- Company that advances money to claimants against New York City also donates generously to New York politicos [Shawn Cohen, Julia Marsh, Rich Calder and Bruce Golding, New York Post and followup (“LawCash execs showering Schneiderman with campaign contributions”), as well as editorial and followup]
- Jesner v. Arab Bank (whether corporations are exposed to liability under Alien Tort Statute) argued at Supreme Court [John Bellinger and Andy Wang, Lawfare; Anthony J. Bellia and Bradford R. Clark, Lawfare; Just Security symposium; Federalist Society teleforum with William Casto and Samuel Estreicher]
- For defendants in pending patent litigation, T.C. Heartland decision on patent venue may not offer a get-out-of-Texas card [Jeffri A. Kaminski, WLF]
- Top ten class action related developments of 2017 [Paul Karlsgodt; plus Andrew Trask on the class action issues of ascertainability and Spokeo standing in 2017]. And Jim Beck offers a defense perspective on most and least helpful court decisions of the year for pharmaceutical and medical device makers;
- Missed this from 2014: how tort law creates pressures (before any dispute arises) to intrude on privacy [Eugene Volokh, Columbia Law Review]
- “Alabama SC: Settlement schedule violates due process rights, class members deserve more information” [Jessica Karmasek, Legal NewsLine; MedPartners securities action]
Archive for January, 2018
Court rejects claim of liability for lobbying
A Florida appeals court has rejected a car-crash victim’s lawsuit against a retailer for allegedly lobbying county lawmakers for bad roadway design [Eugene Volokh]
Insurer owes $200,000 after drunken game of “chicken”
The insurance policy had excluded coverage for injuries arising from “illegal use of alcohol,” but a Sixth Circuit panel ruled that since the 22-year-old’s actual consumption of the alcohol hadn’t been unlawful — though his decision to operate a dirt bike while intoxicated afterward was — the exclusion did not apply. Back to the drawing board on contract language for the insurer [John Agar, MLive; Lowell, Mich.]
Trump’s first clemency
Under the circumstances, eight years (as opposed to 27) was long enough for Sholom Rubashkin to serve behind bars for bank fraud and other financial misconduct, especially since by interfering in his bankruptcy proceedings the U.S. government had itself driven up the cost of his actions to creditors, thus pushing him into a higher sentencing range. There were other irregularities in his trial as well. But let’s hope that President Trump extends clemency to other equally deserving inmates who lack the money and influence to call forward a campaign on their behalf [Mark Joseph Stern, Slate] More: Des Moines Register, WLF, NBC.
Best of Overlawyered — July 2017
- “$600,000 award for not accommodating employee’s ‘Mark of the Beast’ beliefs“;
- “Teen steals machete and kills her Uber driver,” resulting lawsuit seeks damages from Walmart;
- “Maine tried to raise its minimum wage. Restaurant workers didn’t want it.”
- Delaware man spends $40,000 in legal battle with neighbors defending his right to build a garage;
- Court rejects Orange County, Calif. police union’s argument that smashing merchant’s surveillance cameras should give cops “reasonable expectation of privacy” thus ruling out admission of videotape of their misconduct in store afterward;
- “To: brandenforcements@… Mr. Forcements — may I call you Branden?”
- Hearsay? “Parrot said to have repeated ‘don’t (expletive) shoot’ in murder victim’s voice; wife convicted”;
- “Sangria served to kids by mistake and someone must pay” despite lack of any reported ill effects
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The Claire’s asbestos scare
How a plaintiff’s expert consultant, working with others associated with the litigation biz, helped touch off a cosmetics panic. “Jewelry store Claire’s said [Jan. 4] that lab results certified its products as asbestos-free, following allegations of the toxic substance in its products last month.” [Lauren Hirsch, CNBC]
Banking and finance roundup
- Big news: U.S. Department of Justice changes sides in Lucia v. SEC, challenge to constitutionality of SEC use of administrative law judges [Thaya Brook Knight, Cato; Knight and Ilya Shapiro in August; Kevin Daley, Daily Caller]
- Cyan v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, oral argument Nov. 28: SCOTUS considers limits on securities class actions in state courts [Washington Legal Foundation]
- GAO: 2013 financial-agency guidance on leveraged lending was in effect a rulemaking, but wasn’t submitted to Congress as required. Time for review [Michelle Price, Davide Scigliuzzo, Reuters]
- Missed, from last March: shareholder class action lawyers suing Sprint sought to charge for 6,905 hours of work by (as it turned out) disbarred attorney [Joe Palazzolo and Sara Randazzo, WSJ; Doug Austin, eDiscovery Daily Blog]
- Joseph Stiglitz would like to outlaw Bitcoin [Jim Epstein, Reason]
- Bad idea watch: “Chicago Council Considers Banning Cashless Stores” [Charles Blain, Market Urbanism Report]
Attorney rebuffs Trump’s Fire and Fury cease-and-desist
Recommended: Attorney Elizabeth McNamara of Davis Wright Tremaine, a law firm known for its media defense practice, wrote this three-page letter on behalf of publisher Henry Holt and author Michael Wolff responding to Donald Trump’s letter demanding that it not publish Wolff’s book Fire and Fury (“My clients do not intend to cease publication, no such retraction will occur, and no apology is warranted.”). How strong are the President’s claims based on contractual non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses? David Post has a few things to say about that [Volokh Conspiracy] As for Mr. Trump’s possible defamation claims, American courts will not ordinarily enjoin a defamatory publication unless the fact of defamation has been proven at trial, so any remedy he may have will need to be after-the-fact in any case. “The suggestion that Donald Trump would actually follow through on this latest of his many legal threats, much less win…. is the hootworthy part.” [Lowering the Bar]
Addressing a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the President once again called for changing libel laws to make it easier for plaintiffs to win, although libel is a matter of state rather than federal law [Gregory Korte and David Jackson, USA Today] Irony watch, from last month: “Trump’s statements ‘too vague, subjective, and lacking in precise meaning’ to be libelous,” in suit by political strategist who was the target of future President’s tweets in February 2016 [Eugene Volokh] “Trump has been filing and threatening lawsuits to shut up critics and adversaries over the whole course of his career,” I noted in this space last year. “Mr. Trump’s supporters should also keep in mind that one day they too will want to criticize a public official without being punished for doing so.” [John Samples, Cato]
January 10 roundup
- Supreme Court takes Maryland gerrymander case to go with the Wisconsin one, Gill v. Whitford, on which it’s already heard oral argument [Benisek v. Lamone] I joined Andrew Langer on WBAL Baltimore’s C4 show to discuss the development [listen] More: Linda Greenhouse, NYT and generally;
- Self-recommending: Kevin Underhill at Lowering the Bar is out with his top posts of 2017 and they include “Guy Who Got a C on Constitutional-Amendment Paper Gets Constitution Amended,” “Judge Rejects Man’s Claim to Be ‘Some Sort of Agricultural Product‘,” and “It Is Not Illegal to Drive With an Axe Embedded in the Roof of Your Car”;
- Guess who’s supporting “CPSIA for cosmetics” bill, the same way the largest toymakers supported the original CPSIA fiasco? Right [@GabrielRossman on Twitter; earlier on “Personal Care Products Safety Act” and its predecessors]
- Good. Now eliminate it entirely. HUD suspends until 2020 Obama-era “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) program [Emily Badger and John Eligon/New York Times, earlier]
- New conspiracy-minded attack on foodmakers’ use of sugar is led by Stanton Glantz. Yes, that Stanton Glantz [Allison Aubrey/NPR, Vaping Post April, our earlier coverage]
- “Five Below, Trendy Retailer, Sues 10 Below, Ice Cream Seller, For Trademark Infringement” [Timothy Geigner, Techdirt]
Virginia Postrel (and Catherine Deneuve) on harassment law
As workplace expectations change in response to the #MeToo scandal, there is no point in hoping that some new set of norms will emerge that avoids exclusionary “you don’t belong” signals to some workplace participants: “Whatever new norms emerge will also exclude people, and not all of those cast out will be bullies, predators, or, for that matter, men. All norms draw lines. Norms that police speech and attitudes, as opposed to physical actions, are particularly likely to snare violators whose deviance is unconscious or benign.” [Bloomberg View]
Meanwhile, in France: “The letter [from revered actress Catherine Deneuve and ‘around 100 French women writers, performers and academics’] attacked feminist social media campaigns like #MeToo and its French equivalent #Balancetonporc (Call out your pig) for unleashing this ‘puritanical… wave of purification’.” [AFP; France Culture interview with Sarah Chiche (in French); Le Monde open letter reprint (in French)]