wayward Republicans – Overlawyered

Liability roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 11:02:53 +0000

Legislative relief finally in sight in Florida’s assignment of benefits mess? [Michael Moline, Florida Politics, Insurance Journal on this Insurance Information Institute white paper, Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida and more, Rocco English, Florida Daily, earlier]
Update on 2018 developments in civil justice [Mark Behrens and Christopher Appel, Federalist Society] “Costs and Compensation of the U.S. Tort System” for 2016 [U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform]
In first case to reach trial blaming Monster energy drink for heart attack, jury deliberates 15 minutes and reaches defense verdict [Jessi Devenyns, FoodDive]
Contributing to judges’ election funds taints a verdict? Can both sides play? [Jim Beck, ADA Journal on State Farm Illinois settlement]
“The Rise of the Freedom To Arbitrate” [John McGinnis, Law and Liberty] “Trial Lawyers Find Unusual Allies In Fight Against Arbitration: Conservative State Treasurers” [Daniel Fisher, Legal NewsLine/Forbes]
Accessibility complainant who turned out to be ambulatory without wheelchair drops two lawsuits after Post exposé [Julia Marsh, New York Post]

Tags: arbitration, Florida, insurance, judicial elections, State Farm, state high courts, tort reform, wayward Republicans

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

June 21 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 04:05:28 +0000

“Law Professors: Three Centuries of Shaping American Law”: The Economist favorably reviews new Stephen Presser book;
Profile of Texas Supreme Court notes that its members regularly face opposition at election time from alliance of plaintiffs’ bar with some social conservatives [Mark Pulliam]
10 lawyers, 6 others charged in alleged workers’ comp fraud scheme targeting Latinos in California [Associated Press]
Employee’s ADA case against Novartis backfires, court orders her to pay nearly $2 million; her attorney quit case after discrepancies in her background were discovered [Kathleen O’Brien, NJ.com]
To protect the children, feds ban a product one of whose functions is to keep drugs out of hands of children [Christian Britschgi, Reason]
Budget choices and trade-offs faced by advocacy groups don’t give them constitutionally required standing to sue [Daniel E. Jones and Archis Parasharami, WLF]

Tags: illegal drugs, law schools, sanctions, Texas, wayward Republicans, workers' compensation

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

Politics roundup

Walter Olson — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 18:11:05 +0000

Vice presidential candidate Bill Weld, at Libertarian ticket town hall with Gary Johnson: trade war that followed Smoot-Hawley tariff “croaked the world economy.” Points for using “croaked” in a policy debate [CNN transcript]
Litigator in chief? USA Today deep dive on Donald Trump’s lawsuit involvements including non-payment and tax categories [earlier]
Lawyers and law firms had given 350 times more to pro-Clinton than pro-Trump efforts as of late May [American Lawyer, graphic] Should a lawyer work for Trump? [Josh Blackman]
Be warned. “If Congress refuses to act, Hillary will take administrative action” against guns, her campaign vows [J.D. Tuccille]
Raises interesting constitutional issues whatever one’s views of a #NeverTrump revolt [Washington Examiner]
Trial lawyer/social conservative slate bid to control Texas GOP goes down in flames. [Texas Tribune, earlier]

Tags: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, politics, wayward Republicans

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

Politics roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 May 2016 04:05:18 +0000

Disparage at thy peril: three Democratic lawmakers demand FTC investigation of private group that purchased $58,000 in ads disparaging CFPB, a government agency [ABC News] So many politicos targeting their opponents’ speech these days [Barton Hinkle]
A pattern we’ve seen over the years: promoting himself as outspoken social conservative, trial lawyer running for chairman of Republican Party of Texas [Mark Pulliam, SE Texas Record]
Some of which goes to union political work: “Philly Pays $1.5 Million to ‘Ghost Teachers'” [Evan Grossman, Pennsylvania Watchdog via Jason Bedrick]
“However objectionable one might find Trump’s rhetoric, the [event-disrupting] protesters are in the wrong.” [Bill Wyman/Columbia Journalism Review, earlier]
Hillary Clinton’s connections to Wal-Mart go way back, and hooray for that [Ira Stoll and column]
I went out canvassing GOP voters in Maryland before the primary. Here’s what they told me. [Ricochet]

Tags: CFPB, Donald Trump, Federal Trade Commission, Hillary Clinton, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, politics, schools, Texas, Wal-Mart, wayward Republicans, WO writings

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

Texas: a ploy fails

Walter Olson — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 11:26:36 +0000

“Flush with trial lawyer cash, the PAC’s public face is ‘Texans 4 Justice,’ which portrays itself as a conservative grassroots group.” It didn’t work: Texas GOP primary voters yesterday returned incumbent Supreme Court justices. [Texas Observer, Houston Chronicle, earlier]

Related: Plaintiff’s lawyer Steve Mostyn, “omnipresent” in Austin, and his involvement with “Conservative Voters of Texas” [Chamber-backed Legal NewsLine]

Tags: Mark Lanier, politics, Texas, wayward Republicans

Texas: a ploy fails is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Public employment roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 04:05:11 +0000

“Retirement benefits cost Connecticut more than half of payroll” [Raising Hale] Jagadeesh Gokhale, “State and Local Pension Plans” [Cato] “In the report Krugman cites, the researchers note (repeatedly) that the trillion-dollar figure is very likely a dramatic understatement of the size of the unmet liability.” [Caleb Brown]
California: “Bill would reinstate state workers who go AWOL” [Steven Greenhut]
Eyebrow-raising federal salaries at unaccountable-by-design CFPB [John Steele Gordon, Commentary]
“North Carolina Ends Teacher Tenure” [Pew StateLine]
Not all states would benefit from a dose of Scott Walkerism, but Massachusetts would [Charles Chieppo, Governing]
“Prison Ordered to Hire Back Guards Fired over an Officer’s Murder Because Everybody Else Was Awful, Too” [Scott Shackford]
“New York State Lags on Firing Workers Who Abuse Disabled Patients” [Danny Hakim, New York Times] NYC educators accused of sex misconduct can dig in for years [New York Daily News]
“Pennsylvania’s GOP: Rented by Unions” [Steve Malanga, Public Sector Inc.] NYC’s Working Families Party expands into Connecticut [Daniel DiSalvo, same]

Tags: California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, NYC, Paul Krugman, Pennsylvania, public employment, teacher tenure, wayward Republicans

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

Not-so-new frontiers of privatization

Walter Olson — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:17:13 +0000

Half a century ago, selling the Tennessee Valley Authority was regarded as a free-marketeers’ politically impossible dream. Now guess who’s for it — and who’s against. (Hint on the latter: R-Tenn.) [Knoxville News via Future of Capitalism]

P.S. More on this welcome Obama initiative from Chris Edwards: “former Cato chairman Bill Niskanen was barred by Congress for even looking into TVA reform when he was on President Reagan’s CEA.” So progress marches on. And: Fortune 1933 article on TVA.

Tags: Tennessee, utilities, wayward Republicans

Not-so-new frontiers of privatization is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Copyright and D.C. lobbying: that was fast

Walter Olson — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:46:15 +0000

The House Republican Study Committee calls for reconsideration of over-restrictive copyright law, then un-calls for it a day later [TechDirt, rueful update; Alex Tabarrok]

P.S. And check out this upcoming Dec. 6 Cato discussion of the newly published Copyright Unbalanced: From Incentive To Excess (Mercatus Center; Jerry Brito, ed.)

Tags: copyright, RIAA and file sharing, U.S. House of Representatives, wayward Republicans

June 28 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 04:10:18 +0000

Cato Institute settles lawsuit over its governance [Adler]
As regulators crack down on payday lending, Indian tribes fill the gap [Business Week] Tribal leaders say they are at war with the CFPB, and no, there is no Elizabeth Warren angle [Kevin Funnell]
“SEA LAWYER. A shark.” [1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue via Nancy Friedman]
Trial lawyers in Oklahoma, as in Texas and Florida, endow slate of favored GOP candidates [Tulsa World]
Simple reforms could ease path to more interstate adoptions of foster kids [Jeff Katz, Washington Post]
“Can you say ‘overzealous service mark claimant’?” [@internetcases]
“Today, anyone can sue anyone else, regardless of how ridiculous the claim may be. But it wasn’t always like this.” [Don Elliott, The Atlantic]

Tags: adoption, Cato Institute, debtor-creditor law, Indian tribes, Oklahoma, trademarks, wayward Republicans

June 28 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

June 11 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 04:06:38 +0000

Nortel portfolio now used for offense: “How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads” [Wired]
Via Bill Childs: “This shows up in Google News despite fact that it’s lawyer advertising.” [TheDenverChannel.com] At “public interest watchdog” FairWarning.org, who contributed this article about Canadian asbestos controversies? Byline credits a law firm;
Another Bloomberg crackdown in NYC: gender-differential pricing in haircuts and other services [Mark Perry]
A “Pro-Business Regulation Push” from Obama White House? Oh, Bloomberg Business Week, sometimes you can be so droll [Future of Capitalism]
“Trial Lawyers’ Support of Republican Candidates Yields Less Than Stellar Results” [Morgan Smith, NY Times; Examiner editorial; more from TLRPac on Texas election results]
“Community banks to Congress: you’re crushing us” [Kevin Funnell]
If an emergency injunction could stop one reality-TV show, why couldn’t it stop them all? [Hollywood Reporter]

Tags: banks, chasing clients, Michael Bloomberg, patent litigation, regulation and its reform, sex discrimination, Texas, wayward Republicans

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