I don’t generally agree with Beck/Herrmann at their Drug and Device Law Blog, but when a student publishes a piece in the Stanford Law Review concluding that “the legal profession should consider regulating ex parte blogging” (that stops lawyers from blogging about their cases) they shoot the idea down dead in its tracks.

I often talk about medical mistakes here, since a large part of my law practice has revolved around them. But this is the exact opposite: An ER doc used a handyman’s drill to power into a kid’s skull to save his life (Scalpel or Sword?).

New York gets it’s first cupcake truck. Life doesn’t get better than that. Now we got everything.

Rudy Giuliani’s kid, Andrew Guiliani, is about to lose the suit he brought after getting bounced off the Duke golf team (for throwing an apple in the face of another player). Scott Greenfield had previously covered it with this sharp note in The Apple Didn’t Fall Far From Rudy’s Tree:

Too aggressive. Violent tendencies. Inappropriate behavior. Doesn’t get along with others. I wonder what caused young Andrew to behave this way?

But the story gets legs because Magistrate Judge Wallace W. Dixon filled his decision (a recommendation to the District Judge) with a Caddyshack reference and golf metaphors about the kid, writing that he:

“tees up his case,” but his analysis “slices far from the fairway,” and by changing his legal argument Giuliani is “trying to change clubs after hitting the golf ball.”

The kid’s lawyer, no doubt, wishes he could take a mulligan on his decision to take the case.

At Above the Law, “Roxana St. Thomas” has been writing about what it’s like to be laid off from BigLaw, and now ventures into the miserable world of document review as a temporary worker. Given her writing skills, it’s clear that her considerable talents are being wasted.

The PopTort has a piece on immunity for in military hospitals for malpractice, and how that immunity creates a lax atomosphere that causes more malpractice. Prof. Jonathon Turley has been a leading critic of the so-called Feres Doctrine that grants that immunity.

Chris Robinette, one of the TortsProfs, has an article out on apologies from doctors after mistakes. Much has been written on this lately, and this is my bit from last year: How to Put Medical Malpractice Attorneys Out of Business.

Also at TortsProf, their 37th iteration of the Personal Injury Round-Up.

The Namby Pamby Attorney has some very interesting ideas on how to cut down on expert medical costs.

An entertaining Blawg Review #212 made its debut this week at Current Trends in Copyright, Trademark & Entertainment Law (and you thought my blog name was long?)

And finally, this is now Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer with its relaxed dress and BBQs. Of course, it came with a price, and I’m not talking about sales.

Links to this post:

Blawg Review of the Year
Those who took the time and made the effort to nominate their personal recommendations for Blawg Review of the Year 2009 know how daunting a task it is to single out a half dozen outstanding presentations of Blawg Review in 2009. …

posted by Editor @ February 02, 2010 2:25 PM

Blawg Review #213
always-know-where-your-towel-is (Photo credit to Markbult under a Creative Commons license.) Welcome to the Towel Day edition of Blawg Review! Towel Day began in 2001 as a tribute to Douglas Adams. Some of you may recall that my Blawg …

posted by Kevin A. Thompson @ May 25, 2009 4:40 AM

The FDA thinks that Cheerios are being marketed as drugs and sends a warning letter to General Mills (A Georgia Lawyer). I wonder what the FDA would think of chocolate frosted sugar bombs?

Father and son to oppose each other in primary election. That’s a headline you don’t see too often, but it’s true. In Westchester County (NY):

When County Executive Andrew Spano announced last week he was seeking a fourth term, he didn’t name either of his challengers – Republican Rob Astorino or his own son, David Spano, who wants to run against him in the Democratic primary.

Somebody Got Murdered: Knifing in the Bronx (Village Voice: Runnin’ Scared):

If someone gets killed in Central Park, it’s big news. Not so when it happens in one of the city’s lesser known parks. The murder of a 23-year-old woman in St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx yesterday around lunchtime didn’t even merit an article in the local tabs.

If health care is one of your interests, the Worker’s Comp Insider has this week’s Health Wonk Review;

Ron Miller with a variety of personal injury links;

100 Tweets: Thinking about law practice in 140 characters or less. (Matthew Homann @ the [non] billable hour)

Scott Greenfield takes on a “law blog” called USLaw that has been reprinting the entire content of other people’s blogs, including his, mine, and if you have a blog, probably yours. The comments pile up quickly in USLaw.com: The Verdict Is In.

In December I wrote about a Christmas sale stampede at Wal-Mart that resulted in the death of a temporary worker in Wal-Mart Liability in Stampede Death (Civil and Criminal). The criminal end has now been resolved with the payment of a fine, but no prosecution. Greenfield wonders why other criminal defendants can’t buy their way out of such jams.

China Law Blog tackles Blawg Review #210, ostensibly premised on discuss the 90th anniversary of the May 4th Movement that overthrew feudal China, but in reality, it is a guise to hand me a nomination for Justice Souter’s soon-to-be-vacant Supreme Court seat;

John Day on a report that is “a virtual treasure trove of information for lawyers handling slip and fall cases.“

Texting while driving a bus? A big no-no. And this one is caught on tape.

TortsProf has this week’s Personal Injury Law Round-Up;

And finally, a lawyer joke I actually liked.

Not much time to post this week, so I’m sending you away from my blog to these fine joints:

Blawg Review #209 is up at John Hochfelder’s new New York Injury Cases Blog. It’s a tribute to his Marine-hero father, an Iwo Jima survivor, and how he may have looked at our blawging world. And Hochfelder also demonstrates something else: He shows that newbie law bloggers can come out of the gate with exemplary work, something one rarely sees from personal injury blogs;

Personal Injury Law Round-Up #33 is up at TortsProf;

Ron Miller rounds-up Maryland law, which is certainly something to check out if you work in that part of the country;

And…the round-up you’ve all been dying to see because I know people come to a personal injury blog to read about running………wait for it………..The Carnival of Running #27 is now up at Running is Funny. Oddly enough, the ambulance comment wasn’t all that funny.

I’m heading up to Boston this weekend for the marathon, but I will run it only once, not four times. And, alas, writing this humble little blog didn’t qualify me as one of the 11 celebrity runners that have run marathons. The short list includes my good buddy Oprah, as well as George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. But for some reason Al Gore didn’t make the short list, so I guess I’m in good company.

For those that want to follow particular runners to track their progress — especially helpful if you are on the sidelines wondering if your runner is ahead/behind pace or can’t wait for the post-race email or phone call — you can have status updates sent directly to your email or phone during the race, because each runner has a radio frequency chip on his/her sneaker. My super-secret strategy, in case you were wondering, is this:

1. Finish; and
2. Have a good time.

And now I leave you with these links:

Scott Greenfield decided to read Eliot Spitzer’s article at Slate, where Spitzer chided conservative Seventh circuit Judge Richard Posner on a dissent he wrote. Spitzer claimed Posner did an about-face on his conservative principles (Posner Wrote What?). Except that Greenfield says the eagle-eyed Spitzer completely mis-read the opinion. Greenfield writes:

One would think that former ADA, former Attorney General, former Governor, Eliot Spitzer could read a short dissent with sufficient care to figure out which side was which before going public in an attempt to take on a circuit judge in a battle of wits.

John Day on 28 “Never Events” in medicine;

The Legal Satryicon knows that sex with clients is a big no-no in the U.S., but apparently not in England. Just don’t bill for it. From the TimesOnline:

“Lawyers are sometimes criticised for screwing clients with unwarranted fees. In a case in London, a client has alleged a rather direct version of that, saying her lawyer charged for having sex with her.” (Hat tip, Kevin O’Keefe)

Andy Hoffman responds at the Daily Kos to lawyer Philip K. Howard’s “Life Without Lawyers,”

First Puppy Bo Obama (Bobama or BoBama?) gives some unemployment tips: Bo Beats The Odds: How the First Pooch Secured One of the Most High-Profile Jobs In Washington; Let’s hope he doesn’t run into the problems that prior First Pooch Barney experienced, which he described to me last year in an interview;

Kevin Underhill reports that Nadya Suleman, also known as the “Octomom,” wants to trademark that auspicious title, since the single, unemployed, mother of 14 is unlikely to snag “America’s Sweetheart” (and duking it out with Courtney Love could get ugly);

Gerry Oginiski wants to know, is that a malpractice lawyer in the operating room???

Law21 brings you Blawg Review #207: All the News That Fits, in the style of the dying dead-tree edition; and

TortsProf has last week’s Personal Injury Law Round-Up, as well as this week’s.