Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Posts Tagged ‘California’

Sidewalks, ADA suits, and attorneys’ fees

According to Todd Roberson at CJAC, a federal court’s ruling in a 14-year dispute over street curbs and sidewalks in Riverside, California has headed off a potential “avalanche of lawsuits.” U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled the complainant in the case “had failed to demonstrate that Riverside as a whole is inaccessible to the disabled.”

Riverside’s City Attorney, Greg Priamos, was quoted in the Daily Journal saying the suit was “about money, not accessibility…The only hangup to a settlement earlier in the case was the amount of attorney’s fees. I’m offended by that.”

Filed under: , , ,

Radio: Dennis Prager show today, Ronn Owens show tomorrow

I’m scheduled to be a guest on two of the nation’s leading radio programs, both California-based: Dennis Prager’s today (Tuesday) (broadcast times vary; find a station), and Ronn Owens at San Francisco’s KGO AM 810 tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11 a.m. Pacific. Tune in and listen!

P.S. Both shows were a pleasure; host Prager generously singled out the book as “so devastating” and “mandatory reading,” and said it was “difficult to overstate the importance of this book.”

Filed under: , , , ,

April 10 roundup

  • Civil libertarian Wendy Kaminer on feminism and the Yale speech complaint [Atlantic, earlier]
  • Baylen Linnekin’s Keep Food Legal organization is having a membership drive;
  • Bounty-hunting West Coast lawyers can now sue employers for large sums over temperature and worker-seating violations of the California Labor Code [Cal Labor Law]
  • Current set of urban, suburban parking policies amount to “another great planning disaster.” [Donald Shoup, Cato Unbound]
  • $7500? Tennessee lawyer charged with rape of client released on $7500 bond [WMC via White Coat]
  • Stella Liebeck hot coffee case: Abnormal Use suspects that Cracked never read its FAQ on the subject (or for that matter many of our own postings);
  • Baltimore public housing refuses to pay lead poisoning awards; “too strapped” [Baltimore Sun]
  • “Mr. Potato Head” contest cited in discrimination lawsuit charging anti-Irish bias [Lowering the Bar]

Filed under: , , , , ,

Another serial ADA complainant, another closed restaurant

Donner Lake Kitchen, a popular family-owned restaurant in rural Truckee, Calif. is closing its doors following a legal battle with attorney Scott Johnson, who is said to have filed “countless” complaints of lack of handicap accessibility at California businesses. The owner estimates that $20,000-$60,000 in repairs and upgrades would have been needed to bring the dining establishment into ADA compliance. [Sierra Sun via CJAC]

Filed under: , ,

“Grace Period for ADA Modifications Proposed in Congress”

Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has reintroduced the ADA Notification Act, which “would provide businesses accused of an ADA violation with a 90-day grace period to make necessary modifications.” That would, among other effects, cut down on some opportunistic suit-filing that is aimed at the generating of attorneys’ fee entitlements. It is not entirely clear what effect it would have in states (like California itself) where lawyers prefer to sue under state laws that are more pro-plaintiff than the ADA itself. [East County Magazine via CJAC]

Filed under: , ,

March 24 roundup

  • “Woman suing Carnival: Ship sailed too fast, made me sick” [Gene Sloan, USA Today “Cruise Log”]
  • U.S. Department of Justice sues Illinois school district for denying Muslim teacher’s request for three-week Mecca-trip leave [WaPo]
  • “California Assembly Says Complying with Government Standards Not Enough to Avoid Punitive Damages” [Cal Civil Justice]
  • “Four Loko Suit Is an Example of Bogus Economic Loss Classes” [Russell Jackson]
  • New Benjamin Barton book on lawyer-judge bias reviewed by Larry Ribstein [TotM, earlier]
  • “Prolific Colorado Consumer Attorney Filed 2/3rds of State’s FDCPA Cases Since 2007” [ABA Journal]
  • Different kind of false marking case? Judge says company knowingly claimed inapplicable patent [WSJ Law Blog]
  • “Extra-special education at public expense” [five years ago on Overlawyered]

Filed under: , , , , , , ,