I’m a trial lawyer for injured people and businesses at The Beasley Firm. Founded in 1958, we have recovered over $2 billion for our clients through hundreds of verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million. We’re listed in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News’s Top Lawyers, [...]
Don’t Switch Counsel Immediately Before Trial
Quite unfair: Like a parent telling two children to go work things out for themselves, the justices declined to resolve the The Great High Court Showdown of 2008 — Olson v. Larisa. The Court’s refusal to resolve the spat left Rhode Island, its governor and the town council of Charlestown to choose who — Supreme Court novice Joseph Larisa, or veteran Ted Olson — will appear before the justices on Monday to argue Carcieri v. Kempthorne, an Indian land case. Their decision? Olson, according to a report on Scotus blog. Larisa, who’s never argued before the High Court, will be ... Continue Reading
“The Deterioration of Legal Writing” and How To Fix It
Carolyn Elefant kicks off a discussion on "The Deterioration of Legal Writing," beginning with a Financial Week story, concluding: While I believe that both factors -- the informality of e-mail and lack of quality teaching -- have contributed to the decline of legal writing skills today, I think the main problem is the easy availability of low-cost, computerized legal research tools. These days, both students and lawyers can gorge on a glut of cheap reference sources, from today's less expensive LexisNexis and Westlaw, to tools like Casemaker or Versuslaw, to Google and other Internet search engines. Consequently, legal research has ... Continue Reading
Google and Author’s Guild Settle Copyright Infringement Case Over Book Search
Good news for everyone: The agreement also resolves lawsuits that were brought against Google in 2005 by a group of authors and publishers, along with the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers (AAP). While Google, the Authors Guild and the AAP have disagreed on copyright law, we have always agreed about the importance of creating new ways for users to find books and for authors and publishers to get paid for their works. ... With this agreement, in-copyright, out-of-print books will now be available for readers in the U.S. to search, preview and buy online -- something that was ... Continue Reading
Tort Litigation Improves Drug Safety by Prompting Pre-emptive Recalls
Another post at Drug & Device Law that makes me want to gnash my teeth: ... Does tort litigation improve the safety of drugs? The plaintiffs' bar screams yes: It insists that lawsuits unearth new information that protect the public. Is that true? We haven't seen any empirical scholarhip on this point (though, Lord knows, it might exist, and we simply haven't come across it). And it's pretty hard to research this question, given the nature of what you're looking for. But we've found a few authorities that suggest that tort litigation rarely contributes to protecting public health. Thus, for example, ... Continue Reading
Like Calling the Cops to Report Stolen Drugs: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Preposterous Larceny Complaint
Is this really something he wants to admit? Last week, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) squared off in a debate with Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford. But on Lunsford's podium a GOP operative had placed a small voice recorder, presumably to pick up some off-mic comments Lunsford might make -- apparently a violation of the debate rules. (The recorder itself -- sans recording -- was eventually returned.) Now, from here the accounts differ. According to the Lunsford campaign, Lunsford actually didn't see the recorder. But since it was nestled in among his papers it was included when he handed his papers off ... Continue Reading
Bailout Expands to Insurance Companies – How Should The Government Run An Insurance Company?
I guess I should not be surprised that insurance companies want in, they're the big holders of capital after banks: The Treasury Department is dramatically expanding the scope of its bailout of the financial system with a plan to take ownership stakes in the nation's insurance companies, signaling new concerns about a sector of the economy whose troubles until now have been overshadowed by the banking industry, government and industry sources said. Insurers, including The Hartford, Prudential and MetLife, have pushed the Bush administration to include them in the plan. Many firms have taken losses from mortgage-related securities and other investments ... Continue Reading
Falsehoods About Obstretrical Malpractice & Cerebral Palsy Persist As Smears Against John Edwards
John Edwards' political career is over — and rightly so — but he's still a punching-bag for the "tort reform" crowd. He shouldn't be. Here's an example. Stephen Bainbridge leaves his expertise and reveals himself at least a careless speaker, if not an outright fool. After Eric Johnson at PrawfsBlog discusses teaching a Torts class via John Edwards' Four Trials, Bainbridge criticizes Johnson for failing to note Edwards' "junk science," which Bainbridge 'proves' by block-quoting two spurious conservative articles, one from the Wall Street Journal and the other from the National Review, both decrying Edwards' prosecution of birth trauma cases alleging celebral ... Continue Reading
Simple Answers to Simple Questions: McCain & Pennsylvania
Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog asks: I wonder if this is the map that the McCain campaign has in mind, which would explain the recent focus on Pa. (Via Andrew Sullivan). I'll have to defer to others who follow this closely, but is there a realistic scenario where Sen. McCain can capture Pa. but lose Virginia and Colorado? No. And no: The big problem with such a strategy, however, is this: 4,060,647 2,917,747 869,707 Those are the current numbers of registered and active Democrats, Republicans and independents in Pennsylvania. Democrats make up more than half the total -- 52 ... Continue Reading
BailoutSleuth: Watch Your Money Go To Wall Street and Their Lawyers
Mark Cuban has a new project, BailoutSleuth, "to help ensure that the [bailout] process, including the selection and compensation of contractors, is as transparent as possible." I am shocked and surprised to tell you the transparency is already inadequate: The Treasury Department has hired three outside firms this week to help administer its $700 billion, taxpayer-funded bailout of troubled banks. But some key details of those contracts remain a mystery. The agreements with Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP that the Treasury Department posted on its web site each had blacked-out paragraphs in the sections ... Continue Reading
A Contrast in Credibility: Colin Powell and Michelle Bachmann
Put aside, for a moment, the election and whatever you know of the histories of these two individuals and just watch. Before you follow the advice to "be yourself" when speaking in public, which I'm sure both of these persons were doing, stop and think about how you appear to others. Do you appear credible? Knowledgeable? Rational? Calm? Focused? Or do you appear like a scared and ignorant fool cobbling together provocative phrases? Both of these persons' appearances arose from something you can't buy in a store. You've got to grow it from a seed. ... Continue Reading
