The Tortellini

Back to work

Wow, what a shock to return to D.C. after a few weeks in the cool mountains of upstate New York (where yes, Greedy Trial Lawyer, there are still places whose only Internet connection comes through ancient and unreliable dial-up service)! The weather here is as nasty as it's been in a long time. 

Can't say I missed the Washington weather, but I do wish I'd been in town to attend the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's fundraiser for the Chungs--you know, the famous dry cleaners who lost that crazy lawyer's pants. Apparently they raised more than $64,000. I'd be interested to know how much money the trial lawyers raised for the Chungs, as they, too, attempted to get a spin on the case by urging lawyers to donate. I would be surprised if it was much. In any event, you have to give the chamber credit for knowing how to work the press. They put the famous lost pants on the stage at the event and stationed a security guard next to them for good measure. Perhaps someday Ralph Nader can get those pants admitted as an exhibit at his tort museum.

In any event, I should be back home and blogging for a while, so tips and comments will be especially welcome as I get back into the swing of things...

Going Under Again

Ah, just when I was getting back in the saddle again, so to speak, I'm taking leave of it again for a while. I'm actually going on vacation and won't have Internet access, so the blog will be dormant for a couple of weeks. I'll be back in August, when of course, the entire legal profession will be on vacation and I'll have nothing to write about except maybe whether Walter Olson can survive Rudy over the long haul..

...until then, cheers.

Apology for sporadic blog posts

I'm feeling guilty for not having posted anything here in a week... It's not for lack of material--Lord knows that tort reformers never sleep. But I have a confession to make: I really hate blogging. I know, it's the wave of the future, yadda yadda yadda. But I am a working journalist, and I guess I'm still wedded to the Old Media. I like books, magazine articles, newspaper stories, things that we used to call "long-form" journalism. Successful blogging, for the most part, entails little more than noting some other journalist's actual work--you know, real reporting--and making snarky comments about it in the hopes that someday, someone will actually pay you to be snarky on TV.  (The blogging itself is also a big money loser, the $103 I've made from Google ads notwithstanding.)

Personally, I'd much rather be doing the actual reporting than the snarking. So that's what I've been doing of late--reporting for magazines and books for which, unlike blogging, I get paid--as well as doing my laundry, calling my mom, and watering my carrot seeds. Being a good blogger requires sitting at a desk for long periods of time or Blackberry enslavement, wrecking your eyesight reading all the other blogs, and then posting at 3 a.m. I guess I'd just rather tend to the carrots...Anyway, I appreciate all of you who bear with me and check in periodically for my intermittent ramblings.

By the way, for any northeast Pennsylvania readers, I'll be speaking and signing copies of my book at the University of Scranton tomorrow night at 7:30. Details and related op-ed here.

On agendas and full disclosure

Generally I don't respond to comments about blog postings because I'd rather leave that to readers. But Walter Olson over at Overlawyered, and Wave Maker in the comments section of this blog, have raised a couple of points that I think I should address for the sake of transparency.

First, based on an item I wrote about a New York Times story on patent lawsuits, Walter calls me pious and suggests that I think only journalists I disapprove of should disclose their sources for story tips, the implication being that I don't meet the standard myself.

If I haven't been transparent in anything I've written, I apologize, because I do believe in full disclosure and try never to rely on unnamed sources if I can avoid it. For the most part, though, I don't really get too many tips. Most of my story and blog ideas come from old-fashioned reporting: making calls, reading the paper, attending far too many dreary Federalist Society events, and from my own hunches that then lead to more reporting. The only item I've written lately that came off a tip was the one about Bill Lerach's complaint about his treatment by Fortune magazine. Since I posted part of the letter he wrote to the editors, I thought it was pretty clear where that little item came from. (All this is not to say, though, that I wouldn't welcome some tips!)

In comments on the same patent lawsuit post, Wave Maker suggests rather snidely that I have an agenda here. Well, yes, of course I do. Just to make it clear, though, here's what it is: Selling books, while attempting to provide an entertaining and informative news outlet focused on the legal world.

I am not an activist or affiliated with any activist groups or even a lawyer (which might explain much of my ignorance on some of these issues). I have never taken a dime from a trial lawyer or any of their affiliated organizations. I always buy my own lunch when meeting with sources, and I have virtually nothing to gain financially from this blog, even if it does help sell a few books. It would have to sell more than 10,000 copies before I ever see another dime from my publisher, a highly unlikely scenario.

Unlike the folks at the Manhattan Institute or AEI or Common Good who are professional and well-paid tort reform proponents, I don't have any corporate or foundation sponsors. I am paid solely by the publications I write for, including the publisher of my book, which gave me a scandalously small advance for a book they are pretty sure won't sell. I did win a small research grant from the nonpartisan Fund for Investigative Journalism, but basically, my book has been a huge money-losing enterprise. As for the blog, it has thus far grossed $45.62 from Google ads. I would be living on the street at this point but for my very generous husband, who has subsidized the whole operation.

Obviously I have opinions about the subject that has consumed so much of my life for the past couple of years, but at heart, I am a writer, not an ideologue. My decision to delve into tort reform and other civil justice issues started with my own observation that a lot of the journalism in this area is really, really bad. I have tried to bring it up a notch and to provide a different perspective. Whether or not I've succeeded is obviously up for debate.

Welcome to the Tortellini

Have you ever heard about Stella Liebeck, the lady who sued McDonald's over a hot coffee spill? Do you believe that Americans will sue at the drop of a banana peel?

Then The Tortellini is for you. This new blog on law and politics is a companion to my forthcoming book, Blocking the Courthouse Door: How the Republican Party and its Corporate Allies are Taking Away Your Right to Sue

“Tort reform” has become a staple of Republican politics. Limits on lawsuits are offered as a solution to everything from the health care crisis and economic stagnation to America's moral decline. Americans overwhelmingly believe that the nation is awash in frivolous lawsuits.

And that's just where The Tortellini comes in. Because most of what you’ve heard about “lawsuit abuse” is wrong. The majority sentiment on legal reform comes courtesy of a long disinformation campaign by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other big business sponsors like the tobacco, insurance and automobile industries. These folks have managed to convince voters from to Hawaii to Maine that plaintiffs in civil actions are whiners, hustlers, and layabouts, and that their attempts to win the “lawsuit lottery” have created a “litigation explosion.”

The truth, as The Tortellini will attest, is more complex. The number of personal injury filings are falling, not rising, according to sober government data, median awards are falling, and plaintiffs are taking it on the chin, in everything from medical malpractice to products liabilty lawsuits.

With daily posts, original reporting, useful stats, and other features, The Tortellini will give you the skinny on the latest in the fight for the courthouse: from legislative proposals and court decisions, to the clever tactics companies are employing to minimize legal exposure. Not to mention gossip!

Tips about litigation shenanigins, experts for hire, stealth media campaigns by tort reform groups, etc. are welcome. Contact me at thetortellini@earthlink.net. Meantime, read on!