September 4, 2008

"This is definitely not a good book"

Not to pile on the egregious Kevin Phillips -- well, OK, maybe a little -- the distinguished liberal economist Robert Solow takes him apart in the New Republic this issue.

September 2, 2008

Unconscionability in Washington state

According to the Supreme Court of the Evergreen State (McKee v. AT&T, PDF)(via), it's unconscionable to use consumer contract language to specify binding arbitration in such a way as to vary from the state's prescribed class action rules, statute of limitations, restrictions on confidentiality, or availability of attorneys' fees. So it voided the relevant language in an AT&T consumer contract. To get to that point, it also voided a clause providing that the contract would be governed by New York law.

You still sometimes hear people describe the doctrine of unconscionability as if it banned mostly the sorts of contract clauses that no consumer would have entered knowingly or that no legislature would have prescribed as a reasonable balancing of the two sides' interests. In Washington, at least, the doctrine appears closer to serving as an all-purpose wrench with which the court pries off language in consumer contracts that vary from what it deems good public policy.

September 1, 2008

Guestblogger thanks

Many thanks to Jane Genova for her posts over the past week. Be sure to check out her work at Law and More as well as at her speechwriting-ghostwriting site.

Manhattan Institute audio and video library

The Manhattan Institute, which maintains this site, has a growing library of videos on YouTube (57 at latest count) on "taxes, welfare, crime, the legal system, urban life, race, education, and many other topics", featuring such compelling public intellectuals as James Q. Wilson, John McWhorter and Heather Mac Donald.
In the linked news clip from Canadian TV, the Institute's Jim Copland discusses lawsuits against schools. The Institute also has an audio archive (iTunes or other program needed to play) with extensive podcast resources. Check them out today!

August 30, 2008

"The Legal Limit" by Martin Clark, legal/moral relativism played out in biblical themes

"The Legal Limit" is packaged as a thriller. That suspense keeps readers immersed in questions about legal and moral relativism. Published this summer by Virginia circuit court judge Martin Clark, the plot line is straight from Cain and Abel, with lots of other biblical themes such as Joseph and his coat of many colors and the suffering of Job.

In 1984, a smug law student instinctively - read brotherly love - makes the decision to cover up an impulsive - read over a girl - murder by his shiftless brother. The chickens almost come to roost decades later when one brother is a commonwealth attorney and the other is serving a 40-something year sentence for selling drugs.

Reviewer Harriet Klausner opines, "Martin Clark makes a case that the law may be so blind that achieving justice often fails." The case presented in this book, which Clark says represents a composite of actual ones, might be argued in a law school, with experts from the legal academy, sociology, ethics, and psychology commenting.

Here is an excerpt from "The Legal Limit." For marketing purposes, Clark has been described as the thinking and drinking man's John Grisham. That will boost sales. But Clark's future as a fiction writer will be based on his courage to take on complex issues - with Chaucerian irony.

August 24, 2008

New guestblogger: Jane Genova of Law and More

We're happy to announce that Jane Genova, whose blog Law and More we've linked innumerable times at Point of Law, will be guestblogging with us this week. Genova began blogging as an extension of her work in corporate speechwriting, ghostwriting and marketing, but the work soon took on a life of its own, especially after she began to concentrate on the high-stakes but under-reported field of lead paint litigation, which she's covered with extraordinary energy and detail at Law and More. She pioneered the in-person liveblogging of trials before that idea caught on elsewhere, notably in the landmark Rhode Island lead paint case, and has branched out into other law and business topics with a lively mix of content that includes insider interviews, tips on management and branding strategy, speculation on the stories behind the news, and personal asides.

August 21, 2008

Grand jury and Scruggs scandal

In case you thought the Mississippi saga was over, there are signs of impending action in the scandal's (thus far unresolved) Peters-DeLaughter branch.

Plus: "Earwigging Haiku" at David Rossmiller's comments section.

August 20, 2008

"Redlining" and the subprime bubble, cont'd

A failure of the free market? Not exactly (via Bader, emphasis added):

Internal documents show that even late in the housing bubble, [federal-government-sponsored] Fannie Mae was drawn to risky loans by a variety of temptations, including the desire to increase its market share and fulfill government quotas for the support of low-income borrowers.

August 19, 2008

Guestblogger thanks

Thanks to Peggy Little for holding the fort last week during my absence. Our planned guestblogger for this week unfortunately had to withdraw at the last minute, but we should have at least part of our regular crew, including me, on hand posting through the week.

August 8, 2008

Energy prices: supply and demand

Howell Raines supplies malarkey, and Joe Nocera demands a higher quality of evidence.