Blog of law articles

Well, you know I need a steam shovel mama to keep away the dead
I need a dump truck mama to unload my head
She brings me everything and more, and just like I said
Well, if I go down dyin', you know she bound to put a blanket on my bed.

I've got a lot clanging around in my head this morning, and no desire or inclination to organize any of it in a coherent fashion. So let's do this:

1. Did you all hear about the fireworks at the 11th Circuit en banc arguments on Tuesday? Barkett v. Pryor on en banc review of a panel decision that included our very own Judge Altonaga sitting by designation.

The best part? There were even swear words!

It's ok, if you missed the pay per view they will be reairing it on HBO Saturday night, complete with ringside commentary by Jim Lampley.

2. The cute redhead from NBC's Community is an exact doppelganger of the cute redhead from PCU.

3. A followup to the ERISA post from yesterday -- as I mentioned David did a nice job with the 10b-5 arguments, as well as the PSLRA heightened, Iqbal-esque pleading standard.

It's funny now to see corporations who for many years used the PSLRA as a shield are now finding it used against them in the auction-rate security debacle:

The biggest losers so far are corporations that bought the paper but now find they are not covered by settlements some Wall Street firms made to reimburse individual investors. But there are still individuals who are stuck with the securities, either because their brokerage firm refused to settle or because they moved from one firm to another and found that neither firm was willing to reimburse them.

Some of those corporate purchasers may recall the old saying, “Be careful what you ask for. You might get it.” Those buyers of this paper are finding they cannot successfully sue because of a 1995 law that was strongly backed by corporate America as a way to curb frivolous lawsuits.

That law, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, says that a case, when filed, must be very specific about the fraud that is alleged, or it will be immediately dismissed. In many cases, a plaintiff would need access to inside information to make such a claim with enough detail. Such information could be there in company files, but the plaintiff has no way to get at it before the case is thrown out.

4. You know what I think of this Lew Freeman story?

This is a Titanic injustice, it's like the FBI wanted to set some sort of transatlantic speed record and just started rearranging deck chairs, and then somebody else called for hip boots and we all somehow wound up stuck in the Twilight Zone.

(Other than that, I have no comment.)

5. I don't know about you, but I am already sick to death of the sudden mania over "sliders."

Everywhere I go I see or hear people talking about "sliders." The 8 Ounce Burger Bar even has a "flight" of sliders -- like scotch but with more grease.

Folks, they are small burgers. You know, like "flat bread" is bread that is flat. That is all.

And there's nothing new about them -- remember Krystal from college, or Royal Castle?

But I guess if you got excited over a smushed piece of bread you're going to go nutso over an extra small burger.

6. I see I am not the only one still thinking about Hitler.

Happy Simcha Torah everybody!