The ebb and flow of law fascinates Blawgletter. Every week brings new surprises.
We hold special fondness for the hard and messy work of presiding over trials. We admire even more the jurors who recreate democracy with each verdict they render.
And yet every day we see court of appeals decisions that uphold shortcuts and
Blawgletter had the pleasure yesterday of alerting our gentle readers (Uniform Rates — Bah!) to a blog we hadn’t seen before — the inimitable f/k/a, by David Giacalone. The post, relating to the tort reform credentials of Barack Obama, reminded f/k/a fans of a four-part essay Mr. Giacalone wrote (sometime
Google this. Blawgletter gets as-they-happen Google Alerts by email. You might consider it too. Don’t cost nothin’.
Our Alerts include items that mention "contingent fee" (or its yokely doppelganger, "contingency fee"). Most reference ads for personal injury lawyers, especially ones handling (still!) "mesothelioma" cases.
A claim of sameness. A more interesting
Yesterday, Blawgletter rhapsodized on The Value of Class Actions to consumers. Today we speak of their riskiness to class counsel. The Fifth Circuit will help us illustrate the point.
Last Friday, the court affirmed summary judgment against a class of pension plan participants and beneficiaries. In Kirschbaum v. Reliant Energy, Inc., No. 06-20157 (5th
A question of leverage. Chief Justice John G. Roberts volunteered the other day, at a moot court competition, that "a class action is a dramatic departure from the normal rules of litigation." He went on to suggest that the device serves merely to increase plaintiffs’ leverage in settlement talks.
Hmmm. True, aggregating small claims
On this springy Friday, when the world looks new and everything again seems possible, Blawgletter offers a second installment to a thingy we’ve undertaken to pen for the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas in its new Hot Topics for Trial Lawyers:
Let’s take another stroll down memory lane, shall we? Back
Anne Reed at Deliberations takes a helpful look today at Lawyers: So Certain, So Wrong. Her topic? "We all assume that if we like something, the rest of the world is going to like it too — and when we assume that, we’re usually mistaken. "
Ms. Reed goes on to relate the value
Let’s play Monopoly®! If a dominant manufacturer charges monopoly prices for its products, does it violate antitrust law? No. Of course not. Are you nuts?
What if it won its monopoly by deceiving a standard-setting organization (SSO) into adopting standards that embody inventions the monopolist secretly intended to patent? Um, er, probably.
But what
An ancient doctrine. A new twist on the good old cy pres doctrine lets judges redirect money that a defendant presumptively owes to a group of people — often members of a class in a class action — to other deserving folks. That doesn’t sound good. Why on Earth should a court divert funds
Blawgletter argued a few weeks ago to a bench that few practicing lawyers know much about — the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
Repeat appearers call it simply "the Panel" or "the MDL Panel". Its website defines its mission thus:
Origin and Purposes
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, known informally as the