"Perhaps America's leading authority on over-litigation". That's what Investor's Business Daily has called Walter Olson, whose books and writings have helped set the terms of debate about the excesses of the nation's civil justice system. Olson's book The Litigation Explosion was reviewed favorably in the New York Times by the late Chief Justice Warren Burger and subsequently cited by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in a major Supreme Court opinion; the Washington Post dubbed Olson an "intellectual guru of tort reform". The Excuse Factory, his book on litigation in the workplace, was met with accolades everywhere from The American Lawyer ("engaging, witty and provocative") and the London Times ("riveting") to the A.B.A. Journal ("wittily scathing") and The American Spectator ("devastating and eloquent"). His new book The Rule of Lawyers has already been hailed in the American Lawyer as "wry, amusing" as well as "provocative and enjoyable".
A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, the think tank in New York City, Mr. Olson is a frequent contributor to the magazine Reason, and his writing appears regularly in such publications as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He has appeared numerous times before Congress, federal agencies and state lawmakers and has approximately 300 broadcast appearances under his belt, including "Crossfire", "MacNeil-Lehrer", "Oprah", "Donahue", and NPR. His website Overlawyered.com, launched in 1999, has won wide acclaim for its mix of entertaining and serious commentary.
Before joining the Manhattan Institute in 1985 he spent five years with the American Enterprise Institute, and worked before that on Capitol Hill. He speaks regularly before professional, business and student audiences. A Yale graduate, he resides in the New York area.
NEW! PointofLaw.com, a webmagazine that brings together information and opinion on the U.S. litigation system
Select Media
- KTRH NewsRadio's "Morning News with Lana Hughes and JP Pritchard," 4-18-08
- WBAL's "Ron Smith Show," 3-25-08
- KOA's "Mike Rosen Show," 3-11-08
- RadioLIVE's "Morning, Marcus!" 01-17-08
- KTEM's "Lynn Woolley Show," 12-04-07
- CNN Headline News' "Glenn Beck Show," 10-11-07. To watch a clip of this television appearance, please click here.
- Fox News Channel's "Fox News Live," 10-09-07. To watch a clip of this appearance, please click here.
- BBC News Radio, 06-26-07
- WIBA's "UpFront with Vicki McKenna", 02-20-07
- "The Small Business Advocate" with Jim Blasingame, 1-23-07
Articles/Op-eds
- The Rebuttal to Bill Lerach Conde Nast Portfolio, July 2008
- Saving Spitzer National Review Online, 03-11-08
- Mississippi's Tort King Wall Street Journal, 12-15-07
- Hofstra Hosts a Terror Fan New York Post, 10-05-07
- The Great American Pants Suit Wall Street Journal, 06-18-07
- Could less rigid privacy laws have prevented the Virginia tragedy? Times of London Online, 04-20-07
- Revisit Current Laws and Regulations Washingtonpost.com, 04-19-07
- Product labels have come unglued from reality Dallas Morning News, 03-25-07 (This piece originally appeared in the Times of London, 1-28-07, and an adaptation has appeared on American.com, 3-06-07)
- Trial lawyers not trounced yet Chicago Tribune, 03-20-07 (This piece originally appeared in the Times of London Online, 03-12-07)
- Business has not trounced the trial lawyers just yet Times of London Online, 03-12-07
- Warning: This Column Might Give You Something to Think About
American, 03-06-07 (This article originally appeared in Times of London Online, 01-28-07)
- Dangerous When in Power Reason Magazine, March 2007
- Keep Your Children Away From Open Flames Times of London Online, 01-28-07
- US markets must 'learn from London' Times of London Online, 12-01-06
- The US election: how did the lawyers fare? Times of London Online, 11-08-06
- Reforming the Right New York Post, 11-05-06
- If the US experience is anything to go by, be sceptical of Britain's new age-bias laws Times of London, 10-18-06
- BlackBerry suits London Times Online, 9-18-06
- Insurers can breathe easier over Katrina lawsuits London Times Online, 8-30-06
- US sheds few tears for Carruthers Times of London, 8-7-06
- Rumpelstiltskin, LLP Wall Street Journal, 7-29-06
- Teens, Sex, and MySpace London Times Online, 7-18-06
- N.Y. Judge Wars: Hidden '06 Issue New York Post, 6-30-06
- The Long, Long, Long Goodbye London Times Online, 6-27-06
- Lawsuit Heaven - NYC's Hell New York Post, 6-15-06
- Inside Milberg's Credenza Wall Street Journal, 5-22-06
- My Kingdom for a Casino Forbes, 5-8-06
- First smokes, now Cokes The Los Angeles Times, 2-2-06
- Lawsuit Reform in Washington The Wall Street Journal, 12-24-05
- New York Times Book Review: 'J. Anthony Froude': That's Froude, Not Freud The New York Times, 10-16-05
- Katrina Ravages Mississippi--Contracts Badly Hit The Wall Street Journal, 9-25-05
- Justice Served, Sometimes Wall Street Journal, 9-8-05
- The Next Sandra Day Wall Street Journal, 7-7-05
- This Land Is My Land New York Times, 6-26-05
- Book Review: A Little Crazy New York Post, 3-27-05
- The Wrong Target New York Times, 2-6-05
- Thomas’ Trials and Triumph New York Post, 12-19-04
- Stop the Shakedown Wall Street Journal, 10-29-04
- Crimes of Ego New York Post, 10-17-04
- Symbolism 1, Substance 0, Wall Street Journal, 8-23-04
- Edwards & Co. Wall Street Journal, 7-12-04
- Kerry's Crafty Operator New York Sun, 7-7-04
- More Punitives to People! Wall Street Journal, 6-2-04
- Privacy First New York Post, 4-18-04
- The Threat from Lawyers Is No Joke Imprimis, 3-04
- You May Already Be a Loser: Correcting California's antispam mistake Reason Online, 12-8-03
- Shut Up! Or I'll Sue New York Post, 12-7-03
- Spamifornia Wall Street Journal, 12-3-03
- The Shakedown State Wall Street Journal, 7-22-03
- Spitzer’s Nuisance New York Sun, 6-30-03
- Silver’s Wreck New York Post, 6-9-03
- A Spanking for the Trial Lawyers Wall Street Journal, 5-23-03
- The Lawsuit Lobby American Spectator, March-April 2003
- Gun Lawsuit Meets Activist Judge NY Sun, 3-26-03
- Delivering Justice: Curing Health Care Wall Street Journal, 2-27-03
- Courting Stupidity, Reason, January 2003
- Legal Payola New York Post, 11-21-02
- Indian Claims Debacle Offers a Sobering Preview on Reparations New York Sun, 10-29-02
- Nanny Bloomberg Wall Street Journal, 10-22-02
- Supreme Court Rescues ADA From Its Zealots Wall Street Journal, 6-18-02
- Osama, The Pigs & The Kennedy New York Post, 4-17-02
- A Wink too Far | Back pay to illegal immigrants comes to an end, despite administration efforts. National Review Online, 4-3-02
- Not All Liberals Love Lawsuits Lieberman's record puts him reliably on the left–except on tort reform. No wonder Nader can't stand him. Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2000
- Plaintiffs Lawyers Take Aim at Democracy Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2000
- A Microsoft Suit With a Sure Winner The New York Times, November 23, 1999
- The Florida Tobacco Jurors: Anything but Typical Wall Street Journal, July 12, 1999
- In The Land Of The ADA, The One-eyed Man Is King Wall Street Journal
- Under The ADA, We May All Be Disabled Wall Street Journal, May 17,1999
- Hollywood vs. The Truth Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, December 23, 1998
- Punch the Clock, Sue the Boss The New York Times, March 20, 1998
- Have The Harassment Rules Changed? Wall Street Journal, Monday, April 6,1998
- Walter Olson’s Reason columns
Testimony
Books
City Journal articles
- Get Sued, All Ye Faithful, Spring 2008
- Over the Edge, 5 October 2007
- Taking Cola to Court, Winter 2006
- The ADA Shakedown Racket, Winter 2004
- Give It Back to the Indians?, Autumn 2002
- Fixing the Civil Service Mess, Autumn 1997
- A Connecticut Yankee in Court, Autumn 1996
- Suing City Hall, Autumn 1994
- The New Chutzpah, Winter 1994
- Good Standing?, Autumn 1993
- At Law: Divorce Court New York Style, Spring 1993
- Sue City, Winter 1993
- Sue Thy Neighbor?, Spring 1991
- Around the Clock With Alternate-Side-of-the-Street Parking, Autumn 1990
|
|
