September 25, 2006

Walter has already written about the ludicrous proposed new regulations of attorneys in New York that would effectively bar all public writing about the law by members of the New York bar if it didn't so blatantly violate the First Amendment. One shouldn't be surprised, I suppose, that the Naderite Public Citizen Litigation Group opposes additional burdens on the plaintiffs' bar. But what I found fascinating is the arguments being used: additional record-keeping and regulation creates an expensive burden that hurts consumers in the long run. Just so—and one hopes, perhaps in vain, that Public Citizen remembers this principle when litigating purportedly on behalf of consumers against businesses that aren't the plaintiffs' bar.