For those who care (Mike Riggs, Reason “Hit and Run”, Jul. 23, cybersquatting suit filed by the celebrity gossip blogger; The Smoking Gun, Jul. 15, Popehat, Jul. 16, suit filed against Hilton by woman whose nasty email he printed, causing her to lose her job since it was traceable to her work account).
Author Archive
July 25 roundup
- If you’re claiming benefits for “total and permanent” disability it’s probably best not to enter bodybuilding competitions [Boston Globe and more, firefighter Albert Arroyo] More: GruntDoc;
- From 1884 Montreal: actionable to snub a parishioner while taking collection in church? [Volokh]
- Follow the bouncing venue in lawsuits against Rick Frenkel and Cisco over Patent Troll Tracker blog [Texas Lawyer “Tex Parte” blog]
- Individual liberty was one reason Bill Gates was free to earn his billions, too bad he’s not doing more to advance it with his philanthropy [NYTimes, Bloomberg and “tobacco control”]
- Andrew Giuliani, son of the mayor, is suing Duke University for kicking him off its golf team [Newsday, Henican] More: complaint at Popehat;
- New at Point of Law: AAJ, formerly ATLA, has its convention in Philadelphia (more); bogeyman of supposedly ultraconservative Roberts Court; why must “trophy” federal courthouses have such soulless and uncomfortable design?; Congress gunning for arbitration; too bad NYT’s enthusiasm for transparent public contracting on corporate monitors doesn’t carry over to other lawyer-hiring; the Delaware advantage in court organization; as we keep asking, what happened to Ron Motley’s yacht? and much more;
- Dr. Anna Pou, New Orleans cancer surgeon whose prosecution after Katrina roused intense controversy, recounts her experience [AP via Folo]
- “Unreal world of greed”: California appeals court throws out $88 million fee-arbitration award to Milberg Weiss and other firms following challenge to “smog impact fees” [six years ago on Overlawyered]
Yet more Edwards campaign-cash laundering
Big-league Arkansas trial lawyer Tab Turner did it, and was fined $9,500. Big-league Michigan trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger did it, and managed to beat the rap at his recent trial. And now we learn that big-league California trial lawyer Pierce O’Donnell did it too: evaded limits on campaign contributions to John Edwards by reimbursing underlings to enable them to contribute. Would it be simpler to compile a list of the big Edwards backers who did obey the law? (WSJ law blog, Jul. 24). More on Edwards campaign finance shenanigans here.
Update Jul. 25, NLJ: O’Donnell indicted, based on a separate episode of laundering of contributions (to Los Angeles mayoral campaign of James Hahn).
Service animals, cont’d: “Ferret barred from Ottawa buses”
Continuing our theme, Frances Woodard has now lodged a complaint against the public transit authority in Canada’s capital city for barring the diminutive, weasel-like predator whose companionship, according to her psychiatrist, helps her stave off panic attacks. “A letter from OC Transpo customer relations sent in May said the decision was a result of fears about allergic reactions and phobias from other passengers and reactions from other animals, such as guide dogs.” (CBC News, Jul. 23). Monday’s post on the “service monkey” lawsuit from Springfield, Mo. is here.
Update: Willie Gary case against Motorola
Per AmLaw Daily, his trade secrets case against Motorola, on behalf of a now-defunct client named SPS Technologies, has settled for a sum far short of the $10 billion he sought. The case made headlines when a judge granted the Florida-based plaintiff’s potentate $23 million in sanctions against his opposite number, the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, though Gary had asked for $200 million in all. Reports AmLaw Daily:
The rising cost of fuel also has forced Gary to lease out his private jet — an aircraft appropriately named the “Wings of Justice II,” which includes an 18-karat gold sink and $1.2 million sound system — for $150,000 a month.
In late July, Gary told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers that fuel for the 32-passenger Boeing 737 costs $250,000 a month. A routine roundtrip flight to a city like Atlanta can run $35,000.
Cops: lawyer funneled brothel profits through good-government fund
Really, we couldn’t make it up: after raiding the Hot Lap Dance Club on W. 38th St. in Manhattan as a front for prostitution, police arrested lawyer Louis Posner and 22 others as part of the enterprise, which allegedly skimmed earnings from girls who entertained customers in private rooms for fees as high as $5,000. “Posner, once known as the king of nuisance lawsuits, brought a landmark $16 million suit against his then-4-year-old son’s nursery school in 1992 for letting the child run out of his classroom.” (New York Daily News first, second, third, fourth story). Posner, who more recently has concentrated on such areas of practice as taxes, trusts and estates, is reviled by several sources in the New York Daily News’s coverage for hitting on the girls himself, to their frequent disgust. Incomparable detail: cops claim Posner funneled the brothel profits through a political activist group called Voter March, which he set up after the disputed Bush-Gore election in 2000. (ABA Journal, New York Times). Fair labor practices angle: “The pair [of interviewed dancers] estimated that 120 women worked there. Some were Americans who operated as independent contractors and paid $80 a night in ‘house fees;’ others were Russians who worked to pay off debts to their handlers.” And we can’t leave this out: “The club last made news in March when it was sued by a securities trader who claimed he was seriously injured when a lap-dancing stripper swiveled and slammed him in the face with her shoe.” More: Above the Law, New York Observer.
Sacha Baron Cohen lawyer script
The “Borat” star, per AFP, “has sold Fox film studios a comedy, ‘Accidentes,’ about an ambulance-chaser-turned-hero, which he will produce and possibly star in, Variety magazine said Tuesday. The film is about a personal injury lawyer who becomes a hero among Los Angeles Hispanics for successfully defending a worker against a wealthy employer, but who in the process becomes the enemy of the city’s elite.” And see Defamer Australia with related graphic: “El Mejor Abogado”.
Servitude to the state
Whatever this group “Service Nation” is all about, it sure isn’t liberty. Jim Lindgren has their number (Volokh Conspiracy, several recent posts; Coyote; Althouse).
But see: the organization now denies (Somin @ Volokh) that its agenda includes mandatory national service, despite the goal recently listed on its website (now removed) of “Launch[ing] a debate about why and how America should become a nation of universal national service by 2020.”
School scenarios, 1958 vs. 2008
This doesn’t pretend to be anything more than a bit of unattributed circulating email humor, but it still made me laugh:
Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1958 – Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2008 – School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers. …
Full thing at Never Yet Melted.
Memphis: “Police director sues for names of bloggers critical of MPD”
“Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and the city of Memphis have filed a lawsuit to learn who operates a blog harshly critical of Godwin and his department.” (Amos Maki, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Jul. 22, via Folo). More: Instapundit.