I’m scheduled to be a guest on CNBC’s popular “Kudlow & Cramer” business talk show this evening, live from New York between 5 and 6 EDT (probably around 45 minutes after the hour). I’ll be discussing the recent $1 billion fen-phen verdict in Texas (see Apr. 28), as well as mass tort and class action litigation generally. My book “The Rule of Lawyers”, which discusses all these topics and was published by St. Martin’s last year, is available through Amazon here.
Author Archive
Batch of reader letters
We’ve posted four more reader letters on our letters page. Topics this time: a lawyer who won a $50 million award over the city of Chicago’s slow response to a 911 call (later settled for less) writes to take issue with our perspective on the case; a Texan who worked for 35 years in the Social Security disability program believes that as the process has become more legally contentious it has grown both slower and less fair; Missouri employment lawyer George Lenard discusses the recent, widely publicized “popcorn butter” workplace-injury verdict; and a North Carolina lawyer shows some exasperation with us.
U.K.: Great moments in immigration law
In Great Britain, Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes has resigned following a scandal over reports of well-organized fraud and abuse in visa applications from Romania and Bulgaria. “Applicants from Eastern Europe have to demonstrate they can set up a business generating income in Britain. Sir John [Ramsden, a senior Foreign Office official] said the embassy received 70 ‘virtually identical business plans’ from one firm of London solicitors acting for agents in Bulgaria.” James Cameron, a British consul in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, said that “fraudulent applications were being nodded through by the suitcase load without proper checks. He claimed visas had been given to [among others] builders and electricians who ‘knew nothing about bricks, mortar or electrical details’. ‘The applicants rarely know what is in their business plan, cannot speak English, and have absolutely no knowledge or experience in the type of skills needed for respective businesses,’ he said.” Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that a lawyer who had been “involved in fraud and in unacceptable illegal dealings” had been arrested at the end of February. (George Jones, “Blunkett orders inquiry after immigration scandal deepens”, Daily Telegraph, Mar. 13; Brendan Carlin and Ian Waugh, “‘Organized scam’ over immigrant entry to UK”, Yorkshire Post, Mar. 31; “Blair’s worst nightmare”, Yorkshire Post, Apr. 2).
Latest newsletter
Our latest free newsletter, summing up the past 2 1/2 weeks’ or so worth of items on the site, went out today to its 2300 or so subscribers. If you’re not on the list, you can sign up here for future mailings and to read older newsletters. It’s a great way to keep up with items on the site you may have missed.
Diet Coke formula: variation = unfairness
As has been reported here and there for years, Diet Coke as it is served at soda fountains is sweetened in part with saccharin, whereas the version sold in cans and bottles is sweetened with more expensive aspartame. We always assumed that the reason must be that competition between brands is more intense in the supermarket aisle than in restaurants, but the Coca-Cola company cites another reason for the formula variation, saying aspartame is not as stable in fountain use. At any rate, class-action lawyers have now filed lawsuits in Florida, Illinois and California on behalf of beverage drinkers supposedly victimized by this practice. The company says the allegations in the various lawsuits are identical and that it expects to prevail. (Lawrence Viele, Bloomberg/Oakland Tribune, Mar. 26)
Oz: employer permitted to require attendance by workers
In Australia, an appeals court has “overturned a ruling giving $160,000 compensation to a woman who claimed she was discriminated against by not being allowed to work from home.” Two years ago a tribunal ruled against the publisher of the Hansard parliamentary reports, saying it had unreasonably required subeditor Deborah Schou to attend work in person on days when Parliament was sitting although she had asked to stay home and work via modem. The appeals court, however, found the tribunal’s view of the matter “inconceivable”. (Ian Munro, “$160,000 workplace ruling overturned” , Melbourne Age, May 1).
“Trial lawyers court GOP”
Charm offensive? “Last week, ATLA dispatched a team of Republican trial lawyers to meet with key GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill. … behind the scenes, ATLA has been surprisingly generous toward GOP organizations,” giving $30,000 apiece this cycle to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee, the maximum allowable. (Geoff Earle, The Hill, May 5)(see Aug. 25). In Florida, housing secretary Mel Martinez’s background as a former president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers continues to generate controversy in the Republican Senate primary race, which comes to a vote Aug. 31; but Martinez says he supports class-action reform and even some version of loser-pays (William March, “Stance On Tort Awkward For GOP”, Tampa Tribune, May 2; see Feb. 21). [Update Sept. 3: Martinez wins primary]. And in Pennsylvania, the plaintiff’s bar is both perplexed and delighted that two of its good friends — incumbent Republican Arlen (“Shanin’s dad“) Specter and Democratic challenger Joe Hoeffel — are running against each other for Senate. “It’s going to be a tough call,” said James Mundy, a former president of the trial lawyers’ association in the Keystone State. “But in a sense it’s a nice call, because we can’t lose.” (Melissa Nann, “Arlen Specter or His Opponent? Trial Lawyers Like Both”, Legal Intelligencer, May 4). See also Lori Patel, “Lawyer Loyalties Eclipse Family Ties”, Law.com, Feb. 5 (Kline & Specter members donated more to Sen. Edwards than to Sen. Specter).
Verizon coupon deal: this earbud’s for you
Last week a San Diego judge considered objections to a proposed settlement between Verizon Wireless and class action lawyers who’ve been suing over its billing practices. Consumers would receive two coupons: the first “could be redeemed for a choice of immediate bill credit of $15 on a new or renewed one-year service contract, $30 off of a two-year contract, $24 off an existing contract over a two-year period, $15 off a purchase of Verizon merchandise, a free 120-minute long distance calling card, or 1,500 free text messages over a six-month period. The second coupon would entitle consumers to an ‘earbud’ for handsfree use of their phone or $15 off of a similar accessory.” Consumers Union, which objected to an earlier settlement, says it likes this one, but an objecting lawyer says that “the ear accessory described as having a ‘retail value of $15’ can be bought for $3 or $4 at discount stores. The wholesale cost to Verizon must be even lower, Mr. Tusa said.” (Josh Gerstein, “Settlement Looms for Verizon Wireless”, New York Sun, Apr. 30).
“Stoned Skater Can Sue County”
Via Legal Reader (May 3): a California court of appeals has reinstated 17-year-old Angelo Seaver’s suit against Santa Cruz county, which a trial judge had thrown out. While stoned on pot one moonless night Seaver had gone skateboarding in a public park after closing and crashed into a gate. The “panel found that because there were no signs, reflectors or lighting to help Seaver see the gate, the county created a ‘dangerous condition of public property.'” The county could not rely on the defense of assumption of risk, the court ruled, “because Seaver was riding his skateboard for transportation, not to perform stunts”. (Peter Blumberg, San Francisco Daily Journal, May 3, not online; Angelo M. Seaver v. County of Santa Cruz, unpublished opinion, Apr. 30 (PDF))(more personal-responsibility cases).
Madison County: Ms. Howell’s two hats
In an article about the controversial Lucent class action settlement ($84 million for the lawyers, $8 million for the class; see Apr. 5) the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Joy Howell, spokeswoman for lead class counsel Stephen Tillery, who’s among Madison County’s most prominent class-action lawyers. Later in the piece it emerges that Ms. Howell “also serves as a spokeswoman for the Coalition to Preserve Access to Justice”, a group that vehemently opposes the reform-minded Class Action Fairness Act on behalf of “more than 80 national consumer, environmental and civil rights groups”. Hmmm. (Trisha L. Howard, “Nixon backs state role in class action suits”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 3). And the local press is casting a skeptical eye on what the Post-Dispatch calls “the strange little courthouse in Edwardsville” (Illinois) and the doings of Judge Nicholas C. Byron in particular (see “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad Madison County”, Apr. 22) (“Madison County: What’s the judge hiding?” (editorial), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 1; Brian Brueggemann, “Judge Byron endures hot seat”, Belleville News-Democrat, May 3; “‘Judicial hellhole’ deepens with law firm’s banishment” (editorial), Bloomington Pantagraph, Apr. 27). Last month “Byron ordered a newspaper reporter to leave the courtroom Monday when [attorney Rex] Carr and Tillery began arguing about the apparently sensitive issue of how much money the firm has earned.” (Brian Brueggemann, “Class-action lawyers fight over money”, Belleville News-Democrat, Apr. 11, and how’s that for a quotidian headline?). Finally, visions of sugar plums seem to have gone a-glimmering for class action attorney Judy Cates, of columnist-suing fame, when a Belleville jury rejected her lawsuit demanding $300 million from Allstate because it does not reimburse its auto policyholders after crashes for the decline in the resale value of their fully repaired cars. According to defense attorney H. Sinclair “Rod” Kerr, the lead plaintiffs, Michael and Tiffany Sims of East St. Louis, Ill., “decided to sue only after a relative called their attention to a newspaper ad placed by Cates’ law firm seeking plaintiffs against Allstate.” (Robert Goodrich, “Jury rejects class-action suit over car repairs”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 29).