…and so a jury has ordered the trucking company, Auction Transport Inc., to pay $22.5 million over the resulting injuries to a young passenger in the accident, which occurred at rush hour on Kansas City’s I-435. Mary Coleman’s car, allegedly sideswiped by a third vehicle, had careened in front of the truck, but attorneys argued that the truck driver had been “driving too fast in congested traffic and not watching the road.” The jury found the trucking company responsible for just less than half the fault of the accident — a greater share of fault than the allegedly sideswiping driver — and Coleman for hardly any of it; the application of Missouri’s joint and several liability rule ensures that the company will be on the hook for nearly the entire amount. Good thing the truck had not swerved unpredictably into the car’s path to cause the accident — then it would have been more the fault of the car than of any other party, right? (Joe Lambe, “Crash victim awarded millions”, Kansas City Star, Sept. 25). More: CoyoteBlog comments.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Ted’s mythbusting at Point of Law
Maybe he’s too modest to mention it here, but over at our sister website, Ted has been on a roll with several devastating posts correcting fallacies that have circulated during the past week’s intense news coverage of liability reform:
* The George Soros-sponsored, David Brock-run media gadfly organization, Media Matters for America, recently criticized the Washington Post for running coverage that was not (to its taste) sufficiently critical of medical malpractice reform. Trouble is, as Ted shows, Media Matters itself blundered into whopping errors on the subject, badly misrepresenting the views of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). “This is what MMFA gets for relying on ATLA fact sheets instead of primary sources.”
* Pointing to evidence that payouts by 98 Massachusetts doctors accounted for more than 13 percent of one year’s malpractice payouts in the state, the New York Times concluded that cracking down on bad doctors could greatly help the malpractice crisis. But the numbers announced in the study warrant no such conclusion;
* The Association of Trial Lawyers of America is out with a supposed fact sheet on medical malpractice, which (no surprise) Ted finds to be full of gross distortions. Equally embarrassing, he catches Illinois Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky posting on her official website a huge chunk of the lame ATLA argumentation, cut and pasted without acknowledgment of its interest-group origins. (Allen Adomite at Illinois Civil Justice League has more).
* Finally, Ted discovers the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association claiming that a profitable year in the property insurance business is reason to doubt that there’s a crisis in the liability insurance business.
Tune in: CNN, Wisconsin radio
I’m scheduled as a guest tomorrow on CNN Saturday Morning (8-9 a.m. Eastern time slot), discussing recent developments in criminal cases such as the overturning of Andrea Yates’s conviction (as opposed to civil litigation, my more usual topic)(more on criminal law). And today at around 2:35 p.m. Central I’m scheduled to appear on Madison, Wisc.’s WIBA radio, discussing President Bush’s medical malpractice proposals (more on medicine and law).
Rats vs. ratings
A man upset by what he saw on NBC’s “Fear Factor” is suing the program. He says he threw up after he saw contestants eat (drink?) rats chopped up in a blender. Austin Aitken is a regular viewer of the program and was fine with shows in which contestants ate worms and bugs. He says he’s not concerned with actually winning, just sending a message to NBC. His suit asks for $2.5-million. Associated Press, “Rats don’t rate with viewer,” Jan. 7. From the story:
Aitken, a 49-year-old part-time paralegal, said he wants to send a message to NBC and other networks with the lawsuit. He said he isn’t concerned with winning a cash judgment in court.
On that note, Eugene Volokh points out the following from an earlier Reuters report: “In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Aitken said, ‘I am not at liberty to discuss the complaint unless it is a paid-interview situation.'” Reuters, “NBC’s ‘Fear Factor’ Sued for Rat-Eating Episode,” Jan. 5. Update Mar. 15: judge tosses suit.
Conference next Thursday: lessons of the 9/11 fund
Next Thursday, Jan. 13, the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy is giving a half-day symposium in Washington, D.C. on “The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund: Successes, Failures, and Lessons for Tort Reform”. The event is at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill and runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (agenda and registration). I’ll be on the second of the day’s two panels with very brief remarks responding to the primary paper(s). Among notable panelists are Yale Law’s Peter Schuck and Robert Reville, director of the Rand Institute for Civil Justice; Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the 9/11 Fund, will deliver the luncheon address.
Overlawyered on Orlando radio
I’ll be a guest on 1190 WAMT in Orlando this Saturday, scheduled to appear on “Legal Forum” at about 2:35 p.m. Eastern. Internet streaming is available on their site.
MSNBC’s “Abrams Report” tonight
I’m scheduled to be a guest on MSNBC’s “Abrams Report” tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern, discussing the impact of litigation on society.
Guest Blogger
Hey folks. I’m Caleb Brown. I work in radio and I do occasional freelance writing. If my blog were a child, social services would have taken her away a long time ago for neglect. I have a dog and I play the banjo. And to answer your questions: Yes, I live in Kentucky and yes, I do drink bourbon. Guestbloggin’ commences later today. My thanks to Walter Olson for the opportunity.
Guest blogger tomorrow
An all-new guestblogger will be joining us tomorrow. For full details, check back then.
Update: judge dismisses apartheid suits
Updating our Aug. 8, 2003 post (and links from there): “Lawsuits seeking more than $400 billion in damages from US corporations for victims of apartheid in South Africa were tossed out [Nov. 30] by a federal judge who said the claims bordered on the frivolous.” (Boston.com/AMABoston, Dec. 1; David Teather, “Apartheid court case dismissed”, Guardian (UK), Nov. 30; Mark Hamblett, “Businesses Win End to Multiple Apartheid Suits”, New York Law Journal, Dec. 1). The South African government, along with former South African president Nelson Mandela, had strongly opposed the suits. (Jonathan Ancer, “Activists hit out at ‘reactionary’ government”, Independent Online (South Africa), Dec. 7). The U.S. Council for International Business was of course pleased. Brandon Hamber has a weblog and site supporting the apartheid reparations claims.