I’m guest-blogging for the entertaining David Lat at his Above the Law site today. Here’s a sample post:
Posts Tagged ‘about the site’
Strictly personal
For those who care about such things, there’s now a slightly updated version of my biographical page up, with (finally) a current photo of the new clean-shaven me (as I’ve been since last December).
“What should be taught in Torts?”
The new symposium on legal education at Bill Childs’ website is well worth a look-through, even aside from Ted’s contribution.
More on those Alltel ads
Wall Street Journal reporter Andrew Lavallee takes a thorough look at those buzz-creating “join the class action against Alltel” ads that have been running here (see right column) and on about 400 other weblogs (see Jul. 6). He quotes me and mentions this site at both the beginning and end of the article, and the graphic that runs with the article is none other than a screen capture of Overlawyered’s front page with a blowup of the ad. It’s in a section ordinarily available to WSJ subscribers only (“Alltel Spoofs Itself in Online Ads, But Not Everyone Gets the Joke”, Aug. 3) but seems to be temporarily available to non-subscribers here. (& WSJ law blog)
Baltimore Examiner (& publicity roundup)
Lawsuits filed against the city of Baltimore demand hundreds of millions of dollars, but the city pays out only a minute fraction of that sum — one of many reasons being that “the city caps awards for lawsuits at $200,000, save for intentional bad acts by city employees.” An editorial in the Baltimore Examiner quotes me on the subject (“Slow lawsuits; charge losers fees”, Jul. 13). For more on New York City’s tort predicament, see Jun. 15.
Last month Overlawyered.com was named “Web Site of the Day” by the Bulletin Board at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, one of the Twin Cities’ two big papers (Jun. 2). The British publication The Lawyer cited our coverage of Bill Lerach’s Enron fees (Jun. 5). And New York-based journalist Robert A. George (the “good” Robert George) calls this website “great”, though he erroneously thinks me a lawyer (Jun. 5).
I’ve also been quoted on same-sex marriage issues in a variety of venues, including by Lou Chibbaro Jr. in the Washington Blade (“Amendment bars states from marrying gay couples: experts”, Apr. 20); Jonathan Rauch at MarriageDebate.com (May 6); Andy Humm, “Gay Marriage Ruling Highlights a Changing Court”, Gotham Gazette, Jul. 10); and the Robert A. George post above. For more of my views on that subject, see Jun. 2, etc.
Overlawyered commenters in the spotlight
Word Around the Net is Christopher Taylor’s site devoted to reprinting interesting comment threads from around the blogosphere. His latest selection is the reader comments that followed our post on Allen Heckard, the Oregon man who’s tired of being mistaken for basketball star Michael Jordan and has reacted by suing Jordan and Nike’s Phil Knight.
Latest newsletter
It’s time you told a friend about Overlawyered’s free periodic newsletter (we assume you’ve long since subscribed on your own behalf). The latest installment went out to subscribers yesterday, summarizing highlights of recent postings in terse yet wry style. To read the latest issue — or to join or leave the list, change your address, etc. — visit this page (requires Google registration).
About that “Join My Class Action Suit” ad
I was getting ready to turn thumbs down on the BlogAd in the right column, the one that looks like it was placed by a class action lawyer soliciting clients. (Reader comments welcome: should we turn down ads promoting litigation?) Then I took a closer look at it…
Update Aug. 3: much more on the ad, from the WSJ.
Gone for a while
Personal and family business will be keeping me away from the computer for most of the next week. Keep watching this space for Ted’s and Hans’s contributions, though.
Am I a “hitman”?
I was so characterized by one Rep. Gary Ackerman (Jun. 13) because my testimony before a congressional subcommittee today about problems in securities class actions dared to mention Milberg Weiss. Decide for yourself.