John O’Quinn – Overlawyered

Product liability roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:05:07 +0000

The late John O’Quinn was an Overlawyered regular: “Ex-clients’ complaint vs silicosis lawyers is catalog of misconduct” [Alison Frankel, Reuters; Ted Frank, Point of Law] More: Houston Chronicle, SE Texas Record, ABA Journal, JD Journal.
“How Lawsuits Killed an American Icon” [Rocky Flick, CEO, on closure of Blitz gas can plant in Oklahoma; U.S. Chamber’s Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, auto-plays video; earlier here, here, here]
“Angelos seeks to revive more than 13,000 asbestos cases” [Baltimore Sun] Virginia is latest state to wrestle with asbestos causation standard [David Oliver] Asbestos forum-shopping alive and well in Madison County, Ill., with record-breaking 1,563 cases filed last year [Chamber-backed Madison County Record]
More on why Toyota settled dubious acceleration case [Michael Krauss, earlier]
Alabama rules brand-name drug manufacturer can be held liable for generic version’s lack of a warning [Weeks v. Wyeth; Meghan McCaffrey, Weil Gotshal Product Liability Monitor; Morrison Foerster client alert; Michael Krauss] Standards of causation in pharmaceutical cases haven’t been loosened as far as in asbestos [Beck, Drug & Device Law]
From Judge Gladys Kessler, another sweeping ruling against tobacco companies [Brian Wolfman, CL&P]
In the coming era of driverless cars, better to empower a robotic “intersection controller,” or rely on intelligence distributed among the individual vehicles? [Mickey Kaus, Jack Baruth/Truth About Cars, E.W. Niedermeyer first, second]

Tags: Alabama, asbestos, John O'Quinn, pharmaceuticals, silicosis, tobacco, Toyota, traffic laws, Virginia

Product liability roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 10 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 10 May 2011 12:53:15 +0000

Hey, why don’t we invade people’s privacy so we can recruit them as figureheads for our privacy-invasion class action? [Cal Biz Lit, earlier on Starbucks pot-convictions case] Class-action coupon settlements are a no-win for consumers [Michelle Singletary, WaPo]
“Former Silicosis Clients Sue O’Quinn Law Firm, Estate” [Texas Lawyer via PoL, related earlier]
Gathering ammunition for suits: “Are your employees recording you?” [Hyman]
Canada: “Inflatables too dangerous for school fair” [Free-Range Kids]
Evaluating the effectiveness of medical liability reforms [Kachalia & Mello, NEJM]
“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About ‘Judge Judy’” [TV Squad]
“Woman awarded $45,000 after dog kills cat” [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: class actions, John O'Quinn, lawyering vs. privacy, medical malpractice, recreation

May 10 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: O’Quinn estate will refund $46.5 million to implant clients

Walter Olson — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:34:09 +0000

As longtime readers of this site know well, the late mass tort king John O’Quinn nicked the accounts of breast implant plaintiffs with a fortune in unauthorized overcharges. Austin attorney Terry Scarborough, who spent ten years helping get some of the money back, “says he could have built a practice based on people itching to sue O’Quinn, whose generosity toward charitable and Democratic causes was shadowed by a reputation for stiffing fellow attorneys — a mortal sin in the practice of law.” [Austin American-Statesman, Texas Lawyer]

Tags: attorneys' fees, John O'Quinn, silicone breast implants

Update: O’Quinn estate will refund $46.5 million to implant clients is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:36:29 +0000

“Truck drivers with positive drug tests should not file lawsuits … period.” [Jon Hyman, Ohio Employer’s Law]
Tiger Woods hires a Hollywood law firm famous for its nastygrams to the press [Bronstad, NLJ; earlier on Lavely & Singer]
“Mom Who Let Kids Play Outside Threatened by Cops” [Aliso Viejo, Calif.; Free-Range Kids]
When you’re embarking on the business of not raising pigs, best to start small and ramp up from there [Coyote, U.K.]
Harvey Silverglate, author of Three Felonies a Day, guestblogging at Volokh Conspiracy on, inter alia, “honest services fraud“;
If you’re uneasy about the FTC’s claims to regulate blogger freebies and other entanglements of commerce with online speech, wait till the agency gets the beefed-up enforcement powers it’s seeking [WSJ editorial]
Replaying a discussion familiar in this country, Israel wonders whether it’s got too many lawyers [Jerusalem Post]
“Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against O’Quinn Estate Over Fatal Car Crash” [Texas Lawyer]

Tags: child protection, Federal Trade Commission, illegal drugs, Israel, John O'Quinn

December 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 1 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:51:46 +0000

Hertz drops libel lawsuit against investor research outfit that claimed its solvency was at risk [Crain’s New York, earlier]
Report: New Jersey blogger jailed for threats against federal judges was on FBI informant payroll [AP]
“Bentley Photos Are Props in Willie Gary’s High School Motivational Speech” [ABA Journal]
Australian personal injury lawyers evade ad ban [Sydney Morning Herald]
Scott Rothstein’s alleged Ponzi scheme “targeted people who invested in law suits” [Steele/Legal Ethics Forum] “Two Inside Looks at Rothstein’s Firm, Lifestyle” [Ambrogi/Legal Blog Watch]
O’Quinn driving nearly twice speed limit on rainy pavement at time of crash [Chron]
“Support for UN religious defamation rule drops” [Media Watch Watch] On the other hand? “Envoy’s Speech Signals Softening of U.S. Hostility to International Court” [AP]
Rudely titled new book on how to avoid getting sued [Instapundit]

Tags: Australia, bullying businesses, chasing clients, international human rights, John O'Quinn, judges, libel slander and defamation, Scott Rothstein, United Nations, Willie Gary

December 1 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

John O’Quinn dead in SUV accident

Ted Frank — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:55:41 +0000

So reports the Houston Chronicle (via ABA Journal). The Texas plaintiffs’ attorney has provided this site with a lot of fodder over the years, and one suspects that the circumstances of his untimely death will be litigated as well.

Tags: John O'Quinn

John O’Quinn dead in SUV accident is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Edwards scandal updates

Walter Olson — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:20:16 +0000

Those who saw only the earliest version of our Friday post on Lee Rohn, the Virgin Islands attorney whose name came up in National Enquirer coverage, will want to check out the updated version, which notes Rohn’s categorical denial of the Enquirer story’s veracity and other important additions. Commenters have been adding to the picture as well;
Ted must be feeling prescient regarding his speculations about an Edwards-contributor refund class action now that Warren Buffett has weighed in on the idea [Kaus]. And in fact the Edwards campaign does seem to be refunding some contributions in interesting ways, if one account pans out (bundlers! Thomas Girardi! John O’Quinn!) [DBKP, more, yet more]
Edwards moneyman and perennial Overlawyered mentionee Fred Baron will be at the Democratic convention in Denver, and there’s little chance his name will fade from the news right away since he’s been a key backer of Sen. Biden as well [Matthew Mosk, WaPo]

Tags: Joe Biden, John Edwards, John O'Quinn, Lee Rohn, Thomas Girardi

Edwards scandal updates is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 31 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:27:01 +0000

Raft-flip mishap at Riviera Beach, Fla. water park: family’s collective weight far exceeded posted limit on warning signs, they’re mulling suit [Palm Beach Post]

New Rigsby/Katrina depositions include sensational new allegations of Scruggs misconduct as well as touches of pathos [Point of Law]

“Al Gore Places Infant Son In Rocket To Escape Dying Planet” [The Onion]

So much coverage of Hasbro vs. Scrabulous but so little solid reportage by which readers might judge strength of copyright infringement claims [Obbie]

City of Seattle spokesman says police actions in shootout with gunman might have “saved countless other lives”, which hasn’t saved city from being sued by injured bystander [Seattle Times]

First the vaccine-autism scare, now this? “Mercury militia” crows after FDA agrees to move forward with statement on possible risks of dental amalgam, but maybe there’s not a whole lot for them to chew on [Harriet Hall, Science-Based Medicine]

Of lurid allegations in paralegal Angela Robinson’s suit against Texas plaintiff potentate Richard Laminack, the most printable are the ones about chiseling fen-phen clients and not paying overtime [American Lawyer; Laminack response]

U.K. attorney suing former bosses for £19 million: that wasn’t me at the interview, that was my alternative personality [Times Online]

Allegation: Foxwoods croupier thought he could mutter lewd comments in Spanish about Anglo female patrons, but guess what, one was entirely fluent [NY Post]

“Richard Branson claims to own all uses of ‘Virgin'” [three years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: amusement parks, copyright, Dickie Scruggs, FDA, Florida, John O'Quinn, Katrina, police, Seattle, Texas, trademarks, United Kingdom, workplace

July 31 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Trial lawyer John O’Quinn again defends his right to arbitrate

Ted Frank — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:29:04 +0000

While trial lawyers attempt to abolish every-day businesspeople’s right to arbitrate, they continue to use arbitration with their own clients. The Texas Supreme Court, in a December 14 opinion, recently defended John O’Quinn’s right to arbitrate with his clients; the Wolfgang Demino blog has details. (Other clients have had more success against O’Quinn in arbitration.) Note that the Arbitration Fairness Act, the trial bar’s effort to deprive consumers of the choice of predispute arbitration clauses, doesn’t apply to attorney-client relationships. Earlier.

Tags: arbitration, for me but not for thee, John O'Quinn

Trial lawyer John O’Quinn again defends his right to arbitrate is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 3 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:52:56 +0000

Drunk driving by St. Louis Blues hockey player Rob Ramage killed his passenger in a Toronto crash, and now Missouri verdict puts car rental company on hook for $9.5 million [Post-Dispatch]

Consumers trust lawyer ads in phone book, or at least so say the Yellow Pages people [WV Record]

Latest flip in marine-mammal litigation: Ninth Circuit orders curbs on Navy’s sub-hunting sonar [L.A. Times; earlier coverage]

More on colorful Judith Regan suit against News Corp. [Carr, NYT]

Lesson for law-firm “foreclosure mills”: don’t file the action before your client actually acquires the instrument being sued on [ABA Journal]

John Fund on Salvation Army and English in the workplace litigation [WSJ/OpinionJournal; earlier]

Comstock Act for the web is one of departed Rep. Hyde’s less happy legacies [McCullagh, CNet]

A view from Boston on Lone Star State med-mal reforms [Globe]

Shaker abstinence, cont’d: FDA mulls petition to crack down on salt in foods, and AMA has joined busybody brigade [L.A. Times; earlier, see also]

Texas tort tycoon John O’Quinn probably isn’t winning prizes these days from historic preservationists [ABA Journal]

Run for your lives! Toxic chocolate! [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: John O'Quinn, Missouri, Navy sonar, roundups

December 3 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system