So how would you do as an election lawyer? Take this test by looking at actual ballots in the Norm Coleman/Al Franken Senate race to see if you can determine the intent of the voter (hat tip, Election Law Blog). And would you have given the OK to my own handwritten ballot?

Lying to your insurance company about an accident could invalidate your coverage. New York’s Coverage Counsel blog has the details;

What does Eric Holder as Attorney General mean for the civil justice system? Kia Franklin tries to answer that at TortDeform;

I never knew attorney Doug Tinker, but his obituary starts like this (via Minor Wisdom):

Douglas Tinker died on November 10, 2008. He wore out, he bit the dust, he dropped off the twig, he lost his last appeal. He was frustrated that he could not stay longer as he thought there might be just a bit more marrow in the bone of life, but in the end he was ok with it.

TortsProf has the Personal Injury Law Round-Up; and

Blawg Review #186 is up at the Res Ipsa Blog, which I think pretty much speaks for itself.

Beck/Herrmann at Drug and Device Law with a post title that should draw you in: A Halloween Special: Bodysnatchers! And Jujyfruits! These guys certainly don’t suffer in the writing style department;

TortsProf Bill Childs has his Personal Injury Law Round-Up, which is not only his 13th edition, but comes with two bonus Halloween photos (warning, cute kids alert);

Ron Miller has a surprising piece debunking the myth of big Christmastime verdicts;

LemonJustice should have held this post from yesterday for today, about Allstate and their commercials and what they don’t tell you about their own conduct and how it can hurt you;

f/k/a on the sex offender Halloween sign;

The UCL Practitioner hosted Blawg Review #183, with posts from all over California, which is kinda scary from a New Yawker’s perspective;

And a special Halloween post from Ed. at Blawg Review on the upcoming election. Have you written anything about the election worthy of the Blawg Review?

Brooklyn federal Judge Jack Weinstein stops decades of New York personal injury practice dead in its tracks when he tosses out the actuarial life expectancy tables we use because the distinction between black and white life spans is discriminatory and unconstitutional (New York Law Journal via Law.com):

“Reliance on ‘race’-based statistics in estimating life expectancy of individuals for purposes of calculating damages is not scientifically acceptable in our current heterogeneous population,” Weinstein wrote in McMillan v. City of New York, 03 civ. 6049. (Update – The decision is here: /RaceAndFutureDamages.pdf)

Did you spend money to be placed in some lawyer directory? Susan Cartier Liebel says lawyer directories could be worthless;

Ron Miller on the ugly practice of lawyers trying to get access to accident police reports in an effort to obtain clients (also at Overlawyered);

A UK rugby player sues due to a career-ending eye injury (BBC);

Mediator Diane Levin hosts Blawg Review #181 on Conflict Resolution Day;

Joe Paduda has the pre-election health care debate in his Health Wonk Review;

And a patriotic dad decides to name his kid Sarah McCain Palin. Though he and his wife had agreed to Ava Grace. Quizlaw with the details.

Some personal injury attorneys are chasing cases like crazy that deal with the Los Angeles Metrolink disaster from last month. TortsProf with the story. I pointed out a couple weeks back that it was this exact type of revolting practice that not only smears the names of the vast majority of PI lawyers who do not do this kind of thing, but also led New York to implement new advertising rules after the Staten Island Ferry disaster in 2003. MassTorts points out that sanctions may be coming for some;

Ron Miller wonders if AIG claims will have problems given the market meltdown. You have to click this link to find out: Personal Injury Claims Against AIG: Will They Get Paid?

Market woes have affected The Consumerist, a leading blog that has been forced to cut staff. Fortune 500 companies could be seen rejoicing;

TortsProf Bill Childs gets tenure, and still manages to do the Personal Injury Law Round-Up. Just avoid the celebratory beer stains on the sides of the blog;

What are the chances that the homeless person on the street has suffered a brain injury? Maybe as high as 50%. The Thirteenth Juror has the details (with a hat tip to Ed.)

And Blawg Review #180 is up at LawPundit with a German theme.

Tonight’s debate between Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden looked like Miss Congeniality v. Mr. Policy. If you saw the debate you would have seen one vice presidential candidate try to charm the audience with a variety of folksy platitudes while the other talked policy.

I don’t generally talk politics here unless it relates to what I do. But in this case I make the exception because I think it does relate to being a trial lawyer.

If I ever tried to win a case by charming a jury, foregoing substance, the jury would dump me in a New York second. Maybe that charm stuff works elsewhere, but such superficial conduct would be viewed with extraordinary disdain if tried in a courtroom.

But that’s New York. Your mileage where you live may vary.