A mish mash today. That is a legal term, isn't it? Mish mash?

• The Washington Times, an editorial acknowledging Dr. Howard Dean's frankness at a Rep. Jim Moran town hall in explaining why health care legislation fails to include tort reform. But, so what if he was frank? From "Health care run by trial lawyers": "[There] is no good, substantive reason for refusing to rein in the wealthy plaintiffs' bar. There is no good, substantive reason for refusing to protect doctors from ridiculous jackpot justice while the rest of us pay through the nose for the cost of additional malpractice insurance."
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform has the video from the town hall in Reston.
• Workforce Management Online, "Seven New Labor Law Proposals to Keep an Eye On." Good list, with lots of legal liability implied. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid downplays the possibility of Senate action on the Employee Free Choice Act, telling the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, "We have too many other things on our plate."
• The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) on the Alien Tort Statute, "Arcane Law Brings Conflicts From Overseas to U.S. Courts, a primer.
• Law.com on steroids, sports and investigations, "9th Circuit Sets Doctrine for Electronic Searches, Finds Steroids Case Search Unlawful."
• Ist Hier Tote Hose: The Blog of Legal Times reports that former D.C. Administrative Judge Roy Pearson -- who sued for $54 million because his drycleaners supposedly misplaced his suit pants -- is still trying to regain his job: "Pearson, who filed a pro se notice of appearance today, wants the federal appeals court in Washington to overturn the dismissal of a wrongful termination suit he filed in May 2008 against the city, among other defendants, seeking reinstatement to his post as an administrative law judge."
• Mississippi unveils its new electronic judicial records system, available to the public. Associated Press story, and Mississippi Supreme Court news release.
• The Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, has been released from a British prison so he can die on the outside. His son sees a connection to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, that is, political positioning by Minister for Justice Jack Straw. Heck of an interesting read in The Guardian.
• Ruben Bolling, cartoonist behind the smart Tom The Dancing Bug, examines the growing importance of "children's law" in corporate legal disputes.