Whether that carries in any weight at the Court is, for the moment, anybody's guess. According to the Court's docket, the justices haven't yet ruled on Barbour's motion for permission to have his brief considered, and they probably won't tip their hand until they're ready to rule one way or another on the motion for rehearing.

But in the meantime, Barbour's strategy appears to have gained a following.

Sherwin-Williams was found liable in Jefferson County Circuit Court in July for injuries to a child, and like Barbour's effort in Price, every indication is that the paint manufacturer is preparing to appeal the jury's $7 million judgment by flying the tort-reform flag, applicable law be damned. The appeal hasn't been filed yet, but the company and its allies already are harping about the Court's obligation to "do the right thing," lest the Court risk damage to "the repairs to their reputation that they have made with the tort reforms."

Frankly, it reads more like message board fodder than an appellate strategy.

But that may be the point. The Court's decision in Price, for those who have read it, is hardly a legal stretch. The majority opinion drew full concurrence from all but one member of the Court, and even that justice dissented only in part. Legally speaking, the governor doesn't have much of a leg to stand on. The most he can do is to go back to his 2004 song and dance about "lawsuit abuse" and hope for the best.

It's worked once before (albeit in another branch of government), and until the men and women in black give it a thumbs-down, Sherwin-Williams is banking on it working again.