Wisconsin’s “progressive” newspaper – The Capital Times weighs in with an editorial slamming merit selection. Money quote:
… elite newspapers and organizations are proposing the replacement of an elected judiciary with a bench filled by political appointees. This so-called “merit selection” of judges blames the citizens for warping the process and suggests voters ought […]

FITSNews reports that the South Carolina Civil Justice Coalition (SCCJC) is stepping up its effort to support the drive to reform the state’s warped workers’ compensation system, which has been turned into an money machine for the local trial bar.
According to the organization, South Carolina has lost over 12,800 jobs because small business owners had […]

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is threatening to veto legislation that fails to open the state’s judicial selection commission to the public.

The push to replace democratic judicial elections in Pennsylvania with a Judicial Selection Star Chamber – where a group comprised mostly of lawyers meets behind closed doors to pick judges – seems to be on the defensive. A recent op-ed in the Philadelphia Daily News by attorney Gerald McOscar pointing out the problems with […]

The U.S. Chamber released its valuable ranking of state lawsuit climates this week and, for the third year in a row, West Virginia brings up the rear. In response, West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw called the Chamber’s “means and methods” the same as “those Hitler used.” Hat tip to Carter Wood blogging over at […]

Three cheers for blogger Kathleen Seidel for facing down trial lawyer Clifford Shoemaker – who specializes in suing pharmaceutical companies.
After Seidel posted an entry that exposed Shoemaker’s legal fees in 22 cases, Shoemaker filed a nuisance subpoena against her, requesting basically every piece of information related to her blog. Seidel filed a motion to quash […]

Great tongue-in-cheek piece in today’s Philadelphia Daily News by attorney Gerald McOscar, but with a serious point. If so-called “merit selection” is such a great idea for choosing Pennsylvania judges why stop there?
But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. In fact, why stop with judges? As long […]

Michigan trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger gets his day in court today on charges he “illegally recruited 64 employees, vendors, friends and relatives to contribute $127,000 to John Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign and reimbursed them from law firm coffers.”
Federal prosecutors have charged Fieger and his law partner with “conspiracy, making illegal campaign contributions” and causing Edwards […]

Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia are home to the worst legal environments in the nation, according to the 2008 rankings released today by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform. The survey results are being announced in Louisiana where 89% of state business owners say there are too many frivolous and unfair lawsuits and 69% […]

The Brennan Center is out with a report that proposes making it easier for trial lawyers to push judges out of their cases through recusal motions.
The Legal Times blog lays out the case: “When judicial candidates accept campaign donations or make campaign pronouncements that might affect their impartiality in future cases, what can be […]