Follow POL on Twitter - From Shopfloor, Howard Dean at a town hall meeting in Reston, Va., sponsored by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA): "The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everybody else they were taking on, and that is the plain and simple truth." More from NYTimes.
- Investor's Business Daily, op-ed by Sherman "Tiger" Joyce of the American Tort Reform Association, "Tort Reform Is Key To Health Reform."
- The Orlando Sentinel, a Dana Summers editorial cartoon on tort reform. Summers' recent portfolio is here; they're very good.
- Jane Genova at Law and More, "Contingency - Greek Chorus of Amicus Briefs Signals Issue's Importance," noting the abundance of amicus briefs filed in the Pennsylvania "pay-to-play" litigation and the California suit over Santa Clara County's hiring of contingency attorneys.
- American Association for Justice news release, "Labor Day Holiday Travel Alert: New Analysis of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Data Shows Over 28,000 Motor Carrier Companies Have Safety Reg Violations." AAJ's latest lobbying disclosure shows general lobbying on minimum insurance coverage for trucks.
- Associated Press, Michigan, writing on McCormick v. General Motors, "Michigan Supreme Court to reconsider when injured motorists can sue for pain and suffering":
The Michigan Supreme Court has set the stage for reversing a 2004 precedent that restricts when people injured in auto accidents can sue for pain and suffering.
In a 4-3 order released Friday, the court decided to reconsider the case of man whose ankle was broken when a co-worker at a Flint auto plant backed a truck over it. The court had voted 4-3 to deny his appeal last October.
But that was before Democrat Diane Hathaway unseated Republican incumbent Clifford Taylor in the November election, ending conservatives' control of the court.
- Which brings us back to Dan Pero, writing last week (before the latest McCormick v. General Motors ruling) at his American Courthouse blog, "Activists On Michigan Supreme Court."
