Plaintiff’s lawyers have for years pursued a grudge match against the Allstate insurance company because of its “Do You Need An Attorney?” campaign, launched in the mid-1990s, by which the company suggests to persons with possible claims against its policyholders that it may not be absolutely necessary for them to sign up with a lawyer (see Apr. 18, 2000; Dec. 22, 1999). In the state of Connecticut, scene of some of the fiercest skirmishing, the attorneys’ fondest hopes have not been realized: in January a federal judge ruled in Allstate’s favor “on claims it breached an implied contract of good faith and fair dealing, and was engaging in unfair trade practice, unfair insurance practice, recklessness and fraud.” However, it’s not as if the insurer, which is based in Northbrook, Ill., is now free to say whatever it pleases in post-car-crash situations in the Nutmeg State: “In 1996, as president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, Reardon [New London plaintiffs’ attorney Robert I. Reardon] successfully lobbied for a new law that forbids insurers from discouraging their adversaries from hiring a lawyer.” (Thomas B. Scheffey, “Allstate Victorious in Anti-Lawyer Campaign”, Connecticut Law Tribune, Feb. 2).
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Find this man a dictionary
“‘I don’t think censorship is a bad word, but it has become a bad word because everybody associates it with some kind of restriction on liberty,’ said Mr. [Pat] Boone, who is in Washington making the rounds as the national spokesman for the 60-Plus Association, a conservative senior citizen lobby.” (Steve Miller, “Censorship in arts ‘healthy,’ Boone says”, Washington Times, Apr. 21)(via TMFTML).
Admirers of North Korea, at a law school near you
That Kim Jong Il regime, so misunderstood — if the poor dears misbehave, it’s only because the evil United States drove them to it. That’s the gist of a new report (PDF) from the National Lawyers Guild’s “Delegation to the Democratic Peoples Republic Of Korea“. The NLG, which we last discussed Apr. 27, 2000 in connection with its similar views of Castro’s Cuba, is an Old Left remnant which no longer has much visibility (if it ever did) in the world of actual law practice. But it’s surprisingly well organized at law schools, as witness its directory of student chapters and contacts, which lists nearly 100 campuses. FrontPage magazine has run caustic coverage of the group and its latest venture: Shawn Macomber, “North Korean Lawyers Guild”, Apr. 22; Jesse Rigsby, “NLG: The Legal Fifth Column”, Apr. 25, 2003 (also mentions dissension within the group’s ranks). Newmark’s Door, CrosBlog and Milt Rosenberg (scroll) comment.
“Is talking about online gambling illegal?”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, running an ad for an offshore Internet casino may amount to “aiding and abetting” illegal gambling, a felony punishable by up to two years in prison. Rendering banking, computer-security or public-relations services to such a website — or maybe even mentioning its name — might constitute a violation as well, and it matters not that the site may be entirely lawful in the country from which it operates. Although it is far from clear that U.S. prosecutors could actually obtain convictions that would stand up on such charges, both Google and Yahoo have capitulated and agreed to stop running such ads, which “illustrates the chilling effect of vague laws in the hands of ambitious prosecutors,” writes Jacob Sullum. (“Abetting betting”, syndicated/Reason, Apr. 9). Update Aug. 9: and here come the class action suits.
Signed a waiver? Doesn’t matter
Courts stoking the litigation explosion: “For years, companies that sponsor higher risk activities such as scuba diving and skydiving have asked participants to sign waivers designed to absolve them from lawsuits if injury or death results. Yesterday, a [New Jersey] state appeals court declared those release forms do not bar relatives from filing a wrongful death lawsuit. … The court said while [Eugene J.] Pietroluongo [who died in a scuba diving accident at age 44] had the power to sign away his right to sue, the law did not allow him to sign away the rights of his survivors to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.” The court declared the waiver, voluntary or no, to be unenforceable as a policy matter. Attorneys, presumably deadpan, said the decision “could result in more lawsuits”. (Kathy Barrett Carter, “Survivors can sue despite a waiver”, Newark Star-Ledger, Apr. 13)(& letters to the editor, Jul. 26: first, second).
Update: German court dismisses licorice-addiction suit
Update to our Apr. 16 story: Margit Kieske, 48, who says she developed heart problems after consuming nearly one pound of licorice per day, has lost her suit against the German confectioner Haribo for not posting a health warning on boxes of the candy. A court in Bonn ruled that the company had complied with the law, which provides that special labeling is needed only if licorice contains more than 0.2 percent of glycyrrhizin, a threshold not reached by the candies in question. (“Licorice Lawsuit Goes Down the Tubes”, Fox News, Apr. 20).
New batch of reader letters
Still far from caught up, we’ve posted four more entries from our pipeline of reader letters on our letters page. Our favorite this time comes from a reader who was a class member in a class action suit filed against companies alleged to have sent out unsolicited (“junk”) faxes. How was the settlement notice sent out to the class? Why, via another unsolicited fax. Among topics of other letters: a $4.75 million settlement payable by a Massachusetts utility because its driver tried to be courteous and wave a pedestrian into traffic, where she was hit by another vehicle that failed to stop; the case of the fired Dallas police chief who, fragile of soul, wants $5 million for his emotional anguish at the episode; and finally, a letter from another trial lawyer who appears not to like us very much.
Update: judge cuts Ala. Exxon verdict to $3.6 billion
Big numbers dept.: “Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, persuaded an Alabama state court judge to cut a $11.9 billion verdict to $3.6 billion [last month] in a lawsuit over natural gas royalties.” (“Exxon Verdict Cut to $3.6 Bln in Alabama Gas Suit”, Bloomberg, Mar. 29). See Dec. 1, 2003; Dec. 20, 2000. Lawyers in Texas are organizing a similar suit by public entities there — no-fee, no-win, of course: Patrina A. Bostic, “Entities might sue large oil companies”, Longview News-Journal, Apr. 7.
Update: stripped of her big award
The Georgia Court of Appeals has stripped Vanessa Steele-Inman of her million-dollar jury award against the owners and managers of Atlanta’s Pink Pony nightclub over alleged irregularities in the 1997 Miss Nude World International pageant (see Jul. 26-27, 2000, Mar. 23-25, 2001). (Jonathan Ringel, “Miss Nude Contestant Stripped of Court Victory”, Fulton County Daily Report, Mar. 30).
“Licorice Addict Sues German Confectioner”
Food-overuse suits not solely an American phenomenon: “German candy manufacturer Haribo has been sued by a woman who blames her addiction to licorice and consequent heart problems on the confectioner, according to a Berlin court announcement. The 48-year-old plaintiff from Berlin is asking for ?6,000 ($7,148) in damages from Haribo because she developed heart problems after consuming 400 grams (14 ounces) of the chewy candy every day for four months.” Medical literature has warned that the active compound in licorice, glycyrrhizin, can cause physiological effects when consumed in extremely large quantities. (Deutsche Welle, Apr. 16). See also Nov. 14, 2001. Update Apr. 20: court dismisses suit, saying product was correctly labeled.