Blondes have more fun… in court.

1. Miss Paris Hilton is being sued this week over the promotion of a film called “National Lampoon Pledge This!”. Hilton, who plays a sorority president in the film, was paid a million dollars to promote the film. Attorney Michael Goldberg, who filed the suit against Hilton and her entertainment company, is seeking millions of dollars in alleged lost profit. Goldberg said, “Hilton failed to attend any talk shows or telephonic or in-person interviews.”

2. Suing the Stone. “He was just doing his job when he got hurt.” says lawyer John Torjesen, who represents Peter Krause (no, not the Six Feet Under star). Krause suffered “severe and permanent injuries” while he was working on Sharon Stone’s home back in 2006. Apparently “he fell past an array of landscaping plants that masked a steep drop off”. Krause is seeking unspecified damages to cover lost income, medical expenses , pain and suffering and other causes of action.

3. Donald Trump is suing his former lawyers at Morrison Cohen for 10 million dollars for using his name without permission. The Donald claims they are in violation of a “New York Law that forbids anyone from using someone else’s name for advertising without written consent.” Morrison Cohen and one of its partners, David Scharf, “have commercially exploited plaintiff’s name repeatedly and flagrantly,” the suit declares. Trump is represented by his attorney, Morrison Stephen B. Meister.

1. How is this guy broke? Ed McMahon was sued for failing to pay $275,168 in fees to divorce attorney Norman Solvay. McMahon, famous for his Johnny Carson introductions, hired Solavay to represent his daughter, Linda Schmerge, in a “matrimonial matter” said Solovay’s lawyer, Michael Shanker. Looks like he needs someone to come to his door with a giant check

Saira Rao’s novel, Chambermaid, dominated blog chatter all last summer, as it was described as a Devil Wears Prada expose on clerkships. I just finished the book and it was a perfect summer read – breezy, diverting and not overly taxing. The novel exposes the foibles of the highly-competitive world of elite law schools and federal clerkships. As an NYU Law School graduate and as a former judicial clerk for the Third Circuit, Ms. Rao knows this world well. As a Cornell Law School graduate, I could only smile ruefully, as the narrator in her book Sheila Raj notes the hierarchy among top law schools:

[Judge] Friedman wanted Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, and Stanford. Penn, Duke, Virginia, and Cornell would do in a pinch. [p. 88]

And later in the book Judge Friedman mistakes Sheila’s law school as Cornell:

“Seems to me you haven’t said much of anything. Did you even learn anything at Cornell?”

“I went to Columbia, Judge.” The last thing I wanted to be mistaken for, even momentarily, was a non-top-five-law-schooler. [p. 170]

I have a confession to make: I find Judge Judy very entertaining. And, apparently I’m not alone. The following are tips based on the most common errors I’ve observed on the show:

• If you are a deadbeat dad, do not come before Judge Judy with the excuse that you often buy diapers, food, toys, or clothes for your children. Similarly, do not offer that you give your baby mama money for your kids whenever she asks. Judge Judy will simply remind you that this does not relieve you of your legal obligations for child support.
• If you are being sued for repayment of a loan, do not do Judge Judy’s job for her and declare that what you were given was a gift. Judge Judy wants you to merely describe the circumstances surrounding the exchange, so she can divine the donor’s intent.
• Different states have different laws regarding engagement rings. Unfortunately, in many jurisdictions (e.g. California), an engagement ring that accompanies a proposal is considered to be a gift given in the contemplation of marriage. So ladies, you are not automatically entitled to keep your engagement ring – even if your betrothed is the one who balks at marriage.

It’s hard to leave my work at the office . . .

I spent July 4th on Cape Cod visiting my in-laws. My wife and I took one afternoon off from kids, fireworks and hot dogs to take a quiet walk around the quaint town of Oysterville, where we stumbled into a bookstore and I ran smack into J. Craig Williams’ new book, How to Get Sued. This is a tiny bookstore in a tiny town and there was Craig’s book front and center as you walk in:

I asked the proprietor why they had a copy. Apparently one of their regular customers was on a flight sitting next to a man who was almost in tears laughing while reading How to Get Sued. The man placed a special order and they picked up an additional copy.

Craig – I can’t remember the name of the place and I can’t find them online, but there are only about 8 stores in Oysterville and the proprietor was extremely excited that I knew you. “Would he do a book signing?”. . . So if you are ever on the Cape (and I think you are occasionally) a trip in to the tiny bookstore in Oysterville could be fun.

The Supreme Court today further reduced the punitive damages against Exxon for the Valdez spill. The initial $5 billion judgment against Exxon has now been reduced to just over $1 billion, making attorney Walter Dellinger a $4 billion JD-brandishing superhero to big oil. Exxon profits were just under $4 billion per month in the first quarter of 2008.