Below is the column in USA Today after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. It was a victory that demanded more than hits and pitches . . . it required goats.
Continue reading “THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE CHICAGO CUBS WINNING THE WORLD SERVES AFTER 108 YEARS”
Four same sex couples are seeking more than $233,058 in legal costs from Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County last year. The demand raises some interesting questions over the right to recover fees and costs in such a case.
Continue reading “Same-Sex Couples Seek Fees and Costs For Suing County Clerk Kim Davis”
I have waited over five decades, but I can check off one of my bucket list items. This evening I was able to watch the Chicago Cubs win the World Series with a commanding performance. We can now begin our new era as the “lovable losers winners.” The USA Today has posted my column on the victory.
Continue reading “CURSED NO MORE: THE CHICAGO CUBS WIN THE WORLD SERIES AFTER 100 YEARS”
One can understand why Paula D’Amore is a tad confused. The South Florida mother gave birth in a car in a hospital parking lot. When the bill from the hospital came in, she was charged the full cost for a hospital delivery of $7,000. It is a story that sums up what many of us view is the inherent dishonesty in hospital charges.
Continue reading “Florida Woman Has Baby In Car . . . Hospital Charges Her The Full Delivery Costs”
The Justice Department is under fire for allowing the involvement in the investigation of a high-ranking official with close ties to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. Now, in the latest disclosure of emails, it appears that Peter Kadzik, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, proved tips to Podesta on developments in the email controversy.
We previously discussed how Dallas Police Chief David Brown quietly changed a rule that would require officers involved in a shooting to wait 72 hours before making a statement. I was highly critical of the change, which treats officers differently from other witnesses to shootings and seeks to avoid contradictions in accounts — difference that might reveal culpability or collusion. Now, Pennsylvania is about to go one better. A new law would prevent the release of the names of officers involved in shootings by 30 days. The bill by Rep. Marina White (R) is designed as a “basic protection from threats” Supporter Rep. Dominic Costa (D) declared, “We are the protectors of our protectors.”
There is an interesting potential tort lawsuit in an incident at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, which canceled its Saturday afternoon performance of “Guillaume Tell” after an audience member sprinkled what is believed to be the ashes of a deceased relative or friend. Update: The man involved in the incident has come forward and apologized. Dallas resident Roger Kaiser explained that he had promised his friend in 2012 (an opera lover) that he would scatter his ashes at various opera houses after his death.
Continue reading “The Met Cancels Shows After Man Spreads Ashes In Orchestra Pit [UPDATED]”
Here is our annual list of Halloween torts and crimes. This holiday remains a favorite for personal injury lawyers around the world and this year’s additions show why. Halloween has everything for a torts-filled holiday: battery, trespass, defamation, nuisance, product liability and more.
So, with no further ado, here is this year’s updated list of actual cases related to Halloween.
Continue reading “Spooky Torts: The 2016 List Of Halloween Litigation Horrors”
A recent story involving Boston Latin School recently caught my attention. First, I attended Latin School in Chicago, which like its Boston cousin is an elite private school. Second, the story confirmed my rising concern over the trend in elementary and high schools to instill a hyper-sensitive culture. At issue is something that many of us experienced in our childhood: dress codes. The students of Latin Boston however, have risen up in disgust over such dress codes as sexist attacks on women and even a cause for a rape culture.
Continue reading “Students Object To Dress Code At High School As Sexist”
As our presidential campaign de-evolves into petty name calling and calls for prosecution, the French are having a quintessentially French scandal of their own. French presidential hopeful Jean-François Copé has found himself in deep fondue after admitting that he did not know the price of pain au chocolat and then radically understated the price. Sacre Bleu. The French have not been so incensed since “The Terrors” and many have denounced Copé as an out-of-touch elitist.
Continue reading “Let Them Eat Pain Au Chocolat: French Presidential Candidate Triggers Controversy Over The Price of Pastries”
There is a major news development with the release of a letter from FBI Director James B. Comey that the Bureau has decided that new evidence requires further investigation into the Clinton emails. It was a surprising change just days before the election. After all, as recently as September 27, 2016, Comey rejected the idea that the bureau would reopen its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Comey wrote in a letter to top members of Congress that the bureau has “learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” UPDATE: There are accounts suggesting that the information came from an investigation of Anthony Weiner, estranged husband of Huma Abedin, and that the emails were not authored by Hillary Clinton. This is still unfolding and there are calls to confirm this information. If the author is Huma Abedin, the investigation would hit one of the most senior aides. If it contained classified information, that is a stand only offense under federal law. Human Abedin was interviewed previously by the FBI — raising the risk that she will be called in for additional questioning. However, the new development could also prove insignificant for a criminal investigation and, if these were communications between Abedin and her estranged husband, it may not implicate Clinton personally or have any serious impact on the prior conclusions of the FBI investigation.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte seems to be on a campaign to prove to the world that he is demonstrably insane. In his latest news grabbing headline, Duterte claims God spoke to him during a flight from Japan on Thursday and warned him the plane would crash if he kept using bad language. That’s right. The Almighty will not kill Duterte for ordering the murdering of thousands of criminal suspects, but he would not only kill Duterte but everyone on his plane because he really, really, really does not like swearing.
Continue reading “Duterte Claims Divine Guidance . . . and A Lethal Threat”
Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is triggering a minor dust up over comments made at a bookstore appearance highlighting a new Posner biography written by William Domnarski. Posner blasted the current members of the Court as unqualified and the Court itself as “awful” in terms of the low quality of its work.
Continue reading “Posner: Supreme Court Is “Awful” and Only A Couple Of Justices Are “Qualified””
One of the highlights of my trip to speak to federal judges in San Diego was the ability to finally visit the Midway aircraft carrier, which is now a floating museum. As many on the blog know, I am a military history nut so a visit to the Midway was a true “book list” item. It did not disappoint. I spent hours walking about the carrier and listening to both the audio tour and live tours.
Newly released emails from Wikileaks show that aides became alarmed when President Barack Obama assured the public that he had learned about Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state “the same time everybody else learned it, through news reports.” Cheryl D. Mills, a top aide who featured prominently in the email scandal and insisted on immunity before turning over a laptop with classified information, flagged the issue to say that Obama sent emails to Clinton’s private email. There is also an exchange of campaign officials complaining that close Clinton aides withheld the information of the email scandal because “they wanted to get away with it.” As I discussed in a recent column, these Wikileaks memos have confirmed the worst assumptions of voters about the dishonesty and evasion of their government. It has turned this into America’s Game of Thrones election.
