Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

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U.S. taxpayers won’t pay Lewinsky’s legal fees

Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky cannot recover the $1.1 million she spent on legal fees for the independent counsel investigation of President Clinton, a federal appeals panel ruled today. (Carol D. Leonnig and William Branigin, “Lewinsky Denied Reimbursement of Legal Fees,” Washington Post, Dec. 30; “Court rejects Lewinsky legal fees request,” Reuters, Dec. 30).

For the federal government to reimburse her under the applicable independent counsel statute, Lewinsky had to show that she would not have had to hire a lawyer, save for the independent counsel’s investigation. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected Lewinsky’s argument that “there would have been no investigation of her … conduct had it not involved the President,” noting that the independent counsel’s office argued that Lewinsky was accused of lying about her affair and perjuring herself. The panel also noted arguments by the independent counsel’s office that Lewinsky initially refused an immunity deal and incurred more than $800,000 in legal fees before negotiating a deal she found acceptable. The panel’s per curiam opinion, in In re Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, No. 94-00011, is available here.

Sometimes the system works

Despite much hue and cry about the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (see Dec. 29, 2003, almost immediately below, and Apr. 2-3, 2003, Sept. 9-10, 2002, Oct. 26-28, 2001), more than 95 percent of eligible families ultimately opted to file claims with the fund rather than going to court. (Jennifer Barrett, “A Dramatic Success,” Newsweek, Dec. 23 (via msnbc.com)).

More than 6,450 claims were received by the December 22nd midnight deadline, with about 70 of the remaining 150 eligible families having decided to pursue a lawsuit instead of filing with the fund. Other families have chosen to forego both a lawsuit and the administrative fund, saying others need the money more than they do. “None of us were dependent on” our sister, one such family member explained, “and none of us wanted to gain from her death.” (Stephanie Saul, “Foregoing the WTC Victims’ Fund,” NYNewsday, Dec. 23).

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New 9/11 lawsuits/conspiracy theories

A Florida lawyer has filed suit against the city of New York on behalf of some plaintiffs who feel that deaths of family members in the World Trade Center were the fault of the city, and hope to maintain the lawsuit and simultaneously collect from the Federal Victims Compensation Fund. A plaintiff blames sinister forces for her inability to find a lawyer closer to home.

One of the plaintiffs, Catherine “Sally” Regenhard, said she spent two years trying to find a New York City lawyer who would file the lawsuit.

“I couldn’t get one New York City law firm to touch this legal issue with a 10-foot pole,” Regenhard said. “You ever hear the saying ‘You’ll never eat lunch in this town again?’ I guess the lawyers have to keep eating lunch in New York City. It’s political.”

The real reason, one suspects, is that the New York lawyers might be aware that submitting a claim to the Fund waives all lawsuits against other entities (with the exception of the terrorists themselves and collateral claims on insurance policies), a fact that her lawyer, Barry Cohen, disputes in an interview with the Tampa Tribune. Apparently neither Mr. Cohen nor the newspaper could be bothered to check the Federal Fund’s web site for a definitive answer. (Joshua B. Good, “Tampa, Fla., Lawyer Sues New York on Behalf of Sept. 11 Families”, Tampa Tribune, Dec. 24; Graham Brink, “Tampa attorneys file 9/11 lawsuit”, St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 24). Fortunately for Mr. Cohen’s malpractice carrier and his clients, the effect of any conflict would be to nullify his lawsuit rather than his clients’ rights to receive compensation from the government.

Lest you think that takes the cake, the SoCalLawBlog informs us of an even nuttier lawsuit that blames the September 11 attack on a RICO conspiracy involving, among others, the first President Bush, Condoleeza Rice, the Council for Foreign Relations, and Kenneth Feinberg. (complaint; press release, Nov. 26). The non-lunatic media’s refusal to cover this before now is, no doubt, part of the conspiracy.

Read On…

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Guestblogger Leah Lorber returns

Attorney/author Leah Lorber, a product liability and tort reform expert who practices with the law firm of Shook, Hardy and Bacon in Washington, joined us last summer as one of our guest bloggers (see various entries between Jul. 29 and Aug. 6). We’re happy to announce that she’ll be back for another week-long stint, starting tomorrow. I’ll be continuing to post too, but probably at a reduced pace.

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Slip on grape = $41,000

The Iowa Court of Appeals last week upheld a jury’s award of $41,267 to shopper Judy Krenk, who said she slipped on a grape at the checkout aisle at the No Frills Supermarket. The store owners “claimed the managers hadn’t been notified about a hazardous condition and therefore were not negligent. … The ruling noted that it wasn’t clear how the grape got on the floor.” The jury awarded Krenk $82,535, but ruled that the accident was 50 percent her fault, so it was cut in half. (Frank Santiago, “Court upholds award to shopper who slipped on grape”, Des Moines Register, Dec. 25).

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Haiti to France: pay us $21,685,135,571.48

Reparations madness, cont’d: almost 200 years after a slave revolt won Haiti’s independence, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide “has launched a controversial campaign to get France to repay its former colony billions of dollars in restitution. And he has already sent Paris a bill, down to the very last cent: $21,685,135,571.48.” A legal adviser to the Aristide administration is considering taking the case to international court (Jacqueline Charles, “Aristide pushes for restitution from France”, Miami Herald, Dec. 18; Henry Samuel, “You owe us $21,685,135,571.48”, Daily Telegraph (UK), Oct. 8; “The sad bicentennial of a once fabulous sugar colony”, The Economist, Dec. 18). No word yet on whether any reparations will be offered in the opposite direction for the 1804 massacres during which newly emergent strongman Jean-Jacques Dessalines ordered the slaughter of almost the entire French population resident in Haiti, an estimated 20,000 persons. (Update: another side of the story from Tunku Varadarajan, who argues that the government of France really was “first a brutal colonizer, and then a usurious bully”.)

In other news, the highly popular videogame “Vice City”, part of the Grand Theft Auto series, has drawn fire from New York and Florida officials “and from the government of Haiti, which has threatened to sue the game’s manufacturer, New York-based Rockstar Games, its parent company, Take 2 Interactive Software Inc., and the game’s distributors. A Miami lawyer representing the Haitian government said the game violates the hate crime laws of Florida and other states. ‘It’s the kind of thing that has no business being sold because it’s not just a game,’ attorney Ira Kurzban told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. ‘It’s a teaching device for young kids and high school students. What is it teaching them? Violence, hatred and racism.'” (“Haitian, Cuban Leaders Denounce ‘Grand Theft Auto'”, WTVJ South Florida, Dec. 16). More on videogame lawsuits: Sept. 26 and links from there.

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Update: PetsWarehouse suits

Robert Novak of Long Island has suffered yet another setback in his series of lawsuits against aquarium hobbyists and others arising from criticism of Novak’s business in online forums (see Oct. 5 and links from there). Last month federal judge Denis Hurley granted a motion to dismiss most of the defendants in one of Novak’s actions for lack of personal jurisdiction (case summary at defendant’s site). Update Oct. 16, 2004: Novak prevails in an Alabama action and regains domain.

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Cake decorators face lawyer Grinch

Dragees–the silver-coated balls of sugar decorating many Christmas treats–have been withdrawn from the market in California, as wholesalers and bakers refuse to sell the popular product for fear of being named in a pending suit by a private Napa lawyer against Martha Stewart, Dean and DeLuca, and other purveyors. The low-cost product wasn’t worth defending in an expensive trial. State regulators saw no reason to act, but California law permits private citizens to bring suit.

“We are not aware of any health problems associated with this product,” said Lea Brooks of the California Department of Health Services. “Levels of the metal are extremely low — you’d have to consume massive quantities. We don’t know how much.”

Rebels may still purchase the product in the other 49 states of the Union. (Carol Ness, “Bay Area faces holidays without little silver balls on baked goods”, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 23 (via Daily Legal Newswire); David Ryan, “Napa suit ends sales of cake decoration”, Napa Valley Register, Dec. 9).

Read On…

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Holiday break; Vancouver radio

I’ll be enjoying the holiday for the rest of the week, so postings will come either from Ted Frank or not at all. See you next Monday, most likely. Also, I’m scheduled to appear as a guest next Monday (Dec. 29) on the Bill Good show on Vancouver’s CKNW radio, at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time.

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