“A morning radio host fired after he threatened the wife and young daughter of a rival during on-air rants has sued his former employer for breach of contract, alleging his comments did not breach acceptable decency standards.” Troi Torain, who broadcast under the name “Star”, was fired by Clear Channel’s Power 105 and later arrested for threatening to commit grotesque acts of abuse upon the 4-year-old daughter of a rival DJ, Raashuan Casey. A judge dismissed the charges on condition that Torain stay out of trouble for six months. His new suit says the episode wasn’t significant enough to warrant his dismissal; $10 million would help make things better. (Joshua Rhett Miller, “Star on attack with Clear Channel suit”, New York Metro, Sept. 14). More: Rafer Guzman, “Star: Notoriety good for business”, Newsday, Aug. 30.
Author Archive
“We’ll getcha & mangle ya”
David Lat on nicknames of big law firms: “Cruel & Boring” for Crowell & Moring may be the best known, while “Huge Cupboards of Greed” (Hughes Hubbard & Reed) was new to me (Sept. 13).
“This focus of evil in the modern world”
If the Forces of Disapproval ever tire of beating up on Wal-Mart, they’ll need a new business to blame for the world’s not being everything it ought. George Will thinks Coca-Cola might fill the bill (“Liberalism as Condescension”, syndicated/RealClearPolitics, Sept. 14).
Ivied halls, defended by lawyer phalanxes
“Large universities now employ the equivalents of small law firms on staff, and it’s worth pondering what this Perry Masonification of our schools says about how they operate. …As Ed Stoner, a retired Pittsburgh lawyer who, over a 30-year career, represented numerous schools in Western Pennsylvania, told me: ‘People [today] are much less inclined to think, “I wouldn’t sue the university, it’d be like suing my mother.” People tend to look at the university as one more institution that might have a lot of money.'” (Mark Oppenheimer, “College Goes to Court”, OpinionJournal, Jul. 14).
Update: “Entrepreneur” trademark fight
Back in a post of Aug. 31, 2003 we reported on the legal onslaught waged by Entrepreneur Media, publisher of Entrepreneur magazine, against Scott Smith, who had been so rash as to name his public relations shop Entrepreneur PR. Smith filed for bankruptcy after being told to pay a $1.4 million judgment, but the case has now taken a turn not so favorable for Entrepreneur Media. Last month a U.S. bankruptcy judge issued an order to show cause why he should not impose $10 million in sanctions on Entrepreneur Media and its lawyers, Latham & Watkins, over their conduct in the case, which included accusing Smith of hiding assets. “A hearing is set for next month.” (Kellie Schmitt, “Bankruptcy Judge Threatens $10M in Sanctions for Latham, Client”, The Recorder, Sept. 7).
“Shorts’ nemesis dumped a client’s shares”
“Texas plaintiffs’ lawyer James ‘Wes’ Christian, the legal mind behind the rash of claims alleging naked short-selling in penny stocks…was a consistent seller of several companies that he is representing in high-profile and bitter legal fights,” according to records obtained by the New York Post. For example, “in May 2001, several months after Nanopierce retained Christian to launch one of the initial lawsuits against naked short-sellers – and after the publicity surrounding the legal battle goosed the stock price – he began unloading blocks of stock.” Christian is partnering with regular Overlawyered mentionee John O’Quinn on the naked-short-selling lawsuits, which have not fared well in court thus far. (Roddy Boyd, New York Post, Aug. 18).
Reporter Christopher Faille interviewed me for an August 23 article in the subscriber-only HedgeWorld. The article quotes me as saying that Mr. Christian
“seems to be preserving a possible line of argument that inducing a stock-price rise isn’t really part of his business plan, he just happens to own these stocks because the companies pay him in shares, he would have been happy to take cash payment instead, et cetera.”
That was precisely what Mr. Christian said in the interview Tuesday—that he took the stock instead of cash simply because Nanopierce didn’t have the cash necessary for him to do the original pre-litigation due diligence.
Older ethical rules — now often fallen into disuse — used to discourage or prohibit lawyers from taking stakes in enterprises they represented in litigation. As the HedgeWorld article quotes me as saying, “If what attorney Christian is doing is consistent with the ethical rules of the Texas bar, maybe it’s time to revisit those rules.”
More on Nelson Rocks Preserve disclaimer
The amusing and well-written rock-climbing disclaimer we linked to yesterday had already been the subject of some attention around the web. Attorney David Canton used it as the model for a disclaimer about doing business on the Internet that was in turn picked up on Slashdot (May 6).
Unfortunately, the Nelson Rocks Preserve itself, which includes some of the most challenging terrain in the Eastern United States, has mostly closed itself to rock climbing by the public following a number of injuries and rescue emergencies. A few days ago (Sept. 9) Tom at AllClimbing.com passed along a rumor that the preserve might reopen next year. (Update Nov. 2010: Legal Blog Watch).
MedPundit back blogging
Happily, her retirement proved temporary.
Caesarean sections: ooooops…
A whole field of malpractice litigation has been based on contentions that babies could have been spared injury if doctors used Caesarean sections more often, and doctors, in part responding to the incentives sent by the legal system, now order the procedure at high rates even when it is not clearly indicated. But what if C-sections themselves turn out to be much more dangerous to babies than we had realized? (Nigel Hawkes, “Babies ‘are more likely to die’ after an elective Caesarean”, The Times (U.K.), Sept. 7)(via the returned MedPundit).
“A whole rock formation might collapse on you and squash you like a bug”
Long, blunt, amusing warning and disclaimer by the folks who run the Nelson Rocks Preserve, a private wild area in West Virginia. “Live with it or stay away. … Don’t think it can’t happen. …You’re on your own.” Update: more about the disclaimer here.