Overlawyered.com Aug. 1-31
edi...@overlawyered.com
New since the last update:
* Katrina coverage (Aug. 30, 31)
* Drunk driver's claim: cops should have stopped me earlier (Aug. 8)
* Gigantic Vioxx verdict illustrates what ails us (Aug. 19, 22, 23)
* Att'n station owners: sell gas to drunks, pay for their crashes (Aug.
26)
* The Overlawyered iMix: pop songs with a courtroom angle (Aug. 9)
* L.A. Times perpetrates myths of its own about those "Winnebago/Stella
Award" urban legends (Aug. 14 two items, 15, 16)
* Are big jury verdicts overpublicized? (Aug. 16 two items)
* Violent teen found only 30 percent responsible for his crimes; his
affluent parents blamed for other 70 percent (Aug. 24)
* Plaintiff in Lasik surgery case adept at magnifying his damages (Aug.
1); please, St. Luke's, don't take John O'Quinn's money (Aug. 11);
doula liability (Aug. 13); caesareans (Aug. 24); defensive medicine
files (Aug. 26); doc's rude shape-up comments to obese patient (Aug.
25, 27)
* Trial lawyers lose one: Congress pre-empts N.Y.'s bizarre car-lease
liability law (Aug. 4)
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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), such as (for August entries):
http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/2005_08.html
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* Yet more GOP trial lawyers in the Senate? Not this time for Joe
Scarborough (Aug. 21). But keep an eye on Mark Lanier (Aug. 22). And
now there's an advocacy group combining religious right and
pro-trial-lawyer themes (Aug. 18)
* Runaway car smashes into a Burger King, so naturally the restaurant
chain gets sued (Aug. 3); same company vs. heavy metal band over
"singing chickens" ad (Aug. 25)
* Calif. attorney general sues, demanding warning labels on french
fries (Aug. 29)
* The right to a high school diploma, even if it signifies nothing
about your abilities? (Aug. 20)
* No driver partitions on Greyhound buses for security? Pay $8 million,
please (Aug. 18)
* New at Point of Law: discussion on high court nominations with
Richard Epstein and Stephen Presser, lots of Vioxx verdict coverage,
Catholic abuse lawsuits and much more;
* Rescuers in Ct. town pull victim from submerged car, get sued for
their pains (Aug. 8)
* "Reverse auctions" in class actions (Aug. 2); Milberg's donations to
friendly politicos (Aug. 29)
* After acquittal on corruption charges, Miss. justice indicted on tax
charges (Aug. 7, 11, 12, 15, 17)
* The truth about "standard" coffee temperatures and liability (Aug.
12)
* Batch of reader letters on hotel showers, why not to blame jury
verdicts alone, and more (Aug. 23)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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 and
securities law, and much more. Not to mention humor and outrage. Check
it out today: http://www.pointoflaw.com/
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* Smuggled illegals suffocate in a truck, and the trailer manufacturer
gets sued (Aug. 5)
* High altitudes: wary landowners closing access to Colorado's highest
peaks (Aug. 5); Yosemite rock-climber's survivors sue after his fall
(Aug. 24)
* Is a cow a "motor vehicle"? (Aug. 12)
* Updates on Sony "ghost blurber" suit (Aug. 3); compulsory chapel for
Minn. lawyers (Aug. 4); "Eenie, meanie" airline suit (Aug. 15);
Illinois aftermarket car parts verdict (Aug. 19); Ed Fagan (Aug. 27)
* Ct.'s well-connected Koskoff law firm is the beneficiary of a nice
little fix in Hartford (Aug. 11)
* Please, Mr. Crowe, throw one at me (Aug. 15, 28)
* Welcome National Review Online readers (Aug. 26)
* Report: Military exercises good for endangered species (Aug. 17)
* Mobile Register on silicosis scandal (Aug. 7)
* Ted debates habeas corpus reform at Legal Affairs (Aug. 6)
* Dispute your lawyers' bill, and they might just refuse to give back
your passport (Aug. 29)
* * * * * * * 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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* Chicago porch collapse: let's all sue the city (Aug. 24)
* Isn't it depressing when terrorists get away because of legally
induced paralysis? (Aug. 22)
* Told you this was coming: smoke a cigarette in the wrong place, get
thrown in prison for a year (Aug. 15)
* "Fair housing" law vs. Craigslist: careful about posting that rental
(Aug. 10)
* When do sneak previews of Hollywood movies violate laws against
disclosure of inside information? (Aug. 30)
* Plus: why Granny is in a rest home; MADD's agenda shift; picking
juries by race; the amazing Lemelson; school athletic coaches; artists'
rights in the EU; religious disbelief and child custody; lawyers on
reality TV; unisex pricing in Ontario; N.J. court chills job
references; Australia eyes regulation of litigation finance biz;
tobacco settlement challenged; policy implications of cow flatulence;
one-way fee-shifting; Canadian bar's image problems; a right to water
seepage?; the preacher's cane; speechcrime in Scotland; sticking up for
thimerosal; don'ts for lawyers; PFAW vs. John Roberts; government's
role in soaring housing costs; and more.