Background
Olson, Walter K. was born on August 20, 1954 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Son of Walter and Janet Olson.
( Big-ticket litigation is a way of life in this country....)
Big-ticket litigation is a way of life in this country. But something new is afoot--something typified by the $246 billion tobacco settlement, and by courtroom assaults that have followed against industries ranging from HMOs to gunmakers, from lead paint manufacturers to "factory farms." Each massive class-action suit seeks to invent new law, to ban or tax or regulate something that elected lawmakers had chosen to leave alone. And each time the new process works as intended, the new litigation elite reaps billions in fees--which they invest in fresh rounds of suits, as well as political contributions. The Rule of Lawyers asks: Who picks these lawyers, and who can fire them? Who protects the public's interest when settlements are negotiated behind closed doors? Where are our elected lawmakers in all this? The answers may determine whether we slip from the rule of law to the rule of lawyers.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312280858/?tag=2022091-20
Olson, Walter K. was born on August 20, 1954 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Son of Walter and Janet Olson.
Bachelor, Yale University, 1975; postgraduate, University of California at Los Angeles, 1976-1977.
Olson is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, District of Columbia Formerly, Olson was associated with the Manhattan Institute in New York City. He founded several websites, including the Manhattan Institute"s scholarly PointOfLaw.com, and continues to run Overlawyered.com, a more popularly-oriented website focusing on tort reform and alleged overreaching by lawyers. He has published three books on the American litigation system: The Litigation Explosion, The Excuse Factory, and most recently Schools for Misrule.
The Washington Post has dubbed Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform." He has testified to Congress numerous times, and has written articles for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Reason, and The New York Times.
His work is often discussed in the press and has been cited in court opinions.
( Big-ticket litigation is a way of life in this country....)
(How Employment Law is Paralyzing the Workplace)
Olson has said that while he campaigned for George West. Bush in 2000, he did not support his re-election in 2004, saying: "Foreign policy and defense blunders aside, the last thing I wanted was an administration combining aggressive social conservatism with uncontrolled spending and big new government programs.".
Transition team member Office of the President-elect, Washington, 1980-1981.