Manhattan Institute – Overlawyered

Nathan Glazer, R.I.P.

Walter Olson — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 16:52:00 +0000

My obituary for the great sociologist is up at the Washington Examiner magazine. “Because of his long association with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, at which I was a fellow, I got to spend time with him on many occasions and he formed my model of the character of a public intellectual: benevolent, wise, curious, kind, and unassuming, his mind well-stocked with knowledge of all sorts, always taking the long view…..Rather than bicker about theory with his former progressive colleagues, Glazer simply showed again and again that their prescriptions had failed to work on behalf of the intended beneficiaries.”

Tags: Manhattan Institute, WO writings

Nathan Glazer, R.I.P. is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Literary corner: “Today and Tomorrow in Tom Wolfe’s New York”

Walter Olson — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 10:55:51 +0000

Few books of our own era would make it onto my desert island list; one is Tom Wolfe’s Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. While I’m late getting to Michael Lewis’s new profile of Wolfe, it’s reason enough to renew a Vanity Fair subscription, especially the priceless story of how Wolfe rewrote his dissertation on status jockeying among 1930s literary leftists after Yale turned it down as “tendentious” and “disparaging” to its oft-lionized subjects.

Early in my time at the Manhattan Institute, after Wolfe’s New York novel The Bonfire of the Vanities had made a gigantic popular success, I put together a roundtable on “Today and Tomorrow in Tom Wolfe’s New York” with Terry Teachout, Richard Vigilante, the late Walter Wriston, and others. MI published it as an envelope stuffer one-off with, if memory serves, a cover letter in which Wolfe himself mentioned observations the various participants had made, but in his own words. Not to say I was awe-struck at this, but for the next few days I wandered the streets of New York talking to the trees.

Tags: Manhattan Institute, NYC, WO writings, Yale

Literary corner: “Today and Tomorrow in Tom Wolfe’s New York” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

City Journal at 25 — and alternate-side-of-the-street parking

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 05:15:37 +0000

Twenty-five years ago the Manhattan Institute, with which I was affiliated for many years, launched its extremely successful periodical City Journal. (Longtime editor Myron Magnet, now editor-at-large, has an account here of some of its triumphs.)

The very first issue had a piece from me on alternate side of the street parking. Contributors to that first issue, under founding editor Richard Vigilante, included William Tucker, Rick Brookhiser, Terry Teachout, Carolyn Lochhead, Mark Cunningham, Peter Salins, Rupert Murdoch (!), and others. My work appeared in City Journal most recently this summer with a profile of the work of Eric Schneiderman as New York attorney general (“Inspector Gotcha”) and you can read all of my contributions to the magazine here, on topics ranging from the case against slavery reparations to the struggle between Westchester County and HUD.

Congratulations to this excellent magazine as it enters its second quarter century under editor Brian Anderson.

Tags: Manhattan Institute, NYC, roads and streets, WO writings

City Journal at 25 — and alternate-side-of-the-street parking is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Schools roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:05:38 +0000

Chilling one side of a debate? American Federation of Teachers arm-twists board members to quit groups critical of union contracts (including the Manhattan Institute, with which I used to be affiliated) [New York Post, Bloomberg, Ira Stoll]
“Third Circuit Finds Schools Aren’t Liable for Bullies” [Fed Soc Blog]
Case dismissed in Marshall University student’s suit over exceedingly undignified bottle-rocket stunt [West Virginia Record]
Free pass for harming students? Realistic policy call? Both? Courts frown on “educational malpractice” claims vs. schools, teachers [Illinois State Bar Association; Beck]
Brookings has very poor reviews for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s student loan plan [Matthew Chingos and Beth Akers; Megan McArdle]
1,200 sign Harvard petition assailing academic freedom in Jason Richwine case [Boston Globe]
College selection of commencement speakers: political spectrum’s so skewed that even moderate GOPer Bob Zoellick’s a no-go [Bainbridge]
The Common Good online forum on risk and legal fear in schools, in which I’m a participant, continues for another day or two.

Tags: bullying, colleges and universities, Elizabeth Warren, Harvard, labor unions, Manhattan Institute, schools

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

Think tank confidential

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:47:59 +0000

Over at Secular Right, I’ve done a lengthy post about think tanks, more specifically about the future of the policy think tank model in light of the controversy over control of my own Cato Institute. It’s also got some memoir-ish material in it in which I recall times over the years in which I felt relatively proud of having an effect on public debate. You can read it here.

P.S. Kind words from Ryan Radia and Pierre Lemieux.

Tags: about the site, Cato Institute, Manhattan Institute

Think tank confidential is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 11 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:56:20 +0000

Manhattan Institute’s “Trial Lawyers Inc.” series looks at cozy relations between state attorneys general and plaintiff’s bar [report, related featured discussion, Copland, Examiner] Report comes down hard on Ohio’s Richard Cordray, nominee to head CFPB [Copland, Gorodetski/PoL] Judge tosses Cordray suit against credit rating agencies [O’Brien/LNL, Krauss/American Thinker] Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller denounces report [IowaPolitics.com]
“The Tort of Internet Mobbing Is Perfect For Suing The Internet” [Popehat]
Canada faces challenge to hate speech law [Arthur Bright, Citizen Media Law] Do not put a frog down Her Majesty’s back at the county fair [Lowering the Bar]
“Markopolos eyes a fortune from BNY whistleblowing” [Felix Salmon] “Bounty hunters in Korea” and closer to home [Alex Tabarrok] “Developments in Whistleblower Laws: Advantage Whistleblower” [Larry Wood & Richard William Diaz, Federalist Society “Engage”]
As third party liability for crime anecdotes go, the case of Bonilla v. Motel 6 is on the lurid side [Point of Law]
Prospect of cyberwar: official U.S. response is commando lawyering [Stewart Baker, Foreign Policy]
Why it’s hard to stimulate manufacturing through product liability reform in one state [Rick Esenberg]

Tags: attorneys general, free speech in Canada, Iowa, Manhattan Institute, Ohio, product liability, third party liability for crime, whistleblowers

November 11 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Manhattan Institute podcast on Schools for Misrule

Walter Olson — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:33:58 +0000

I spoke about my new book before a luncheon crowd yesterday at my former institute in New York City — several distinguished law professors were in attendance — and Jim Copland interviewed me afterward. We talked about how this book grew out of my earlier work, why international rights are such a coming area in law schools, and much more. The resulting audio podcast runs just over 10 minutes; you may need to turn the volume up higher than normal to hear it properly. You can and should buy Schools for Misrule itself here (Amazon commission as well as regular royalty benefits me).

On the radio front, I was a guest on Jason Lewis’s nationally syndicated (Minneapolis-based) show on Monday, and will be a guest today at 11 Eastern on Ron Smith’s show on WBAL Baltimore (audio).

Tags: live in person, Manhattan Institute, on TV and radio, Schools for Misrule

Manhattan Institute podcast on Schools for Misrule is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Schools for Misrule spring speaking tour

Walter Olson — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:27:17 +0000

[cross-posted from Cato at Liberty]

The first copies of my new book Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America are here from the printer, and I’ll be touring the country to promote it in coming weeks. Some highlights:

February 21. Bloomington, Ind. Indiana University Law School, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter.
February 22. Urbana-Champaign, Ill. University of Illinois School of Law, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter. Commenting will be Prof. Larry Ribstein.
March 3. Washington, D.C. Cato Institute Policy Forum. Commenting on the book will be the Hon. Douglas Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals, and moderating will be Cato legal director Roger Pilon.
March 10. University of Minnesota, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter. Commenting will be Profs. Brad Clary and Oren Gross, and moderating will be Prof. Dale Carpenter.
March 16. New York, N.Y. Manhattan Institute luncheon (invitation). Commenting will be James Copland, Manhattan Institute.
March 22. Washington, D.C. Heritage Foundation forum. Commenting/moderating: Todd Gaziano, Heritage Foundation.
March 28. Boulder, Colo. University of Colorado School of Law, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter.
March 29. Laramie, Wyo. University of Wyoming School of Law, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter.
March 30. Sacramento, Calif. McGeorge School of Law, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter.
April 6. New York, N.Y. Manhattan Institute Young Leaders evening event (private).
April 7. Washington, D.C. American University Law School, sponsored by Federalist Society chapter.
April 13. Washington, D.C. Book club appearance (private).
April 27-29. Dallas, Tex. Heritage Foundation Resource Bank meeting (private).

Always check in advance with the hosting group for venues and exact times; some events open to the public require advance registration. The book’s official publication date is March 1, and copies should be arriving in the bookstores soon.

Tags: Cato Institute, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, live in person, Manhattan Institute, Schools for Misrule, Wyoming

Schools for Misrule spring speaking tour is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 21 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:12:58 +0000

More commentary on Obama regulatory initiative [Federal News Radio with quotes from Cass Sunstein, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Steven Malanga, David Harsanyi, Carter Wood/ShopFloor, Iain Murray, Lammi/WLF, earlier]
Corporate governance buffs will want to check out new Proxy Monitor website from Manhattan Institute which includes a database of shareholder resolution activity at the 100 largest public companies [Jim Copland/Point of Law (some early empirical findings), Bainbridge (“This is going to be a great resource for anyone interested in shareholder activism”), ShopFloor]
Lawyer solicits subway blizzard strandees. OK under NY rules? [Turkewitz]
California reform ideas: “A Modest Proposal For Fixing Proposition 65” [Cal Biz Lit] “A Better Consumer Legal Remedies Act” [same]
Proposed criminal prohibition on doctors’ questioning patients about guns “would violate the First Amendment, as well as just being a lousy idea” [Volokh]
Oldest federal bench ever — and the problems that can cause [Joseph Goldstein, Slate]
Attention “payday lending” critics: “Lawsuit Loans Add New Risk for the Injured” [NY Times, Kenneth Anderson, California Civil Justice; defenses of champerty/litigation finance from Larry Ribstein and Stephen Gillers]
Wisconsin student sues unsuccessfully over summer homework requirement for pre-calculus class [six years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Barack Obama, California, chasing clients, First Amendment, judges, litigation finance, Manhattan Institute, New York, Prop 65, Securities and Exchange Commission

January 21 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 10 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:42:34 +0000

Failure to warn? “Non-Child Sues For Slide-Related Injury” [Lowering the Bar]
“AG Cuomo Sues Lawyer for Fraud, Says He Sold His Name to Debt Collector for $141K” [ABA Journal]
Ted Frank on his move to the Manhattan Institute and Point of Law [CCAF]
“Viacom is becoming a lawsuit company instead of a TV company” [Doctorow, BoingBoing]
UK: “NHS pays £10,000 to family of psychiatric patient who committed suicide” [Times Online]
American Cancer Society: federal advisory panel’s chemicals-cause-cancer alarms are overblown [NYTimes] More: Taranto, WSJ.
“Who Knew Bankruptcy Paid So Well?” [NYTimes]
Famed sleuth Bloomberg Holmes on the case: was the Pathfinder headed for a vile sodium den? [IowaHawk]

Tags: bankruptcy, debtor-creditor law, environment, failure to warn, Manhattan Institute, salt, suicide, Ted Frank, YouTube

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