Alan and Linda Townsend of Dallas, Ga. were dissatisfied with a product called Spray On Siding after it was applied to their house and started a website to vent the opinions of other unhappy customers. The company that sold them the siding is now suing them for defamation, trademark infringement and other sins. (“Careful Where You Complain”, AP/Wired News, Nov. 5). For more suits against critics’ websites, see Mar. 31-Apr. 2, 2000 (Terminix case), as well as other cases on our free speech and media page. More: “May It Please the Court” also comments.
Author Archive
Suing the Saudis
“To the extent that its 9/11 attacks were designed to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and shake the Saudi regime, Al-Qaeda succeeded beyond it wildest dreams. … [The Saudi establishment] finds itself under siege not only by Western journalists and politicians, but also by the American plaintiffs’ bar, in the form of a civil lawsuit filed by 17 law firms from seven states in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, demanding $116 trillion in damages on behalf of over 3,000 9/11 victims and their families.” Christopher H. Johnson of Artur & Hadden, co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Middle East Committee, offers a critique of the litigation (“Terrorism as Mass Tort: Responsibility for 9/11”, Saudi-American Forum, Essay Series #3). See Sept. 26 and links from there.
Last chance for Engle
One more try to keep the circus going, from Miami lawyers Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt and friends. If the Florida Supreme Court doesn’t agree with them, it’s all over. (Paul Curcio, “Fla. Justices Asked to Reinstate $145 Billion Award in Tobacco Suit”, Miami Daily Business Review, Nov. 4). See May 15 and links from there.
Specter for Senate Judiciary chair?
If so, be aware that Shanin’s dad is not exactly your usual Republican senator.
Madison County: let the joyous news be spread…
Tuesday’s judicial election results in the notorious Illinois county amounted to a “cataclysmic” defeat for the county’s powerful personal-injury lawyers: “I feel like a Munchkin who just came out and saw the house drop on the witch,” said [longtime prosecutor Don] Weber, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Supreme Court in 1992. “A lot of us are going around today saying, ‘Did the house really drop on the witch?'” (Paul Hampel, “Karmeier win means big changes in Madison County, prosecutor says”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 3). For others who might wish to celebrate, here’s a song page. (& see PointOfLaw coverage, here, here, here, here, and here). More: Madison County Record, Nov. 5, Nov. 7.
Things your auto can’t do
In many vehicles nowadays, you can check your e-mail, view Web sites, even watch television, from the comfort of your driver’s seat.
You can, that is, if you live in Europe or in Japan….
Fear of legal action has also stopped Toyota from offering its Intelligent Parking Assist feature, which is now available on the hybrid gas-electric Prius model sold in Japan.
Executives say they “must worry about lawsuits” if potential dashboard distractions fall into the hands of Americans. A Toyota corporate sales manager says there are no plans to make the intelligent-parking feature available in the United States, either: “This is a very litigious society.” (Eric A. Taub, “Three Amazing Things Your Automobile Can’t Do”, New York Times, Oct. 27).
“Lost an election that wasn’t your fault?”
While Democratic candidate John Kerry was reaching his decision to concede President Bush’s victory in the presidential race, rather than pursue an almost certainly unsuccessful challenge to the Ohio vote count, running mate John Edwards “counseled [him] against swift surrender”, according to the AP:
One senior Democrat familiar with the discussions said Edwards was suggesting to Kerry that he shouldn’t concede.
The official said Edwards, a trial lawyer, wanted to make sure all options were explored and that Democrats pursued them as thoroughly as Republicans would if the positions were reversed.
The mischievous headline is that of James Taranto at WSJ “Best of the Web“.
Anti-vaccine activists
…haven’t been heard from much in recent weeks, nor have the lawyers who cater to them. Another CodeBlueBlog post (Nov. 2).
Death of a Red Sox fan
A pepper-ball injury to the eye is a very, very unlikely way to die, but those who know most about what happened to Victoria Snelgrove on Oct. 21 aren’t talking. CodeBlueBlog thinks some combination of fear of tort liability and HIPAA, the federal medical privacy law, explains much of authorities’ reticence (Oct. 30, Oct. 28).
“New Evidence on Main Cause of Cerebral Palsy”
Another blow to the theories that have proved such a fertile source of litigation over the past few decades: “A new study undermines the long-held belief among obstetricians that oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia, is the main cause of cerebral palsy in premature infants. The study, published in the October issue of The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that the brain injury that leads to cerebral palsy was much more commonly associated with infection than with hypoxia.” (Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, Nov. 2). Virginia Postrel comments (more on stored Google search page — note the nature of most of the advertising).