Archive for April, 2010
“A year of Lowering the Bar”
Kevin Underhill, whose Lowering the Bar is a perennial on our blogroll, has published an annual tidbits roundup (PDF) in the yearly almanac of The Green Bag, itself a publication that should be checked out by anyone interested in humor and skillful writing about law and the legal profession.
“Labor Law Reduces Employees’ Freedoms Too”
Coyote on the internship crackdown. More: Hyman.
April 8 roundup
- “Litigation nightmare” seen in Unvarnished, site that allows Yelp-like review of people’s reputations [L.A. Times, Balasubramani] Arkadelphia, Ark.: “16-year-old boy accuses mother of Facebook slander” [AP]
- Inadvertent rape? At Duke, “perceived power differentials” might negate consent [Popehat, Joanne Jacobs]
- New CPSC leadership signals policy of greatly stepped-up fines for CPSIA violators [Northup, Rick Woldenberg/Amend the CPSIA ($2 million Daiso fine) and more]
- “PI Lawyer Pleads in $2.2M Client Theft, Will Get Between 3 and 9 Years” [ABA Journal, NY Daily News, earlier; Marc Bernstein of Bernstein & Bernstein, NYC]
- Let’s say landlords who knowingly rent to accused criminals or released convicts can get sued for negligence in case of repeat offense. Then where do we propose that accused criminals and released convicts live? [Volokh]
- Some theories on lawyer unpopularity [DeVoy, Legal Satyricon]
- Privacy class action over ill-advised Facebook “Beacon” venture settles for… for what, exactly? [Popehat]
- Wisconsin D.A. to teachers: if you obey state’s new sex-ed law, I’ll prosecute you [Radley Balko, Reason “Hit and Run”] More: Volokh.
The politics of Toyota-bashing
Revealing vignette from AP coverage last month:
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero has been pushing [Michigan Attorney General Mike] Cox to aggressively go after the Japanese automaker, saying in a statement last week that Cox should file a claim on behalf of all owners of Toyota vehicles in Michigan and seek to recover damages under state and federal consumer protection laws.
“If Mike Cox won’t stand up for Michigan consumers and hold Toyota accountable for these reprehensible actions, he isn’t doing his job,” Bernero said. The Lansing mayor heads the Mayors and Municipalities Automotive Coalition, an advocacy group for communities that depend on the domestic auto industry.
Billboards that attract clients?
Photo of the day: flipped car lying alongside “car accident pain” 1-800 billboard after accident. The driver’s injuries are not considered life-threatening. [WTSP Tampa]
[Reworded 12:30 after commenter E. Bell pointed out that the 1-800 line in question disclaims being a lawyer referral service]
P.S. From commenter Eric T.: “Theory of suit: Driver was distracted by billboard and sues advertiser.”
Test case on NFL liability for players’ dementia
In addition to the main questions of proof of causation, assumption of risk, and so on raised in yesterday’s NYT story, there is this window into a little-known but well-developed area of forum-shopping:
…California’s workers’ compensation system provides a unique, and relatively unknown, haven for retired professional athletes among the 50 states, allowing hundreds of long-retired veterans each year to file claims for injuries sustained decades before. Players need not have played for California teams or be residents of the state; they had to participate in just one game in the state to be eligible to receive lifetime medical care for their injuries from the teams and their insurance carriers.
About 700 former N.F.L. players are pursuing cases in California, according to state records, with most of them in line to receive routine lump-sum settlements of about $100,000 to $200,000. This virtual assembly line has until now focused on orthopedic injuries, with torn shoulders and ravaged knees obvious casualties of the players’ former workplace. …
Because of the legal environment, the relatively new Arena Football League has avoided locating any of its teams in California.
P.S. Related Times piece on two California lawyers who have brought in “awards that probably total more than $100 million” for players. “Many retired players consider Owens and Mix heroes among their own for essentially finding cash under a mattress; others see an assembly-line process in which players do not fully understand the implications of the settlements.” And some teams have attempted to remove the proceedings to states other than California.
81 year old mother sues for child support payments from 60 years ago
There’s no statute of limitations on child support, and Rosemary Douglas says she’s still owed the money for the birth of a son during the Truman Administration. [Houston Chronicle]
Correction/update: Commenter Patrick points out that this is an enforcement-of-judgment matter rather than a suit, and offers a reading of Texas law likely to be of interest to the alleged dad in the case.
Update: judge tosses anti-vaccinationist’s libel suit
Respectful Insolence, last month:
Well, that didn’t take long.
Remember when the grande dame of the anti-vaccine movement, Barbara Loe Fisher, decided that she would try to harass, intimidate, and silence Paul Offit through the filing of a frivolous libel suit against Dr. Offit, Amy Wallace (the journalist who interviewed Offit for an excellent article last year), and Condé Nast, the publisher of WIRED, which ran the article? Well, the judge has ruled, and that ruling is…dismissed.
Law firm ad: “The California Switchblade”
“You don’t need to worry about nothin’, baby — I’ll cut up the competition”. [via “Five Ridiculous Lawyer Ads”, CriminalJustice.Change.org]