Posts Tagged ‘lawyering vs. privacy’

May 10 roundup

  • 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]

“Lawyers seem to have a fondness for cloak and dagger stuff”

What did law and lobbying firm Hunton & Williams know, and when did it know it, about subcontractor proposals to employ hardball and covert tactics against critics of Bank of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, including in one instance what has been reported as “the identification of vulnerabilities in critics’ computer networks that might be exploited”? [Brad Wendel/Legal Ethics Forum, BLT, Above the Law] Per Above the Law, “Based on what we know now, it doesn’t seem like Hunton actually accepted or endorsed any of these tactics, nor does it seem that Bank of America or the Chamber of Commerce knew about or signed off on ‘Project Themis,’ protecting them from legal fall-out.” But if Hunton was in fact sure to greet the proposed tactics with shock and dismay, why had the subcontractors imagined that they would fall on welcoming ears?

July 22 roundup

  • Update from Germany: “Teacher Loses ‘Rabbit-Phobia’ Trial” [Spiegel, earlier]
  • Farther shores of for-your-own-goodery: “Should Obese Kids Be Placed In Foster Care?” [Katz, CBS News]
  • Just one problem with that $725 million AIG securities suit settlement [D&O Diary]
  • After Texas passed bill requiring evidence of impairment, more than 99% of silicosis claimants dropped out [LNL, PoL]
  • Lindsay Lohan disserved by lawyer who can’t keep a confidence [Turkewitz]
  • Pearlstein’s the Washington Post’s anti-business business columnist [McArdle, Wood/ShopFloor]
  • Lawyer shenanigans in Fosamax trial in New York [Walk, Drug & Device Law]
  • Unwelcome surprise: health care bill turns out to tax many house sales [David Boaz, Cato at Liberty]