What do the six "weekly orders" that the Texas Supreme Court published on March 2 share in common? The defendants won every case. Imagine our surprise.
Barry Barnett
Taxing Texas Class Actions
Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835).
Would he take a Texas class action?
As Blawgletter surveyed the Texas Supreme Court’s "weekly orders" from last Friday, the words of Chief Justice John Marshall came to mind. He wrote: "That the power to tax involves the power to destroy [and] that the power to destroy may defeat and
Coming Monday: A Spanking-New Issue of Barnett’s Notes on Commercial Litigation
Barnett’s Notes on Commercial Litigation won the Advocatus Diaboli’s Grand Prize for best law firm newsletter in 2006.
If you like Blawgletter, you’ll love Barnett’s Notes on Commercial Litigation, the monthly newsletter of Susman Godfrey L.L.P. The April 2007 issue includes:
1. Sisyphus, Catch-22, and The Walk of Life. Disparate comparisons illustrate the
Understanding Adam Smith
Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations (1776).
Blawgletter heartily endorses Gavin Kennedy’s Adam Smith’s Lost Legacy. Economics professor Kennedy will shortly complete a book on the famous Scottish economist. We await it with fond anticipation.
Barry Barnett
Antitrust law involves lots of economics. Subscribe free to our feed.
Off Topic Topic: Iraq’s Insurgency
For those of you who, like Blawgletter, have trouble making sense of goings-on in Iraq, check out Kevin Berger’s "The Iraq insurgency for beginners". It explains a lot.
Barry Barnett
Logging Plan Violates National Forest Management Act, Ninth Circuit Rules
The Ninth Circuit today ordered a district court to grant a preliminary injunction barring the logging of "live" trees bigger than 21 inches in diameter at breast height in the Umatilla National Forest. The court held that the National Forest Service’s plan to sell logging rights after the "School Fire" of August 2005 violated
Fifth Circuit Requires Good Health Before Death
Need it? Forget it.
Reversing a final judgment for widow Varsha Grogan and rendering judgment against her on a $1,000,000 life insurance claim, the Fifth Circuit held today that her husband’s policy required his "good health" before it took effect. The policy provided that it "shall not take effect unless" payment of the first premium
Attorney Advertising
This looks like a genuine advertisement for legal services.
Check out this story in the NYT today about how Big Apple and upstate law firms have responded to new ethical rules on advertising. Has Blawgletter complied now?
Barry Barnett
Riposte to Retort: Taking the High Road
A new friend across the pond, Professor Gavin Kennedy, posted a kind item about Blawgletter’s invocation of Homer Simpson (No Comeuppance!) in reference to Wealth of Nations (1776) author Adam Smith — the Scot professor’s countryman and pastime. See it here. Blawgletter appreciates the gentle ribbing.
Blawgletter now recalls — too late
Federal Circuit to District Court: Whoa!
Blawgletter doesn’t know whoa from giddyup.
The Federal Circuit issued a writ of mandamus today. The writ requires the district court to stay its proceedings in a patent infringement case until the International Trade Commission completes its work regarding a possible ban on importation of foreign products that infringe the same six patents. The court