The Legal Reader^™

The Prempro Video Wyeth Doesn’t Want You To See

Apparently, Wyeth is asking a federal judge to order attorneys to remove this video from YouTube.  After watching the video, I can see why Wyeth has its knickers in a twist:

Kudos to the attorneys who produced this video.  It’s top-notch and not cheesy at all.  The only revision I’d make to it would be to put the peoples’ names at the bottom of the screen, and not at the very beginning.  But this is definitely a video the attorneys should be proud of.

My favorite part was when the self-described conservative jury foreman called Wyeth “despicable.”  Conservative jurors are not a death knell for plaintiffs – you just have to speak their language.  Note how he talked about how Wyeth abandoned their moral obligations.

Check Out My Most Popular Post

In this six years I’ve been blogging about the civil justice system, I’ve never written a post that has generated so much discussion in the blogosphere.  Apparently, I tapped into a vein of hostility towards self-described social media experts.  Here’s the first paragraph:

Most people who know me think I’m a quiet, unassuming, laid-back guy.  And I am.  Until I reach my level of tolerance.  Tonight, I reached my level of tolerance for snake oil salesmen who bill themselves as social media experts for lawyers.  Perhaps snake oil salesmen is too kind.  People who want to charge lawyers money for teaching them about social media are bullshit peddlers who hope to exploit the (presumed) ignorance of the (presumed) rich.

Source: Justinian Lane - Commentary on law, politics, and tort "reform.": An Uncensored Discussion About Social Media for Lawyers

Blogging has been light here because (a) I have a bad cold, and (b) I’ve got finals coming up.  I have one in a few hours, as a matter of fact.  Perhaps if I cough and sneeze a lot, enough students will rush themselves to get out of there and I’ll rock the curve that way.

This is why you should hire a lawyer, not a law professor

Nesson may be a brilliant Harvard law professor, but it appears that he’s a piss-poor lawyer.  Keep this in mind if you ever consider hiring a law professor to represent you in a case.  

That was the backdrop, but when Nesson and his team stepped up to litigate the issue of fair use, what did they offer to Gertner? "A truly chaotic defense," she calls it, along with legal papers that "can only be described as perfunctory."

It was also one that reached much too far. "Rather than tailoring his fair use defense to suggest a modest exception to copyright protections, Tenenbaum mounted a broadside attack that would excuse all file-sharing for private enjoyment." By striking so broadly at the idea of copyright, Tenenbaum took the matter out of Gertner's hands. "Whether the widespread, unlimited file sharing that the record suggests he engaged in benefits the public more than our current copyright protections is a balance to be struck by Congress, not this Court," she concluded.

In addition, she singled out Nesson for criticism in a footnote to the memo. "Defense counsel repeatedly missed deadlines, ignored rules, engaged in litigation over conduct that was plainly illegal (namely, the right to tape counsel and the Court without consent), and even went so far as to post the illegal recordings to the Web." Examples of Nesson's bad behavior in the case "are legion."

Source: How Team Tenenbaum missed a chance to shape P2P fair use law

$5 million dollar lawsuit against Burger King – over three text messages

First, read this, and then I’ll tell you what I hate:

Espinal's contention: Burger King "caused actual harm" by harassing her with the "cryptic" messages, according the lawsuit. Espinal was "subjected to aggravation" and made to pay for receiving them. Now she is seeking -- get this -- $5 million in relief.

God bless the American legal system.

In April 2008, Espinal's phone beeped. The text was labeled "99143 " instead of showing a return number, and the sender seemed, well, kind of bossy. "Kick it up a notch with a loaded steakhouse burger," it read. "Try one today at BK."

Source: Whopper of a Lawsuit: Woman Wants Burger King to Pay for Text Messages - Miami News - Riptide 2.0

I hate the fact that scummy PI attorneys will file bullshit lawsuits like this just to get attention.  I also hate the fact that the media covers them, but doesn’t cover when they get thrown out of court. 

The Government Requested GPS Info From Sprint Alone Over 8 Million Times IN A Year

That and other particularly interesting bits of information are available at the link below.  Maybe we are living in a surveillance state…

Cox Communications, the third largest cable provider in the United States, is the only company I've found that has made its surveillance price list public. Thus, we are able to learn that the company charges $2,500 for the first 60 days of a pen register/trap and trace, followed by $2,000 for each additional 60 days, while it charges $3,500 for the first 30 days of a wiretap, followed by $2,500 for each additional 30 days. Historical data is much cheaper -- 30 days of a customer's call detail records can be obtained for a mere $40.
Comcast does not make their price list public, but the company's law enforcement manual was leaked to the Internet a couple years ago. Based on that 2007 document, it appears that Comcast charges at least $1000 for the first month of a wiretap, followed by $750 for each month after that.

….

"[M]y major concern is the volume of requests. We have a lot of things that are automated but that's just scratching the surface. One of the things, like with our GPS tool. We turned it on the web interface for law enforcement about one year ago last month, and we just passed 8 million requests. So there is no way on earth my team could have handled 8 million requests from law enforcement, just for GPS alone. So the tool has just really caught on fire with law enforcement. They also love that it is extremely inexpensive to operate and easy, so, just the sheer volume of requests they anticipate us automating other features, and I just don't know how we'll handle the millions and millions of requests that are going to come in.
-- Paul Taylor, Electronic Surveillance Manager, Sprint Nextel.

Source: slight paranoia: 8 Million Reasons for Real Surveillance Oversight

Congratulations to the Center for Justice & Democracy

Today I got a wonderful e-mail from Joanne Doroshow, the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Justice & Democracy.  Joanne is on my short-list of heroes, so I’m extremely pleased to share the following news with you:

• CJ&D’s blog, ThePopTort, has for the second year in a row been selected as one of the 100 best legal blawgs by the American Bar Association.  You can help turn that good news to great news by voting for The PopTort in its individual category.  First, register here (it’s quick and free.)   Second, simply click here and vote for it.  I’ll wait patiently while you go register and vote for it.  This is a big honor for the CJ&D, as there is a lot of competition to be in the top 100 legal blawgs by the ABA.
• The CJ&D has also launched its own Facebook page, with lots of great photos including some hilarious scenes outside its window in Lower Manhattan.   You may already be a Facebook fan of ThePopTort, but now CJ&D has a page, too.  Why not become a Facebook fan of both ThePopTort and the CJ&D today?
• You can also start following Joanne’s excellent blog posts at the Huffington Post.

Again, hearty congratulations are in order to Joanne and the fine crew at the Center for Justice & Democracy.  They’re one of the finest organizations fighting to protect the civil justice system from the millionaires & billionaires behind the tort “reform” movement.

Exposing Hypocrites By Attempting to Ban Divorce – Thumbs Up

If you don’t support gay marriage, that’s fine.  But don’t lie and say you oppose it because you want to protect marriage.  If you really want to protect marriage, you’d be all over this attempt to ban divorce:

In a movement that seems ripped from the pages of Comedy Channel writers, John Marcotte wants to put a measure on the ballot next year to ban divorce in California.

The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that's the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce.

"Since California has decided to protect traditional marriage, I think it would be hypocritical of us not to sacrifice some of our own rights to protect traditional marriage even more," the 38-year-old married father of two said.

Source: Activist seeks divorce ban in Calif. - Life- msnbc.com

Greedy Bastards Scuttle What Could Have Been The Ultimate Web Device

I’d have bought at least two of these.  I sincerely hope that Arrington and the rest of the Crunch boys sue the “shareholders” into oblivion.

It was so close I could taste it. Two weeks ago we were ready to publicly launch the CrunchPad. The device was stable enough for a demo. It went hours without crashing. We could even let people play with the device themselves – the user interface was intuitive enough that people “got it” without any instructions. And the look of pure joy on the handful of outsiders who had used it made the nearly 1.5 year effort completely worth it.

Our plan was to debut the CrunchPad on stage at the Real-Time Crunchup event on November 20, a little over a week ago. We even hoped to have devices hacked together with Google Chrome OS and Windows 7 to show people that you could hack this thing to run just about anything you want. We’d put 1,000 of the devices on pre-sale and take orders immediately. Larger scale production would begin early in 2010.

And then the entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed, jealousy and miscommunication.

Source: The End Of The CrunchPad

Judge punishes bank by canceling mortgage

Reading this article, I got the feeling that the bank wasn’t interested in working with the court, but instead wanted to have things done its way.  Looks like the bank learned that the Judge is the boss.

The judge concluded that the banks' conduct was "wholly unsupportable at law or in equity, greatly egregious and so completely devoid of good faith that equity cannot be permitted to intervene on its behalf."

But he went further than rejecting the foreclosure.

If the case was simply dismissed, he wrote, the court "cannot be assured that Plaintiff will not repeat this course of conduct."

Also Spinner said that monetary sanctions were "not likely to have a salubrious or remedial effect" and, in any case, would not benefit the homeowner.

Imposing sanctions would bring little benefit to the homeowner, the judge wrote, leaving the "appropriate equitable disposition" of canceling the debt and discharging the mortgage.

Thus, he concluded that the original principal amount of $292,500 "should be cancelled, voided and set aside," the mortgage be discharged and the bank barred from any attempt to collect on the note.

Source: Law.com - Judge Blasts Bank's Foreclosure Conduct and Cancels Mortgage

I don’t often agree with Posner, but I don’t want him dead. Unlike this nutjob

I’m sure some people will accuse me of being a liberal socialist Nazi communist dictator… but I just don’t think that death threats should be protected speech.

"These Judges deserve to be killed," declared Harold "Hal" Turner on his Web site on June 2. He was attacking three federal judges who earlier that day had upheld Chicago-area bans on handguns.

By the end of the month, Turner was in handcuffs. On Dec. 1, he's scheduled to go to trial in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a federal case that will test First Amendment protections online.

. . . .

On the day the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the gun bans in National Rifle Association v. Chicago, Turner went online to accuse the three 7th Circuit judges -- Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer -- of being "traitors." He wrote, "Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty." The next day, he posted the judges' names, photos, phone numbers and work addresses. He provided a photo and a map of the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago, where the court is located, with arrows pointing to "anti-truck bomb barriers." He added, "Behold these devils."

Source: Law.com - Trial Over Death Threats Against Federal Judges Could Test Free Speech Rules Online

Looks like the legal profession will have to deal with another group of people who shouldn’t be lawyers

There are a lot of good reasons to be a lawyer, and even more bad reasons.  One of the bad reasons is that you’re looking for a good job:

The number of people taking the Law School Admission Test is at an unprecedented high, and the recession is a likely reason. But some are questioning whether bad economic times are a sufficient reason to go to law school.

"We assume that the economic downturn is causing more people to think about graduate education, but we have no way to prove that it is," Wendy Margolis, director of communications for the Law School Admission Council, tells the ABA Journal. She also points out that there are more people in the 20- to 24-year-old age group, and that could also be driving up the numbers.

Source: LSAT Test-Takers Jump by Nearly 20%; Should They Consider the Alternatives? - News - ABA Journal

Being a lawyer is a calling.  You either have it in you, or you don’t.  If you’re just going to law school because you don’t know what else to do, you shouldn’t be going.  Otherwise, you’re just going to end up hating the practice of law and end up doing something else, but with a J.D.  I’ve got some bad news for you guys: Just because you decide you don’t want to be a lawyer anymore doesn’t mean you can stop paying for your student loans.

Debt collectors lose First Amendment suit in Alaska

Can’t say I think they got a raw deal.  Check out what they tried to get away with:

Pepper filed a separate suit alleging the collection agency and law firm had violated the state Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA) by not giving her proper notice of the lawsuit. She charged that they sent papers to a nonexistent address, misrepresented to the court that she was competent [when she was in fact mentally disabled – JL], and tried to get a default judgment against her without notifying her counsel, Alaska Legal Services.

Source: Law.com - First Amendment No Shield for Debt Collectors Gone Bad, Court Says

If you’re a reporter covering a jury verdict, here’s what you MUST do

If you’re a reporter writing a story about a big jury verdict, please don’t just describe the verdict as “a 25 million dollar verdict” and say nothing more.  Please, break down the award.  For example:

The $25 million dollar award included $10 million for past and future medical expenses, $10 million in pain & suffering, and the remainder for lost wages.

Without knowing how the jury awarded the money, we can’t really tell if it’s a noteworthy verdict.  In most cases, if the jury finds for the plaintiff, they will give the plaintiff everything he or she asked for in past medical expenses.  Often, they’ll also award whatever the plaintiff asked for in future medical expenses.  The same thing goes for lost wages.  The way we tell if a jury verdict is really noteworthy is if there is a large amount of punitive damages or noneconomic damages. (Noneconomic damages are often referred to as pain & suffering.)

Thanks so much!

Transportation Department Issues First Fine Ever For Runaway Delays

I’m presuming there is some sort of federal shield against suing the airlines for false imprisonment.  If not, in the immortal words of Harvey Birdman, “I’ll take the case!”  (As soon as I’m licensed.)

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Department imposed its first penalties for runway delays Tuesday, collecting $175,000 from three airlines for leaving 47 passengers of a regional jet stranded overnight in Rochester, Minn.

….

The flight, on Aug. 8, was supposed to go from Houston to Minneapolis but was diverted to Rochester because of bad weather. Continental Express does not serve Minneapolis, but asked Mesaba for help so the passengers could have access to the restrooms and vending machines.

A Mesaba ground agent, however, said the Transportation Security Administration forbade passengers from being in the terminal while it was closed. Later, however, the agency said that the passengers could have gotten off and reboarded if they stayed in the area inside the checkpoints, and that it had the ability to recall screeners in the middle of the night if necessary.

Instead, the passengers were kept on the plane from half past midnight until 6 in the morning, despite repeated efforts by the crew.

Source: Airlines Penalized for Stranding Passengers on Tarmac - NYTimes.com

Washington Supreme Court Upholds $8 Million Dollar Default Judgment For Discovery Abuse

Hyundai learned that “trial courts need not tolerate deliberate and willful discovery abuse.”  Let this be a lesson to lawyers of all stripes that withholding evidence is not good for your clients.

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated an $8 million default judgment against Hyundai Motor Co. in a lawsuit over the backward collapse of a front seat in a 1997 crash that left a man paralyzed.

In a 7-2 ruling, the high court reversed the Court of Appeals, which had overturned a trial court's finding for Jesse Magana of Vancouver.

The justices said the South Korean automaker deliberately withheld documentation from Magana's lawyers for too long concerning other crashes in which front seats collapsed backward.

"Trial courts need not tolerate deliberate and willful discovery abuse," wrote the majority, led by Justice Richard Sanders. "This result appropriately compensates the other party, punishes Hyundai, and hopefully educates and deters others so inclined."

Source: Wash. court reinstates $8M award against Hyundai

$56 Million in medical expenses, $244 million in punitives in smoker case

The thing is that even without the punitives, if Philip Morris has to pay a few thousand awards like this, there won’t be anymore Philip Morris.  Er, wait.  There’s still a Johns Manville.  Nevermind.  Still, I dream of the day when we either (a) legalize drugs that are less harmful than tobacco, or (b) ban cigarettes and quit being so hypocritical.  

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Florida jury on Thursday ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year-old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema.

The Broward Circuit Court jury assessed $56.6 million in past and future medical expenses against the company, part of Altria Group Inc, as well as $244 million in punitive damages.

Source: Philip Morris ordered to pay $300 million to smoker | U.S. | Reuters

KBR uses a fine example of doublespeak

Check this out: KBR is ordered to pay $3 million dollars to an employee who was raped in Iraq.  KBR disagrees with the ruling, but believes it was in the best interest of the parties.  WTF?

A nearly $3 million arbitration award won by a former KBR employee who said she was raped in Iraq was applauded by Houston attorneys who represented her and a Humble woman suing the military contractor for negligence.

. . . .

“KBR disagrees with the interim ruling and has filed a motion for modification of the arbitration award," said a statement from Heather Browne, KBR Inc.'s director of communications. “However, the decision validates what KBR has maintained all along; that the arbitration process is truly neutral and works in the best interest of the parties involved.”

Source: KBR challenges $2.9 million awarded in rape claim | Business | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Live in Abilene, Texas (or Taylor County)? Then Vote For Randy Crownover for Judge

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be in law school if not for Randy Crownover.  I’ve known this man since I was 17 years old, and to say that he influenced my decision to become an attorney would be a comical understatement.  I remember a discussion we had when I was 17 or 18 years old about “the law.”  He described it to me with reverence and passion that I’ve never heard from another person.  I recently found out that Randy is running for Judge in the County Court at Law in Taylor County, Texas. 

From his website: 

In 1980, I called Abilene home and began the practice of law.  The most important quality I bring to my candidacy is 29 years of legal experience in trial litigation in the courtrooms of Taylor County and across the State of Texas.  There is simply no substitute to actually trying cases, year-after-year, case-after-case, to learn the law and to apply the law to the facts, thereby embedding the rules of the law into the mind, and making knowledge of the law “second nature.”  This is the point at which I find myself after 29 years of handling thousands upon thousands of cases in trial courts, appeals courts, bankruptcy courts, and  federal courts.

My legal experience is not limited to one branch of law.  My extensive legal experience encompasses each of the five primary areas in which your Judge of County Court-at-Law No. 2 must be well anchored: civil law, juvenile law, probate law, misdemeanor law, and JP and municipal court appeals.   Peoples' lives are depending on the knowledge and expertise of the judge, and learning while on the bench is not the place to start.  It is extremely important to elect a judicial candidate that is experienced in the complete jurisdiction of County Court-at-Law.  Your Taylor County Court-at-Law No. 2 holds concurrent jurisdiction in civil cases $100,000.00 or less, juvenile law governed by the Texas Family Code, probate cases moved from County Court, misdemeanor criminal cases, and appellate jurisdiction over Justice Courts and Municipal Courts cases as well as certain Administrative Law Review cases.  I have three decades of experience necessary in all these areas of law:

Source: Crownover for Judge – Experience

Randy is as fierce an advocate for his clients as any attorney I’ve ever met.  His advocacy, however, is tempered by his respect for the law.  In the time I worked with him, he always knew where the ethical line was, and he always steered clear of it.  Some people might call that risk-averse behavior.  I call it honorable behavior befitting a man who seeks judicial office.

I have recommended Randy Crownover to my friends and my family in Texas.  I would not have made that recommendation if I had any doubts about his ability, his temperance, or his talents.  I have absolutely no reservation in recommending Randy to the voters of Taylor County and of Abilene, Texas.  I know that the citizens of Abilene can count on Randy to fairly, impartially, and ethically administer justice if they choose to elect him to County Court at Law.

I only hope that if Randy is elected as judge, his schedule will permit him to travel to Michigan next year to attend my graduation ceremony.  Because it’s no exaggeration to say that without his guidance, support, and encouragement, I wouldn’t be here. 

Thanks, Randy.

ABA To Offer Coverage Of Notable Appellate Decisions

Everyone and their illiterate brother who somehow got into law school covers Supreme Court cases.  Now it looks like there will be some decent coverage of the lower appellate courts:

Welcome to the new Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals Website of the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements.  This website is designed to provide reporters, lawyers, educators, and the public with prompt, accurate, unbiased information about newsworthy and legally significant cases pending in and decided by the Federal Courts of Appeals.  Our goal is to assist the media’s efforts to provide timely and extensive reporting about federal court decisions.  Use this website to find short summaries of recent opinions of public interest and noteworthy cases pending oral argument.  

Source: Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals

Ha Ha! Mortgage holder can’t foreclose due to sloppy paperwork!

Yes, that “Ha Ha!” was done in a Nelson voice from The Simpsons.

The ruling concerned a mortgage held by debtor Mathew Giroux, who filed a voluntary Chapter 7 case in bankruptcy court in Massachusetts on June 27, 2008. The bankruptcy court granted the trustee's motion for summary judgment on May 21, which allowed him to treat the mortgage as a unsecured debt.
Saris agreed with the bankruptcy court that Massachusetts case law holds that the state "requires strict formalities in the execution of acknowledgements."

Saris also agreed with the bankruptcy court that Massachusetts courts are likely to follow a 2004 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, In re Biggs, which held that omitting the lender's name in an acknowledgement was not a "purposeless formality."

"Although the question of the acknowledgment's validity is a determinative issue, the Court finds the outcome in the state court to be reasonably clear," Saris wrote.
Cases about the issue have also cropped up in federal courts in other jurisdictions, said the trustee's lawyer, Jeffrey J. Cymrot of Boston-based Sassoon & Cymrott. Cymrot said he's also working on a similar pending case.

"It's largely due to pushing mortgages through the system," Cymrot said. "I don't think it's rare."
The case shows that sloppy execution of mortgage documents has consequences in bankruptcy cases, Cymrot said.

Source: Law.com - Defective Paperwork Strips Mortgage Holder of Foreclosure Rights

This humors me greatly since financial companies make us go through so many hoops for their convenience.  It’s nice to see that we can still force them to do things right.

More About the Chamber of Commerce and Climate Change

Dear Trial Lawyers: I still haven’t seen you guys take this ball and run with it.  Quit being arrogant, avaricious, and ignorant and start exploiting the enemy’s biggest weakness.

Likewise, the administration's affinity for dealing with front-line corporate players subtly tilts the playing field. Other business associations – notably the CEO-heavy Business Roundtable– weigh in on many of the same issues as the chamber. But Ivan Seidenberg, the roundtable chairman, is also the CEO of Verizon. And when John Castellani, the roundtable president, shows up at the White House, he brings CEOs who head the group's individual issues committees.

"We probably learn more from the Business Roundtable, because the people who come in are wearing two hats, whereas mostly the chamber comes in with Tom Donohue and the appropriate staff person as opposed to their members," Jarrett said.

When Donohue talks of lobbying, he speaks of the constitutionally protected right to petition the government for redress of grievances. The Obama administration, however, casts lobbying as emblematic of a dysfunctional Washington culture that profits "special interests" at the expense of "the people."

Source: 'Change' puts U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the spot - USATODAY.com

DMV In Connecticut Won’t Give Info to Marshals Anymore

Sucks to be them.

Up until last month, state marshals made heavy use of a small room in the Department of Motor Vehicles in Wethersfield when they phoned the Law Enforcement Communications office for people’s last known addresses.

Marshals, and the lawyers they serve papers for, needed to have fresh addresses to make legal service on defendants in civil cases, and to properly execute domestic restraining orders.

But in an Oct. 2 letter to the State Marshal Commission in Hartford, DMV Commissioner Robert M. Ward announced that his agency “will no longer be providing telephone access to the State Marshals for department information.”

The letter stated that marshals would have to send in a written form and a $20 fee to check defendants’ last known addresses. Ward suggested that marshals obtain addresses through commercial Internet databases “such as Choice Point and R.L. Polk services.”

Source: Connecticut Law Tribune: Lawyers May Find It Harder To Serve Papers

The Worst Epithet Ever? Trial Lawyer!

At least if you’re a Republican.  I got this in an email from the AAJ:

We defeated the motion to recommit, [the healthcare bill passed by the house] thanks to many champions of the civil justice system like Congressman Bruce Braley, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , who stood up to these baseless remarks, even though some of their colleagues taunted Bruce with chants of "trial lawyer, trial lawyer..."  Bruce was incredible; we are all in his debt.

If I were Braley, I would have said something like, “You’re goddamned right I’m a trial lawyer!  I fight for the rights of average everyday Americans every day of my life.  I’m not some bootlicking corporate sock puppet who takes his orders from a group of amoral moneymen who have run our economy into the ground!”  Then I’d have started shouting “Sock puppet!  Sock puppet!”  And that’s why I’m not in the House of Representatives.

How can you be smart enough to get into Harvard Law, but dumb enough to set fire to a 9/11 memorial in NYC?

Yeah, I’m late on this one.  But it’s still worth bringing up.  Clearly, GPA and LSAT scores don’t determine your intelligence, your fitness to practice, or your worth as a human being:

Updated: The law firm Sidley Austin has rescinded an employment offer to a Harvard law graduate who has turned himself in to police for allegedly setting fire to a Sept. 11 memorial in Manhattan.

The suspect, 26-year-old Brian Schroeder, is a 2009 graduate of Harvard Law School, the Harvard Law Record reports. He was a 2008 summer associate at Sidley Austin; a permanent offer of employment has been rescinded, Sidley Austin partner Bill Conlon told the ABA Journal.

Schroeder turned himself in for the blaze at the Memorial Park chapel housing the remains of unidentified Sept. 11 victims on Saturday evening, according to the New York Post and the New York Times. The remains were unharmed, but mementos such as photos and flowers were either damaged or stolen. Sources told the Post that the Saturday morning fire may have been set as part of a drunken dare.

Source: Sidley Austin Rescinds Offer to New Hire Suspected of Setting Fire to 9-11 Chapel | ABA Journal - Law News Now

On a related note, wouldn’t you hate to be on trial in NYC for trying to burn down a 9/11 memorial?  If I were a judge, I’d seriously consider granting a change of venue motion… then deny it because anyone this stupid gets whatever the jury gives him.

How can a grant be both fantastic, and a needless waste?

If it’s this one:

A group of law schools will help expand an online U.S. Supreme Court database so that it reaches back to the court's first recorded decision in 1792.

The schools received an $874,000 National Science Foundation grant in September to begin the four-year project, which will add 19,675 cases to a database that now extends from the Court's 1953 term through 2008, said Lee Epstein, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law. The group will post 4,400 cases by next summer and add more in installments each year, she said.

The other schools involved are the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Washington University Law School, Michigan State University College of Law and the political science departments at Princeton University and Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.

Source: Law.com - Law Schools Help Extend U.S. Supreme Court Database to 1792

It’s fantastic that this grant was awarded.  It’s a needless waste because the government should have set this up already.

That said, I noted that my very own Michigan State University is involved.  Go Spartans!  (But why the hell haven’t I heard about it from the school?)

Are 6,000 Seroquel trials on the way?

If so, I foresee a lot of money being spent by both sides to retain local counsel…

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- AstraZeneca Plc may face as many 6,000 trials of lawsuits claiming its antipsychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes after a judge said she will recommend sending the cases back to their home courts.

U.S. District Judge Anne Conway in Orlando, Florida, who is overseeing pre-trial proceedings in federal Seroquel litigation, said yesterday she’ll urge a panel of judges to return all of the cases to courts across the U.S. for possible trials.

Source: AstraZeneca Judge to Urge Return of Seroquel Cases to Courts - Bloomberg.com

Trial Lawyers Recover $2.4 Billion Dollars for Taxpayers

For those of you who think that trial lawyers don’t do anything but line their own pockets, consider the fact that trial lawyers are behind many if not most of these cases:

The Justice Department has secured $2.4 billion in settlements and judgments through False Claims Act cases through the end of September, marking the second-largest annual recovery of civil fraud claims in history.

"It's no secret that health care fraud is a top priority of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice and the administration," Assistant Attorney General Tony West, head of the Civil Division, told reporters Thursday. West said $1.6 billion represents cases that involve health care fraud recovery.

West said Justice is using the "full panoply" of tools to combat health care fraud both on the civil and criminal front. Last week, West and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who leads the Criminal Division, said the department is stepping up Foreign Corrupt Practice Act enforcement against the pharmaceutical industry.

Source: Law.com - DOJ: $2.4 Billion Recovered From False Claims Act Cases

Also consider that the fact that $1.6 billion dollars were recovered from the healthcare industry means a lot of doctors and insurers are ripping off the taxpayers.

Georgia Judge Throws 2 Lawyers in Jail

Personally, I’m all for judges holding lawyers in contempt when they show disrespect for the Court.  Otherwise, those who play by the rules suffer.

It may not be a good time for Georgia practitioners to try the patience of Matthew Simmons, the chief judge of Clayton County Superior Court.

Within two business days he has jailed two lawyers for contempt in unrelated cases, according to a Daily Report article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

Source: Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days | ABA Journal - Law News Now

Dear Trial Lawyers – Try Telling the Public About These “Defensive Medicine” Facts

I just saw that 54% of Americans support medical malpractice “reform” as a way to lower healthcare costs. Trial lawyers need to start spending money to spread the following messages:

If a doctor orders a test he or she feels isn’t medically necessary, that doctor is breaking the law.

Many doctors who run these unnecessary tests receive compensation for these tests.  For example, some doctors own shares in lab companies.  Every test the doctor orders puts money in the doctor’s pocket.  Do you think that the real reason those doctors order unnecessary tests is because they’re afraid of being sued?

Many doctors also own equipment such as MRI machines.  These machines are very expensive, and only get paid off if the doctor uses the equipment to run tests.  Do you think that a doctor who is facing a large monthly bill for his MRI machine is likely to run unnecessary tests out of fear of being sued, or out of fear of not making the payments?

Some hospitals illegally hire doctors because they know that hiring them will lead to more business for them.  Here’s how it goes: Doctor Smith sends 50% of his patients to hospital A, and 50% to hospital B.  Hospital A offers the doctor a job with a big salary increase with the understood expectation that the doctor will start sending more patients to hospital A.  This sort of thing is illegal, but common.  Point out all the qui tam lawsuits over it.

The only way – THE ONLY WAY – we’re going to win this battle is by talking about crooked doctors.  Yes, it’s important to point out all the medical errors out there, but that’s not enough because (a) some people don’t care about others, and (b) some people still think that lawyers make too much money.  Point out how doctors, HMO’s, and insurers game the system and make A TON OF MONEY by doing illegal and unethical things.

Point out how Tenet healthcare – JUST ONE COMPANY – had to pay the government $900 million dollars because of its conduct. 

Work with healthcare lawyers to explain what the corrupt practices in the healthcare industries are, and how much those cost American taxpayers.

Medical malpractice lawsuits cost taxpayers mostly indirectly.  Healthcare fraud cost us directly.  It’s complete and utter bullshit to say that we need to figure out how to stop medmal lawsuits, but not figure out a way to stop doctors from upcoding and other overbilling practices.

Get your act together and start pushing the right messages, or med mal lawsuits will be thrown under the bus to pass healthcare reform.  Mark my words.

Calling 911 because your parents took away your Xbox – not a good idea

I think today is the day I officially became old, because I read this and thought “what the hell is wrong with kids today?”

A Buffalo Grove teen was having fun, fun, fun until his parents took his video game system away.

So the unhappy 15-year-old dialed 911 around 12:50 p.m. Sunday to complain to police about his parents confiscating his Microsoft Xbox 360 as punishment.

Source: Daily Herald | Teen calls 911 after parents take away Xbox

In other news, I’ll be telling kids to stay off my lawn this weekend.