attorneybutler.net

AT LAST, A MERITORIOUS LAWSUIT

WHEN THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND OTHER LEGAL REFORMERS TALK ABOUT FRIVILOUS SUITS, THEY GENERALLY ARE REFERRING, EXCLUSIVELY TO PERSONAL INJURY SUITS, BROUGHT BY ANY PERSON, AGAINST ANY BUSINESS OR INSURANCE COMPANY.

WELL HERE IS A SUIT THAT THE CHAMBER CAN EMBRACE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE BUSINESS OUR COURTS AND OUR CORPORATE LEGAL DEPARTMENTS SHOULD BE ABOUT.

IN 2006, TARRANT APPAREL GROUP SUED JESSICA SIMPSON FOR $100 MILLION DOLLARS, IN A 12 PAGE COMPLAINT, CLAIMING MS. SIMPSON FAILED TO PROMOTE THEIR JS AND PRINCY CLOTHING LINES, AS REQUIRED.

AMONG THE CLAIMS WAS THAT MS. SIMPSON, WHEN ASKED IN A MARIE CLAIRE MAGAZINE INTERVIEW TO NAME HER FAVORITE JEANS, NAMED "TRUE RELIGION" RATHER THAN "PRINCY".

IN ADDITION, SHE HAD INDICATED THAT SHE WOULD PROMOTE THE CLOTHING LINES DURING
HER "DUKES OF HAZZARD" MOVIE TOUR, WHICH SHE FAILED TO DO.

OH THE HUMANITIES. IT IS GOOD TO KNOW THAT OUR CLIENTS INJURED AND DISABLED THROUGH THE OFTEN ADMITTED NEGLIGENCE OF CORPORATIONS HAVE NO REMEDY, THOSE SAME CORPORATIONS CAN OBTAIN THE FULL MEASURE OF JUSTICE AGAINST COUNTRY SINGERS WHO DON'T ADEQUATELY PUSH THEIR DISTINTIVE DENIM PRODUCTS. NO WORRIES ABOUT DAMAGE CAPS APPARENTLY, EITHER.

FUNNY, HOW BUSINESS TO BUSINESS LITIGATION NEVER COMES UNDER ATTACK BY THE "REFORMERS". TRUTH BE TOLD, THERE IS MORE OF THIS LITIGATION THAN ANY OTHER. AND THAT'S OKAY WITH THE CHAMBER. BUSINESSES SHOULD HAVE ALL THE POWER OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM AT THEIR DISPOSAL TO PROTECT PROFITS, NO MATTER IF THE THREAT IS FROM THE INJURED CONSUMER OF ITS DEFECTIVE PRODUCT, OR THE COMPANY THAT TRIES TO COPY ITS "SWOOSH" TRADEMARK. BUSINESS WILL NEVER ADVOCATE THE LIMITATION OF BUSINESS RIGHTS OR REMEDIES. JUST YOURS AND MINE.

LAWYERS WEEKLY LETTER TO THE EDITOR

ON JULY 16, 2007 MICHIGAN LAWYERS WEEKLY RAN A SHORT LETTER TO THE EDITIOR I WROTE CONCERNING AN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY EDITOR TODD A. BERG ENTITLED: "LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN" ,'LEGAL REFORM' RESURFACES AS CURE FOR AILING ECONOMY IN MI CHAMBER FOUNDATION STUDY..

THE SHORT LETTER RAN:

To The Editor:

Your story, "Let's do the time warp again!," June 25, 2007, shows that an accurate view of reality will not get in the way of a political agenda.

For the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the "reforms" of the past 20 years are merely a jumping off point to grab for even more.

Greed rules, not justice.

Unfortunately, the Republicans and the Chamber are not alone in this.

I am afraid the "other side" might be just as desirous of skewing the system, if given the chance.

Some moderation, some common sense and some justice would do everyone a lot of good.

After 800 years of the common law, I would have hoped we could have built some better safeguards against political partisanship into our system of justice.

Excellent article. Keep up the good work.

— Michael J. Butler, Southfield

WELL DONE, MR. BERG

CASSIDY'S GHOST-BACKGROUND

I wrote the story, CASSIDY'S GHOST, over a day or two in February, 2007, as the deadline for the State Bar of Michigan's Fiction Writing Contest loomed. One of the rules was that the story could not have been previously published. Well, the contest results are out, and my little foray into fictional writing did not make the final cut. Better luck next time.

However, I did want to publish the story somewhere. Daniel Cassidy was a real person, a real attorney, and I did meet him at the bar function as described.

I thought it would be kind of nice if a man, who passed the bar before airplanes, television and computers, had his own small corner of cyberspace.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Cassidy, till we meet again.

CASSIDY'S GHOST

It has been said that everyone has the makings of at least one novel inside them. Not a great novel, necessarily, or even a good one. Just a novel, presumably. No particular requirement of quality.

With modern technology, each of us must have, burning within us, then, at least a half dozen websites. Again, not great, or even good. Just several collections of bits, bytes, megabytes and mouse-clicks.

Inspired, recently, by the Muse, if any, that rules the art, if any, of website making (the term “web design” sounds too artistic), I decided to do a website so to inflict my legal insights, if any, onto an unsuspecting public. Of course, unless I could find something that would attract traffic to attorneybutler.net, the public might remain unsuspecting. I thought it might be a good idea to have some content that might be entertaining.

I had always been fascinated by old Detroit. The Guardian Building, Hudson’s, Belle Isle statuary, the Grand Circus Park movie palaces. I loved the architecture, but I really think that is was the grainy, black and white photographs of the era that attracted me. Daily, I saw many of the buildings shown in those photos in living color. But those old, fuzzy, pictures required me to provide the color, the definition, the focus and the movement to those scenes and so made me part of a world that existed long before I was born. Those photos were different every time I looked at them, and so were ever interesting and romantic. Modern digital, hi-def. photos are more dazzling, but less involving.

JUSTICE CLIFFORD W. TAYLOR'S CONTROVERSIAL EDITORIAL

In the July 6, 2007 edition of the Detroit News, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, Clifford W. Taylor, authored an editorial entitled: "Courts Need Help to Impanel Fairer Juries".

Readers of the piece will soon find that the title promises more than the body delivers. The editorial is basically an advertisement for July, 2007, which is Michigan Juror Appreciation Month. The more cynical among us may also look at this article as one of the opening moves in Justice Taylor's 2008 re-election campaign.