The popular eatery, which has been spotlighted by the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”, is famous for being cramped, as its name implies. So here comes the inevitable wheelchair-access suit by a plaintiff represented by serial Northern California ADA-suit filer Jason Singleton. [California Civil Justice, Popehat; restaurant site] More on Singleton’s activities: North Coast Journal cover story, 2001, and May 2008 coverage. Update: restaurant now planning to move.
Archive for July, 2009
More on the “national building code”
Waxman-Markey’s Easter eggs (earlier).
CPSIA, kids’ resale and the Times, cont’d
The New York Times, which to the amazement of many has printed scarcely a word about the catastrophic effects of the law it still defends, now runs a Fashion & Style story applauding what it identifies as a trend among affluent urban parents toward buying used products for their kids rather than always insisting on new (Sarah Wildman, “For Firstborns, Secondhand Fits the Bill“). But it never mentions the reason why those parents will find the selection of kids’ goods around the nation’s thrift shops to be much, much sparser than it was a year ago.
Even as it spots this supposed trend, the paper does not quote anyone who works in an actual secondhand business; it does mention picking up used stuff free from “friends’ garages” and buying on Craigslist, where it’s easy to find sellers who don’t know (or at least claim not to know) that the law covers them too. You have to wonder what’s going on with the editors at this newspaper. Are they under some sort of orders not to mention CPSIA and its effects? Or do they just not know any better? (More: ShopFloor).
Foreclosure defense: “The Middle Class Advocate”
Here’s his public presentation. Here’s another side of the story.
Are you seeing a July 5 version of our front page?
This happened back in January last time we upgraded WordPress, and I’m afraid it’s happened again: some users of Internet Explorer and Safari are reporting that the front page of the site is stuck for them in its July 5 form, as of just before the update. I think I’ve fixed the problem now by restoring the missing cache file, but you may need to do a forced refresh (SHIFT button while clicking “reload”) to see the results.
If you’ve tried SHIFT + reload and still get the July 5 version, let me know via email (editor – at – thisdomainname.com) or post a comment.
Hosting Blawg Review #220 on Monday
Next Monday, July 13, Overlawyered will once again play host to the weekly traveling roundup of interesting posts from around the legal blogosphere, Blawg Review.
If you’d like to nominate a blog post for inclusion, follow the convenient guidelines at Blawg Review or Twitter it to @walterolson or @overlawyered. You’ll need to get it in by Saturday night for consideration, but it helps me greatly if you send it sooner than that.
You can learn more about Blawg Review here. Last week’s Blawg Review #219 was at Cathy Gellis’s Statements of Interest, and you can check out other recent editions #218 at Adrian Dayton’s Marketing Strategy and the Law, #217 at Thomas Colson’s Securing Innovation, #216 at John Bolch’s Family Lore, #215 at Carolyn Elefant’s MyShingle, and #214 at CharonQC. Overlawyered hosted the review once before: that was #33 back in November 2005.
“Litigation as feud”
The amount of money at stake is not always a good predictor of the lengths to which parties will go to make the other side unhappy [Dave Hoffman, Concurring Opinions]
Florida and zero tolerance
Florida governor Charles Crist has signed SB 1540, a bill that “requires school boards to revisit their zero-tolerance policies” and is aimed at [Tallahassee Democrat:]
reducing the number of juveniles who are needlessly thrust into the system because of minor infractions — most commonly, petty disobedience.
Consider cases from several headlines: In March, a Lakeland boy was suspended from school for intentionally passing gas on a school bus. In Hernando County, an 11-year-old girl was suspended for bringing a plastic butter knife to school. A student in Brandon was suspended because a calculator he brought to school was equipped with a “knife-like object.”
Ken at Popehat has more discussion, and links to our zero-tolerance archive.
“Music Labels Reach Royalty Deal With Online Stations”
“Internet radio, once on its death bed, may survive after all.” [NYTimes]
Companies vs. their fans: Pez sues Pez museum
The famous maker of candies and candy-dispensers is suing the owners of the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Northern California, claiming that its venture into Pez homage, which includes a Guinness-record largest replica of a Pez dispenser, infringe the firm’s trademarks and “deceive the public into thinking that the museum is operating under the authority of Pez.” [San Mateo County Times via Doctor Popular/Laughing Squid and BoingBoing] On Pez’s jealousy of its name, see this 1999 post; more on fans-as-infringers here.
More: Ron Coleman is being disrespectful (“You can’t handle a real Pez museum”); Brian Baxter, AmLaw Daily.