US Supreme Court's latest term: Defending Free Speech and Big Business

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

It is instructive for lawyers everywhere to read the media commentary on the performance of Bush appointee Justice Roberts' court in the term that just ended.

I was especially struck by New York Times' commentary yesterday. Adam Liptak wrote in the aforesaid newspaper:

The Supreme Court term that ended Monday was marked by accomplishment and anticipation. The court continued its work on two signature projects of Chief Justice John Roberts: defending free speech and curbing big lawsuits. And it dropped occasional hints about the blockbusters on the horizon... In cases involving the nation’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart, and the nation’s second-largest cellphone company, AT&T Mobility, the court tightened the rules for class actions and made it easier for companies to do away with class actions entirely by using form contracts. All of the decisions this term were scrutinized for clues about the arc of the Roberts court as it settles into a period of consolidation and awaits a series of colossal cases, notably the challenges to the health care law championed by President Barack Obama. This term was significant, but the next one may include the most important clash between the Supreme Court and a president since the New Deal.

So you want to go to Law School?

Tortious Interference with Contracts

Book recommendation: The Law of Torts: Examples & Explanations, Third Edition

Research by Yasser Latif Hamdani and Zeeshan Zafar Hashmi

In order to state a claim for tortious interference with existing contractual relationships, a plaintiff must allege:

 (1) it had a contract with a third party;

(2) the defendant knowingly induced the third party to break the contract;

(3) the defendant had an improper motive or means for doing so; and

(4) it was harmed by such actions.

Process of Appointment of Superior Judiciary in Pakistan Part II

By Zeeshan Zafar Hashmi

The primary argument against the procedure of appointment of the superior judiciary as laid out in the Al-Jehad Trust case was that it placed too much power in the hands of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Since the consultation of the Chief Justice was considered as binding, it was thought that this increased the chances of a Chief Justice exercising his power to appoint judges arbitrarily rather than having accord to qualifications such as seniority.

Furthermore, it was argued that the appointment procedure reduced the role of the executive to that of a rubber stamp, as the President’s reasons for rejecting a nominee of the chief justice could ultimately be struck down by the Court under the aegis of the Chief Justice. This did not seem to be resulting in an “efficient” operation of the constitution, in the words of British economist Walter Bagehot.

New York legalises Gay Marriage

New York has legalised Gay Marriage. Congratulations gay activists who have fought for this right for a long time.

New York, the third most populous state, will join Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Washington capital district in allowing same-sex couples to wed.
"Once this is signed into law, the population of the United States living under marriage equality doubles," said Ross Levi, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda in an interview. "That's certainly going to have a ripple effect across the nation. It's truly a historic night for love, our families, and democracy won."
Though New York is a relative latecomer in allowing gay marriage, it is considered an important prize for advocates, given the state's size, New York City's international stature. The gay rights movement is considered to have started with the Stonewall riots in New York City's Greenwich Village in 1969.

Read more.

Islamisation of Pakistani Economy : A legal history

Book recommendation: Islamic Economic Laws and Regulations Handbook (World Business and Investment Library)

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

The Islamisation process in Pakistan has been debated in detail in our national press, but what most commentators fail to take into account are the social and material conditions surrounding the push for Islamisation especially in the early 1980s. It is the view of this author that Islamisation in Pakistan has been a cynical response by the economic elites of Pakistan to both the forces of socialism and Islamism. In the process the economic elites have been willing to give Islamists a space in the society and influence over non-economic matters provided they keep themselves out of economic matters. This strategy however has only found limited success and a full blow back of this became evident when the entire banking sector was under the Sword of Damocles throughout the 1990s when an ill-advised and ill-conceived judgment of the Federal Shariat Court threatened to bring it down to its knees.

Stolen Property and finality of transactions

Book recommendation: A Judge's Guide to Divorce: Uncommon Advice from the Bench
By Yasser Latif Hamdani

New York Court of Appeals has given a landmark judgment by ruling 5-2 that innocent divorcees can keep money that was gathered fraudulently by their spouses.

The judgment came in the case of Stephen Walsh and his wife, Janet Schaberg, who had split up in 2007. The financial regulators found Stephen Walsh and Paul Greenwood guilty of defrauding USD 550 million. A federal judge had frozen 7.6 million USDs of Schaberg's money.