Blawgletter read this morning the Sidebar column by Adam Liptak in the NYT. (Sorry; you have to read the paper version or subscribe to TimesSelect to see it.) The item — "When Lawyers and Juries Mete Out Punishment" — attributes a jury’s $290 million punitive damages award to a Ford Motor Company
Quoting Anatole France, Oregon Court Bans Class Action Bans in Arbitration Agreements
Anatole France.
Striking down as unconscionable a ban on class actions in an "arbitration rider" to a loan agreement, the court in Vasquez-Lopez v. Beneficial Oregon, Inc., No. A125270 (Ore. Ct. App. Jan. 31, 2007), rejected the lender’s argument that the ban favored neither side:
We are reminded of the observation by a
From the Barnett’s Notes Vault: The Story of Castor and Poleax
Castor, left, and Pollux.
"The Story of Castor and Poleax" appeared in the July 2006 issue of Barnett’s Notes on Commercial Litigation, the monthly newsletter of Susman Godfrey L.L.P.:
In the June Hot Lunch column, I promised to talk this month about the story of Castor and Poleax. As students of the ancient world
Ha, Ha — BANG!
A group of Texas Rangers. "One riot, one Ranger"
has become the Rangers’ motto.
Blawgletter has gotten many a nervous laugh from out of state folks by claiming that Texas law requires a homeowner to use deadly force against a trespasser. Blawgletter meant to poke fun at our no-retreat rule — which allows you to
Eat What You Kill as Recipe for Disaster
Rocket J. Squirrel, friend of Bullwinkle.
In and around the town where Blawgletter grew up, hunters ran dogs, shined spotlights, and aimed .22 rifles towards limb and treetop in pursuit of a local delicacy — squirrel. Specifically the brains of squirrel. Blawgletter never sampled the special treat; somehow we knew we wouldn’t like it.
Blawgletter
Owls of Protest May Save Hooters’ Habitat
Strix occidentalis caurina endangering a mousey.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a summary judgment that upheld the validity of a Fish & Wildlife Service statement on the "taking" of northern spotted owls "incidental" to timber operations on federal land in the Pacific Northwest. The court concluded that the agency’s "Incidental Take Statement" didn’t comply with the
Judicial Pay Affray
Justice Breyer supports matching judicial
pay to law professors’ compensation.
In Blawgletter’s adoptive hometown of Dallas, the local band of judicial candidate quality control inspectors asks aspiring lawyer-judges a brilliant question: will winning the election give you a pay raise or a pay cut? On the answer (with possible exceptions for public interest lawyers) hinges
Happy Happy Joy Joy
ALI publishes Restatements of
the Law in several areas.
Blawgletter’s cheeks flushed when word came today that The American Law Institute elected a new crop of members. They included us! Hooray!!
What does ALI do, you say? Well, its 3,000 members — judges, lawyers, and teachers — meet annually and work throughout the year in
Drinkin!
Starbucks takes it trademark seriously.
Today the Second Circuit vacated a judgment favoring a java shop that, over the objection of Starbucks, vended coffee under the name "Mister Charbucks". The court instructed the district court to reconsider on remand whether to grant Starbucks an injunction under a recent amendment to the federal Trademark Dilution Act.
Smokin!
Doesn’t this guy know that smoking can
addict you?
Today the California Supreme Court answered questions that the Ninth Circuit certified to it in litigation over cigarette addiction. The Court held that, for statute of limitations purposes on an economic loss claim, California law doesn’t presume the plaintiff’s knowledge of smoking’s addictiveness but does require