It was no surprise that the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the New York law limiting concealed weapons in public. Given the ideological composition of the court and the tenor of the oral argument in the case, that result was expected. The surprise was how the court did this, providing greater protection for Second Amendment rights than virtually any other in the Constitution.
Ten years ago, most lawyers hand-filed paper documents with courts; however, that changed over time as online document storage became increasingly common and lawyers began to transition to paperless practices. As a result, even before the pandemic, court e-filing systems were in place in many jurisdictions; some even required it.
“I want this case dismissed.” That’s how many of my new client intakes start, to one degree or another. It may not be the first phrase out of my prospective patron’s mouth, but it comes quickly nonetheless. The demand is often followed by an explanation of the person’s perspective: “I looked at the results on your website, and I know you’ve gotten these types of cases dismissed before,” or “I know (insert previous client’s name), and they said you’re the best and can get rid of this.”
Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Jeroen Plink, the chief operating officer of the Legaltech Hub, a board member at Casetext and the former CEO of Practical Law; and Jeroen Ketting, the founder and CEO of the Lighthouse Group, a provider of management and trade support to Western companies doing business in Russia and Ukraine.
Is law school learning always practical? According to Albert Einstein, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”
Whether we like it or not, automated, driverless vehicles are quickly becoming a reality and a norm in our society. Along with all the benefits the technology and associated services provide, there are also detriments—for civilians and law enforcement alike.
Most people pursuing careers as attorneys enter the legal field because they are motivated by an event that demonstrates the world’s many injustices. And while these motivations are usually virtuous, for most future attorneys, they have nothing to do with aspirations of one day owning and operating a business.
Over the last half-century, the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress have significantly restricted the availability of habeas corpus. The Warren Court expanded the ability of those convicted in state court to raise constitutional issues in federal court on habeas corpus, but since then, the court has created numerous restrictions. These have included imposing strict exhaustion requirements, limiting habeas corpus to already existing constitutional rights, preventing Fourth Amendment claims from being relitigated on habeas corpus and precluding raising issues that were not litigated in state court.
In March 1975, Jay Bergen stepped off an elevator on the seventh floor of the Dakota, New York City’s famed luxury co-op on the Upper West Side. He was met by a young man who escorted him into an apartment. Bergen was in John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s living room. A white Steinway grand piano sat across the space. The view of Central Park was spectacular.
I just finished a jury trial last week. It didn’t go quite the way I wanted, but the client was happy. The prosecution dismissed the case after a little over a day. I felt we had a good chance of walking away with multiple acquittals, but the client was thrilled to have the dismissals before the case reached the jury. I had to put my pride and ego aside and remember that this business is about what’s best for my clients and not my “win-loss” record.
