Posts Tagged ‘Los Angeles’

December 2 roundup

  • Tennie Pierce update: only 6 out of 15 members vote to override mayor’s veto of $2.7M dog-food settlement (Nov. 11). [LA Times]
  • Reforming consumer class actions. [Point of Law]
  • Judicial activism in Katrina insurance litigation in Louisiana. [Point of Law; Rossmiller; AEI]
  • What will and won’t the Seventh Circuit find sanctionable? Judge Posner’s opinion gets a lot of attention for snapping at the lawyers, but I’m more fascinated about the parts where the dog didn’t bark, which isn’t getting any commentary. [Point of Law; Smoot v. Mazda; Volokh; Above the Law]
  • Montgomery County doesn’t get to create a trio-banking system. [Zywicki @ Volokh and followup]
  • “The Hidden Danger of Seat Belts”: an article on the Peltzman Effect that doesn’t mention Peltzman. [Time; see also Cafe Hayek]
  • Pending Michigan “domestic violence” bill (opposed by domestic violence groups) criminalizes ending a relationship with a pregnant woman for improper purposes. [Detroit News via Bashman; House Bill 5882]
  • Did Griggs causes distortion in higher education? I’m not sure I’m persuaded, though Griggs is certainly problematic for other reasons (e.g., POL Aug. 12, 2004). [Pope Center via Newmark]
  • The Kramer cash settlement. [Evanier]
  • Jonathan Wilson gives Justinian Lane a solid fisking on loser pays. [Wilson]
  • Speaking of Justinian Lane, for someone who says he was “silenced” because I didn’t post a troll of a comment on Overlawyered, he’s sure making a lot of whiny noise. Hasn’t corrected his honesty problem, though. [Lane]
  • The stuff Gore found too inconvenient to tell you in “An Inconvenient Truth.” [CEI]
  • Islam: the religion of peace and mercy, for sufficiently broad definitions of peace and mercy. [Volokh]
  • One year ago in Overlawyered: photographing exhibitionist students at Penn. Jordan Koko doesn’t seem to have gone through with the threatened lawsuit. [Overlawyered]

Learning to accept coconuts

From a New York Times article on the city of Los Angeles’s decision to curtail the planting of palm trees along public streets and parks, one reason being that the majestic plants have been known to drop bulky fronds on persons below:

“Hawaii has a lot of coconut tree liability problems because they fall on people’s heads,” he said. “But the people there have said, ‘That is something that we have to accept.’”

(Jennifer Steinhauer, “City Says Its Urban Jungle Has Little Room for Palms”, Nov. 26). See also Jun. 11 (similar, from Torquay, England). More on coconut liability, in both cases relating to the decorated Mardi Gras variety: Mar. 4, 2005 (thrown at parade spectators); Mar. 13-14, 2002 (copyright claim).

Lawsuit claim: legal right to more publicity

Some time ago, celebrity boutique and paparazzi-magnet Kitson had a legal dispute with Us Weekly magazine over payment for a book party the store threw for an Us editor. It was settled for a small chunk of change and a standard non-disparagement clause over the lawsuit. Us Weekly had the last laugh, however; it stopped covering the store in its magazine, to the point of cropping out the Kitson logo when publishing photos of celebrities shopping there. Or it thought it had the last laugh, because Kitson is now suing Us Weekly claiming a legal right to the publicity the magazine is withholding and alleging $10,000/week in damages from the loss of publicity. The Jossip blog has the complaint and somewhat more detail than the mainstream press account. (Andrew Blankstein, “Celebrity Boutique Sues Us Weekly, Saying Lack of Coverage Is Hurting Business”, LA Times, Sep. 12) (via Romenesko).

Sued for expressing “glee” over lawyer’s indictment

“A prominent civil rights attorney who was indicted this month on tax charges has sued a retired police detective for writing a letter that expressed ‘glee’ at the news. Stephen Yagman claims in the suit filed Wednesday that the three-paragraph letter he received from Jerry Le Frois caused him ‘extreme emotional distress.’ Le Frois’ June 23 letter says he felt ‘glee and profound satisfaction’ when he learned that Yagman had been charged earlier this month in a 19-count federal indictment. Le Frois identified himself as a former member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Investigations Section, which was a frequent target of Yagman’s civil rights suits.” (“Attorney sues former L.A. cop who expressed ‘glee’ he was indicted”, AP/Sacramento Bee, Jun. 29). More watch-what-you-say-about-lawyers posts: Apr. 18 and links from there.

LA commuter train derailment

At least eleven people were killed and over a hundred injured yesterday when a suicidal Juan Manuel Alvarez parked his Jeep on the train tracks, causing a collision that eventually derailed three trains. The lead train was being pushed, rather than pulled, by the locomotive, a common means to save time by permitting more trips to be taken. According to the LA Times, experts disagree whether this has safety implications. (Dan Weikel and Scott Glover. “Train’s Lineup May Have Added to Risk”, LA Times, Jan. 27). Realistically, at a minimum, this design probably makes some types of accidents worse, has no effect on some other types of accidents, and provides additional protection for still other kinds of accidents such as being rear-ended (as happened in a Long Island RR accident last year). But the conclusion that courts draw when reasonable people differ over the optimal train design is not that the commuter rail system acted reasonably, but that a jury of laypeople should resolve the debate by second-guessing whether they did so. So mark January 26, 2006, on your calendars, for you’ll surely see lawsuits seeking to hold Metrolink liable for the consequences of Alvarez’s deliberate actions, just as Santa Monica was sued one year after a driver plowed into the Farmers’ Market there (Jul. 14).

L.A. Times on spinning teacups

Funny, pointed editorial in Los Angeles Times on the decision of one of the management dwarves at Disneyland (“probably Grumpy”) to slow down the Mad Hatter’s spinning teacups lest someone sue (see Mar. 4). “Maybe right next to the sign, ‘You Must Be This Tall to Ride,’ they should post ratings with little symbols — one lawyer with briefcase for mildly scary attractions and a whole legal assault team for roller coasters.” (“Around and Around and…” Mar. 7).

At Disneyland, slower teacups

At Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., the “Mad Tea Party ride with 18 giant spinning teacups was recently modified in the name of safety to make it harder for people to spin. The move has prompted fans of the ride to march to City Hall on Disneyland’s Main Street in protest and post hundreds of messages on Internet discussion boards under headings such as ‘Save the Teacups.’ … Purists acknowledge that Disneyland also faces criticism for not paying enough attention to safety, but they see the ride’s modification as part of a pattern. They believe the fear of lawsuits is taking some of the fun out of the Magic Kingdom. ‘It’s like all the good times are over,’ said annual pass-holder Isaac Martin, 24. ‘It feels so depressing.’ … Park officials said they made the change after a disabled rider lost his balance last month and slipped from a teacup. The rider did not require medical treatment.” Disney officials insist the ride, which takes its theme from an Alice in Wonderland scene, remains entertaining. (“Disneyland purists decry tame teacups in Fantasyland”, AP/Sacramento Bee, Feb. 29)(via onel7). More: MickeyNews, MiceAge. Yet more: Jun. 22, 2005.