“Every time we go to hire an attorney to defend a lawsuit, as soon as we say ‘Ford Explorer,’ they charge us more money,” explains a company spokeswoman. Today’s Explorer is based on a design entirely different from the model that attracted rollover litigation in the 1990s, which doesn’t seem to matter. [Edward Niedermeyer, Truth About Cars]
Author Archive
Copycat reality-TV shows
At what point if ever do they rise to the level of legal infringement? [Matthew Belloni, THREsq.]
June 1 roundup
- More views on California prisoner release: Steve Chapman (California can incarcerate less and be safer), John Eastman/City Journal (state’s pols share blame for conditions), Sarah Hart, FedSoc SCOTUScast (sharing dissenters’ foreboding). Earlier here and here;
- Stephen Carter, “Economic Stagnation Explained, at 30,000 Feet” [Bloomberg/RCP]
- Long-running legal campaign aimed at blocking new coal-fired power plants [Conn Carroll, Examiner]
- Unconsciously? “We hope it sends a message that if you … unconsciously ignore the law, you could go to jail.” [WSJ Law Blog on prosecution of executive following pool drain entrapment death]
- Following outcry: “Disney withdraws application to trademark ‘SEAL Team 6′” [AP, earlier]
- More fact-checking of Scott Horton Guantanamo Harper’s article mysteriously awarded prize by ASME [Alex Koppelman/AdWeek, Joe Carter/First Things, Jack Shafer/Slate (citing “slipperiness and many flights of illogic”), FishBowlNY, Politico, Noah Davis/Business Insider, Cutline, earlier] Horton is a lecturer at Columbia Law and his piece drew on work done at Seton Hall Law. More: defense of Horton at leftist TruthOut site;
- Germans hesitate to join nanny-state parade [four years ago on Overlawyered]
“Media industry awash in cease-and-desist letters”
“Spin magazine slapped Eric Rice, a Portland, Oregon Twitter user, with a cease-and-desist over his ‘@Spin‘ Twitter handle…. Spin, however, may just be following the precedent set by other magazines. Entrepreneur, for one, is notorious for bullying small businesses that use the word ‘entrepreneur,’ a term that the magazine claims to own.” [Dylan Stableford, Yahoo Cutline]
“Lawsuit blames Tampa Electric for teen’s fall from pole”
“Was it a lack of common sense or utility company negligence that prompted a 16-year-old boy to climb a power pole, get shocked and fall 35 feet and into paralysis?” [St. Petersburg Times] Earlier zapped pylon-climbers here, here (also a Tampa Electric case), and here.
But is it constitutional?
“Philly judges tell reporter he can’t take notes in court” [Legal NewsLine]
Obama’s reluctant deregulation, cont’d
Last week the White House announced with some fanfare the results of federal agencies’ review of their operations to find outdated or unneeded regulations. At Cato at Liberty, I explain why many regulation-watchers are underwhelmed by the results. Mark Steyn at National Review is much funnier on the same topic, including EPA’s very belated recognition that dairy spills on farms are not actually “oil” spills, and also see his postscript on the lengths to which federal inspectors will go to catch out unlicensed use of rabbits in magic shows.
P.S. Much more from Richard Epstein at Hoover “Defining Ideas” (“Reform? What Reform?”).
May 31 roundup
- Reforms billed as loser-pays advance in Texas, but they’re very scaled-down [WSJ, WLF and more, Legal Blog Watch, Wood/PoL, Cary Gray/Houston Chronicle, WSJ Law Blog, earlier]
- “Refutation of Toyota sudden acceleration hysteria doesn’t stop Toyota sudden acceleration litigation” [Ted at PoL]
- “Five Questions With Legal Scholar Richard Epstein” [Jamie Weinstein, Daily Caller; his views on Title IX]
- Employers glad for small favors: “Refusing to Hire Applicant Who Fails Drug Test Not an ADA Violation” [Robin Weideman, California Labor and Employment Law Blog; Ninth Circuit]
- “Study Shows Litigation Doesn’t Improve Nursing Home Safety” [Studdert et al, NEJM via Daniel Fisher]
- Risperdal? No thanks: “Mother battles Michigan over daughter’s medication” [AP]
- Personal-injury litigation plummets in Australia following enactment of state-level reforms [seven years ago on Overlawyered]
“2006 Louisiana environmental law leads to jackpot justice”
Ted at Point of Law has details on an environmental-remediation law that has helped perpetuate a culture of big-ticket litigation: “One verdict awarded $54 million for environmental damage to a piece of land that was never worth more than $108,000.” We covered the long-running Exxon v. Grefer case, in which a jury ordered the oil company to pay $1 billion (later knocked down to $112 million) over an instance of contamination on land owned by a Louisiana judge’s family.
“I am a very emotional person, and will cry.”
The New York Times profiles Martin Singer, “pit bull” lawyer to celebrities and frequent Overlawyered mentionee. “Mr. Singer acknowledges that defamation suits are tough to win, and seldom pay much. Usually, his aim is suppression. ‘Our goal is to try to kill the story, to take action before things get out,’ says Mr. Singer.” Earlier here, here, here, and here.