“Paradoxically, a lawsuit, especially a flimsy one, can be a boon to a book’s fortunes. And increasingly, some writers and publishers admit to hoping they’ll attract one.” Humorist Al Franken was widely envied by other authors when Fox News filed its much-derided suit against his book title (see Nov. 22), and just this past week a small publisher, Soft Skull Press, got a windfall of coverage when publisher HarperCollins sent a cease and desist order (from which it soon retreated) suggesting that the title of one of its new books, “How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office” was too close to the title of Michael Moore’s “Stupid White Men”. Of course, things can get sticky fast if the legal complaint really does have merit. (Christopher Dreher, “So sue me… please!”, Boston Globe, Mar. 21) (via Tyler Cowen, Volokh).
Author Archive
Hot Illinois Supreme Court race
Expect a hard-fought battle over the vacant seat on the Illinois Supreme Court for the Fifth District, which includes fabled Madison County (Jan. 5 and links from there) as well as 36 other counties in the southern part of the state. The race pits Democratic candidate Gordon Maag, heavily backed by trial lawyers and himself formerly of the Lakin Law Firm of Wood River, against Republican Lloyd Karmeier (site), who’s garnering support from business and lawsuit-reform backers such as the Illinois Civil Justice League. (Sanford J. Schmidt, “Tort reform takes on political edge”, Alton Telegraph, Feb. 28; Kevin McDermott, “Tort reform is key issue in race”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 2). Both men currently serve as judges; the Illinois State Bar Association deems Karmeier “highly qualified” and Maag “qualified” for the high court post. (Jeff Smyth, “State Bar Releases Supreme Court Candidate Evaluations”, The Southern Illinoisan, Jan. 29).
One reason the race will be closely watched: under Illinois’s unusual system of judicial selection, the supreme court justice for the district appoints judges to vacancies on the lower courts within the 37 counties. Karmeier starts as an underdog: “No Republican has won the 5th District seat since 1969. Since then, every occupant has been a resident of Madison County. Karmeier lives in Washington County.” (Michael J. Berens, “Business running in judicial contest”, Chicago Tribune, Mar. 8). In the 1997 case of Best v. Taylor Machine Works, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down what had been one of the most wide-ranging liability reform measures enacted by a state legislature. (Richard E. Anderson, “When Judges Run Amok”, at Doctor’s Company site).
Appeals court throws out keys-in-reach negligence verdict
“The Kentucky Court of Appeals yesterday ordered the dismissal of claims against a woman who had been found negligent for leaving her car keys within reach of an allegedly drunken friend who crashed her car.” After a night of drinking, Tina Cox had retired to bed while a friend stayed up. He then took her car keys from her purse and went for a drive, where he struck a pickup driven by Joseph Waits. Waits sued Cox (whether he sued the driver as well is not clear) and a judge ruled her 40 percent responsible for the resulting verdict, which consisted of roughly $220,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. According to the judge, Cox, knowing that her friend had previous DUI convictions, was negligent to have left her purse with the keys on a coffee table where he could get at it. The appeals court disagreed, noting Cox’s testimony that her friend had never previously driven her car without her permission. (Bruce Schreiner, “Court orders claims to be dropped in Shelby suit”, AP/Louisville Courier-Journal, Mar. 6).
Virginia primitive
Amid worldwide publicity, the commissioners of rural Rhea County, Tennessee, quickly rescinded their call for legislation allowing the county to prosecute gays and lesbians for “crimes against nature”; Commissioner J.C. Fugate had asked the county attorney to find a way to “keep them out of here.” (“Rhea County Commission Rescinds Gay Ban”, The Chattanoogan, Mar. 18; “Tennessee county reverses ban on gays”, Ellen Barry, “County Rescinds Vote to Ban Gay Residents”, L.A. Times, Mar. 18; AP/San Francisco Chronicle, Mar. 19). By contrast, there’s been much less attention paid to a proposed statute nearing enactment in supposedly civilized Virginia which might serve almost as effectively in sending a “don’t live here” message to gays.
“Mexico urges Latino janitors to join class-action suit”
Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in Hoffman Plastic Compounds v. NLRB barred illegal-alien workers from suing over the loss of jobs it was unlawful for them to accept in the first place (see Apr. 3-4, 2002), our enterprising bar continues to regard illegals as a promising clientele for employment litigation. For example, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund has filed a class-action lawsuit against California grocery chains Albertson’s, Ralphs and Vons alleging that the stores violated the law by hiring independent-contractor firms to provide janitorial services; it claims they owe janitors who worked for these firms various retroactive benefits to which they would have been entitled had they been direct employees of the grocery chains. On Monday the Mexican consulate in San Diego lent its support to the campaign and urged janitors to sign up for the lawsuit, which is expected to go to trial in June. It is considered likely that many of the workers are illegals, but “Steven Joaquin Reyes, an attorney for the Mexican American legal aid group, said the workers do not have to be fearful because the judge in the case has already ruled that the workers’ immigration status is not relevant to the issue of whether they were paid fairly” — wink-wink, nudge-nudge (Edward Sifuentes, “Mexico urges Latino janitors to join class-action suit”, North County Times, Mar. 15). For more on the many-pronged legal campaign to make Southland grocery chains sorry they won their recent dispute with the United Food & Commercial Workers union, see Feb. 1.
Remedy for sending coupons: send more coupons
In the latest from the world of junk fax litigation (see Jul. 19, 2003, and links from there; Dec. 8), the bowling company AMF Bowling Centers has agreed to give out up to $1 million cash and $1.5 million in coupons to settle a class action alleging that it sent out as many as 352,000 unsolicited faxes. In addition, attorneys Lance McMillian and Stephen Camp of McMillian & Camp in Newnan, Ga. “will get a total of $250,000, while the lead plaintiff, James Michael Moore of Satellite Specialists in Jonesboro, will get $15,000.” AMF agreed to pay $500 to class members who actually kept a copy of an offending fax, while those who merely swear in an affidavit that they received one will get a less exhilarating prize, $250 in bowling coupons. Critics of the settlement say AMF is getting off too easily: under the terms of federal law, the company might have been liable for fines of between $176 million and $528 million if the charges were proven (see Oct. 22, 1999 for more on this calculus). Another Georgia attorney who had settled lawsuits with AMF over 141 junk faxes sent to his clients was also critical of the coupon aspect: “Sending similar coupons through junk-faxing is the conduct that got AMF in trouble. This is a settlement that enriches AMF and doesn’t provide a meaningful benefit to the consumer.” (Steven H. Pollak, “Junk Faxes Could Cost Bowling Co. $1 Million”, Fulton County Daily Report, May 2).
“Blair ally attacks British ‘culture’ of compensation”
“Britain suffers from a ‘compensation culture’ that deprives schools and hospitals of nearly ?700 million a year that could be spent on extra teachers and nurses, a close ally of Tony Blair says today. Stephen Byers, the former Trade Secretary who advises the Prime Minister on policy, is calling for sweeping legal reforms to stop funds being diverted from public services to those who ‘blame, claim and gain’ if things go wrong.” In a speech in Birmingham, Mr. Byers called for a national debate on claim payouts that have reached ?200 million a year for schools and ?477 million for claims against the National Health Service, enough to hire 8,000 teachers and 22,700 nurses, and have encouraged excessive caution in service provision, as with teachers’ reluctance to lead field trips (see Mar. 2). Among possible remedies: no-fault compensation, use of alternate dispute resolution, curbs on “no fee, no win” legal practice, and tighter scrutiny of misleading advertisements by lawyers. (Toby Helm, Daily Telegraph, Mar. 10). For many related posts, see our UK category.
Your laptop? Hand it over
Yet another hazard of modern divorce: the judge may forbid you to use, alter or even turn on your personal computer — work files and all — lest you erase or overwrite some email or spreadsheet that your hubby might want to hold against you. “Stamford Superior Court Judge Kevin Tierney recently took the highly unusual step of ordering Mary Ranta to stop using her laptop altogether and immediately turn it over to the court clerk’s office. … Tierney said his goal was to preserve electronic data for discovery.” (Thomas B. Scheffey, “Lockdown Ordered for Laptop”, Connecticut Law Tribune, Mar. 16).
Arizona wildlife: when in doubt, take it out
Arizona court decisions have recently eroded the state’s historical immunity from being sued over the actions of wild animals, and wildlife managers have been hit with two big liability payouts: a $2.5 million settlement for a girl mauled by a bear, and a $3 million jury verdict payable to a motorist whose vehicle struck an elk. Tucson attorney Mick Rusing, who defended the state in the bear case, says the cases influenced a recent decision to order mountain lions hunted in Sabino Canyon. “The default position of Game and Fish is now, ‘When in doubt, take it out,’ ” Rusing said. “If the courts and the Legislature are not going to protect these agencies and the people who make the decisions, that’s the way it’s going to be.” Rusing drafted a bill that would have provided immunity to game managers but the bill died “after trial lawyers opposed it and the Game and Fish Commission declined to support it.” (Tom Beal, “Bear, elk lawsuits influence lion hunt”, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), Mar. 13)
New batch of reader letters
We’ve posted four more entries from our alarmingly backed-up pipeline of reader letters, on our letters page. Among topics this time: the oddly divergent views of Wisconsin’s governor on the protection of lawful activities, with special reference to cheeseburger-selling and helmetless cycling; the recently announced class action settlement in Lamb v. Wells Fargo; complaints that some Texas jury pools are now “tainted” against lawsuits; and U-Haul’s role as bystander in the Ford Explorer litigation frenzy.