Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Archive for September, 2009

Update on Mraz v. Chrysler

Readers might remember the Mraz case, where a driver was run over by his own truck because he failed to engage the parking brake, and a jury nevertheless awarded $55 million. (March 8 and March 21, 2007.)

The Chrysler bankruptcy threw a wrench into the appellate process. Given the number of unsecured (and secured!) creditors who were taking a haircut on what Chrysler owed them, and the weakness of the case, one would expect the claim to be extinguished. But Chrysler unilaterally (and almost certainly politically) decided not to extinguish product-liability lawsuits against it, and the Mraz case has settled for $24 million. (Amanda Bronstad, “Chrysler bankruptcy judge approves $24 million personal injury settlement”, National Law Journal, Sep. 25). Of course, the likely $8-$10 million attorneys’ fee in this case is being funded by taxpayers’ bailout money.

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There’ll always be a Cook County

Don’t miss: Abdon Pallasch of the Chicago Sun-Times takes a look “inside the beast” at how the Cook County Democratic Party “slates” its judges. Women with Irish-sounding names do best with voters:

That’s why lawyers of Jewish or other ancestry often legally adopt Irish names to run for judge here. That’s why when party leaders slate men without Irish names, such as William Haddad, who would have been the first Arab-American full-circuit judge in Cook County, the party must recruit Irish women lawyers to run as “ringers” or “stalking horses” to flood the ballot and fracture the Irish-woman vote.

There’s a Corboy & Demetrio angle, too. And the National Law Journal covers the controversy over the Cook County Clerk’s decision to accept paid lawyer advertising on her office’s website (earlier).

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September 30 roundup

  • CBS declares victory as court dismisses Dan Rather suit [LA Times, Beldar, earlier]
  • Gordon Crovitz on new Harvey Silverglate book Three Felonies a Day [WSJ]
  • Controversy continues on Long Island over D.A.’s refusal to prosecute Hofstra false-rape complainant [Greenfield, earlier]
  • Latest publicity stunt by animal-rights group is to sue KFC demanding labeling of chicken as cancer-causing under California’s Proposition 65 [San Francisco Chronicle; more on soi-disant Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine]
  • “Hertz Sues Firm That Said It Might Go Bankrupt” [Business Insider, Corporate Counsel]
  • “What would Orwell make of a nation in which mothers are investigated for looking after each other’s children?” [Jackie Kemp, Guardian via Skenazy; earlier]
  • Power behind the throne? “New Cohen Milstein Practice Group to Help State AGs Sue & Litigate” [ABA Journal]
  • London restaurant stops asking customers to sign disclaimers if they want to order hamburgers rare or medium-rare [five years ago on Overlawyered]

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Yogurt marketing class action settles

Russell Jackson on Dannon’s proposed deal to resolve class action lawsuits (see Jan. 24, 2008) over its promotion of its Activia and DanActive lines as beneficial to health:

The proposed settlement also contains “equitable relief” in the form of restrictions on advertising and labeling. Reading these so-called restrictions, I am struck by the fact that the statements challenged in these lawsuits clearly were not false. Indeed, if I were still teaching my Product Liability course, I would ask my students to study this settlement and tell me whom they trust the most to issue restrictions on speech based on the results of scientific research: lawyers (as here), judges, juries, or scientists employed by regulatory bodies.

Lawyers want $10 million plus expenses, while Dannon’s outlays will depend in part on how many consumers file claims (via Calif. Civil Justice).

P.S. Should have caught this before: Ted discussed this case yesterday at his Center for Class Action Fairness blog.

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Florida: “Former deputy sues over drinking disability”

Sarasota: “A former deputy, fired because of his problems with alcohol, is suing the Sarasota sheriff because he claims the office discriminated against him because of his alcoholism disability.” The former deputy says he doesn’t remember the sexual harassment incident at an Applebee’s that preceded his termination, but that could have been because of his “propensity to blackout.” [WTSP] [& welcome readers from Reason “Hit and Run”, where Damon Root generously credits a certain “great” site]

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