Litigation

Around the web, July 12

By Ted Frank

• With punitive damages yet to be awarded, jury imposes statutory damages of $613 million on Skilled Healthcare for allegedly failing a statutory requirement of nurse-to-patient ratio, an amount that may preclude an appeal bond if not lowered in the district court. Skilled Healthcare says it disagrees with the verdict, but doesn't deign to tell anyone why, assuring one-sided media coverage. Plaintiffs' lawyer says he wants to change the way nursing homes do business in California, which may well be correct: if statutory damages are close to $20,000/patient ($500/patient/day), one can expect nursing home costs to rise accordingly, but that's a legislative decision to transfer money from patients and taxpayers to lawyers. [Contra Costa Times; LA Times; Reuters]
• Posner on the financial reform bill. [Bloomberg]
• A modest proposal requiring legislators to give the same care to legislation as their campaign ads. [WSJ letter via Boudreaux]
• Elements of Arizona law previously unsuccessfully challenged in Rhode Island (albeit not on preemption grounds). [McCarthy @ Corner]
• McDonald's takes on the nanny state. [Reason]
• Defending Iqbal and Twombly. [Rickard]
• Where's the threatened cascade of corporate money in politics after Citizens United? [Bainbridge]

Full post as published by Point of Law on July 12, 2010 (boomark / email).