Lionel Hutz (Phil Hartman) — lawyer, realtor,
and cobbler.
Blawgletter loves The Simpsons — not least for its often hilarious treatment of our justice system. Who can forget the blue-hair lawyer and his "let the record show the witness made the drinky-drinky motion"? Lionel Hutz’s law-and-shoe-repair practice? Jimbo’s question, to Judge Constance Harm, whether she
The Ninth Circuit today issued a writ of mandamus directing a district court to explain its reasons for granting indefinite stays of civil discovery. The defendants sought relief to avoid invoking their fifth amendment right not to incriminate themselves. The district court granted the defense motions without comment. The Ninth Circuit held that the orders
Mary Flor Morón-Barradas sued the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for refusing to hire her as a teacher and denying her a teaching certification. The First Circuit today affirmed. Morón-Barradas v. Dept. of Ed. of Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, No. 06-1456 (1st Cir. May 25, 2007).
Yes. We realize the puerility of this post.
Barry
Federal courts of appeals have grown fond of citing pressure to settle as a reason to grant discretionary review of rulings on class certification motions. But they don’t cite any evidence to support the notion that certifying a class forces defendants to debauch themselves. They in effect take judicial notice of the "hydraulic" effect on
Blawgletter confesses that we sometimes post a precis of court opinions before we read them start-to-finish. But we do so to get the news out pronto for our dear subscribers and browsers. Plus we include a link to the opinions that readers may reach their own conclusions.
So what excuse does Richard A. Epstein have
The Federal Circuit affirmed today the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s refusal to allow aspirin-maker Bayer to register "aspirina" as a trademark. The Board deemed aspirina merely descriptive of "analgesic goods" (can you say aspirin?) and therefore ineligible for registration. The court held that substantial evidence supported the conclusion. One judge dissented. In re
The Second Circuit today vacated an order denying motions by the States of California and New Hampshire to send back to state courts lawsuits that they brought against companies that manufactured, refined, marketed, or distributed an octane-enhancing gasoline additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether ("MTBE"). The court held that neither the federal officer removal statute, nor
Senator John Sherman (1823-1900). Did he
belong to a "tort bar"?
Blawgletter has said — at least twice — that we admire the The Wall Street Journal‘s factual reporting and that, for a different reason, we also adore its editorial zaniness. Today’s page A16 made our adoration all the more fervent.
Celebrating the Baby
Today, the Ninth Circuit bid a not-so-fond adieu to the case in which a jury awarded $5 billion in punitive against Exxon for the 1989 grounding of its tanker, The Exxon Valdez, on Blight Reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The panel cut the award to $2 billion on due process grounds. One judge
The Seventh Circuit today affirmed an order denying certification of a class in a dispute over whether State Farm owed policyholders $10 per day for not renting a car during repair of their own vehicles. Pastor v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No 06-2384 (7th Cir. May 23, 2007) (applying Illinois law) (Posner