Consumer Law

Sprinkles of Civil Justice (With a Post Election Flavor)

By Joe Consumer

So what do the civil courts have in store for us, post mid-term elections?  Looks like a dash of new state hurdles here, a pinch of federal obstruction there.  Let?s take a look at a few smidgens!

First, Oklahoma's new Attorney General-elect, Scott Pruitt, apparently accepted thousands of dollars in campaign donations from poultry industry employees, for which he was heavily criticized ? and for good reason.  As soon as he was elected, he announced that he would consider stopping the state?s lawsuit against the poultry industry for causing ?widespread pollution? even though the state ?has spent millions of dollars arguing the case, and it is awaiting a judge's ruling.?

Also, in an article earlier this week, New York Times reports that the new Governor-elect of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, said ?he planned to remove all ?litigation, regulation, excessive cost? barriers to businesses (declaring Wisconsin, on election night, ?open for business!?)."  In other words, no accountability for wrongdoing whatsoever!  How attractive!  (Hope you?re paying attention toxic polluters, makers of unsafe children?s products, dangerous commercial truckers and hazardous equipment manufacturers.)

On the federal judiciary front, Ann Woolner writes for Bloomberg, 

Republicans have managed to stall more than a score of President Obama?s nominees to the bench so far, although they number only 41 senators, barely enough to keep a filibuster going.

With six more Republican senators narrowing the gap in January, the minority party in the Senate will have more muscle to use against the president?s choices...

Republicans have been loading the federal bench with as many conservatives as they can, while blocking as many Democratic nominees as possible.

Yes, I said Democratic nominees instead of liberal. The current list of 23 stalled Obama nominees includes 17 approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee without a whiff of controversy or even a no vote against them.

And when it comes to one of the hottest environmental issues today ? greenhouse gases - a new study by ?DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA), a New York-based eco-investment advisory unit of Deutsche Bank Group? concluded that:

The failure of federal cap and trade, the return of Republican control in the U.S. House and California's plans to move forward on that state's greenhouse gas law will probably inspire a new wave of lawsuits moving the climate change battle to the courts,

"It is probably inevitable that people are turning to litigation to fill the void left by the lack of legislation, and it is possible that the threat of court action will in some cases galvanize legislators to take action where before they had simply avoided the issue," DBCCA analysts say in the report, titled "Growth of U.S. Climate Change Litigation: Trends and Consequences."

And finally, the decision as to who will be Alaska's next Senator moves to the courts, with Tea Party trial lawyer Joe Miller now suing to invalidate a lot of Sen. Lisa Murkowski?s write-in ballots. 

Whoa, back up a minute.  Did we say "Tea Party trial lawyer"?  You betcha we did!  Specializing in all kinds of accidents including medical malpractice cases, Mr. Miller writes on his web site:

Have you been injured? If you have suffered serious injury as a result of an accident, you have probably been contacted by an insurance adjustor. Remember, insurance adjustors are in the business of saving insurance companies money, not helping you. Insurance adjustors are very skilled in what they do...

Every day, Insurance Companies convince accident victims that their injuries are insignificant and deserve little compensation. You should always contact an attorney before resolving your case.

Couldn't have said it better ourselves, Joe.

Full post as published by ThePopTort on November 10, 2010 (boomark / email).