FDA Oyster rule

At most, 15 people die every year from bad oysters (not counting allergic reactions). The new FDA rule bans the harvesting of oysters for seven months out of the year unless they are post-processed. Such post-processing includes pasteurization, freezing, or irradiating.

90 people die every year from lightning strikes. Let's ban lightning.

120 people die every year from airline crashes in the US. Let's ban airplanes.

I'm sorry, but 15 people dying from bad oysters in a year is not sufficient justification for a nationwide FDA oyster ban. The leading oyster supplier in the French Quarter was interviewed on NPR, and he stated that he would have to shutter his doors, because he has no physical plant to put the post-processing equipment in.

Other oyster-slinging professionals complain that the oysters' flavor is affected by the post-processing.

God damn the FDA!

Hiatus OVUH

Well, I'm back.

To recap: 2 wins in the Court of Appeals since I last blogged. One civil trial- loss. One criminal trial- win. A number of emergency and temporary actions in chancery- all wins, unequivocally.

And one con-law class under wraps. Grades are in. Tough. A fun experience, and different from the practical class I teach at USM.

What Wilsonian really means

Teaching a constitutional law class at Wm Carey University is a great experience for me. I'm not sure the students enjoy it. But one thing that puzzles me is why Woodrow Wilson gets such a pass from historians.

The Tornado Ashes Club

This novel sounds highly promising. I look forward to reading it.

http://www.amazon.com/How-I-Became-Famous-Novelist/dp/0802170609

Staycation over, hell week begins

Tuesday I went to the coast, looking to try a heck of a child custody case. Instead, got bumped to the end of the month, and my client lost temporary custody.

Wednesday, I finally resolved a divorce matter which I took over from Leonard Melvin last fall.

Today, I am headed to court in front of Judge Dale to get slapped around like a dying fish.

Tomorrow, I clean up the mess from earlier in the week, and get ready to start all over on Monday.

Cooking and staycation

My staycation started last night at 5:00 pm. We went to 206 Front Street, had a few mixed drinks, then repaired home. We prepped crudite, cheese, and hummus, and had a delightful evening of zakuski, Ignatiev family style, and drinks.

This morning, we did a shopping marathon of over 3 hours. Bought enough groceries to feed an army (or so it seemed) and bought three top-shelf kitchen knives. We are kissing the dreaded Chicago Cutlery stainless set goodbye. It served loyally for years, but we now have the Alton's Angle Shun Kershaw 6" utility and 4" paring knife, and the Viking 6" Asian cleaver, all bought at half-price at The Kitchen Table today. I baked some good french bread, and we had a nice salad and Tina made homemade linguine, which I cooked with some goat sausage, mushrooms, red onion, and marsala. A delightfully simple dish, with great promise.

And in the midst of all this, we watched Julie & Julia. Tina appeared to like the more modern portion of the movie, while I preferred the flashback section. Still, it's better than the reviews (except Ebert got it about exactly right, as usual). A solid 3.5 stars on a four-star scale, but it does lack the element of greatness. The whole time that I was watching Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, I was thinking, "He could play Gene Kelly in a biopic." I should pitch that to him.

Mississippi and the dearth of good expert witnesses

Amidst news that Dr. Steven Hayne, noted non-certified forensic pathologist and dubiously contracted Chief State Pathologist of Mississippi, is headed back in the saddle, I ponder the question of why there are no good expert witnesses in Mississippi. In the past two years, I have had my own client's treating physician destroy a case in his deposition (for which dubious privilege I paid over $2500 for a forty-minute deposition); I have seen a licensed professional counselor claim, with a straight face, that he is legally entitled to render opinions to reasonable pyschological certainty, even though he is not a licensed pyschologist, because he has a PhD in psychology; and despite this, these people are regularly relied upon by the courts of the 10th Chancery District in renderning opinions.

I fear that Chancery Court is not operating as the gatekeeper it is supposed to under Daubert.

Teaching

Tonight I start teaching Constitutional Law I at William Carey University. Let's see how this works; it's the first academic/philosophical course in my professional field that I will be teaching.

A Good Divorce

That's the one where the poor client weeps with relief and joy at the end of a horribly abusive marriage. Although I do not like divorce in principle, I like the way people enter into marriage a good deal of the time even less. We are far too casual about marriage these days.

But last Thursday, I was able to help a lovely young woman free herself from a truly terrible mistake she made as a much younger woman. And that is the best part of my job.

You win some, you lose some

Yesterday I had an emergency hearing in front of Judge Williams, with Tim Evans as the Guardian Ad Litem. Unfortunately, the result did not go my way, but hopefully it will end with my clients receiving a favorable result.

Then Judge Fair called me up and about gave me a heart attack on a divorce I've been trying to finalize. It was not the finest afternoon in my legal career.

Today will hopefully be better.

My A/C

Yesterday it was repaired. Tina and I went to investigate the unit before the HVAC guy showed (1st Call Heating and Air, of Hattiesburg). An enormous grey housecat burst out from underneath the unit and ran under our house.

We ended up having to pay for an internal fuse and a replacement of an exterior wire to the unit. Cost less than $100.00.

Weber One-Touch Gold 26

Wow.

Alternatively, http://weber.com/grills/?glid=4&mid=25 .

Arbitration in Mississippi

I argued against a motion to compel arbitration today, before an experienced and respected Mississippi jurist of great repute. Afterwards, the judge remarked, "You know, based on what you've filed, it's going to cost them more to defend this case than your claim is worth."

Everyone agreed.

Cold Comfort House

At approximately 1:22 a.m., the a/c stopped working.

My wife will never be cold again in the summer.

Hub City jokes

Does anyone recall classic comic book series The Question? It took place in the pseudonymous Hub City.

But I don't think that they mean Hattiesburg.

We're not famously crime-ridden, after all.

Health care reform

Nobody is talking about the most important part of healthcare reform: doctor deposition fees. Lawyers around Hattiesburg, you know what I'm talking about. We pay more here for doctors' depositions than they pay in Chicago, New York, or anywhere else, especially for treating physicians.

Last year I paid $2500.00 for a doctor's deposition that ran 40 minutes, more or less, and the doctor did not know his patient's name, couldn't recall the last time he'd been in to see him, did not remember that he was scheduled to receive an experimental drug treatment in the next week, and finally stated that the defendant's negligence had no connection with my client's worsening medical condition. All information that he could have provided me at no cost to my client or myself.

I recommend that we fix doctor's fees at depositions to be the same as workers' compensation deposition fees.

Default judgments

Default judgments got a huge shot in the arm a few months ago. Now, I take them in every case I can, with the honest expectation that they will be enforced. At long last, victory!

Fellow practitioners, if you haven't seen the case yet, here it is:

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO55890.pdf

Justice Sotomayor

Congratulations to our newest Supreme Court Justice.

We're in for at least 10 years of 'wise latina' jokes. I say at least 10 years, because at that point she will be eligible to take senior status under the rule of 80.

Ed Peters wins big

How is it that Ed Peters can destroy so many lives and get away with it? I am at the head of the line of people disappointed in Bobby DeLaughter; he was a personal hero of mine and seemed to epitomize the so-called New South. It remains to be seen how much of his legacy is tarnished, but it is undeniable that Ed Peters was the motive force in DeLaughter's professional life.

I remember discussing with a former employer about whether we should file a motion for recusal in a case replete with procedural problems in front of Judge DeLaughter where Cynthia Speetjeans, DeLaughter's quondam colleague in the Ed Peters DA office, then of Frazier Davidson, was opposite us. We ended up not filing the motion, and the jury returned a defense verdict, but I've wondered since then.

First!

This is my latest attempt at a professional blog for my practice.