For those of us who support legal reform, some
cases are so silly, you can’t help but sit back and admire the chutzpah of
those who file them, and shake your head sadly at the legal system that doesn’t
immediately throw them out as a waste of precious court resources. Such is the
case of Sacramento resident Rodney Harmon, who decided to sue Hilton
Hotels at the end of July alleging that they tried to trick
him into reading USA Today.

Seriously, Mr. Harmon? I
have stayed at a few hotels in my time, and I can honestly say I do not
remember the Hilton trying to trick me into reading the USA Today. In fact, I
clearly remember that when I checked in there is a form I signed which states
that if I do not want the newspaper they are delivering, they will remove the
charge.

Just this past weekend in Maine – yes, I said Maine – the Redneck Olympics took place. A chance to have some fun and hopefully get a little exercise, some of the events included the greased watermelon haul, a wife carrying race, toilet seat horseshoes,
and bobbing for pig’s feet.

Hey, any time 2600 “rednecks” can gather and have some fun, more power to them. A seemingly innocent weekend of fun. There were no arrests and the only injury was a bee sting… not bad for a sun filled fun weekend with likeminded, spirited people.

Well, not so fast. Apparently, the legal division of the U.S. Olympic Committee has some other thoughts on the matter. They called the event organizer and said to change the name or a lawsuit was coming. The organizer was told that “Olympics” is the property of the ISOC and the USOC. Without getting
into the back and forth, it looks like everyone is holding their ground.

An article the other day in the San Diego Union-Tribune highlighted
an issue that all taxpayers should be concerned with: school districts
and legal fees. The article showed how Sweetwater Union
High School District spends approximately three times what its peer school
districts pay for legal fees.

Sweetwater has an
enrollment of roughly 42,000 students. The school district is paying an
astonishing $1.4 million a year for legal counsel. Compared to the five peer
districts, Sweetwater’s legal costs are almost three times higher!
Unsurprisingly, legal costs also represented a greater portion of
Sweetwater’s budget than the peer districts.

Sweetwater is just one
example of a district facing out-of-control legal costs. We have more than
1,000 school districts in this state, and sadly, Sweetwater’s situation is far
from unique. In 2010, CALA published a report titled Lessons in Lawsuits,
which examined the legal costs of 12 school districts in California. Those 12
districts spent close to $100 million over three years.

If you are not aware of AB 1062 by
Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, you should be. Mr. Dickinson has a long history in
public service, describes
himself as the leading progressive voice in Sacramento County,
and is a former personal injury lawyer. These facts make it unsurprising that
he authored AB 1062, which is sponsored by the Consumer Attorneys of
California (CAOC) and would eliminate arbitration agreements in nursing home
agreements.

Personal injury lawyers have long been opposed to
arbitration agreements and it is no surprise that they are trying to peel them
away industry by industry. While the California Supreme Court and the
Legislature have typically viewed arbitration as a very desirable alternative
to litigation because if its efficiency and fairness, personal injury lawyers
despise arbitration because it cuts them (and their ludicrously high fees) out
of the process. Nursing homes are one of the prime targets of personal injury lawyers,
and they want the ability to sue.

Is true ADA reform possible? Apparently, not, at least not in the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee, which is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans, had an opportunity to help stop abusive ADA lawsuits in California, but voted down SB 783 by State Senator Bob Dutton. This simple measure would have allowed businesses 120 days to fix alleged ADA violations before a lawsuit could proceed. Senator Dutton was even willing to reduce that window down to 60 days. This would have stopped the vast majority of these drive-by ADA lawsuits that are being filed in California.

However, Senators Noreen Evans, Mark Leno and Ellen Corbett did not feel that was reasonable (only Senators Tom Harman and Sam Blakeslee supported SB 783). The majority argued that when SB 1608 was passed and signed into law in the fall of 2008, a compromise had been reached on ADA lawsuits and that it has not been given a chance to work. Corbett actually argued that it is working and that there is no need to even consider SB 783. She argued this despite the fact that one of the people testifying at the hearing was a businessman who has been sued twice since the passage of SB 1608 and was even CASp certified (certified access specialist), which means he hired a specialist to ensure his business was compliant. Currently there are approximately 300 CASps and more than 1,400,000 businesses in California. Doing the math, it’s not hard to figure out why businesses have a difficult time ensuring they are in compliance.

Earlier this year a documentary movie titled Hot Coffee was released to little fanfare. The other day it premiered on HBO to even less fanfare. So instead of wasting your time watching this trial lawyer public relations piece, I thought I might cut to the chase and give you my review.

First of all, Susan Saladoff, the producer and director, is a former trial lawyer. So that should clearly tell you that she is going to pursue a certain angle, as many documentarians do. However, when you peel back the layers on this documentary you can easily see Hot Coffee is simply a platform for the trial lawyer agenda.

I am not even going to get into the individual cases discussed in the movie, but each drives one of the key reforms the trial bar continuously fights against: caps on punitive damages, medical malpractice caps and arbitration agreements.

Let me first of all state that there are few joys in life that equal Sirius XM Satellite radio. Being able to drive around town or long distance and listen to Seriously Sinatra cannot be matched. My wife may not agree since she has to deal with the fact whenever I drive that is all I listen too. But hey, it is my vehicle. I am more than happy to listen to NPR if I am invited to be the passenger in her car.

Sorry, back to the blog. Anyways, the other day a lone email arrives announcing a class action settlement regarding Sirius, XM, or Sirius XM Satellite Radio. This announced a lawsuit finding that the merger between Sirius and XM violated federal anti-trust laws and that as a result of the merger Sirius XM raised its prices. Sirius XM denies it did anything wrong.

So as part of the settlement, Sirius XM has agreed not to raise the prices of its base subscriptions throughout 2011 and others can restart their plans at new lower subscription rates. The estimated value of the class action is $180 million. But I really do not get anything and quite frankly did not want anything. And while I am not an anti-trust lawyer, I did not think Sirius XM violated anti-trust laws.

A recent poll from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) shows that emergency doctors are seriously concerned about being sued. More than half of the 1,768 physicians surveyed said that such concerns drive them to order more tests, and 44 percent said that fear of lawsuits is the biggest challenge to reducing emergency department costs. Even the President of ACEP, Sandra Schneider, MD., has said, “Medical liability reform is essential to meaningful healthcare reform. Without it, healthcare costs will continue to rise.”

What’s more fascinating is that these concerns have not been alleviated by last year’s passage of the health care reform. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said the law has not made specialists more willing to treat emergency patients. And while there are bills moving through the House of Representatives dealing with tort reform, they must overcome stiff opposition.

To me, question 12 of the survey is the biggest eye opener. The question asked, what is the reason you conduct the number of tests you do? More than 50 percent stated it was due to fear of lawsuits.

On June 10th, CALA released a report titled, "Ulterior Motives, How Abuse Lawsuits in California’s Central Valley Suppresses Job Growth in an Already Depressed Economy." You can read the report here. The report illustrates how abusive lawsuits are robbing the Central Valley of economic opportunities. These lawsuits are being used to shut down, delay and otherwise obstruct business growth in the economically depressed Central Valley.

California is one of the most litigious states in the country with more than one million lawsuits filed every year. For a region that has already been hit pretty hard, these lawsuits are only costing more jobs and slowing the economy even further.

For the past few weeks, a Los Angeles class action
law firm has been advertising for a Government Affairs Director. Now I know you
are wondering, why would we care, but personally, I thought it was a little
funny – a class action law firm looking for a government affairs director with
3-10 years of experience. And I might add that they are paying this position
$70,000 – $110,000 a year. Not bad. I even thought about applying…. kidding.

On one level I guess we should be thrilled that
someone is actually hiring people in California. But seriously, there has not
been any class action reform in this state for years. More than four class
actions are filed every day that California superior courts are in session,
according to the Civil Justice
Association of California. Not a day goes by, it seems, that there
isn’t another class action notice in the mail telling you that you will receive
a free DVD rental while the lawyers will get millions.