Disturbed at the growth of recent sizable rulings and requests for non-economic damages for pets (Sep. 7; Mar. 8; Nov. 21, 2003; Jul. 30, 2003), the Animal Health Institute is lobbying for liability reform that precludes such damages. (Judy Sarasohn, “Tort Watch for Animal Lovers”, Washington Post, Dec. 29).
Archive for 2005
Update: Hooters trade dress suit appeal
Hooters, dissatisfied with a district court ruling (Dec. 7, 2004) that it could not use the mechanism of trademark law to preclude competing restaurants from having tank-top-clad waitresses serve mediocre chicken wings, has appealed, and the Eleventh Circuit will hear argument on January 13; the Fulton Daily County Report has all the detail you could ever want.
What’s new at Point of Law?
If you like this site, you’ll love our sister site, Point of Law, which explores similar issues, often in greater detail than we have room for here. Recently, at Point of Law:
- Bill Sage and Jim Copland debate medical malpractice issues
- A profile of Steve Hantler, the DaimlerChrysler attorney often quoted here
- More on the Katrina litigation
- Why the success story for anesthesiologists may not be the panacea for medical malpractice it’s often sold as
- The Illinois Supreme Court strikes down an absurd $10.1 billion judgment
- And the latest on the Vioxx litigation and the Alito nomination.
And I’ve also been writing elsewhere: AEI has released my working paper on the Vioxx litigation in two parts: Part I and Part II.
Sleepwalking exonerations for rape spread to UK
Posting lull
Posting and comment-approval from me will be at best light until after the New Year as I celebrate family activities. Have a great 2006.
“Infant discovered in barn, Child Protective Services launch probe”
This just in:
Bethlehem, Judea — Authorities were today alerted by a concerned citizen who noticed a family living in a barn. Upon arrival, Family Protective Service personnel, accompanied by police, took into protective care an infant child named Jesus, who had been wrapped in strips of cloth and placed in a feeding trough by his 14-year old mother, Mary of Nazareth.
During the confrontation, a man identified as Joseph, also of Nazareth, attempted to stop the social workers…
Also being held for questioning are three foreigners who allege to be wise men from an eastern country. The INS and Homeland Security officials are seeking information about these who may be in the country illegally. A source with the INS states that they had no passports, but were in possession of gold and other possibly illegal substances…The chemical substances in their possession will be tested.
In today’s WSJ: sovereign immunity in Washington
I’ve got a “Rule of Law” column in today’s Wall Street Journal on the unique problems presented to the state of Washington by the decay of longstanding doctrines of “sovereign immunity” which have left it financially liable for many crimes committed against its citizens, specifically when perpetrated by parolees or persons under the supervision of social welfare agencies. (Walter Olson, “Lawsuit Reform in Washington”, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 24). For one such cause celebre, see Ted’s Sept. 19 post on the case of Joyce v. Washington Department of Corrections, in which the state was sued after a parolee ran a red light and killed a Tacoma woman. For more on freshman Washington AG Rob McKenna’s plans to curtail the state’s liability, see Andrew Garber, “McKenna eyes liability limits”, Seattle Times, Nov. 27. (More discussion: Jan. 4).
Also of interest to readers in Washington state: I’ll be in Seattle Friday, Jan. 6 as the luncheon speaker at the Washington Liability Reform Coalition’s annual meeting. Contact WALRC for more information about that event.
Shouldn’t have put its berm where he wanted to skid
California: “A driver who had been drinking and admitted he took a curve too fast can sue The Newhall Land and Farming Company because his car skidded off a Valencia road and hit a berm on the firm’s land, causing his sports car to overturn. … Motorist Douglas Domel of Santa Clarita also has legal action pending against the city of Santa Clarita and the manufacturer of the 2001 Dodge Viper he was driving.” (Patricia Farrell Aidem , “Court: Driver can sue developer”, L.A. Daily News, Dec. 23). For a related case, see Nov. 7, 2003 (homeowner not liable for garden-wall crash).
A good cause: SCOTUSblog Rehnquist Bobblehead auction
SCOTUSblog is sponsoring an auction of a Justice Rehnquist bobblehead for charity, the winner to donate proceeds to charity. I’m currently the lead bidder, and my donation will be split between two good causes I invite you to support also: the Benjamin Franklin High School Katrina Reconstruction Fund and the Institute for Justice. IJ’s merry band of litigators needs no introduction because of their work on Kelo, so let me talk about Franklin.
I graduated Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans in 1987. Franklin is not only one of the leading academic public schools in the country, averaging 23 National Merit Semi-Finalists a year and sending 99.5% of its graduates to college, but it is one of the few racially integrated schools in the city of New Orleans, maintaining its academic standards in the face of pressure ranging from a legislature that outlawed the teaching of evolution in the 1980s to modern-day school-board racial politics seeking to abolish magnet schools. The school was one of the few pieces of New Orleans that worked.
Unfortunately, Franklin was located on the New Orleans Lakefront, one of the lowest-lying areas of the city, and suffered $3 million in physical damage from the storm and flooding. Dedicated parents, faculty, and alumni are undertaking heroic efforts to re-open the school as a federal charter school with many of its pre-hurricane teaching staff on January 17, 2006—the tricentennial of Benjamin Franklin’s birth. Federal and state funds are expected eventually, but there is an immediate need for money to pay for faculty salaries, startup costs, and instructional materials.
The Benjamin Franklin Alumni Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has set up three funds: the Katrina Recovery Fund provides money to twenty needy families of Franklin students; the Franklin Reconstruction Fund goes to reopen the school; or one can sponsor a specific distressed family.
100% of your tax-deductible donations go directly to help families or the school, with no administrative fees. (Paypal may be charging a transfer fee, but one can mail a check directly.)
I know that I make many of my charitable donations at this time of year, and hope you consider the Franklin Alumni Association’s efforts among your other choices. Click here to donate and let them know I sent you.
Liability fears cancel Christmas display
Many Maryland towns string Christmas lights from powerlines, but the town of Lonaconing made the mistake of asking for permission, rather than forgiveness, and Alleghany Power, afraid of the legal risks of an accident if it approved the display, was forced to forbid it. Protesting citizens have erected an inflatable Grinch protesting against Verizon and the power company, but their efforts would be better directed at the litigation culture that forced these company’s decision. (JoAnna Daemmrich, “Grinch pulls plug on a cherished ritual”, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 22).