# Walter Olson Join the Cato Institute 

May 4, 2010 • News Releases 

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Walter Olson, a legal scholar noted by the *Washington Post* as the “intellectual guru of tort reform,” has joined the Cato Institute as a senior fellow.

Olson, who runs the oldest and one of the most popular legal blogs, [Over​Lawyered​.com](http://overlawyered.com/ "http://overlawyered.com/"), is also the author of several books, including *The Litigation Explosion (1991), The Excuse Factory (1997),* and *The Rule of Lawyers (2003).* His latest book, *Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America,* will be released next year, and takes a close look at ideological trends in the modern American law school and how they have helped bring about a series of calamitous developments in the real world of law.

“Walter has been a friend of the Cato Institute for a long time,” said Ed Crane, founder and president at Cato. “He’ll be introducing a whole new field of legal acumen that we didn’t have previously, in tort reform and many other aspects of our litigious society. Walter is well-respected by all sides of the ideological spectrum in the legal community, and we look forward to having him on staff at Cato.”

Olson, who joins Cato from the Manhattan Institute, also founded [PointOfLaw](http://www.pointoflaw.com/ "http://www.pointoflaw.com/").com and served as its editor and principal writer. In 2009, his writing at Overlawyered helped focus public attention and outrage on the harmful consequences of the [Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA)](http://overlawyered.com/tag/cpsia/ "http://overlawyered.com/tag/cpsia/") in areas ranging from [children’s books](http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon0212wo.html "http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon0212wo.html") to [thrift stores](http://overlawyered.com/tag/cpsia-and-resale/ "http://overlawyered.com/tag/cpsia-and-resale/").

His writing appears regularly in such publications as the *Wall Street Journal*, the *New York Times*, and *New York Post*, and *Reason* magazine. He has testified before Congress, appeared on hundreds of broadcast shows including “Oprah”, and advised public officials at every level of government.