ABA Journal

ABA Journal website responds to mobile users with new design

Mobile phone and tablet users will notice a change in ABAJournal.com legal news updates. We’ve rebuilt our website for easier mobile browsing, and the familiar experience of your workplace computer.

Jan 29, 2017 10:35 PM CST

What’s your means of transportation for getting to work?

Relentless rain in the Northeast this week has made getting to the office a very difficult—and wet—proposition. This week, we’d like to ask you: What’s your means of transportation for getting to work? Do you drive? Ride a train, bus or bicycle? Walk? Or do you have a home office,…

Jan 25, 2017 10:45 AM CST

Cartoon Caption: Was this lawyer let out for good behavior?

Submit your proposed caption for this cartoon about a prisoner with balloons and a lawyer leaving prison. The winner of our February challenge will see his or her caption and credit printed in an upcoming issue of the ABA Journal. Submit the caption you think best fits this cartoon by…

Jan 23, 2017 3:30 PM CST

How can lawyers fight implicit bias? (podcast with transcript)

Many of us don’t think of ourselves as biased, and we don’t want to be prejudiced towards others. But we’re also reluctant to acknowledge the ways bias can creep in, according to academics who study implicit bias.

Jan 23, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Cartoon poll: Which caption would you put a ring on?

We had a great time reading captions about this suitor bringing his best man—his lawyer—to his marriage proposal. Now it’s your turn to decide on the best one. The caption with the most votes will appear in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Vote in the cartoon poll for one…

Jan 19, 2017 11:35 AM CST

What do you think were the most significant legal actions of the Obama administration?

The second term of President Barack Obama—the United States’ 25th lawyer-president—ends Friday, Jan. 20. This week, we want to look back before we face the future of our executive branch of government. We’d like to ask you: What were the most significant legal actions of the Obama administration—whether you agreed…

Jan 18, 2017 12:10 PM CST

Alberto Gonzales reflects back on Bush administration and gives his advice for Trump staff (podcast)

The Hon. Alberto R. Gonzales rose from humble beginnings in Humble, Texas, to some of the highest legal positions in the country as White House counsel and U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush.

Jan 18, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Who should Trump nominate for the Supreme Court?

There has been speculation this past week that President-elect Donald Trump has winnowed his initial lists of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees to fewer than 10. However, Trump said at his Jan. 11 press conference that he was working from a list of 20 potential nominees and hopes to name…

Jan 11, 2017 2:20 PM CST

Judge Dixon stays on to keep bringing tech to courts (podcast)

Herbert Dixon had already been eligible to retire for six years before he finally did in 2015, after 30 years on the District of Columbia Superior Court—the district’s version of a state trial court. But the judge stayed on longer because he was having too much fun changing the way…

Jan 11, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Do you read book reviews?

In the latest issue of the ABA Journal, legal writing expert Bryan Garner laments that book reviews are disappearing from publications. “It might well be that less demand for serious book criticism exists simply because fewer serious readers exist,” he writes. He says that brief online reviews—which may be written…

Jan 4, 2017 1:40 PM CST

How to prepare for another try at the bar exam (podcast with transcript)

It’s not terribly unusual for a law grad to need to take the bar exam more than once to pass. But the experience of failing the bar can be crushing to one’s confidence–and concentration. After failing the bar exam, many students have a hard time studying for a retake. This…

Jan 4, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Cartoon Caption: The rites of marriage and the right to counsel

Submit your proposed caption for this cartoon about a lawyer looming over a romantic moment. The winner of our January challenge will see his or her caption and credit printed in an upcoming issue of the ABA Journal. Submit the caption you think best fits this cartoon by sending an…

Jan 3, 2017 2:45 PM CST

Another Shot

In this winning short story, a defense attorney and a prosecutor work together to help a criminal defendant—a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse issues—get treatment.

Jan 1, 2017 4:00 AM CST

10 Questions: Omaha lawyer spends Sundays as NFL official

Every fall, plenty of lawyers have an opinion about football. The difference is that Clete Blakeman’s opinion matters.

Jan 1, 2017 3:00 AM CST

Use subtext to guide jurors to recognize what a trial is really all about

Trial lawyers, like literary artists, know how to pose the right questions. They construct the staging, especially in courtroom scenes, that directs their audience—jurors and judges, and sometimes the public—toward intended readings of dramatic subtext.

Jan 1, 2017 2:20 AM CST