“A German lawyer hopes to drum up more business by pursuing state compensation claims for people who believe they were abducted by aliens. ‘There’s quite obviously demand for legal advice here,’ Jens Lorek told Reuters by telephone on Thursday. ‘The trouble is, people are afraid of making fools of themselves in court.'” What’s this guy doing practicing in Germany rather than here? (Reuters, Oct. 6).
Author Archive
Google and YouTube
Ingesting a gigantic litigation risk? (Lattman, Oct. 9; Althouse, Oct. 10; discussion at WSJ). More: Jul. 20, Oct. 2.
More: “Dick Parsons, the chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, fired a shot across the bows of Google, saying his group would pursue its copyright complaints against the video sharing site YouTube.com.” (Jane Martinson, “Google faces copyright fight over YouTube”, The Guardian (U.K.), Oct. 13).
NY Times and the Duke lacrosse case, cont’d
Check it out: new ShopThisBlog.com bookstore
Longtime readers of this site will remember our affiliated Amazon bookstore, which we maintained for a few years but gradually stopped updating as other duties seemed more pressing (you can still find it near the bottom of our ever-handy “General Links” page). Recently I was approached by the founder of a clever new service, ShopThisBlog.com, which comes up with customized bookstores keyed to popular blogs (based on books the bloggers have mentioned or reviewed, or which are closely related, etc.) ShopThisBlog.com then divides the resulting Amazon affiliate revenue with cooperating bloggers. It did not take long for me to realize that the bookstore ShopThisBlog had devised for Overlawyered was far better designed and more useful than the one I’d done on my own, and had thoughtfully been updated with newer books I’ve mentioned favorably in my writing.
So you’ll notice a box in the right-hand column of the front page which showcases ShopThisBlog recommendations. (I expect to tinker further with its presentation as we go along.) By all means check it out, check out the parallel shops keyed to other sites, and if you’re a blogger with reasonable traffic consider checking out the possibility of getting a ShopThisBlog bookstore of your own.
UK: False rape accusations
If the charges of rape turn out to be bogus — worse yet, if they have led to the locking up of an innocent defendant later exonerated — should the accuser still enjoy the privilege of press anonymity? The case of Warren Blackwell, jailed for three years for a crime he never committed, vs. “Miss A”. (Carol Sarler, “Do fake rape victims have a right to anonymity?”, Daily Mail (U.K.), Sept. 13; Michael Horsnell, “Man jailed over sex attack clears his name”, The Times (U.K.), Sept. 13). More: accuser’s name is disclosed, prompting further controversy (Strange Justice, Oct. 23).
Senate spotlight: Chafee-Whitehouse (R.I.)
As if trial lawyers didn’t already have enough good friends in the U.S. Senate, Democratic challenger and former state attorney general Sheldon Whitehouse is making a strong bid to unseat incumbent Lincoln Chafee for a Senate seat from Rhode Island. (Jim Baron, “Poll: Senate race even; Gov. surges”, Pawtucket (R.I.) Times, Oct. 3; “Democrats bet on former attorney general to take back Senate seat”, AP/WPRI, Sept. 14). Of the fifty state attorneys general, Whitehouse was the only one willing to sign up for the Motley Rice law firm’s crusade to attach retroactive liability to former makers of lead paint and pigment; see Jun. 7, 2001, Oct. 30-31, 2002, Mar. 5-7, 2003, Feb. 23, 2006, etc. For more on Whitehouse’s enthusiasm for such creative litigation, see Oct. 26, 1999 (latex gloves).
“Illegal immigrants sue Wendy’s”
“A group of illegal immigrants who worked for Wendy’s International Inc. is suing the restaurant chain because the company fired them after discovering it had missed a deadline for joining a federal program that would have helped them attain legal status.” (Rasha Madkour, AP/Houston Chronicle, Oct. 6).
More: the restaurant company blames a series of “mistakes made by others” that began before it bought the Cafe Express chain. In particular, Houston-based business law firm Boyar & Miller failed to take steps needed to enroll workers in the program. Commenter David Schwartz points out:
It might be worth noting that the employees *paid* to partipicate in the program. Surely if I pay my employer for legal services and I don’t get them, either my employer or their law firm is at fault, no?
Isn’t missing a filing deadline a classic example of attorney malpractice?
Update: Blaming banks for terrorist attacks
U.S. District Judge Charles P. Sifton in Brooklyn has denied motions to dismiss lawsuits which seek to blame Credit Lyonnais of France and National Westminster Bank of the United Kingdom for terrorist bombings in Israel linked to Hamas; the banks handled funds for charities which channeled funds to Hamas. Credit Lyonnais “[vainly] cited investigations in France that cleared the group of any wrongdoing.” (“U.S. judge refuses to dismiss terror finance suit vs French bank”, AP/International Herald Tribune, Oct. 5). Ted covered the lawsuits on Jan. 6 and Feb. 24 of this year.
Oz: Government will appeal aboriginal land win
Following up on our Sept. 22 post: Australia’s Attorney General Philip Ruddock says his office will appeal against a judge’s award of extensive public land holdings in and around the city of Perth to aboriginal tribes. (Amanda Banks and Rhianna King, “Ruddock confirms native title appeal as State payout tipped”, The West Australian, Oct. 6; Stephanie Peatling, “Ruddock to challenge native title ruling over Perth”, Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 6; Ben Martin and Amanda Banks, “Hills parks open to native title: judge”, Oct. 4).
Lockyer flayed on autos-‘n’-global-warming suit
It’s “kooky” and “trivializes a serious problem”, editorializes the Los Angeles Times: “California shouldn’t be in the business of filing meritless suits to gain leverage in other cases“. “It’s not his job to make law through frivolous lawsuits,” opines the San Jose Mercury News (via Wilson). It’s “reprehensible… little more than a political stunt,” adds the Orange County Register. Veteran political columnist Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee terms the suit “Lockyer’s bid to become the champion of cheesiness“. One who does like the suit, curiously enough: an environmental adviser to Gov. Schwarzenegger named Terry Tamminen. And the San Francisco Chronicle investigates: what do state lawmakers drive? More here, here and here (cross-posted from Point of Law).