Bride-to-be Sues the District of Columbia to End Ban on Wedding Dancing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, DC (May 9, 2021) – Monday morning, the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, in a joint effort with the Liberty Justice Center, filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Washington DC bride-to-be, Margaret Appleby, challenging DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s recent executive order banning wedding dancing. In the 1984 Kevin Bacon classic, Footloose, a puritanical minister played by John Lithgow persuaded the town counsel of fictional Bomont to ban…

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May 10, 2021
Press Releases

Class actions settlements that never tell the class: the strange resolution of Buckeye Tree Lodge v. Expedia

Instead of asking for the court to send notice to the class members and giving them the opportunity to comment on a proposed settlement that is going to bind them, the class attorneys asked for the court skip that step entirely and simply approve the settlement. And, shockingly, the court did exactly that!

Adam Schulman
April 11, 2021
Blog

Court delays $1.1 million payment to lawyers until class redeems coupons

Daniel Fisher at Legal Newsline covered the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute's objection to the settlement in Rael v. The Children’s Place, Inc., which resulted in an order delaying attorneys fees until after the coupon redemption rate is known. A federal judge in California approved the settlement of lawsuit against The Children’s Place for allegedly misleading consumers about the value of “sale” items. But U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel in California…

Image credit: Jeremy Keith

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April 8, 2021
Press Highlights

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute Files Objection to Excessive $202 Million Fee Request in Flint Water Crisis Settlement on Behalf of Group of Flint Residents

Late Monday night, the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute filed objections on behalf of a group of Flint residents challenging an excessive $202 million fee request from a partial $641 million settlement of the Flint water crisis.

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March 30, 2021
Press Releases

Pennsylvania Bar Dismisses 3rd Circuit Appeal in Rule 8.4(g) Challenge

Josh Blackman of the Volokh Conspiracy at Reason.com congratulated HLLI for its free speech victory in Greenberg v. Haggerty. In December, a federal district court declared unconstitutional Pennsylvania's version of ABA Model Rule 8.4(g). The judge reiterated points that Eugene Volokh and I have been making for years: this rule may be well intentioned, but it violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. In January, the Pennsylvania Bar filed a…

Image credit: Jeremy Keith

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March 16, 2021
Press Highlights

VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH! – Pennsylvania ends its challenge to injunction of rule stifling attorney speech

Today, Pennsylvania enforcement officials abandoned their appeal from a district court decision enjoining them from enforcing a state rule that infringed the free speech rights of Pennsylvania attorneys.

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March 16, 2021
Press Releases

Federal Court Enjoins Pennsylvania Rule Disciplining Attorney Speech

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, DC – A federal court based in Philadelphia today preliminarily enjoined enforcement of a Rule of Professional Conduct aimed at disciplining attorneys for their speech. HLLI challenged Rule 8.4(g) on behalf of attorney Zachary Greenberg, a Pennsylvania-licensed attorney working for a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of students’ constitutional rights and regularly speaks at legal education and other professional events on a variety of hot-button legal…

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December 8, 2020
Press Releases

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute announces departure of president to serve as Utah Solicitor General and names new president

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute (HLLI) announced today the departure of president & general counsel Melissa A. Holyoak, who is leaving to serve as Utah Solicitor General. Holyoak co-founded HLLI with Theodore H. Frank in 2019. HLLI also announced that Anna St. John will serve as its next president.

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September 9, 2020
Press Releases

7th Circ. Says Class Objectors Must Repay Side Deals

“I’m confident that one day this decade a different court of appeals will disagree with one of those Posner opinions, the Supreme Court will take up the circuit split, and then tell us that Posner was right all along,” Frank said.

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August 6, 2020
Press Highlights

Equifax judge orders disclosure of class counsel’s draft ‘opinion’

Frankel: Judge Thrash called on class counsel to ﬁle the draft opinion in the Equifax docket “as soon as reasonably possible.” Class action watchdog Ted Frank of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute contends that the draft opinion may show that the trial judge improperly adopted accusations by class counsel.

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May 7, 2020
Press Highlights