Not to complain or anything, but these are rough days. We were stunned by the last episode of Downton Abbey. [SPOILER ALERT for you pathetic Nigel-Come-Latelies to Downton Abbey.  Skip to the third paragraph if you are still catching up via your Betamax machine.  By the way, you might also want to try listening to a hot new musical group called The Beatles.  Also, check out vanilla ice cream.  It’s an acquired taste, but pretty darn good.]  When has a series killed off two main characters (and, arguably, the most important character, in terms of setting action in motion and being transformative) in the same season? The show is well written and splendidly acted, but it is, at bottom, cruel. The resumption of Breaking Bad will actually come as a relief; sure, there’s lots of drug dealing and murder in it, but it does not toy with our emotions nearly so much as those arch Brits. (For an interesting mash-up, see the “Breaking Abbey” skit here.)  From what we hear, the latest Downton death came about because the actor wanted to abandon the show for other acting opportunities. Mr. Stevens, we mutter a few curse words in your direction: “Daniel J. Travanti” and “David Caruso.” Good day, sir!

The expiration of a charming fictional lawyer followed by only a few days the death of a real life, regal legal eminence, Ronald Dworkin. In our first year of law school the great Edward Levi taught a class called “Elements of the Law,” which addressed the Big Questions – certainly bigger than the Rule in Shelley’s Case or the distinction between larceny by trick and obtaining property by false pretenses. In “Elements” we read from the likes of Bentham, Rawls, and Dworkin. We struggled mightily to follow Dworkin’s intricate analyses. How can a book with such a straightforward title, Taking Rights Seriously, be encumbered with such impenetrable prose? And yet Dworkin’s insistence on law’s moral dimension was undeniably refreshing. Dworkin was the second most cited legal scholar of the 20th Century, exceeded only by our favorite Seventh Circuit Judge, the one who launched our occasional postings on why “There’ll Always be Posner.” Dworkin ennobled our profession, even as he often puzzled it.

Meanwhile, the same issue of the Wall Street Journal with Dworkin’s obituary also informed us that fish exposed to certain anti-anxiety drugs (via industrial run-off or sewage) become less social but braver. Granted, we are not sure how to define ichthyo-courage, but the story had us hooked. It also made us feel somewhat anxious. As is all too often the case, we find ourselves wondering how bits of news and popular culture would affect judges and jurors. It might well be that a timid perch could benefit from a random dose of an antianxiety medication. The fish’s consumption of the Mickey Fin might have been off-label, but we do not think an over-enthusiastic sales rep played any role in luring in that particular customer.  Still, we couldn’t help but think that some readers would take this fish-story (the one that did not get away) as further evidence of corporate perfidy and bad drug side effects. We are swimming through the waters of a double standard. The scales are weighted against corporations, which are held to a higher standard and suspected of the worst means and motives.Continue Reading Accutane MDL Court Dismisses 40 Cases for Plaintiffs’ Failure to Meet Expert Designation Deadline