Lerach Still Enjoys Lap Of Luxury
May 28, 2010
This week Don Bauder of The San Diego Reader reviewed the recent book Circle of Greed, which chronicles the career of San Diegan ex-con William Lerach. In addition to providing the juicy details of how Lerach shook down corporations for hundreds of millions of dollars, Bauder reports that Lerach is comfortably enjoying life outside the pokey:
Now he is out, residing comfortably in one of the county’s most luxurious spreads, a cliffside villa in La Jolla. He is worth an estimated $700 million. The government made him pay a mere $7.5 million for his crimes. The profane, volatile, bullying Scotch guzzler and work addict — now on his fourth marriage — can no longer practice law but is preparing to teach a course at the University of California Irvine School of Law.
In describing the book, Bauder quotes co-author Patrick Dillon: “The book is not so much about the lawyers but about the business of the law.” And, Bauder writes, “It’s a tawdry business.”
$$$ for Trial Lawyers, “Owners Manual Update” for Class Members
May 27, 2010
From Overlawyered.com: My lawyer got $35.1 million…and all I got was this lousy piece of paper.
More On Michigan Case: “Who Knew Carbon Monoxide Kills”?
May 26, 2010
Walter Olson at Overlawyered links to a great piece by Daniel Fisher of Forbes. (I blogged on this earlier this week).
Fisher’s piece, “Who Knew That Carbon Monoxide Kills?”, concerns the lawsuit over the death of a Michigan man by carbon monoxide poisoning. The man, an experienced mechanic, died while repairing his car inside his closed garage while the engine idled. His family charges the muffler repair kit manufacturer with failing to warn about the dangers of repairing mufflers indoors.
The trial judge dismissed the case for reasons, Fisher notes, “that should be obvious to anyone born in the 20th Century.” Namely, running an engine inside a closed garage is dangerous! Read more
A Call for a “Fair Hearing” of Christie’s Nominee to NJ High Court
May 25, 2010
A group of Republican women legislators have issued a public statement of support for Anne Patterson, NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s nominee to the state Supreme Court. Patterson was nominated to the bench after Gov. Christie declined to renominate sitting liberal justice, John Wallace. State Senate Democrats are currently blocking a hearing for the nominee. Read more
Michigan Court Overturns Common Sense
May 24, 2010
A Michigan man with experience as a mechanic and a history of repairing engines died of carbon monoxide poisoning after letting a car run in a closed garage while trying to repair a muffler. The man’s family sued the manufacturer of the muffler repair kit for failing to warn about the dangers of repairing mufflers indoors. A Michigan trial court originally threw out the case, but the Court of Appeals reversed the ruling and the suit will now go to trial. Writing for the minority (and for common sense), Judge Kirsten Frank Kelly noted:
“In my view, defendants had no duty to warn of the dangers associated with another manufacturer’s product. Further, assuming for the sake of argument that such a duty existed, running the engine of a car in a small, enclosed space, such as a garage, is an obvious material risk to a reasonably prudent product user and would be especially obvious to a person like the decedent whose employment involved servicing and repairing engines.”
Judge Kelly also pointed out that it is “undisputed” that the muffler repair kit did not create the carbon monoxide poisoning; rather it was the man’s “misuse of the vehicle in an enclosed space” that caused the harm. It will now be up to a Michigan jury to decide whether justice and common sense still apply in the state.
“Merit” Selection Debated in Arizona
May 24, 2010
This past weekend, the Prescott, Arizona Daily Courier debated the pros and cons of “merit” selection. Arizona’s “merit” panel is, of course, frequently held up by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as worthy of emulation by other states.
The Class Action Industry
May 21, 2010
Walter Olson, now with the Cato Institute, links to a study by Vanderbilt University Law Professor Brian Fitzpatrick on Overlawyered.com.
Professor Fitzpatrick examined every federal class action settlement in 2006 and 2007 and found - surprise, surprise - that trial lawyers are making a killing. The 688 class actions settled during this time period resulted in nearly $33 billion in payments, including about $5 billion to attorneys.
You can find the study here.
Starbucks Suit: What Happened to Personal Responsibility?
May 21, 2010
Court Koenning of the Houston Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse has a common-sense piece in the Southeast Texas Record worth a quick read. He writes: “We need to realize that every dilemma or personal disappointment is not fodder for a lawsuit and does not warrant a treasure trove of cash.”
O’Connor Slimes Illinois Justice
May 20, 2010
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor brought her dog-and-pony show to Illinois this week, urging members of the Chicago Bar Association to push for abolishing democratic judicial elections. In making her case, O’Connor slimed Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier for voting to overturn a $1.2 billion class action verdict against State Farm Insurance, alleging it was only because the company had contributed to his campaign.
- Did O’Connor offer any reason why the State Farm verdict should have been upheld? No.
- Did O’Connor mention that the vote to overturn the State Farm award was unanimous? No.
- Did O’Connor acknowledge that the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board examined the matter and found no ethical violation by Justice Karmeier? No.
- Did O’Connor impugn the integrity of the other 6 Justices who voted the same way as Karmeier? No.
- Did O’Connor note that Justice Karmeier has a history of voting against Powerball-sized damage awards? No.
- Did O’Connor point out that Illinois is known as a class action haven trial lawyers exploit to win outrageous awards (and fees)? No.
In his dissent in Caperton, Chief Justice Roberts predicted that the decision would “inevitably lead to an increase in allegations that judges are biased, however groundless those charges may be.”
I’ll bet Chief Justice Roberts never thought the main spouter of “groundless” allegations would be the Justice whose Supreme Court seat he was initially nominated to fill.
“Judicial Hypocrisy” in New Jersey
May 20, 2010
Paul Mulshine’s excellent item from earlier this week is a must-read for those following Governor Kryptonite’s (AKA Gov. Chris Christie) effort to reform the New Jersey Supreme Court. Gov. Christie declined to re-appoint liberal justice John Wallace to the state Supreme Court — promptly setting all of New Jersey’s judicial activists a-clucking. (I’ve written about this here and here.)
Mulshine, a writer with Newark’s Star-Ledger, chides eight former state supreme court justices for releasing a statement in which they take issue with reappointment powers clearly granted to the governor in the state constitution. Read more