How Appealing



Tuesday, January 11, 2011

“Governments, lawyers OKd to share suit proceeds”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed San Francisco and other cities and counties to hire private lawyers, and offer them a share of the proceeds, when suing companies for the huge costs of cleaning up lead paint.”

Posted at 5:46 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Constitutional Option: Reforming the Rules of the Senate to Restore Accountability and Reduce Gridlock.” U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) has this essay online at the web site of the Harvard Law & Policy Review.

Posted at 4:44 PM by Howard Bashman



The en banc Superior Court of Pennsylvania has ruled today that federal law does not serve as an outright bar to any design defect claim arising from injuries caused by an FDA-approved vaccine: You can access today’s lengthy ruling of Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate court at this link.

The Supreme Court of the United States is currently considering this same question in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, Inc., No. 09-152. You can access the oral argument audio and transcript in Bruesewitz by clicking here.

Posted at 4:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Commandments: The Constitution and its worshippers.” Jill Lepore has this essay in the January 17, 2011 issue of The New Yorker.

Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman



Today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: Today’s first ruling issued in Ransom v. FIA Card Services, N.A., No. 09-907. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court, Justice Antonin Scalia was the lone dissenter. You can access the oral argument via this link.

Today’s second and final ruling issued in Mayo Foundation for Medical Ed. and Research v. United States, No. 09-837. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court, with Justice Kagan recused. You can access the oral argument via this link.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press has reports headlined “Court: Medical residents considered employees” and “Kagan writes her first opinion.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court: Medical residents not students.”

Posted at 10:05 AM by Howard Bashman



“Loughner’s Lawyer Is Called a Master Strategist”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

The San Diego Union-Tribune contains an article headlined “S.D. attorney focuses on clients, not notoriety of cases; Judy Clark, appointed Monday to represent Jared Loughner, might be the most low-profile high-profile attorney in the country.”

USA Today reports that “Loughner’s lawyer is ‘One-Woman Dream Team.’

And The Arizona Republic contains an article headlined “Arizona shootings: Bill would provide ‘funeral protection zone’” that begins, “Democrats in the Arizona Legislature say they will introduce a bill Tuesday to create a ‘funeral protection zone’ to keep protesters from disrupting the funerals of those killed in the mass shooting near Tucson.”

Posted at 8:05 AM by Howard Bashman



“Facebook Seeks Finality in ‘Social Network’ Court Fight With Harvard Twins”: Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “Facebook Inc. will ask a court today to enforce a settlement which resolved claims that its founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for the social-networking company from classmates at Harvard University.”

The New York Times recently reported that “Twins’ Facebook Fight Rages On.”

And WSJ.com’s “Digits” blog has a post titled “The Return of Winklevoss Vs. Zuckerberg.”

The case captioned The Facebook, Inc. v. ConnectU, Inc. will be argued today before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit consisting of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, Circuit Judge Barry G. Silverman, and Senior Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

Posted at 7:54 AM by Howard Bashman