Robert Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch criticizes the trial lawyers’ association for excluding the press from its annual convention, but the tactic seems to have worked pretty well in lowering the group’s lobbying profile and deflecting serious coverage of the parade of politicians, from Nancy Pelosi to Henry Waxman to DNC chair and Virginia governor Tim Kaine, who have made the pilgrimage as speakers to pay their respects. More: AAJ’s response.
Author Archive
Claim: dealership wrongly allowed employee to steal car
…and should be held legally responsible for his shooting a cop at a 2:30 a.m. traffic stop in Brooklyn, according to a suit filed by the cop’s surviving family. [Staten Island Advance via TortsProf]
July 27 roundup
- High-profile Pennsylvania attorney John P. Karoly Jr. pleads guilty to tax evasion, faces possible prison term [Allentown Morning Call, Legal Intelligencer, Lehigh Valley Live, WFMZ, his website; earlier]
- Tennessee congressman pushes to overturn NBA age limit [Fanhouse, Sports Law Blog]
- $262 million in bankruptcy fees to date for Lehman, ultimate figure could approach $1 billion [Hartley]
- Complaint by gay altar server to Ontario Human Rights Tribunal menaces church’s autonomy [National Post via Box Turtle Bulletin]
- Lawsuit seeks shutdown of Domelights.com, private message board for Philadelphia cops that has had “racially offensive” posts and comments [CNN, Post @ Volokh] 2002 Sotomayor decision in Pappas v. Giuliani may be on point [Popehat, Kennerly]
- New Jersey organ scandal should come as little surprise given our failed policies on kidney donation [Satel, WSJ]
- Deputy D.A. arrested for drunk driving lands on her feet, hired by local DWI Resource Center [KRQE, Albuquerque]
- “San Diego Judge Denies Class Action Motions in 2007 Wildfires” [California Civil Justice]
Do bloggers infringe AP’s rights?
Scott Greenfield is feeling defiant over the news service’s theory (disputed by some others) that websites are infringing its copyright if they copy so much as a headline and link from its stories without permission. More: Windish, Morrissey, Citizen Media Law.
Things that sound like parodies but aren’t
Cincinnati Bengals to pay $250,000 in suit over season tickets
“The fans will split $50,700 with no one receiving more than $2,600 and most getting just $100. Their attorneys will get $175,000.” [Huntington, W.Va. Herald-Dispatch] More: Cincinnati Enquirer. To be fair, the main benefit of the litigation to the fans was evidently not the cash that changed hands, but the stipulation that they were not obliged to buy further tickets they said they had never agreed to buy.
“Denny’s Sued Over Salt Content in Food”
Denny’s as “Public Health Enemy No. 1”, over-salty food as “silent killer” — yes, they really do talk that way at the uber-nannyish (and litigious) Center for Science in the Public Interest [AOL Slashfood, Consumer Law and Policy, Greg Conko/CEI “Open Market”]
Prisoner suits in the U.K.
The Labor government plans a crackdown on “trivial” inmate suits, with Justice minister Jack Straw citing “imaginative” lawyers as a source of problems. Controversial cases have included a £1 million compensation bill to prisoners forced to go cold turkey on narcotics withdrawal instead of being given a heroin substitute, and “one in which a prisoner won a legal battle to have his haircuts paid for by the state while on day release”. [Times Online]
Nancy Pelosi to address trial lawyers convention
She’ll be opening the AAJ annual convention tonight in San Francisco. Charles Krauthammer thinks the coziness between Big Law and certain parts of the political establishment may explain a lot about the faltering status of health care reform.
More: “Media Barred from Speaker Pelosi’s Speech to Trial Lawyers“. And John Steele Gordon at Commentary “Contentions” offers some ideas for health care reform that were probably not included in Pelosi’s speech.
“The only reason I gave you anything was because of you.”
“I didn’t like the case…” A Louisiana judge finds herself in trouble (via Judges on Merit and Dan Pero, who draw somewhat different lessons). More: affidavit by former judge central to FBI probe says he didn’t consider attempt at improper influence to be a success.