L.A. Times runs with the first part of a three-part series investigating the court system in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the quality of justice obtained seems to have a lot to do with whether lawyers have forked over campaign donations to the judge who hears their cases, where judges can do all sorts of things with their campaign funds that they’d be barred from doing in other states, and where undisclosed conflicts are rife. Names lots of names, too (Michael J. Goodman and William C. Rempel, , “In Las Vegas, They’re Playing With a Stacked Judicial Deck”, Jun. 8). More: Part II is here and Part III is here.
Archive for June, 2006
Boing Boing gets a nastygram
UK: Holed-up perp had right to fried chicken
Gloucester, England:
A suspected car thief who bombarded police with bricks and tiles during a rooftop siege was given a Kentucky Fried Chicken takeaway meal by officers to ensure his “well-being and human rights”….
A spokesman for Gloucester police said: “He has been demanding various things and one was a KFC bargain bucket. Although he’s a nuisance, we still have to look after his well-being and human rights. He’s also been given cigarettes.”
(Richard Savill, “KFC meal ‘ensures siege man’s rights'”, Daily Telegraph, Jun. 7).
Google rankings lawsuits
Another one has been filed, but in this case voluntarily dismissed, says Eric Goldman (Jun. 5).
Rock, paper, scissors
A federal judge has ordered lawyers to use a round of the game to resolve a squabble over the location of a deposition (Roger Parloff, “Judge orders lawyers to play game”, Fortune, Jun. 7; Carton, Jun. 7). As Eugene Volokh points out (Jun. 7), there are many legal disputes and issues which can be resolved through a random mechanism without shocking the conscience. For one that went too far, however, see our May 1, 2000 post on a Louisville, Ky. jury that reportedly flipped a coin to convict a man of murder.
Bounteous bankruptcies: Delta, Enron, cont’d
Peter Lattman (Jun. 6) notes a judge’s approval of $10.5 million in legal fees for 4 1/2 months’ work in the Delta Air Lines bankruptcy (see Apr. 1). “According to the AP, the overall fees and expenses for all advisors (lawyers, bankers, consultants) working on the case could reach $205.9 million if the bills continue at the same rate until Delta exits bankruptcy, which it expects to do by next summer.”
Also, back on Mar. 28, Tom Kirkendall noted the trimming of a fee request in the Enron bankruptcy (see Jul. 23, 2004).
More: Carolyn Elefant writes, “It’s cases like these, where the client is captive and using other people’s money, i.e., its creditors’, that drive rates up and perpetuate the billable hour….Why is a firm charging $420 an hour for kids just out of law school?” (Jun. 7).
Mediocre pizza: “Don’t be a victim”
This ad campaign from the Donato’s Pizza chain spoofs lowbrow law-firm TV advertising.
“Driver sues families of crash victims”
Vermont: “The driver in a [one-car] fatal accident in Westmore two years ago has sued the families of the two [passenger] victims of the crash. Charles Meyer and his mother Julie Jensen, who had a summer home in the area, said they have been the subject of critical public sentiment and claim that the two other teenagers were partly responsible for their deaths.” The legal action appears to be in the nature of a counterclaim before the fact against the families, who are expected to sue Meyer over his role as driver and Jensen for having entrusted the car to the youths. “Meyer, 14, was driving without a license.” (AP/Boston Globe, May 28; Sam Hemingway, “Westmore double-fatal takes another odd turn”, Burlington Free Press, May 28).
Student’s death a mystery; family to sue college
The death in March of John Fiocco, Jr., at the College of New Jersey remains shrouded in mystery. He was last seen drunk in a dormitory at 3 a.m.; a month later his remains were found in a landfill among trash brought from dumpsters at the college. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, police “have said they do not know whether alcohol played a role in Fiocco’s death, or whether there was foul play.” Nonetheless, Fiocco’s family, represented by attorney Glenn A. Zeitz of Haddonfield, N.J., is planning to sue the college for more than $5 million, arguing that it should have hired more security, done more to enforce underage drinking laws, and kept students away from the trash system. (Jan Hefler, “Family to sue college over son’s death”, Jun. 6).
Lawyers’ ads, scaring patients
The reformist website Sick Of Lawsuits points out an unpleasant side-effect of the typical lawyers’ ad campaign seeking to drum up lawsuits over side effects of prescription drugs, namely that it may cause patients to go off medications that are a good bet for them:
“* Twenty-five percent of patients said they would immediately stop taking a prescribed drug if they saw an ad for a lawsuit involving that drug. (Pharmaceutical Liability Survey, Harris Interactive, July 15, 2003)
“* Nine mental health patients in South Mississippi stopped taking their prescribed medications after seeing personal injury lawyer advertising regarding Zyprexa and Risperdal – drugs used to treat patients with schizophrenia and bipolar mania. ‘People see these ads and they think that they’re bad for them, so they quit taking them,’ said Teri Breister, executive director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Mississippi. ‘But these patients’ lives have come apart again. Every time they stop taking their medications, the episodes become worse.’ (‘Tort Advertisements Worry Some Health Advocates,’ Biloxi Sun Herald, March 21, 2004)”
More: Prof. Childs.