Free Republic

IT'S OFFICIAL: 2005 WILL BE the newspaper industry's worst year since the last ad industry recession. And things aren't looking much better for next year either, according to a top Wall Street firm's report on newspaper publishing. "Sadly, 2005 is shaping up as the industry's worst year from a revenue growth perspective since the recession impacted 2001-2002 period," says the report from Goldman Sachs, adding a warning that meaningful growth in 2006 is "very unlikely."

Three days after a grand jury turned down a second indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, prosecutor Ronnie Earle went to a new grand jury citing new evidence and won indictments on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money. Mr. DeLay and two political associates were first indicted Sept. 28 on a charge of a criminal conspiracy to violate campaign-finance laws and then were indicted by another grand jury Monday on the two money-laundering charges. But in between, Mr. Earle, the district attorney for Travis County, Texas, tried but failed to get still another grand jury to...

The Lost Coast Brewery in Humboldt, Calif. says it will take off the shelves its Indica India Pale Ale, whose label currently depicts the Indian elephant-god Ganesh "holding a beer in one of his four hands, and another in his trunk". Although brewery co-owner Barbara Groom said her Hindu friends don't mind the label, a California man named Brij Dhir sued the brewery, along with other defendants such as the Safeway supermarket chain, claiming that it is offensive and intimidates Hindus from practicing their religion. "Dhir seeks at least $25,000 and his lawsuit mentions that $1 billion would be appropriate...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has cleared his former chief of staff, Iqbal Riza, of any violation of staff rules in shredding documents shortly before the start of an inquiry into the oil-for-food scandal, a UN spokesman said today. "After reviewing the findings in the latest Volcker report and consulting with the Office of Legal Affairs ... the Secretary-General has found there is no ground for disciplinary action against him," said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. "The Secretary-General acknowledges that Mr Riza's actions were careless but he does not believe that they can be construed as deliberate attempts to impede the...

Bush puts compensation lawyers in the dock (Filed: 28/03/2005) In a nation so litigious that one attorney found he was suing himself, the White House's attack on frivolous lawsuits is proving popular, reports Alec Russell Michael Cogan paces his office with the predatory panache that has won over many a jury in his brilliant career. From his ninth-floor window he has a premier view of Chicago's skyscraper skyline, a testament to his success as one of America's top medical malpractice lawyers. Michael Cogan is now defending himself against President Bush's anti-litigation policy But now his oratory and flair are facing...

Those two Long Island men who say they were arrested for telling lawyer jokes at a Nassau County courthouse (see yesterday's post) were soon deluged with offers by lawyers to represent them for free. Reports Newsday: "Barbara Bernstein, executive director of the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she found the arrests "bewildering" and she called the men yesterday to determine whether the organization could help. "It's just bewildering and preposterous that they should be arrested for telling lawyer jokes," Bernstein said. "What's the violation of law here?" (Zachary R. Dowdy, "Lawyers offer help after pair's...

I possess zero doubt that this picture represents the Thanksgiving 2004 fantasy of every Kerry fanatic after the Bush victory next Tuesday.

M-LAW ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF SEVENTH ANNUAL WACKY WARNING LABEL CONTEST Fishing lure which warns, "Harmful if swallowed," catches one of the top awards A five-inch fishing lure which sports three steel hooks and cautions users that it is, "Harmful if swallowed," has been identified as one of the nation's wackiest warning labels in an annual contest sponsored by a consumer watchdog group. The Wacky Warning Label Contest, now in it's seventh year, is conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW, to reveal how lawsuits, and fear of lawsuits, have prompted many manufacturers to issue warnings against even obvious misuses of...

December 23, 2003, 1:01 a.m. Judge Not, All Ye Faithful The beatitude excuse. Religious folk looking for a way to get out of jury duty may have been handed one by an unlikely ally in civic sloth: trial lawyers. According to a new guidebook for the plaintiff's bar, trial lawyers are advised to be wary of potential jurors with "extreme attitudes about personal responsibility." These jurors, the guidebook counsels, often reveal themselves by chatting up "traditional family values" — values that reflect "strong religious beliefs." If you want to get off the hook, chant a beatitude or two. That may...

Law firms Brown Rudnick Berlack & Israels and Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein now say they'll sue the state of Massachusetts for the whole $2 billion they say they're entitled to -- a 25 percent contingency share of the state's $8 billion tobacco-settlement booty -- rather than accept the measly $775 million they've been awarded in arbitration. The Associated Press says the firms "risk becoming poster children for attorney greed at a time when the profession is already under attack for high damage awards. 'This lawsuit is about greed and it's about selfishness. They should be ashamed of themselves,' said...

A Texas law firm faked evidence and tried to bribe witnesses in a products liability case, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in San Antonio by the DaimlerChrysler Corporation. The lawsuit follows an appeals court decision last year that dismissed the products liability case and imposed sanctions of $865,000 against three of the firm's lawyers. The appeals court called the firm's conduct "an egregious example of the worst kind of abuse of the judicial system." According to the court's decision and a lawyer for DaimlerChrysler, federal prosecutors are investigating the firm. The United States attorney's office in San Antonio...

Hospitals are responsible for their patients, but an Allentown woman's lawsuit hits new heights of ridiculousness. Amanda C. Hagan, 29, blames her drug overdose on Norristown State Hospital — an overdose that wouldn't have been possible if a roommate's son hadn't sneaked illegal drugs into the hospital in May 1999. According to the suit filed in Montgomery County Court, when the 18-year-old visited his mother, he slipped to Ms. Hagan and his mother some cocaine, heroin and needles. The women injected themselves with the two drugs and a needle broke off in Ms. Hagan's arm. Ms. Hagan was gasping for...

<p>The FBI is investigating huge jury verdicts in Jefferson County and several of the trial lawyers who have been involved with them, according to sources close to the investigation.</p> <p>Those sources say the still-early probe has uncovered allegations of unethical conduct by some of those being investigated. It remains to be seen whether those unspecified allegations are true and, if so, whether they constitute crimes.</p>

Desert Springs Hospital will shut down its maternity center at the end of the summer because the facility has lost more than half its obstetricians. The closure comes just months after hospital officials closed the orthopedic department and struggled to find enough surgeons to care for emergency room patients. Health officials blame the closure on the state's medical malpractice insurance troubles, which have forced some doctors to leave the state or curtail their speciality services. Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, said the closure is another example of the fallout from the state's medical liability troubles....

It is now official. With the initiation of two new legal actions, one against Kraft/Nabisco and the other against an Illinois high school, May 2003 marks the reemergence of the frivolous lawsuit. September 11 seemed to put a clamp on this phenomenon. After the selfless heroism of New York Firefighters and the passengers of Flight 93, who wanted to be seen in court claiming no one warned them that sniffing rubber cement could lead to psychosis?

Medical Malpractice Cap TV Ads Blame A Father’s Death on Lawyers http://nationaljournal.com/members/adspotlight/2003/04/0424carh1.htm 2003 POLITICAL ADS Californian Blames Dad's Death On Lawyers By Mark H. Rodeffer, NationalJournal.com © National Journal Group Inc. Thursday, April 24, 2003 In a TV commercial pushing caps on malpractice awards, Californian Mary Rasar tells the story of her father, Jim Lawson, who died last summer in Las Vegas after a trauma center there "was put out of business" by "frivolous lawsuits." "Emergency rooms across America are closing for the same reason, and people like my father are dying," Rasar says in the spot. Saying that "frivolous...

<p>SACRAMENTO -Despite a budget crisis that pushed state legislators to cut aid to the poor and suspend tax breaks for teachers, lawmakers last year rewarded loyal aides with generous raises and six-figure salaries that have driven legislative spending to record levels.</p>

Posted on Tue, Mar. 18, 2003 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Major record labels have targeted about 300 companies whose computers were allegedly used by employees to feed file-swapping networks in the latest attempt to crack down on Internet music piracy.Letters sent out in the last week by the Recording Industry Association of America informed the companies of the alleged piracy and warned that employees and employers might be subjected to ``significant legal damages.'' However, the letters made no explicit threat to sue.The recording association declined to name the companies that received the letters, but said some of them are...