by Paul Alan Levy A comment to my recent blog post about Prestigious Pets, a Dallas pet care company that recently sued two of its customers for negative reviews, suggested an interesting approach for dealing with businesses that use non-disparagement clauses to block customers from posting accurate but unflattering reviews. Although consumer advocates place hope […]
Author Archives: Paul Levy
by Paul Alan Levy Until recently, a Dallas, Texas pet-sitting service called Prestigious Pets enjoyed a fairly high rating on Yelp – most of the reviews gave it five stars. There were, however, two one-star dissents, one from Michelle D and one from Tatiana N, each of whom objected, in fairly mild terms, to some […]
by Paul Alan Levy In an opinion that bristles with significant issues, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver asserting that a Hollywood studio could not release a film based, in part, on a fictional portrayal of important public events in which he […]
by Paul Alan Levy Last month I wrote about a proceeding in which Michigan’s Attorney Grievance Commission was investigating Steven Gursten, a Michigan lawyer who had criticized Dr. Rosalind Griffin, a member of the state disciplinary apparatus, for perjuring herself in expert testimony in one of his cases. I argued that the very process of […]
by Paul Alan Levy The lawyers for Gordon Austin, the former Carrollton Georgia dentist who filed a lawsuit over the YouTube posting of a news report about his indictment for having beat his patients with a dental instrument when, insufficiently anesthetized, they cried out in pain, have now withdrawn his subpoena to identify the poster, paid […]
by Paul Alan Levy Dr. Rosalind Griffin, a Michigan psychiatrist who apparently derives a significant part of her income by testifying as a medical expert for parties defending against tort claims, but also serves as a member of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board — the adjudicatory arm of the Attorney Grievance Commission — has initiated […]
by Paul Alan Levy Over the past couple of weeks, several bloggers, most impressively Rebecca Tushnet, have published their analyses of a decision by Judge Jesse Furman granting summary judgment dismissing a lawsuit by Louis Vuitton Malletier against a tiny company called “My Other Bag” which produces a line of canvas totes that poke gentle fun at […]
by Paul Alan Levy A few years ago, Gordon Austin, a Georgia dentist from the small town of Carrollton, about 50 miles west of Atlanta, was indicted on multiple charges stemming in part from Medicare fraud and in part for a series of incidents in which he beat patients with a dental instrument. According to […]
by Paul Alan Levy Last week the Seventh Circuit addressed several recurring issues pertaining to libel law in McCarthy v. Fuller, a case involving a falling out between by two sets of religious advocates pertaining to the holiness of certain alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary. (Choice characterization on Techdirt: “The details of the actual […]
by Paul Alan Levy In a case litigated over the past few days, the Mall of America filed an action against several leaders of Black Lives Matter in Minneapolis who had called a demonstration, to be held inside the famous shopping mall, to protest a police shooting in the area. The TRO sought to bar […]