Law And More

THE NEW REPUBLIC does feature on the Returned Prince of Providence

There he is, sans rug [which he called "squirrel"] in the November 5th edition of THE NEW REPUBLIC: Vincent "Buddy" Cianci.  The article is titled "Buddy System: A Corrupt mayor's kitschy comeback" and is written by James Kirchick.

Clearly, according to Kirchick, the Prince of Providence is back.  He has three gigs. One is his day job promoting a lux condo complex in Providence. Another is his radio talk show.  The third is his TV assignment to be the Chief Political Analyst for the Providence ABC affiliate. Publishers are also after him to write books.  He has started on one, his memoirs.

His sense of humor is less full of self-pity [less Lucky Sperm Club ruminations] and more ironic and self-deprecating.  For instance, Buddy reflects on the great services in the slammer: "They even open your mail for you."  He also got to read 1000 books, some of great gravitas such as the historical works of David Halberstam and David McCullough.  That reading has inspired him to initiate a book club on his radio talk show.

His creativity is still intact.  He used that driven imagination while mayor to help re-build Providence from a dying town to a cool place that could morph into one of those upscale need-to-be cities for gays, artists and other visionaries.  THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL had opined that Providence could become P-Town II.  For his radio talk show he invented via sound effects a barking dog named RICO.  Talk about still being an in-your-face or rather in-your-ear sort of character.

From Kirchick's article, I could see that maybe Buddy Former Jailbird has more career runway than Buddy Former Mayor.  The slammer was one of those life-altering events.  His story is so much more provocative now.  And leave it to Buddy to leverage that.

SB 117 represents "a critical competitiveness issue for Ohio business and industry," Ryan Augsburger

The failure of anti-117 forces to secure enough signatures and the right kind for their petitions is being cheered by the Ohio business community, ranging from the OH Manufacturers' Association to the state's Chemistry Technology Council.

"The legal reforms contained in Senate Bill 117 strike a reasonable balance between protecting consumers without overly burdening businesses," said Ryan Augsburger, Managing Director of Public Policy Services for the OH Manufacturers' Association. "The legislation adds fairness and predictability to Ohio's civil justice system, which is a critical competitiveness issue for Ohio business and industry.  Efforts to reverse SB are rightfully characterized as anti-competitive."

This law prohibits the extension of the state's public nuisance concept to what should be treated as product liability matters.  Such a law creates a level playing field for business in the state or considering relocating to OH.

Did lack of public interest save 117?

"A lack of public interest may finally make Senate Bill 117 permanently a law," observes John O'Brien on LEGAL NEWSWIRE. 

O'Brien reports that the petition drive only produced less than 100,000 of the needed 241,366 signatures.  Moreover, it also didn't pass the number of counties test.  In this particular drive, a specified number of names has to represent residents from half of the state's 88 counties.

Question: Why did Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner keep pushing this losing cause?

Those Closing Arguments in "Thomas" - What's Been Said, So Far

Closing arguments are the last chance for attorneys to connect with and influence the jury.  This morning and early afternoon in "Thomas" the plaintiff attorneys had their shot.  They will also be back with a rebuttal after the defense makes their closers.  The Judge ensured that the plaintiff will NOT introduce any new material or arguments in the rebuttal phase.

Here are some observations from the peanut gallery at "Thomas":

"Motley Rice's Jack McConnell aka "My mother/my parents" used his time this AM to address what he views as the historical time line of knowledge.  In essence this mirrored his opening and closing arguments in the Rhode Island Lead Paint Trial II. 

"The other plaintiff attorney Peter Earle [who has about 30 other personal injury lead paint cases in the hopper and therefore has lots riding on "Thomas"] spent about 45 minutes after lunch talking about why he thinks the evidence shows the defendants are responsible due to when they manufactured and when paint was applied on the walls of the two residences in which the young Steven Thomas lived."

"Motley Rice plaintiff attorney Fidelma Fitzpatrick is currently using her time to talk about Steven Thomas, his life, and his elevated blood lead levels.  She has used the 'jumbotron' in the courtroom to show the jury some of the questions they'll be asked and then placed check-marks next to the answers in favor of the plaintiff - mmm - think overhead projector from elementary school."

I love that schoolmarm touch by Fitzpatrick.  Yeah, showing the jurors how and where to place the check-marks.

Further contributions welcome from those at "Thomas." Please contact Mgenova981@aol.com or 203-468-8579, 860-280-5613 cell. 

Case of Volunteer Church Cooks & Alleged Contaminated Meat - Can Blow Up into Landmark Liability Issues

The potluck dinner at Salem Lutheran Church in Longville, Minnesota started out like many of those get-togethers - full of good feelings towards each other and the church.  It ended with allegedly 17 people sick and one dead from contaminated meat and what could blow up into landmark legal liability issues.

As Matt McKinney reports in the STAR TRIBUNE, the meat slaughterhouse accused of supplying the ground beef allegedly contaminated with E-coli 0157:H7 to the local grocery store and purchased by the church is suing Salem Lutheran Church.  That supplier Nebraska Beef Ltd. has claimed that the cause of the contagion was the church kitchen. Those doing the food preparation for the dinner were volunteers. 

This lawsuit could send a chill throughout the nation.  Any non-profit group which prepares food and serves it could be re-thinking this ritual.  Often these potluck dinners are not only a way of establishing a sense of community but raising money.  When my nephews were in Catholic school in Edison, New Jersey, I did my share of dinners at St. Helena's and bought raffle tickets for whatever. 

Some of those who suffered from the E-Coli outbreak have retained the Marler Clark Law Firm which specializes in food-borne diseases.  The lead attorney Bill Marler decries this countersuit from the defendant.  On his blog  Marler and others argue that the "USDA Inspected Meat" should guarantee that the product is free of contaminants.  In this case, it seems that it wasn't.  If the meat had not already contained the E-Coli bacteria, there was probably nothing that the church volunteer cooks could have done to cause the illness.  Yes, had the leftovers been left out without proper refrigeration, then there might be a link to liability.  But that was not the situation.

There is plenty at stake in this particular web of lawsuits.  Will our nation decide it's not safe under any circumstances to eat meat and shoot an arrow into the heart of the cattle industry?

Disclosure: Now and then I do editing for Marler Clark.

"Even I've noticed a change in the last 10 months I've been blogging," Says Financial-Markets Guru

"It is funny but even I have noticed a change in the past 10 months I have been blogging in regards to the access we bloggers can now get," says financial-markets guru Todd Sullivan.

"Phone calls now get returned," continues Sullivan, "and the mainstream media [MSM] even calls now for comments on pieces they may be doing.  Anyone can report news and people can get it anywhere.  What people want is an opinion to that news and that is what bloggers offer that the MSM does not for the most part.  I think this has reached critical mass with no turning back."

Todd Sullivan's commentary regularly appears in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FORBES, "Dealbook" of THE NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS, CNN MONEY, HOOVERS BIZ, STOCKMASTERS, and his own publication VALUE PLAYS. It's a testament to the influence and power of the blogosphere that not only does Sullivan contribute his opinion to this blog but allows it to be on the record.

"This is a curious condition: New York v the Rest of the Country," observes Northeast Legal Expert

In response to the "USA TODAY Strum und Drang" blog post, a Northeast legal expert observes, off the record:

"This is a curious condition in our country: New York v. the Rest of the Country.  Traditional thinking was that nothing really mattered or should be taken seriously until you read about it in THE NEW YORK TIMES.  It is called, after all, the 'paper of record,' at least by many.

"But especially in our 21st century online information age, the old ways of looking at news is constantly changing, and in life in general, New York carries with it a self-importance which is often elitist and out of touch with real people.  Despite the many good things New York offers, when it comes to the type of reporters and editors who work at THE NEW YORK TIMES and other Manhattan publications, they all seem to believe their own press clippings a little too much.  Having said that, there are plenty of things to enjoy about THE NEW YORK TIMES and other New York news products.

"The blogosphere is, naturally, at enmity with the mentality which operates at places such as THE NEW YORK TIMES.  The elite will always resist any challenger to their hegemony.  But that's what makes the blogosphere and other challengers so important."

Would love more reader input.  Please contact Mgenova981@aol.com.

It's Official - Petition Drive against "117" DOA

In Ohio, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner did the count and the signatures opposing "117" came up short.  That means that the law will stay the law, including prohibiting using public nuisance lawsuits to get into the relatively deep pockets of the former lead paint industry - e.g. Sherwin-Williams.  However, the law does not apply to any lawsuits filed before the law went into effect.

But it ain't over until it's over.  The opponents of 117, which include consumer advocates and trial lawyers, have two options, both of which they can take.  One is to return to the OH Supreme Court and argue against the short 60-time period in which they had to scurry around and get not only 241,000 signatures but from representative counties.  The other is to challenge the constitutionality of the law as it was framed in the legislature.  According to the OH constitution all bills must focus on a single item. It can be interpreted that 117, as drafted, had multiple topics.

Happy Halloween from "Thomas" - Jury Arrives in Judge's Robes

"Thomas" may turn out to be a landmark case but today is Halloween, now the biggest holiday in America.  The jury arrived in Court this morning wearing judge's robes, reports our source who's observing the trial.  That went over well.  Those in the courtroom broke into applause and Judge Sankovitz chuckled. 

After that was out of the way, the Judge gave the jury instructions and plaintiff attorney from Motley Rice Jack McConnell began his closing.

Happy Halloween from this blog. 

USA TODAY Strum und Drang - Is That All It Is

In NEW YORK Magazine's article "Web Bubble 2.0" by John Heilemann what stopped me dead was the anecdote about Silicon Valley VC Michael Moritz.  Moritz at one time was a journalist at TIME Magazine.  At the recent Web 2.0 conference on the left coast, Moritz was asked first if there was a web bubble and if so was it going to burst.  Then he was asked what kind of story would have written about all this back in his TIME days.  Moritz said that "he would have written about the irrelevance of such stories."  Like, who cares about traditional journalism, except maybe in New York?  As Heilemann points out, "New York remains such a sad-assed backwater when it comes to the Internet industry."

I agree with Moritz and with Heilemann.  Traditional journalism just isn't the influencer it was and only New York doesn't seem to realize that.

So, here I am with the Sturm und Drang associated with that now-infamous USA TODAY article on lead paint.  To me, whose hypomanic side is always up for the most excitement possible, it's been an action-filled 24 hours.   Let the opinions fly.  The journalist Greg Toppo has achieved minor celebrity.  And I realize that despite my years in a doctoral program in linguistics and literature I don't read text closely any more.  I should have picked up on what might be construed as adequate balance in that piece.  But, on the other hand, except in the legal profession, does close reading count for anything, particularly since, as Moritz shrugs, the story traditional media put out is, well, irrelevant.

Will anything really happen of significance in the Lead Wars because of a feature, commentary or hard news about them in THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL or THE WALL STREET JOURNAL?  Forget it.  That sort of clip gets you on the Sunday talk shows which are also a dying industry and email from friends and enemies who come to praise not to bury. 

A significant happening in the Lead Wars or anything else occurs because something happens.  An action is taken or not taken.  The legislature passes a law and a Guv in Wisconsin puts the veto on it.  The jury renders a verdict.  The loser and sometimes the winner too appeal.  The Supreme Courts in several states toss public nuisance.  That changed a lot, didn't it.

My clients in New York still want to be in FORBES and have their bylined opinion-editorial in, yeah, the pre-Murdoch JOURNAL [I better hurry and get them in again before that op-ed section turns into nothing but a verbal brawl].  Fine.  Will do.  Just like I posted responses to the USA TODAY piece.  And one day, I know, that all this will be truly over and everyone, even New York elite, will get it.