I have a short op-ed in Washingtonpost.com on the eat-one’s-cake-and-have-it-too trend in civil litigation to attempt to undo contracts after the fact. (cross-posted at Point of Law)
Archive for September, 2006
But where are the customers’ Lamborghinis?
Houston plaintiff’s lawyer John O’Quinn, famed for his huge fee hauls in asbestos, tobacco and silicone breast implant cases, was the winning bidder at $500,000 at a Labor Day auction of a Lamborghini race car signed by celebrities. O’Quinn “also spent $335,000 on a Batmobile used in the film ‘Batman Forever.’ His other purchases at the auction included $250,000 for a 1938 Cadillac Town Car used by Pope Pius XII and $290,000 for a 1941 Packard limousine used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.” (AP/Houston Chronicle, Sept. 5; Houstonist, Sept. 5)(title allusion).
Speak freely, until Friday
“As of Friday, when the 60-day blackout period for ‘electioneering communications’ by nonprofit interest groups begins, political speech will enjoy less protection than dirty movies. While a sexually explicit film is protected by the First Amendment if it has some socially redeeming value, an ‘electioneering communication’ is forbidden even if it deals with important and timely public policy issues.” (Jacob Sullum, syndicated/Reason.com, Sept. 6).
A dose of reality
September 1 UPI interview with William Plested III, president of the American Medical Association (via Kevin MD):
Q: Ken Suggs, head of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, recently told UPI that doctors and lawyers should stop fighting each other and unite against the medical malpractice insurance companies who keep hiking insurance premiums to push their profits higher. How would you respond?
A: Do you have any idea what happened with medical malpractice insurance? It’s almost totally in the hands of doctor-owned companies; doctors who put together their finances to get a company to give them insurance, because the for-profit insurers all ran. There is no profit in this; (the insurers) left it. And people who are not out to make a profit, they’re just out to protect doctors (via) their own insurance companies, they’re the one who are left.
Violence toward Barney, cont’d
For years lawyers representing the owners of the children’s-show character Barney have been firing off cease-and-desist letters to parodists who’ve portrayed various forms of violence being visited on the purple dinosaur (see, for example, Jun. 25, 2001). Now one such exchange has escalated, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued Lyons Partnership, owner of Barney rights, seeking a court’s declaration that Stuart Frankel is not committing infringement by publishing a Barney parody site. (Robert Ambrogi, Legal Blog Watch, Aug. 24). Update Nov. 30: Lyons backs off.
Bloomberg’s gun lawsuits
They’re “beginning to look like a fiasco”, opines David Hardy (Aug. 31):
A second dealer has filed a counter-suit in his home state, a NY dealer they charged with criminal offenses had to be let off with disorderly conduct (in most states, about a minor a misdemeanor as they have), they seized guns from that dealer but had to return them, the city has settled with two on terms that have them audited by a special master (whom the city has to pay)… oh, and a third dealer now says he’s going to sue.
More details: Bradley Hope, “Gun Dealer Hits Bloomberg on Sting Operation”, New York Sun, Aug. 31.
Great moments in diversity training
“In a strange twist to Britain’s newest terrorism scare, a regional police force admitted Monday that it had sent officers for ‘diversity training’ to an Islamic school that the police searched Sunday as part of a crackdown on jihadist recruiters and trainers. In a statement, the Sussex police said the Jameah Islameah school south of London ‘has been used by officers and staff undergoing advanced training for their role as diversity trainers to the rest of the work force.'” (Alan Cowell, “British School, Searched in Inquiry, Was Used to Train Police”, New York Times, Sept. 5).
CNBC “Morning Call” today
I’m scheduled to be a guest this morning at 11:45 Eastern Time on CNBC’s “Morning Call“, discussing the possibilities that employers will get sued over their employees’ “BlackBerry addiction“. I’ll be arguing that such suits are unlikely to get anywhere if filed.
ACS Panel on Habeas
I’m not convinced it was the most edifying panel on habeas corpus ever, but if you prefer to watch me on video than read me on the subject, the American Constitution Society has streaming video of the June panel “Limiting the Great Writ: Restrictions on Habeas Corpus.”
“Juror took loans from plaintiff in Texas Vioxx case”
Merck wants Leonel Garza’s $13 million verdict reviewed. (AP/Boston Globe, Sept. 1). For other doubts about the case, see Ted’s post of Apr. 23 and Point of Law coverage here.