Overlawyered

Internet service providers liable for online securities frauds?

Walter Olson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:30:14 +0000

Andrew Moshirnia at Citizen Media Law sounds the alarm about a provision of the proposed Investor Protection Act of 2009 that could punch an exception in Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act, which now generally protects ISPs from liability for actions of third-party users. An investment-fraud exception could serve (he warns) as an entering wedge for other groups to pursue similar exceptions for other types of online content.

Tags: online speech, securities litigation

Persons accused of domestic violence have right to hearing

Walter Olson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:34:21 +0000

That’s a more controversial proposition than you might think; the Connecticut Supreme Court was split 5-2 in agreeing that a hearing was necessary to confirm the validity of a protective order against a defendant who has been accused but not convicted. The case pitted the state ACLU against the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. [Connecticut Law Tribune via Amy Alkon]

Tags: ACLU, Connecticut, domestic violence

Calorie count labeling for vending machines

Walter Olson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:18:26 +0000

It’s in a provision “buried deep in the House health care bill”. [Glenn Thrush, Politico, via Katherine Mangu-Ward, Crispy on the Outside]

Tags: obesity

The fifteen-minute shower

Walter Olson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:03:59 +0000

“Here’s a surprise: people hate federally mandated low-flow shower heads. And the nannies are planning to make them worse.” [For What It's Worth on this WSJ report]

Tags: environment

U.K.: “Police worker fired for backing psychic investigations claims religious discrimination”

Walter Olson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:54:23 +0000

Having succeeded in winning a ruling that his beliefs in spiritualism and mediums qualify as a form of religious belief, Alan Power can proceed with his suit alleging that he was improperly dismissed because of them. His case “follows a landmark ruling last month that environmental views should be considered equivalent to religious and philosophical beliefs”. [Telegraph, Independent] (& welcome Popehat readers)

Tags: religious discrimination, United Kingdom

Update: “Sodium lawsuit against Denny’s dismissed”

Walter Olson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:48:49 +0000

Nation’s Restaurant News (via Russell Jackson): “A New Jersey Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing Denny’s Corp. of perpetrating fraud by not disclosing the amount of sodium in its food. The lawsuit, the first sodium-related case against a restaurant company, was filed this summer by a New Jersey man with help from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group.” Earlier here and here.

Tags: CSPI, restaurants, salt

November 13 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:57:54 +0000

“Jailed Inventor Reveals Details of Patent Troll Settlements” [AmLaw Daily, IP Law and Business]
Sprinkler law inspired by Great White nightclub disaster could kill off small Seattle music venues [Nicole Brodeur, Seattle Times]
Court tosses law student’s suit against lawyer who boasted on air he’d pay a million bucks if anyone could prove him wrong about his case [Hoffman, ConcurOp; earlier]
Baseball-anthem case: “The Boston resident who saw his recent copyright claim against Bon Jovi dismissed is appealing the verdict.” [NME, earlier]
Man who climbed Mount Rainier while drawing workers’ comp pleads not guilty to fraud charge [KOMO; more on Washington workers' comp here, here and here]
Senate committee intends to vote next week on OSHA nomination of David Michaels without holding a hearing to air critics’ concerns [Carter Wood, ShopFloor]
Blawg Review #237 is at Christian Metcalfe’s U.K. Property Law Blog;
Are you sure you want to open that high-end restaurant in San Francisco given the city’s regulatory climate? [Crispy on the Outside citing SF Weekly interview with Daniel Patterson]

Tags: David Michaels, music and musicians, patent trolls, restaurants, San Francisco, Washington state, workers' compensation

When people search for “judge”

Walter Olson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:56:29 +0000

Radley Balko reports on what Google proceeds to suggest based on search popularity.

Tags: Google, judges

Suing Buffett, and many others, over takeovers

Walter Olson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:11:07 +0000

Dallas attorney Joseph Kendall, a former federal judge, seems to have won the race to the courthouse to challenge Warren Buffett’s takeover of Burlington Northern as inadequately generous. Daniel Fisher of Forbes discusses the economics of entrepreneurial lawsuits arising from takeovers — settlements may reflect defendants’ wish not to undergo the heavy burdens of discovery, and if the acquirer should happen to raise its bid during the process, you can take credit for that as a basis for fees — and reports that “this isn’t the only takeover Kendall thinks investors should be unhappy about: On his firm’s Web site are listed announcements of litigation or potential litigation over Stanley Works’ $4.5 billion takeover of Black and Decker, JDA Software’s acquisition of i2 Technologies, Texas Pacific Group’s $4 billion purchase of IMS Health Inc., and the purchase of Diedrich Coffee by Peet’s Coffee & Tea. And that’s only this month.”

Tags: securities litigation

“Disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer to lecture at ethics center”

Walter Olson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:51:04 +0000

Life imitates The Onion: the madam in the Client Nine scandal is questioning the propriety of the invitation from Prof. Lawrence Lessig’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard. [NY Daily News] Spitzer, for those who’ve already forgotten, curried political favor with anti-libertarian feminist and legal services groups by helping lead a crusade to lengthen sentences for “johns”, then deftly dodged the harsh penalties that his own law has inflicted on many offenders less well connected than himself. Lately, by way of rehabilitating his image, he’s taken to the columns of publications like Slate to lecture the rest of us about things like respect for the rule of law. More: Above the Law, Greenfield (& welcome Chequer-Board readers).

Tags: do as we say, Eliot Spitzer, ethics, Harvard

Overlawyered

Internet service providers liable for online securities frauds?

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Persons accused of domestic violence have right to hearing

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Calorie count labeling for vending machines

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The fifteen-minute shower

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U.K.: “Police worker fired for backing psychic investigations claims religious discrimination”

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Update: “Sodium lawsuit against Denny’s dismissed”

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November 13 roundup

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When people search for “judge”

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Suing Buffett, and many others, over takeovers

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