I’ve got a new post up at Cato at Liberty on the new report that NHTSA investigators found no electronic flaws in the cars and extensive evidence of driver error. Ted’s post yesterday is below. Press coverage of yesterday’s numbers: USA Today, Bloomberg (Litigation Lobby figure Joan Claybrook doubles down on gotta-be-electronics line), Boston Globe (& welcome The Week readers).
Author Archive
“Judge OKs grisly insurance payout”
Coverage that exceeds expectations? “A Nassau County judge has ruled that MetLife must pay as much as $300,000 for Jacqueline Marshall to defend herself against a negligence lawsuit filed because her mentally ill son, Evan Marshall, then 31, decapitated and dismembered her neighbor.” [NY Post]
The Onion on network safety scares
Truck Accident That Killed Rafters in Canyon Sparks Truck-Canyon-Rafter Reform Debate
You mean this is just satire? It seems so much like an actual network report.
“Teacher claims A$400,000 damages from injuries to larynx from yelling at students”
Australia: “A Bundaberg school teacher who claims she damaged her larynx yelling at children, including some with special needs, is suing the State Government for more than $400,000.” [Queensland Sunday Mail]
July 13 roundup
- Wal-Mart spending millions to fight $7,000 OSHA fine? Not so paradoxical when you think about it [Coyote]
- Proliferation of product recalls, as with warnings, can result in consumer fatigue and inattention [WaPo via PoL]
- Settlement said to be near between casino and gambler who lost $127 million [WSJ, UPI, earlier]
- “Think Globally, Sue Locally: Out-of-Court Tactics Employed by Plaintiffs, Their Lawyers, and Their Advocates in Transnational Tort Cases” [study, PDF and press release; Jonathan Drimmer for US Chamber, related WSJ]
- “End of an Era? Another Crunch Berries Case Dismissed” [Lowering the Bar, California Civil Justice, earlier on “froot” cases here, here, etc.]
- New Jersey: “School legal costs are a killer” [Rayner, Daily Record]
- ABA Journal profiles Ted Frank;
- We’re the ones who write the laws around here, not you legislators: Washington Supreme Court strikes down med-mal notice law [SeattlePI.com]
International gun control?
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley wants to begin a new chapter in gun-control-through-litigation by commencing proceedings in the World Court. I discuss that wretched idea at Cato at Liberty (& thanks to Glenn Reynolds and Damon Root for the links)
“15 of the Most Ridiculous Celebrity Lawsuits”
This listicle from PopCrunch does remind us that it was only a few months ago that Lindsay Lohan filed a ridiculous lawsuit against E-Trade over an ad that included a “milkoholic” named Lindsay. Also on the list: a David Geffen suit against Neil Young for making “uncharacteristic and uncommercial” music, and the ‘Heeeere’s Johnny” portable-toilet fracas.
Stop worrying so much about safety…
…and give the poor lady a cookie [Lenore Skenazy via Amy Alkon]
July 12 roundup
- Kagan to senators: please don’t confuse my views with Mark Tushnet’s or Harold Koh’s [Constitutional Law Prof]
- Too much like a Star Wars lightsaber? Lucasfilm sends a cease-and-desist to a laser pointer maker [Mystal, AtL]
- Ottawa, Canada: family files complaint “against trendy wine bar that turned away dinner party because it included 3mo baby” [Drew Halfnight, National Post]
- “House left Class Action Fairness Act alone in SPILL Act” [Wood/PoL, earlier]
- Not so indie? Filmmaker doing anti-Dole documentary on Nicaraguan banana workers says he took cash from big plaintiff’s law firm Provost Umphrey [AP/WaPo, WSJLawBlog, Erik Gardner/THREsq., new plaintiffs’ charges against Dole]
- Will liability ruling result in closure of popular Connecticut recreational area? [Rick Green, Hartford Courant; earlier]
- Class action lawyer Sean Coffey, running for New York attorney general, has many generous supporters [NYDN, more, WNYC (Sen. Al Franken headlines closed fundraiser at Yale Club)]
- “Judge Reduces Damages Award by 90% in Boston Music Downloading Trial” [NLJ, earlier on Tenenbaum case]
“Marine recruit sues Corps for making him exercise in the summer”
“A Marine recruit is suing his recruiters and the U.S. Marine Corps after he suffered a heat stroke during what he claims was vigorous physical activity in extreme heat conditions.” [SE Texas Record via (language) Popehat]
P.S. Note readers’ comments on the differences between the “pre-entry” training at issue here and the boot camp that would follow actual enlistment.