And their many legal headaches (via Sullum, “Hit and Run”).
Author Archive
Mississippi: A guilty plea from Judge DeLaughter
A major development in the still-developing Scruggs judicial influence scandals. Coverage: Patsy Brumfield/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tom Freeland and more, guestblogger S. Todd Brown (Buffalo lawprof) at Point of Law.
Railroad not liable for goose attack
A lawyer for the conductor set upon by the angry fowl argued unsuccessfully that CSX should have detected and removed the goose nest, or at least put orange cones around it. [On Point News, Lowering the Bar]
“Plaintiff’s lawyer talks to Madoff in prison”
The mega-fraudster has turned down innumerable interview requests from others, and was not as forthcoming with prosecutors as they might have liked either, but apparently had a cordial and productive chat Tuesday with high-profile San Francisco plaintiff’s lawyer Joseph Cotchett, who pronounced the scoundrel “an absolute gentleman” and said he “answered every single question”. [Amir Efrati, WSJ Law Blog]
Crackdown in Britain on knives
It extends to wheeled pizza-cutters (via). Earlier here, here, and here.
Tweet critical of business gets woman sued for $50K
Former tenant Amanda Bonnen had just 22 followers on Twitter when she commented in a strongly negative way about Horizon Realty of Chicago. And here’s what a spokesman for Horizon is quoted as saying about its lawsuit:
We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.
[Podcasting News, Mashable] More: WSJ Law Blog, Charles @ Popehat, Volokh, Bayard/Citizen Media Law. And according to a followup in the WSJ Law Blog, Horizon has apologized for the “sue first” comment, characterizing it as tongue in cheek, and says when it filed the libel action it was already the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Bonnen.
Alexandria, Va. police chief touts sobriety checkpoint program
And of course you can guess the sequel. Update: he quits.
Toronto foodie culture, under the table
Maclean’s reports on the “thriving black market in Canada for borderline illegal, locally produced foods,” from raw dairy products through illicit cured meats available to those with “the right social network”. “You’ve got to hook up with someone who’s got a hook-up. It’s like buying drugs,” says food writer Chris Nuttall-Smith. “Illegal eggs taste amazing.” (& welcome Hit & Run readers).
“Dell Agrees to Pay $9.1 Million in Discrimination Case”
MediaBistro’s AgencySpy wonders whether the computer maker’s relatively speedy settlement had anything to do with the circumstance that “one of the plaintiffs is a former female HR administrator”.
Tales of contingent-fee tax collection
A St. Louis lawyer has won big in contingency-fee tax collection by teaming up with class action firm Korein Tillery to challenge cellphone companies’ claims not to be subject to municipal taxes on landline telephone providers. At the same time he’s been town attorney for the suburban community of University City, which now finds itself in the position (with many other Missouri municipalities) of paying its share of $65 million in proposed fees. [Paul Hampel and Margaret Gillerman, “U.City lawyer wins big in class-action case”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jul. 23]