flood-control projects? (Sept. 9, 14); lawyers seek to evade insurance
flood exclusions (Sept. 12, Oct. 6); deluge of suits begins targeting
levee-builders, realtors, offshore oil operations (Sept. 15, 17); doc
told to stop treating hurricane victims (Sept. 19)
* Gas price "gouging" (Sept. 1, 2); why we're so short of refineries
(Sept. 8)
* Ind. lawmaker withdraws bill that would ban medically assisted
reproduction for unmarried persons and tightly regulate it for married
couples (Oct. 11)
* Public agencies liable when wildlife injures people? Then there'll be
less wildlife (Oct. 7)
* Man sues online dating service after being rejected (Oct. 6)
* Oh, great: employees' instant messaging raises liability dangers for
bosses, so they're being advised to control or curtail it (Sept. 2)
* Del. high court: it shouldn't be easy for litigants to unmask
anonybloggers' identities (Oct. 7)
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HINT about finding stories: most stories mentioned have scrolled down
and off the front page of Overlawyered. Instead, they can be found via
the archives page(s), which have a new numbering scheme. Example (for
September entries):
http://www.overlawyered.com/2005/09/
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* Remember the Sony studios "ghost blurber" lawsuit? Class lawyers got
$458K, clients $5K (Sept. 11); judge says $10 million isn't enough for
class lawyers representing US West retirees (Sept. 12)
* Sensitivity in the U.K.: no "Piglet" coffee mugs or St. George pins
on the job, they might offend Muslims (Oct. 7)
* Annals of the nastygram: blogger gets one from Monsanto (Sept. 7);
city transit agencies send them to services making subway maps
available on your PDA (Sept. 29); Garrison Keillor fires one off to
makers of "Prairie Ho Companion" t-shirt (Sept. 16, 29)
* Warning: don't look up Yellow Pages listings while operating a moving
vehicle (Sept. 15)
* Regarding those seminars on sex-harassment: "I am not a puppy. Don't
try to train me" (Oct. 6)
* Tenn. AG fusses at country singer Gretchen Wilson over her Skoal can
(Sept. 14)
* Must be some mistake: Harvard School of Public Health plans award to
Errin' Erin Brockovich (Sept. 30, Oct. 6)
* UK defense chiefs fear noise of armored tanks might violate EU noise
regs (Sept. 2); EU shelves rules limiting sun exposure on the job, thus
sparing St. Pauli girl's low-cut dirndl (Sept. 14)
* New at Point of Law: the Harriet Miers nomination, my WSJ op-ed on
Katrina and insurance litigation, and much more;
* Oz high court upholds injury-ad ban (Sept. 4)
* Investor soaked on WorldCom stock sues NASDAQ (Sept. 8)
* "Who will deliver our grandchildren?" asks JAMA of cerebral-palsy
suits (Oct. 12); Aussie lawyers propose suing docs who are late for
appointments (Sept. 16); hospitals face Katrina suits (Sept. 19)
* Taxpayers on hook when parolees reoffend? Expect defensive penology
(Sept. 19)
* How to earn $7,000: deliberately act suspicious in Best Buy so they
detain you (Oct. 9)
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If you're not keeping up with Point of Law, the Manhattan Institute
website on litigation, you're missing regular commentaries from Walter
Olson, Ted Frank and others on topics including the unfolding silicosis
scandal, "tort-reform" battles, litigation statistics, corporate law,
and much more. Not to mention humor and outrage. Check it out today:
http://www.pointoflaw.com/
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* Feds to retry Miss. lawyer/judge corruption case (Sept. 18)
* Wesley Snipes exonerated on paternity charge (Oct. 8)
* A Boies cookie jar (Sept. 2)
* Orlando restauranteurs' defense to breaking a lease: building was
haunted (Sept. 9)
* Updates: Maris family, Anheuser-Busch settle (Sept. 5); Wendy's chili
finger couple plead guilty (Sept. 10); Lemelson patent interests lose
big in court (Sept. 16); Canada high court OKs tobacco recoupment (Oct.
4); custard finger-finder sues (Oct. 9); key witness in Milberg probe
pleads on unrelated charge (Oct. 10); Madison taverns sued again (Oct.
10); toddler victim of LAPD shootout (Oct. 11)
* I review a new book on criminal trials (Sept. 8); did that old-time
lawyer really use an onion-laced hanky to call forth tears on command?
(Sept. 9)
* Another data point on the McDonald's coffee urban legend (Sept. 8)
* * * * * * * Now in paperback! * * * * * * * * * *
Our editor's book The Rule of Lawyers, on mass tort litigation from
guns to asbestos to fast food, is now available in paperback with a
newly written afterword. Robert Lenzner in Forbes.com calls the book "a
truly gripping read about tort lawyers...a brilliant expose of the way
courts are being overwhelmed by mass tort actions." Order from Amazon
(cut and paste URL if necessary):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312331193/overlawyerecomam/002-0147859-7732817
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* How copyright clearance problems stultify documentaries (Oct. 10)
* Palmer & Dodge nab $100K in taxpayer funds representing multiple
killer on a supposedly pro bono basis (Sept. 19)
* Sports report: N.J. high court OKs suit by fan injured by flying foul
ball (Sept. 29); court declines to order reweighing after 11-year-old
ruled too heavy for football league (Sept. 13); no constitutional right
to play college sports (Sept. 7); Eddy Curry, the Chicago Bulls and
paternalism (Oct. 8)
* BlackBerry patent dispute: will it cut off access for U.S. users?
(Oct. 11)
* Plus: JetBlue emergency landing; first WTC bomb liability trial;
welcome radio listeners and Dutch readers; unisex bathrooms; patent
trolls; unindicted but ruined anyway; married man posed as single;
tobacco do-re-mi; backers of rival prosecutors scuffle in streets; our
furry plaintiff-friends; Blawg Review; patent law reform; more on
Hawaiian tribal recognition; suing Saudis over 9/11; implications of
silicosis-suit scandal; and more.