Rollin'

Have you noticed how Dean Kamen is everywhere right now? There's the 60 Minutes II piece (part I; part II, featuring his fascinating water purification project), and the NPR interview, just for starters. I think it's because the iBOT wheelchair recently received FDA approval, and if so the acclaim is well-deserved. I mean, just check out the pictures of that stair-climbing, height-enhancing wonder! Though it will cost more than many an automobile, I'd bet its operators will find it just as valuable.

(Learning about Kamen's FIRST project made me sympathetic in advance for my poor kid-to-be, who no doubt will find my urgings to "Go play with your MindStorms!" as palatable as I found Mom's insistence that I practice my scales...)

It's Worse Than The Blogb

Erik Heels and Dylan Tweney have been noticing spam creeping into the comments on their weblogs. Dylan, in fact, is plotting revenge.

Today's New Blawg

Jay S. Fleischman writes Bankruptcy and Credit [via the Blawg Ring]:

A blog hosted by Jay S. Fleischman, a New York City bankruptcy lawyer. Jay is the Managing Partner of The Debt Relief Law Center of New York, a service of FleischmanLaw, P.C.

Jay's brand new blog provides some excellent information about consumer rights and debt collection abuses: "[M]any debt collectors use badgering phone calls and threats, insults and outright lies to get money from you. Not only is it annoying, but many tactics are actually illegal." Do check it out.

Free 17200 Info (And Drinks!)

My firm will be presenting seminars on California Business and Professions Code Section 17200, from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. on September 17 in both Philadelphia and New York. In recent years it has become extremely common for business suits under California law to include Section 17200 claims:

If you do or hope to do business in California, you need to know about Business & Professions Code Section 17200, a weapon increasingly used by creative plaintiffs to enjoin often commonplace business practices and, moreover, to seek restitution and disgorgement of profits. This consumer protection statute has been described by one Justice of the California Supreme Court as a "standardless, limitless attorney fees machine."

The reference is to Justice Brown's dissent in Stop Youth Addiction, Inc. v. Lucky Stores, Inc., 17 Cal. 4th 553, 598 (1998). The free seminars will feature some of our California experts in this area, but space is limited. If you or someone you know might be interested in attending, please contact Paul Bistline.

Belly Up To The California Bar

In the shadow of the upcoming election, Governor Davis is busy filling judicial vacancies. This likely will generate some conversation at the state bar's annual convention next week in Anaheim.