David Michaels – Overlawyered

Senate panel approves David Michaels

Walter Olson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:56:55 +0000

Carter Wood at Point of Law, Hans Bader at the Examiner, and David Kopel at Opposing Views have more about the oughta-be-controversial OSHA nominee.

Tags: David Michaels

Senate panel approves David Michaels is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 13 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:57:54 +0000

“Jailed Inventor Reveals Details of Patent Troll Settlements” [AmLaw Daily, IP Law and Business]
Sprinkler law inspired by Great White nightclub disaster could kill off small Seattle music venues [Nicole Brodeur, Seattle Times]
Court tosses law student’s suit against lawyer who boasted on air he’d pay a million bucks if anyone could prove him wrong about his case [Hoffman, ConcurOp; earlier]
Baseball-anthem case: “The Boston resident who saw his recent copyright claim against Bon Jovi dismissed is appealing the verdict.” [NME, earlier]
Man who climbed Mount Rainier while drawing workers’ comp pleads not guilty to fraud charge [KOMO; more on Washington workers’ comp here, here and here]
Senate committee intends to vote next week on OSHA nomination of David Michaels without holding a hearing to air critics’ concerns [Carter Wood, ShopFloor]
Blawg Review #237 is at Christian Metcalfe’s U.K. Property Law Blog;
Are you sure you want to open that high-end restaurant in San Francisco given the city’s regulatory climate? [Crispy on the Outside citing SF Weekly interview with Daniel Patterson]

Tags: David Michaels, music and musicians, patent trolls, restaurants, San Francisco, Washington state, workers' compensation

November 13 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:41:20 +0000

Four California lawyers accused in what prosecutors say is giant insurance fraud ring employing staged or “paper” car wrecks, Mark Geragos is defending [Metropolitan News-Enterprise, Glendale News-Press via ABA Journal]
“Civil Gideon law could overwhelm civil courts”, Ted is interviewed again [Legal NewsLine, earlier]
“Is that a popularly-elected state judge in your pocket?” [What About Clients?, earlier]
Audit Integrity, sued by Hertz over financial risk assessment, takes case to SEC [Felix Salmon, earlier]
OSHA nominee David Michaels, SKAPP and the right to bear arms, continued [David Kopel/America’s First Freedom, earlier and more]
NJ case raises knotty questions of press liability for reporting allegations in lawsuits [WSJ Law Blog]
Washtenaw Jail Diary, which made splash on Twitter earlier this year, now reprinting at Ann Arbor Chronicle (earlier);
“Not every country bubblewraps its kids” [Free-Range Kids on Germany] Background checks for senior-center pen pals and more school overprotectiveness [same]

Tags: child protection, civil gideon, crash faking, David Michaels, insurance fraud, judicial elections, libel slander and defamation

November 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

New at Point of Law

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:08:55 +0000

Things you’re missing if you’re not keeping up with my other site:

Judge dismisses much-watched Kivalina suit demanding damages for Inuit village from global warming;
Supreme Court will tackle controversial doctrine of “honest services fraud”;
Class action lawyer Sean Coffey [Bernstein Litovitz] may run for New York attorney general;
Not even a hearing before Senate confirms OSHA nominee David Michaels?
Law firm pay-to-play in representing New York public pension funds. And Spitzer: let’s use public pension funds to annihilate the U.S. Chamber;
When Teamster librarians signal you to be quiet, you’d better be quiet, understand? And Connecticut orders utilities not to lay off workers.

Tags: attorneys general, Connecticut, David Michaels, Eliot Spitzer, labor unions

New at Point of Law is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

September 25 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:12:45 +0000

“Highly embarrassing …ugly”: Florida Justice Association apologizes for race-baiting mailer intended to sway state senate race [Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel]
Fanny-state regulation: they wouldn’t really ban soft toilet paper, would they? [Washington Post via Logomasini, CEI “Open Market”]
Update on David Michaels OSHA nomination [Carter Wood, PoL] More: Fox News.
Library of Congress has expanded its law research website, includes archiving project for legal weblogs including this one;
David Leonhardt, NYT economics columnist, looks at defensive medicine debate [“Economic Scene”]
“Republicans denounce identity politics, except when they engage in it themselves.” [Heather Mac Donald, Secular Right]
Aw: Ron Coleman recalls “one of my proudest weeks of blogging”. [Likelihood of Success]
Dewey Decimal System owner sues NYC’s Library Hotel [six years ago at Overlawyered — link fixed now]

Tags: David Michaels, defensive medicine, Florida, Heather Mac Donald, nanny state, OSHA, politics, state trial lawyers groups

September 25 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

David Michaels and gun control

Walter Olson — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:52:06 +0000

The controversial OSHA nominee and left-leaning public health advocate also seems to have strong views on firearms issues. That’s by no means irrelevant to the agenda of an agency like OSHA, because once you start viewing private gun ownership as a public health menace, it begins to seem logical to use the powers of government to urge or even require employers to forbid workers from possessing guns on company premises, up to and including parking lots, ostensibly for the protection of co-workers. In addition, OSHA has authority to regulate the working conditions of various job categories associated with firearms use (security guards, hunting guides, etc.) and could in that capacity do much to bring grief to Second Amendment values.

Senators have put nominations on hold for less. It will be interesting to see whether they take an interest in Michaels’ views on gun restrictions and their place in OSHA’s agenda (& welcome Instapundit, Point of Law, Snowflakes in Hell, CEI “Open Market”, NRA-ILA readers). More: David Codrea/Examiner, Carter Wood/ShopFloor.

Tags: David Michaels, guns, OSHA

David Michaels and gun control is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system