Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

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A nation of lawbreakers

Recommended: at Slate, Tim Wu of Columbia has a five-part series in progress on the phenomenon of laws whose violation is very widespread and broadly tolerated. His examples include laws against (certain) recreational drug use, possession of obscene material, (some) copyright infringement by end users, and (promised in the final segment) immigration. (One that might have been added: low-level gambling in the form of office football pools and the Supreme Court poker game.) His opening anecdote:

At the federal prosecutor’s office in the Southern District of New York, the staff, over beer and pretzels, used to play a darkly humorous game. Junior and senior prosecutors would sit around, and someone would name a random celebrity — say, Mother Teresa or John Lennon.

It would then be up to the junior prosecutors to figure out a plausible crime for which to indict him or her.

(via Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason “Hit and Run”). More from Hans Bader.

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$400K suit: wedding flowers were wrong color

“The use of predominantly pastel centerpieces had a significant impact on the look of the room and was entirely inconsistent with the vision the plaintiffs had bargained for,” contends bride/attorney Elana Glatt in her New York City suit, which also says the pink and green hydrangeas in the 22 centerpieces “were wilted and brown, and arranged in dusty vases without enough water. … The flowers cost $27,435.14.” “My father used to tell me, ‘Don’t deal with the lawyers,” said florist Stamos Arakas of Posy Floral Design in Manhattan, the defendant in the suit. “Maybe he was right, God bless his soul.” (“NYC bride sues florist, saying wedding flowers were wrong color”, AP/Newsday, Oct. 16). More details: NYTimes via Lat.

And: many interesting comments including the following, from “tp”, responding to a suggestion that the florist had substituted less costly blooms:

I too am a wedding designer. I can assure you that pink/green hydrangeas are NOT cheaper than “rust” hydrangeas.. actually, they are the same hydrangeas, but at different stages… the lighter being less mature, which all depends on climate and cooling conditions of the air. The rust are matured and this happens due to air temps. …

I am sure this designer ordered the correct color, but due to the extremely warm temps, the flowers have not hit that stage. Nothing either party could do (wholesaler/retailer). …it is hard to substitute different or new flowers (if they show up the wrong shade, etc) in such large quantities, a day before the wedding! These flowers need to be treated and designed. …He did not do a “bait and switch” nor make any extra money here, he probably LOST money trying to correct the problem …

The tale has stimulated many hundreds of comments at other legal blogs.

Child safety, D.C. style

Father’s Day at the Georgetown pool:

“So let me get this straight,” I said. “If she was wearing a swimsuit with no floaties in it, that would be okay. But this suit, which is safer, is not okay.” …

“That’s right,” the manager said. “This is a government pool and that’s the D.C. government.”

(Tony Rosenberger, BLT, Jun. 18; h/t Ted on our Facebook group).

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Town ordinances regulating house paint colors

Ethnic discrimination by proxy? “‘I believe controlling the color you paint your house is basically profiling the Hispanic community,’ said Elizabeth Villafranca, whose family owns a Mexican restaurant in [Dallas, Texas suburb] Farmers Branch. ‘We all know who paints their homes tropical colors.'” (Anabelle Garay, “Hispanics see red over proposal”, AP/Bryan-College Station Eagle, Oct. 10). More: Virginia Postrel weighs in.

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“Competing for Clients, and Paying by the Click”

Adam Liptak at the Times looks at the heavy lawyer-ad presence on Google sponsored links (“Oakland personal injury lawyer” costs $58.03), and quotes both Ted and me. “Instead of competing on price,” Ted says of plaintiffs’ lawyers, “they compete on Google.” And I point out that the family in search of information on, say, cerebral palsy, will run into plenty of medically tendentious material posted by lawyers as part of their client-intake efforts. (New York Times, Oct. 15).

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October 15 roundup

  • Louisiana attorney general Foti, under fire over his attempt to prosecute Dr. Anna Pou in Katrina deaths, faces tough re-election challenge [Times-Picayune, Lafayette Advertiser; earlier]

  • Classic “Hershey’s liable to obese Americans” print satire now has a short audio version [Onion radio]

  • Criticize alternative medicine at your peril? U.K. libel law helps stifle an opponent of homeopathy [Orac]

  • Tennessee trial lawyers’ lobbyist comes under harsh public spotlight following lurid crackup of House Judiciary chair Rob Briley [Nashville Scene; earlier]

  • Invoking CAFA, judge throws out coupon settlement in Sharper Image air purifier class action [Krauss @ Point of Law]

  • In 4-4 split, Supreme Court lets stand a ruling that NYC must pay private school tuition for Hollywood exec’s ADHD son though he wouldn’t give city program a try; issue likely to return soon [NYTimes; earlier]

  • Veteran journalists Patrick Dillon and Carl Cannon ink deal for book on rise and fall of Lerach tentatively titled Circle of Greed [WSJ law blog]

  • Unforeseen consequences dept.: plan for retirement community catering to gays may be derailed by workings of antidiscrimination law [Miller, Independent Gay Forum]

  • HIPAA an impediment to doctor-patient emails? [CareCure Forums via KevinMD]

  • Update on fraudulent liens filed by prison inmates to harass court personnel (Mar. 31, 2004): system strikes back with extra 20-year term for one offender [Texas Lawyer]

  • EEOC says Massachusetts employer must accommodate eyebrow-ring-wearing employee who claims membership in “Church of Body Modification” [five years ago on Overlawyered]

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Sues over having twins

An Australian woman asked that her in vitro fertilization (IVF) result in a single baby but two embryos were mistakenly implanted. Now she wants $A400,000 for the cost of raising the child to adulthood. (“Mother sues doctor over twin birth”, ABC (Australian) News, Sept. 18)(via KevinMD). The local branch of the Australian Medical Association says the law should be changed to prevent damage claims over the birth of unimpaired babies: “We’re very concerned [at] the concept that a healthy life is wrongful.” (“Doctors should not be liable for mistake births: AMA”, Sept. 22). More on wrongful birth lawsuits here.

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“Nick J., Boston mesothelioma lawyer”

Except, reports Robert Ambrogi, that Mr. J.’s firm does not list a Boston office. Yes, it’s the sometimes tacky world of search engine pitchmanship and mass-produced website generation, courtesy of an outfit called Top Lawyers, now with a growing presence on YouTube as well. (Oct. 12).

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