Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Lawyers target milk

Jonathan Turley is fond of claiming (without any real basis) that litigation reform advocates make up stories to promote tort reform. The reality is that the plaintiffs’ bar provides us with stories far more entertaining than any fictional Winnebago lawsuit.

Remember the day of June 21, 2005, because that’s the day that a sufficient number of the world’s problems were solved that a “public-interest group” has nothing better to do than to troll for plaintiffs to sue the dairy industry for not putting warning labels on milk about lactose intolerance. This is yet another publicity stunt of Dan Kinburn and the misnamed Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, over 95% of whom are not physicians; last time they asked for publicity, we gave it to them. The American Medical Association has called PCRM a “fringe organization” that uses “unethical tactics” and is “interested in perverting medical science.” (via Taylor, who is waiting for vegetarians to sue over beef commercials)

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Housekeeping note

Mostly of interest to other webmasters: the continued assault of trackback spam (hundreds a day now) is making it increasingly hard to maintain our trackback function, especially given the tendency of this site to comment on matters involving casinos, obesity, pharmaceuticals, and other chronic spam-magnet topics. Rather than disabling trackback entirely, I’m going to experiment with turning it off for older posts that are heavily affected. If you happen to link to an older post on which trackback has been turned off, consider sending me an email to alert me (can’t guarantee a response, though, I’m afraid).

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Strippers, privacy and class actions (again)

Once again the application of class action procedure to the world of exotic dancing is raising privacy issues not encountered in your ordinary everyday class action. In recent Texas litigation (see May 3), the concern is the sending of notices in the mail to past lap-dance customers informing them of their rights to recovery over alleged fee overcharges (which notices will in some cases be opened by their outraged spouses and significant others). And now in a San Francisco wage-and-hour class action, former managers of one club are arguing that many of the exotic dancers themselves don’t want their real names known and face potentially harmful intrusions into their privacy under any notification plan likely to be effective (“Dear Former Exotic Dancer…”). A lawyer pressing the class action, which concerns alleged misclassification of the dancers as independent contractors, dismisses the management argument as merely tactical. (Pam Smith, “Privacy Worries Don’t Shake Up Stripper Class Action”, The Recorder, Jun. 14).

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U.K.: fruit trees get council axe

“A council is cutting down dozens of healthy trees because it fears that it will be sued if people slip on fallen fruit. Mature crab apple and pear trees are the prime targets of the cull by Havering council, east London, which said it had never been sued by anyone over rotten, slippery fruit on the pavement but the potential existed for such action.” Homeowners have protested, to no avail so far. (David Sapsted, “Trees cut down amid fears of fruit case”, Daily Telegraph, Jun. 18).

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Long sentences for liquor-serving mom and dad

Draconian character of philanthropic legislation, cont’d:

The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld yesterday the convictions of an Albemarle County couple sentenced to 27 months in jail for providing alcohol at their son’s 16th birthday in August 2002.

George and Elisa Robinson were sentenced originally in Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to eight years in prison but received the lesser terms after they appealed to Circuit Court….

The Robinsons have acknowledged a mistake in judgment but said they decided to provide alcohol in a safe environment to make sure that no one at the party would be driving under the influence of alcohol.

Cops had entered the couple’s property without a warrant; according to the Richmond paper, no sentence as high as 90 days had previously been handed down locally for a similar offense. (Alan Cooper, “Court upholds couple’s sentence”, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 18). Radley Balko has more (May 27).

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Rip tide warnings might pose legal danger

Putting up signs warning visitors of the dangerous rip currents off New Jersey’s Long Beach might seem like an obvious step. “However, Long Beach Township Attorney Richard Shackleton said there are liability issues to consider. According to the law, the town does not have to warn people about natural conditions, and if Long Beach put up a sign and a jury found its warnings to be inadequate, the town could possibly be found liable for a drowning or injury. Having no signs, he said, reduces the risk of being sued.” (Brian Prince, “Warning: Rip tide alerts not islandwide”, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, Jun. 15). See Jun. 30, 2004 (similar).

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New bloggers at Point of Law

Atlanta attorney Jonathan B. Wilson, author of the newly released book Out of Balance: Prescriptions for Reforming America’s Litigation System, has now begun blogging at our sister site Point of Law and also has his own weblog site which is eminently worth checking out. And next week two guest bloggers — both already well established on their own blogs — are scheduled to begin guestblogging stints there as well. Check it out!

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Update: Mississippi scandal latest

When prominent Mississippi trial lawyer asked his old law school classmate Leonard Radlauer to do him a favor — serve as the go-between in a transaction in which Minor paid off a $118,652 loan owed by former circuit judge John Whitfield — Minor was quite concerned that the local media not get wind of the transaction, according to Radlauer’s testimony in the ongoing corruption trial. Oops… (Jimmie E. Gates, “Minor’s money transfer recalled”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Jun. 7). More: Apr. 30, 2005, Sept. 20, 2003 and many others.

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