Many defendants, including five of her friends as well as the inevitable bar, are to blame for not doing more to keep Amanda Jax from downing so much alcohol that night, according to the lawsuit by her family. (“Alcohol death: five times limit”, Mankato (Minn.) Free Press, Nov. 9; Dan Nienaber, “Lawyer: Civil suit coming in drinking death”, Mankato Free Press, Dec. 28; “The defendants and their alleged actions that night”, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Feb. 28; Scarlet Raven, Feb. 29).
Author Archive
McCain, thimerosal and autism
The Republican candidate sticks his foot in it in a major way on a topic extensively covered here over the years (as well as at my other site). Writes Mark Kleiman: “the thimerosal-autism theory is as dead as phlogiston in respectable company. I’m not surprised that ‘respectable company’ excludes a few ambulance-chasing lawyers looking for deep pockets and a some emotionally devastated parents looking for someone to blame. But it’s distressing — to use no stronger term — that the presumptive Republican nominee for President, rather than looking at the evidence, has chosen to side with the panic-spreaders and pander to the emotions of the panic victims.” More: Orac.
Annals of chutzpah?
In Nova Scotia, Astrid Margaret Literski is locked in a battle with Revenue Canada over whether she is entitled to child tax benefit checks associated with her late daughter Eveleigh. Literski is incarcerated after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for killing the girl, then 4, in 2003. The tax agency says it wants back some of the money it sent Literski because it learned after the fact that the girl was actually living with her father, her primary caretaker, at the time. (Chris Lambie, “Killer mom fights to keep child tax credit”, Halifax Chronicle Herald, Mar. 1).
Guestblogger thanks
Our thanks again to Peter Morin for his guestblogging last week. Don’t forget to check out his regular posts at Wavemaker. And if you think you might be interested in joining us for a guest week of your own — whether you’re an existing blogger or not — let me know at editor – [at] – thisdomainname.com.
American Airlines lawsuit: John Cerqueira responds
On Jan. 17 of last year and again on Jan. 11 of this year we ran posts discussing Cerqueira v. American Airlines, a lawsuit arising from the airline’s refusal to transport a passenger following erroneous fears that he was a security risk. John Cerqueira, the plaintiff in the case, has sent and asked us to publish a response, which follows:
My name is John Cerqueira and I am the plaintiff in Cerqueira v. American Airlines. I appreciate the opportunity to share my comments. Please allow me to (1) share the text of §44902 with this blog which was used by the appeal judges to overthrow the jury verdict; (2) tell my story about the original incident and 2007 trial; (3) comment on the results of the 2008 appeal.
Guestblogger this week
With a deadline looming for me, I expect to be posting less this week. Fortunately Peter Morin, who’s guestblogged here before, has agreed to step in to fill the gap. Check out Peter’s regular site, WaveMaker.
9/11 dust
Ramon Gilsanz, a structural engineer with a small office in Manhattan, showed up at the World Trade Center site to pitch in after the disaster; like many others, he started as a volunteer and found his role evolving into a subcontractor at the city’s request. Now, like about 130 other structural engineers, he is named in many of 8,000 lawsuits filed by the Paul Napoli firm and others over dust exposure to various bystanders. He and another structural engineer said they worked alongside the other rescue and cleanup workers and were never assigned responsibility for air quality. (Jim Dwyer, “For Engineer, a Cloud of Litigation After 9/11”, New York Times, Feb. 23).
Scruggs wiretap transcripts, cont’d
Alan Lange and commenters are jumping in to excerpt some of the more damning excerpts (YallPolitics Feb. 19; more). And in the department of curious wordings, from the Jackson Clarion Ledger: “Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter has told federal authorities he became aware in 2006 that some people were trying to improperly influence him to rule in favor of lawyer Dickie Scruggs in a Hinds County legal-fees dispute. DeLaughter told authorities he didn’t know whether he was influenced [emphasis added] but says he’s followed the law in all his rulings.” (Jerry Mitchell, “Judge: Efforts to sway made”, Feb. 24).
$25 million for yanking hospital privileges
On Feb. 7 a jury found the Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia had wrongly revoked the privileges of vascular surgeon R. E. Hamrick, Jr. over a financial dispute. It awarded Hamrick $25 million, including $20 million in punitive damages; the dispute arose over Hamrick’s desire to set up a self-insurance fund against professional liability as opposed to purchasing outside insurance. CAMC has retreated from initial talk of pay freezes for staff, but it is unclear where it will come up with the money — about 4 percent of its annual budget — in ways that have no impact on patients: “‘Any time you have to spend $15 million, how can it not affect the way we care for people?’ asked Dr. Tom Bowden, who also serves on CAMC’s Board of Trustees.” However, expert witness Jonathan Cunitz of Westport, Ct., who testified for the plaintiffs on punitive damages, told the Daily Mail that patients and employees “shouldn’t be concerned for a second” about cutbacks because the nonprofit community hospital could just pull the money from the magic rainbow wishing well could cover the punitive damage award “just out of the money generated by Hamrick’s surgeries,” in the newspaper’s phrasing. It sounds almost as if hospital revenues from surgery constitute pure gravy and do not involve any correlative expenditures. The hospital’s CEO notes that the damage award “was higher than the $15 million CAMC spent to purchase the former Putnam General Hospital in 2006.” (Justin D. Anderson, “Doctor responds to colleague’s lawsuit win against CAMC”, Charleston Daily Mail, Feb. 12; Eric Eyre, Charleston Gazette, Feb. 13, Feb. 20, Feb. 21; Chris Dickerson, West Virginia Record, Feb. 7).
“Swastikas, kangaroos, cartoon squirrels”
Perennial Overlawyered favorite Jack Thompson may find that his doodles, or supplementary art, or whatever, on court filings are an expensive matter, as the Florida Supreme Court continues to consider disciplinary action against him. Aside from the extraneous picture matter, which includes images of “swastikas, kangaroos in court, a reproduced dollar bill, cartoon squirrels, Paul Simon, Paul Newman, Ray Charles, a handprint with the word ‘slap’ written under it, Bar Governor Benedict P. Kuehne, a baby, Ed Bradley, Jack Nicholson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Julius Caesar, monkeys, a house of cards,” and so forth, Thompson, known for his crusades against violence and sex in videogames, is accused of engaging in constant filings that are “repetitive, frivolous and insult the integrity of the court,” and faces a possible order that would bar him from filing actions unless signed by another Florida bar member. Thompson rejects the charges, saying, “I have a right to file anything I want with the court.” (Alana Roberts, “Anti-Porn Crusader May Face Sanctions for ‘Meritless Filings'”, Daily Business Review, Feb. 22).