Loving life as a lawyer: How to maintain joy in your work (podcast)

Do you dread going to work? If so, maybe it's time to look at the other ways you can flex your legal skills, Nancy Levit says. There are many types of jobs for lawyers, and sometimes what you thought you wanted to do doesn’t work out, Levit tells the ABA Journal's Stephanie Francis Ward in this episode of Asked and Answered.

Jan 29, 2018 8:30 AM CST

Judicial Independence: Easy parts and hard parts

For most Americans of almost any age, education or sensibility, the phrase "judicial independence" sounds a fully necessary note in the middle of our traditional chorus about democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. How can you have justice unless courts and judges are fully independent of the political, financial and cultural turmoil that surrounds us in everyday life?

Jan 25, 2018 8:31 AM CST

Defending Justice: Essays on judicial independence

On behalf of the ABA Standing Committee on the American Judicial System and the ABA Journal, we are pleased to initiate a collection of essays on the broad subject of “Judicial Independence” for Journal readers and the general public.

Jan 25, 2018 8:30 AM CST

Which judge is the best writer?

This week, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern opined that he thought Neil M. Gorsuch’s writing has gone downhill.

“During his tenure on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Gorsuch…

Jan 24, 2018 1:00 PM CST

5 lessons for teaching law and technology

This piece was co-authored with Keith Porcaro, a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center.

Over the fall semester, we ran an experiment at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Through a…

Jan 22, 2018 8:30 AM CST

Do you knit or create other handiwork?

What do you do when you need to unwind? Or just keep your hands busy?

People are often dismissive of knitting, lawyer Jeena Cho—a new ABA Journal contributor—wrote recently…

Jan 17, 2018 12:22 PM CST

Bryan Garner reflects on his friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia in ‘Nino and Me’ (podcast)

To Bryan Garner, editor-in-chief of Black’s Law Dictionary, Justice Antonin Scalia was a friend, a mentor, a collaborator and a fellow lover of words. In the wake of Scalia’s death on Feb. 13, 2016, Garner reflected back over their relationship, from their first brief introduction in 1988 to the trip they took to Asia together in the last weeks of Scalia’s life. Those reflections turned into his latest book, Nino and Me: My Unusual Friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia.

Jan 17, 2018 8:30 AM CST

Cartoon Poll: Make a wish upon your favorite genie caption

We’ve got three genie-themed captions, but our wish is for your help in determining the winner for this month’s cartoon contest. We sifted through more than 100 entries and narrowed…

Jan 16, 2018 4:40 PM CST

When is it wise to argue with a judge? Only sometimes

Some time ago at a pretrial conference, I heard a lawyer correct a judge over a trivial matter. It did not go well for him.

Our hearing lasted several hours…

Jan 16, 2018 8:30 AM CST

What cybersecurity precautions do you take?

Do you use a password manager? Two-factor authentication? The ABA Journal is presenting a yearlong series of cybersecurity stories on the web and our print magazine, and this week legal…

Jan 10, 2018 11:32 AM CST

Robert Litt has been out front on online threats for decades (podcast)

Robert Litt has confronted cybersecurity and encryption issues for two presidential administrations. With Russian interference in the 2016 election as a backdrop, Litt, an ABA Journal Legal Rebels Trailblazer, says the U.S. has been facing online threats essentially since the internet's creation.

Jan 10, 2018 8:30 AM CST

5 cybersecurity steps you should already be taking

If you have not noticed yet, the ABA Journal is undertaking a yearlong cybersecurity series.

Jan 10, 2018 7:00 AM CST

Need a helping hand? Here’s what a lawyers assistance program can do for you

Confronting someone about a substance abuse problem—or owning that you have one—is not easy, but lawyers assistance programs can help.

Jan 4, 2018 8:30 AM CST

ABAJournal.com to host Your Voice

The ABA Journal wants to further facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. Therefore, we are revising our policy on unsolicited submissions to allow the legal profession to share, demonstrate…

Jan 3, 2018 1:00 PM CST

How a Quaker’s suit against the defense secretary in the 1970s still affects surveillance cases

You have reason to believe you’re being monitored by the government—that they are following you and cataloging everywhere you go and everyone you talk to. The knowledge haunts you, and it has a chilling effect on everything you do. But can you sue to stop it, or even to find out whether it's really happening?

Jan 3, 2018 10:00 AM CST