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, [...]
The Embarrassing Attempt To Intervene In The PA Voter ID Lawsuit
If you've been following the press on Pennsylvania's new voter identification law, then you've likely already heard about the plaintiffs. Joyce Block, an 89-year-old woman, who committed the 'crime' of getting a marriage license in Hebrew and then registering to vote in her married name; 84-year-old Nadine Marsh, born near Pittsburgh and has lived her whole life in Pennsylvania, but whose birth certificate can't be found; and, the worst of the worst, the ringleader, 93-year-old Viviette Applewhite, who worked as a welder in World War II, who marched with Martin Luther King, and who has 18 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, and who ... Continue Reading
Baristas Count As Barristers: Law School Marketing Fraud Lawsuit Dismissed
The point of having law schools, as I've written before, is to "lay the foundation for graduates who are capable of learning and developing technical skills and of exercising sophisticated and mature judgment in the face of uncertainty." These schools exist to prepare students to take the bar and then practice as competent lawyers. We can reasonably presume, then, that every word, clause, sentence or paragraph in a law school's brochure or on their website is aimed towards describing the school's sound program of legal education, towards showing how the school prepares its students for passing the bar and then ... Continue Reading
Every Young Trial Lawyer Needs To Watch My Cousin Vinny
Back when I took Evidence at the Beasley School of Law at Temple University, Professor JoAnne Epps (now Dean Epps) told us that, of all the movies about the law and about trials, there was only one movie we had to watch: My Cousin Vinny. I’ve always thought To Kill A Mockingbird is a better movie. 12 Angry Men is a better drama. Paul Newman was more compelling in The Verdict. Anatomy of a Murder has more evocative twists and turns. And I have a soft corner for A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich (and I'm sure I'd think the ... Continue Reading
Originalism and Corporate Personhood Meet The Alien Tort Statute
Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum and Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, that raise a simple question: whether the Alien Tort Statute applies to corporations. The Constitution granted Congress the power "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations," Article 1, Section 8, Clause 10, and Congress responded in the Judiciary Act of 1789 by passing the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), which ensured "district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation ... Continue Reading
Susan G. Komen, March of Dimes, and Corruption by Branding
[Update, February 3, 2012: The Komen Foundation reversed its decision. That's of course the right decision; the question now is if they will publicly explain how they came to make such an obvious mistake, and why they dishonestly denied the influence of politics in making the decision.] If by chance you read this blog but live under a rock, earlier this week the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., cut all grant funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. For some reason the Susan G. Komen Foundation claims the decision wasn't political even though, of course, it was. This isn't ... Continue Reading
Supreme Court Sets The Tone For 2012 Term: Might Makes Right
[Update, February 9, 2012: Erwin Chemerinsky has an article at the ABA Journal explaining how Minneci and another case this term, Ryburn v. Huff, have made it far harder for civil rights plaintiffs to prevail.] Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its first two opinions this term* in civil cases, Minneci v. Pollard, a lawsuit brought by a prisoner who was denied medical care at a federal prison run by a private company, and CompuCredit v. Greenwood, a proposed class action on behalf consumers deceived into signing up for a credit card that claimed it would help "rebuild poor credit" but actually instantly filled ... Continue Reading
Tis The Season For Law Blog Lists
It’s holiday season again, time for the giving of gifts. In the blawgosphere (a word I despise but have been unable to replace), we give and receive gifts in the form of pies. Yes, pies — see my post here, and Scott Greenfield here. The new pie-giver in town, LexisNexis, has added a “Top 25 Tort Law Blogs” listing, including your humble author, for whom you should go vote as the top tort blog (and not any of these other tort blogs I’m about to mention). Unfortunately, as Eric Turkewitz says in his post comparing the LexisNexis list unfavorably to ... Continue Reading
How A Bill Comes A Law And How The Law Becomes Reality
For a certain generation or two, there is a single, definitive source on the legislative process, "I'm Just A Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock!: If you're under forty years old, "I'm Just A Bill" probably taught you everything you know about how Congress works. I'm sure you remember how it ends: Boy: By that time it's very unlikely that you'll become a law. It's not easy to become a law, is it? Bill: No! But how I hope and I pray that I will, But today I am still just a bill. Congressman: He signed you, Bill! Now you're a law! ... Continue Reading
The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act: Welfare For Overbilling Lawyers
Back in the summer time, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (H.R. 966; identical Senate version S. 533 still in committee), the claimed purpose of which is "To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve attorney accountability, and for other purposes." Attorney accountability? Sign me up! I've been railing against improper conduct by lawyers for years. See, for example, my posts on Grider v. Keystone Health, how lawyers deceive themselves into lying for clients, and a bogus sanctions threat I received. (For those of you who wrongly believe only plaintiff's lawyers ... Continue Reading
Corporations: It’s Our Fault, But You’ll Have To Pay
Whenever a corporation is caught causing a catastrophe — an oil company that destroys an ecosystem through shoddy maintenance, a drug manufacturer that sells a drug which they know causes cancer, et cetera — the corporate entity goes through a three-stage public relations process to avoid responsibility. First, there's denial. Nothing happened and if it did happen it's not so bad. Second, there's phony regret. It's not our fault, but we're sorry something happened. This tragedy was unpredictable, but if it was predictable, then it was unavoidable, but if it was avoidable, then we were doing everything we could to ... Continue Reading
