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, [...]
Philip Howard’s TED Talk: Who Needs The Constitution When You Have A Funny Anecdote?
One of the true gems of the Internet is TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), a nonprofit that invites luminaries from a wide variety of fields to give brief presentations about their signature ideas. A quick googling of "Best TED Talks" is well worth the hours of education and inspiration that will ensue. I was thus disappointed to see that TED invited Philip K. Howard to talk about "Four ways to fix a broken legal system." I have debunked Mr. Howard's work before (see my thoughts on his "Life Without Lawyers," his "health courts," and his claims about public support for tort reform). The ... Continue Reading
Unanimous Supreme Court Resets “Principle Place Of Business” For Diversity Jurisdiction
It's no secret: plaintiffs like state court and defendants like federal court. The reasons include: federal juries, by virtue of their larger geographic range, include fewer urban jurors and more rural jurors, and thus (according to lawyers' lore) will award lower verdicts; the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure place express limits on the amount of discovery available; federal courts are (and were even before Ashcroft v. Iqbal) more prone to grant motions to dismiss (and motions for summary judgment) than state courts. Even if a plaintiff files their lawsuit in state court, the defendant can "remove" the case to federal court if the case could ... Continue Reading
Judge Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.) Enjoins J.P. Morgan From Selling Loan To Telecommunication Company’s Competitor
Felix Salmon at Reuters caught something interesting: [T]he facts of the case are pretty clear. The relationship between JP Morgan and Televisa goes back decades, and so JP Morgan was the natural choice for Televisa to turn to when it decided to buy a fiber-optic cable company called Bestel for $325 million, $225 million of which was to come from Televisa subsidiary Cablevisión. JP Morgan intended to syndicate the loan, but the timing was bad: the deal closed in 2008, when credit markets were all but closed, and as a result JP Morgan ended up owning all of it. After ... Continue Reading
Why Cravath Will Prevail In The Airgas / Air Products Conflict of Interest Lawsuit
[UPDATE: The WSJ Law Blog has copies of the letters submitted to the Delaware Chancery Court. Professor Hazard is undoubtedly one of the pre-eminent experts in the field, and he makes a compelling argument that Cravath violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. Yet, showing a violation of the Rules is not enough — to disqualify counsel under Chancellor Chandler's standard, Airgas will have to show the violation will "materially advance" Air Product's position or undermine the fair and efficient administration of justice. So far, I haven't seen anything demonstrating that. The vague references made so far to Cravath's insider knowledge of ... Continue Reading
Four States Join False Claims Act Whistleblower Suit Over Substandard PVC Pipes
As The Recorder reported, Four states and dozens of California cities and water districts have joined a qui tam lawsuit, unveiled this week, seeking millions of dollars in damages against a company for allegedly supplying customers with substandard PVC pipe. The suit, brought against J-M Manufacturing Co. and its former parent company, Formosa Plastics Corp., alleges that J-M sold PVC pipe that had tensile strength below industry standards, and that the company deceived customers by choosing stronger samples for independent certification of its product. The suit also contends that under the company president, Walter Wang, it "implemented a series of ... Continue Reading
“Conan’s ‘Tonight Show’ contract revealed” – A Lesson In The Importance of Defining Terms In Contracts
Matthew Belloni at The Hollywood Reporter, Esq., has a copy of the 'Tonight Show' contract that's been the subject of much speculation over the past few weeks. He can't post the contract itself (I asked), but he described with considerable detail the parties' positions: [W]e've finally tracked down a copy of the O’Brien contract, and -- lo and behold -- NBC did define “Tonight” as the series that airs at 11:35 as far back as 2002. However, what may have emboldened NBC to move the program anyway was the absence of that key language from later amendments to the deal. Read ... Continue Reading
Texas Lowers The Medical Malpractice Bar Again, Tries To Imprison Nurses For Reporting Dangerous Doctor
All the signs were there: [Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. had] a pattern of improper prescribing and surgical procedures — including a failed skin graft that Dr. Arafiles performed in the emergency room, without surgical privileges. He also sutured a rubber tip to a patient’s crushed finger for protection, an unconventional remedy that was later flagged as inappropriate by the Texas Department of State Health Services. ... Dr. Arafiles was sending e-mail messages to patients about an herbal supplement he sold on the side. ... The hospital administrator, Stan Wiley, said in an interview that Dr. Arafiles had been reprimanded ... Continue Reading
Third Circuit Splits Itself On MySpace First Amendment Cases — Or Does It?
[UPDATE: On June 13, 2011, the Third Circuit en banc reversed (on a vote of 8 to 6) the J.S. opinion below. More commentary at Constitutional Law Prof here. Opinion here. There's a fair chance of the Supreme Court granting certiorari in J.S. given the breadth of the holding. It's undoubtedly a victory for students' free speech rights, but the current Supreme Court might not be as supportive of such a blanket rule in favor of off-campus speech.] As Howard Bashman reports (along with many others, such as The Legal Intelligencer), yesterday two separate panels on the United States Court of Appeals for ... Continue Reading
Law Is Made On A Lawyer’s Desk: Thoughts On The Supreme Court’s Pending “Judicial Taking” Case
Back in December, the Supreme Court held oral argument on Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Though the case raises several issues, the primary question is: The Florida Supreme Court invoked “nonexistent rules of state substantive law” to reverse 100 years of uniform holdings that littoral rights are constitutionally protected. In doing so, did the Florida Court’s decision cause a “judicial taking” proscribed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution? (See the summary at SCOTUSWiki for more.) "Judicial taking" is in quotes for a reason: the claim has never been recognized by any ... Continue Reading
E.D.Pa. Refuses To Dismiss RICO Act Claims Against Title Insurers On Enterprise “Distinctiveness” Grounds
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO") is not all that complicated. Section 1962(c) provides: It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt. In case you think "racketeering activity" is too vague, don't worry — the RICO Act defines it specifically. If the plain meaning rule was applied as strictly as courts say it should be, then ... Continue Reading
