Geoff's LawGems

Bar-Bri and Kaplan named in anti-trust class action

2006-07-20T15:14:00.000-05:00

Feel like you paid too much for that bar or LSAT prep course? You may be right. Bar-Bri and Kaplan have been named in a class action suit alleging that they agreed not to market competitive products in the LSAT and bar exam prep markets.

Check out the Class action website for more information.

WI law to prohibit mandatory microchip implants?

2006-04-26T13:02:00.000-05:00

Though I have not been a big fan of Jim Doyle's lately, I have to give him and Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids credit for being ahead of the curve on this one. This AP Wire story gives some background on the bill presently before the WI legislature that would make the Badger state the first in the Union to prohibit mandatory RFID implants.

Law Career Blog: The Advantages of Flat Rate Billing

2006-04-25T11:02:00.000-05:00

This blogger does a good job of pointing out the pros of flat fee billing for legal services.

FAQ about Trademark -- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

2006-03-17T16:38:00.000-06:00

FAQ about Trademark -- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

what a kick - subtitle is... "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to be Sued for Trademark infringement)"

Legal Marketing :: Justia :: Law Firm Web Site Design & Search Engine Optimization Blog

2006-03-17T16:19:00.000-06:00

Legal Marketing :: Justia :: Law Firm Web Site Design & Search Engine Optimization Blog

This is a pretty cool blog on internet, technology, the law, law firms, and legal marketing.

eBay: Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counse (item 4614629162 end time Feb-27-06 14:22:30 PST)

2006-02-17T16:26:00.000-06:00

My personal copy of Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel is for sale on eBay. This is a great treatise put forth by the Association of Corporate Counsel, and I would reccomend it to any in house practioner.

Gambling Law US - State Gambling Laws United States

2005-12-15T17:18:00.000-06:00

This site has a reasonably comprehensive survey of gambling laws across the 50 states, including some helpful summary tables, and information on charitable gaming / gambling.

http://www.gambling-law-us.com/

US Sweepstakes - Don't offer in Quebec!

2005-09-15T11:36:00.000-05:00

This Doucment goes through the rules in Quebec for Sweepstakes. In order to register a sweepstakes there (even a charitable one), you have to pay a tax on the total value of prizes being awarded!! 10% if it is a Quebec specific promotion, 3% if it is exclusive to Canada and includes Quebec, and 0.5% if it includes people outside Canada.

Nice Primer on TM's for laymen.

2005-07-08T15:59:00.000-05:00

Why file for trademark protection?

Putin "Nationalizes" Pats Owner Bob Kraft's SuperBowl Ring.

2005-07-01T20:27:00.000-05:00

Was it a "cultural mixup", or just pants-ing a rich American? Either way, when Pats owner Bob Kraft showed his SuperBowl ring to Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, it ended up on the plane back to the MotherLand in Putin's pocket!! ESPN.com - NFL - Kraft: Super Bowl ring was gift to Putin

Starbucks coffee, coffee beans, Kona coffee, tea, Jamaica Blue Mountain and more

2005-06-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

Starbucks coffee, coffee beans, Kona coffee, tea, Jamaica Blue Mountain and more This is one of the few places on the web where I have found any selection of Coffee Pods for the Melitta One:One coffee maker.

The Law in Cyberspace -- Other Courses

2005-02-03T08:50:00.000-06:00

This is a nice list of various courses / course materials on cyberlaw that are available on the Internet. Lex 8256: The Law in Cyberspace -- Other Courses

Wisconsin Supreme Court sounds the death of standard form waivers in Wisconsin? 2005 WI 4 / No. 03-2487

2005-01-26T16:27:00.000-06:00

This case is bad news for waiver forms in WI.

In this case, a woman registered as a guest and swam at a local pool. The registration form / card included this waiver language:

WAIVER RELEASE STATEMENT

I AGREE TO ASSUME ALL LIABILITY FOR MYSELF WITHOUT REGARD TO FAULT, WHILE AT SWIMWEST FAMILY FITNESS CENTER. I FURTHER AGREE TO HOLD HARMLESS SWIMWEST FITNESS CENTER, OR ANY OF ITS EMPLOYEES FOR ANY CONDITIONS OR INJURY THAT MAY RESULT TO MYSELF WHILE AT THE SWIMWEST FITNESS CENTER. I HAVE READ THE FOREGOING AND UNDERSTAND ITS CONTENTS.

She later drowned in a 4 foot deep lap pool with lifeguards on duty, and the son sued for wrongful death.

The Court invalidated waiver because
(1) the term "fault" was overbroad because it could include negligent / intentional / reckless acts
(2) On conspicuousness grounds , since the provision was not contained in its own document, but was included in a registration form, and because the type, even though in caps, was the same size as all of the other type on the form, and therefore not set off / conspicuous enough, and
(3) because there was no opportunity for the deceased to bargain over the terms.

What's worse is that in regard to (3) above, in the Supreme Court's opinion, it seems that even if you include language re: opportunity to bargain, that if the arrangement is basically a "take it or leave it" / adhesion contract situation, that the Court would also likely decline to enforce the waiver. The paragraphs from the opinion are set out below.

¶25. We also conclude that there was no opportunity for Wilson to bargain over the exculpatory language in the guest registration and waiver form. According to the deposition testimony of Swimwest employee Kleinert, Wilson had an opportunity to read the form and ask questions. She was told that the form included a waiver, and allegedly took her time reading the card. This information alone, however, is not sufficient to demonstrate a bargaining opportunity. The form itself must provide an opportunity to bargain. See Richards, 181 Wis.2d at 1019.

¶26. We were faced with an analogous situation in Richards. In that case, the plaintiff was forced to choose between signing a standardized waiver or not riding with her husband in his employer's truck. The court invalidated the contract, in part, because she "simply had to adhere to the terms of the written form." Id. We held that an exculpatory clause would not be enforced when it is part of a standardized agreement that offers little or no opportunity to bargain. Id. Similarly, Wilson was without an opportunity to negotiate in regard to the standard exculpatory language used in the form. She was forced to either sign the form or not swim at Swimwest.9 We hold, therefore, that such an exculpatory clause, where there is no opportunity to bargain in regard to its terms, presents another significant factor in the analysis of public policy.

Swimwest Case - 2005 WI 4

NOT BORED!

2005-01-19T17:10:00.000-06:00

This website is an anarchist leaning zine / publication that has some interesting material on things like privacy, Big Brother etc. Also some cool illustrations and the likel. Some of the content actually seems to be of reasonably high quality, in some cases actually including citations to the applicable caselaw and statutes etc.. NOT BORED!

Glossary of Import / Export / Freight Terms

2004-10-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

M.E. Dey & Co., Inc., a Customs Brokerage based mainly out of Milwaukee and Chicago has put up an OCEAN SERVICE
DICTIONARY OF TERMS, which is a very helpful place to look for short, working definitions of terms like CIF, FAS, FOB, CFR, and the like that appear in shipping paperwork, but are not always clearly understood. Also contains other terms pertaining to customs, international trade, and admiralty.

FISC court lives

2004-08-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

This article (washingtonpost.com) raises an issue that I wrote a paper about in law school - the FISC court. It's a somewhat scary idea that the government can use its full cloak and dagger espionage toolbox against everyday citizens within the US in the name of terrorism / counterterrorism. So much for due process and any semblance of a right to privacy. What's more, is the joke that poses as judicial oversight of these wiretap / warrant hearings, that the public can never know about and only the government's lawyers can be present. I am all for giving law enforcement lots of tools to protect us / do their jobs, but this court and the Echelon surveillance network are the sort of things that have truly taken Counterterrorism through the looking glass.

More on Pinellas I and II

2004-08-27T15:05:00.000-05:00

Direct: Nonprofits fight regulation: Creative agencies with first round, demand legal fees - Newsline

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management - Weekly

2004-08-27T15:03:00.000-05:00

Should counties and cities be able to regulate solicitation of charitable donations and fundraising activity. This article discusses.

WisBlawg

2004-08-19T15:52:00.000-05:00

WisBlawg is put out by the folks at University of Wisconsin-Madison's Law Library will be helpful / interesting to Wisconsin Attorneys, so I've listed it here.

Harney Charters

2004-08-16T13:19:00.001-05:00

Harney Charters is the place to go of your are looking for big game fishing on Lake Michigan. With its home port in Sheboygan, WI on the beautifully re-developed marina and Blue Harbor Resort , the Knot Again with Capt. Tom Harney at the helm offers a great fishing experience at a reasonable price. I personally caught a 22 pound Coho with Capt. Tom on the Knot Again this summer.

New Sport Pilot rule approved by FAA

2004-07-27T13:54:00.000-05:00

Always wanted to be a pilot, but never found the time, or had the money? FAA's new Sport Pilot classification makes it much easier to fly a wider range of small aircraft - larger than ultralights, but smaller than your standard trainers - there's now a class of aircraft (<1320lbs gross takeoff weight) that you can fly with only 20 hours of flight training, and a driver's license!! Here are the Basic Parameters of the Certification of Aircraft and Airmen for the Operation of Light-Sport Aircraft Rule and browse the rest of the sportpilot.org site for the latest on this revolution in aviation.

Go Old School: the Code of Hammurabi

2004-07-14T11:32:00.000-05:00

How cool is this - the Code of Hammurabi online. This might be a handy source for an impressive (if not controlling) citation in a brief - E.g. - "Defendant's actions have been illegal since antiquity. See, e.g., Code of Hammurabi, Section 23. Now that's a citation that won't be found in the Bluebook! The Avalon Project : Code of Hammurabi

Constitutional unease - Postpone the national election due to terror attack?

2004-07-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

Isikoff - Election Day Worries Michael Isikoff broke the story last week that Tom Ridge and the Department of Homeland Security was looking into how this fall's elections might be suspended in the event of a major terrorist attack. Though the folks at the World Socialist Web Site are reckless with their accusations and conclusions about the Bush Administration, (see, Bush administration takes steps to cancel US election ) I think they raise a legitimate concern- I'm not sure that I want the President, especially a President seeking reelection, to be able to postpone or otherwise manipulate (or even appear to manipulate) the circumstances of the election. How to avoid a Madrid-esque result in the US is a real dilemma, but I think allowing the federal government to have control over the process shifts the balance of power between the states and the federal government greatly in the favor of the the federal side. If each state wanted to move the election, that might be one thing, and any advantage or disadvantage from the change would at least be decided by elected representatives who do not directly stand to gain or lose in the federal election? This is not a very fully formed alternative solution here, but my point is that letting Bush move the election at his administration's discretion is too heavy handed. It seems like something that a dictator would do, and it is all too convenient that the change would serve to mute the anti-bush outrage that might come from another catastrophic 9/11 style terror attack. A sort of "I might lose, so we had better change the rules" approach that you would expect from some rogue African or South American regime run by warlords. This is exactly the kind of ammunition that the whacks of the world like Michael Moore and the Socialists are looking for. It is what makes them appear credible in the eyes of the public.
Once Governments get power, they don't tend to give it back. I worry that we are crossing the threshold of an era where we will be constantly at war, and that exigent circumstance will serve as justification to erode all of our civil liberties, and any sense of seclusion, anonymity, liberty, or privacy that we ever had.

KGBT 4 - TV Harlingen, TX: Court says fans may sue over foul balls

2004-07-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

KGBT 4 - TV Harlingen, TX: Court says fans may sue over foul balls New Jersey Court now says - if you are at a stadium concession stand and hit by a foul ball, you can sue the stadium and team. This is as opposed to rulings finding that other spectators sitting in their seats to watch the game cannot sue. Another interesting distinction is that this was at a minor league game - apparently the major league teams have better lawyers in their bullpens.

150th Anniversary of textbook Contract Law case Hadley v Baxendale

2004-07-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

Check out this link to a conference that was held in Gloucester, England that discussed trends in Contract Law, as well as had a series of events to mark the 150th Anniversary of Hadley v. Baxendale, a case which undoubtedly has been a part of Contract law casebooks for first year law students ever since it was decided. Thank God that since Hadley - the world has been safe for couriers and mill-shaft manufacturers. Hadley v. Baxendale Conference - University of Gloucestershire