Overlawyered http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:57:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 “Lawyer Says Televangelist’s No-Divorce Policy May Have Led to Killing” http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/lawyer-says-televangelist%e2%80%99s-no-divorce-policy-may-have-led-to-killing/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/lawyer-says-televangelist%e2%80%99s-no-divorce-policy-may-have-led-to-killing/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:57:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14645 A stretch? The security chief for Missouri-based Joyce Meyer Ministries has been charged with the murder of his wife and family, and lawyers pursuing a wrongful-death case now say they want to include the financially successful ministry as a defendant. [ABA Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, UPI]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/lawyer-says-televangelist%e2%80%99s-no-divorce-policy-may-have-led-to-killing/feed/ 0 “I’ve always thought people would be very concerned if they knew what we were doing” http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%99ve-always-thought-people-would-be-very-concerned-if-they-knew-what-we-were-doing%e2%80%9d/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%99ve-always-thought-people-would-be-very-concerned-if-they-knew-what-we-were-doing%e2%80%9d/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:15:16 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14641 A Texas DWI lawyer speaks incautiously to the press, and fun ensues [Houston Press, Above the Law, Defending People and more]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%99ve-always-thought-people-would-be-very-concerned-if-they-knew-what-we-were-doing%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 CPSIA’s ban on brass http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/cpsias-ban-on-brass/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/cpsias-ban-on-brass/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:55:11 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14624 By a 3-2 vote, the CPSC has confirmed that the absurd and inflexible Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act bans the sale of children’s products which contain components of conventional (leaded) brass. The vote drew dissents from commissioners Anne Northup (statement) and Nancy Nord (official comments, PDF; further statement at her blog). From the latter:

…The Commission has now very clearly determined that we do not have the flexibility under the law to make common sense decisions with respect to lead.
AnimalsBall3b
…I am especially concerned about what this decision means for our schools, where brass is found on desk hinges, coat hooks, locker pulls and many other items. Are schools now going to be forced to remove all brass and if so, who will bear this financial burden?

…brass is found throughout a home and removing it from toys does little in terms of removing it from a child’s environment. If brass were really harmful to children, we would be taking action to remove it from the home but no one is suggesting that there is a safety issue that needs to be addressed in this way.

Evidence of actual health risks from brass in the everyday environments of American children is, of course, anything but compelling. Rick Woldenberg has been covering the story here, here, here, and here. Greco Woodcrafting predicts rough times ahead for school bands, as well. And the WSJ editorializes today.
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More: this summer the CPSC issued guidance on the closely related topic of ballpoint pens (the roller balls of which include lead alloy); the upshot was so long as manufacturers don’t primarily market any given pen design as being for kids, they’re in the clear, even if large numbers of children are among the pens’ users. (Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association petition and response, both PDF; earlier here, here, etc.) For more on that episode, see 3 Green Angels, NAM “Shop Floor” and more, Rick Woldenberg and more, and Whimsical Walney.

PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGES from Elise Bake, Der Ball Der Tiere (”The Animals’ Ball”, German, 1891), courtesy ChildrensLibrary.org.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/cpsias-ban-on-brass/feed/ 10 “Spano’s Suicide: Housing Plan Doomed County Exec” http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/spanos-suicide-housing-plan-doomed-county-exec/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/spanos-suicide-housing-plan-doomed-county-exec/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:59:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14622 The New York Post has now picked up a slightly shortened version of my City Journal piece on the housing lawsuit that contributed to a voter revolt in Westchester (cross-posted from Point of Law).

P.S. The Weekly Standard “Scrapbook” feature discusses the piece, as do John Derbyshire and Ron Coleman.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/spanos-suicide-housing-plan-doomed-county-exec/feed/ 0 November 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-6-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-6-roundup-2/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:27:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14617
  • Shop worker prevails in U.K.: no need to pay music royalty fees for singing while stacking shelves [BBC]
  • Word arrives that Eric Turkewitz has been named a New York Super Lawyer, but he manages to control his enthusiasm [New York Personal Injury]
  • In which a columnist criticizes a post-election Tweet of mine, labels me “socially liberal libertarian” [Carney, DC Examiner; Roger Simon, "The Strange Case of NY-23"]
  • Plaintiff’s lawyers may bag $28 million in Wal-Mart wage/hour class actions [ABA Journal]
  • Contestant’s million-dollar suit against California pageant ends abruptly after surfacing of too-racy-to-post video [TMZ; irony-fraught background at Brayton and Good As You]
  • News bulletin: lawyers shouldn’t trade on inside information [Cunningham, Concur Op]
  • Possession, not just wrongful use: “L.A. Halloween Silly String Ban” [Volokh]
  • Video of man who runs giant soda pop store in L.A., includes his thoughts on recycling law and the way regulation often works to big businesses’ advantage against small [Boing Boing]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/november-6-roundup-2/feed/ 3     Brooklyn: “Disbarred Attorney Pleads Guilty to Guardian Account Thefts” http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/brooklyn-disbarred-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-guardian-account-thefts/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/brooklyn-disbarred-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-guardian-account-thefts/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:08:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14615 “A former Brooklyn, N.Y., lawyer has pleaded guilty to fleecing millions of dollars from guardianship accounts he oversaw for incapacitated seniors and children. … at least 16 court examiners who oversaw Rondos [Steven T. Rondos] had signed off on his reports without detecting any red flags.” [NYLJ]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/brooklyn-disbarred-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-guardian-account-thefts/feed/ 3     Australia mulls lip-sync concert disclosure http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/australia-mulls-lip-sync-concert-disclosure/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/australia-mulls-lip-sync-concert-disclosure/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:23:48 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14613 “Reports [Britney Spears] will lip-sync during many of [her 15 planned Australian] concerts has prompted debate on whether there should be disclaimers on tickets advising consumers whether a concert has been pre-recorded.” [ABC.net.au] Writes reader Steven Jones: “The inevitable result of this legislation is that concert promoters will have the warning whether the performer lipsyncs or not (there is no legal penalty for a false warning). This means that consumers will be no better informed, but the promoters will be covered legally.”

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/australia-mulls-lip-sync-concert-disclosure/feed/ 5     “Sexual Harassment: Are We Now Too Sensitive?” http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/sexual-harassment-are-we-now-too-sensitive/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/sexual-harassment-are-we-now-too-sensitive/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:39:50 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14611 I’m quoted by Ben Brody in this month’s Westchester Magazine in an article about fear of harassment charges in the workplace.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/sexual-harassment-are-we-now-too-sensitive/feed/ 0     Careful about criticizing N.J. school board officials http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/careful-about-criticizing-n-j-school-board-officials/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/careful-about-criticizing-n-j-school-board-officials/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:36:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14605 Paul Levy, Consumer Law and Policy:

    The Freehold School Board has subpoenaed New Jersey Online to identify several citizens who chimed in to discuss stories published in the Newark Star Ledger and New Jersey Online about several high administrators who got fake degrees from an online diploma mill, and hence received higher pay. After New Jersey Online notified its subscribers of the subpoena, the ACLU of New Jersey and Freehold attorney Stuart J. Moskovitz stepped in to represent various anonymous posters, and NJ.com has refused to furnish identifying information about the posters.

    Asbury Park Press:

    Howell representative William Bruno on the school board said he was in favor of the Aug. 31 subpoena.

    “If they have nothing to hide, what’s the problem?” Bruno said.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/careful-about-criticizing-n-j-school-board-officials/feed/ 3     John Endean, “Canadianized Labor Law?” (Forbes) http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/john-endean-canadianized-labor-law-forbes/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/john-endean-canadianized-labor-law-forbes/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:52:15 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14584 New at Forbes.com: John Endean has an important article demonstrating that while American unionists seek to use Canada’s pro-union labor laws as a model for their proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), they seldom mention that Canadians themselves have found it advisable to rethink and retreat from some of those laws. It’s a condensed adaptation of a paper that will soon be published here as the first in a planned Manhattan Institute series on labor policy. Check it out here (cross-posted from Point of Law).

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