Letters: More for the Stage

MORE FOR THE STAGE Missing from your list of great courtroom dramas on the stage (“12 for the Stage,” August) is perhaps the best exploration onstage of the difficulties of perception in witness testimony: Rashomon. Better known as a film by director Akira Kurosawa, it also is a memorable stage…

Oct 1, 2012 9:30 AM CDT

Outtakes from a Treatise: Garner and Scalia Present a Quiz on Textualism: Part 1 of 2

We’re all textualists, to one degree or another. That is, when it comes to statutory or contractual interpretation, everyone—even the most ardent “purposivist” or “consequentialist”—says that we must begin with the words of the text. We look at the controlling words, we study their grammatical relationships, and we consider the…

Oct 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

Burgeoning Blogs: Can They Give BigLaw Firms an Edge?

LexBlog’s 2012 survey of large U.S. law firms has found 155 firms now have blogs or lawyers blogging. That is 77 percent of the Am Law 200. It’s also a 26 percent increase over when LexBlog last did its report in November 2010. As the August report notes in its…

Oct 1, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Civil Solution: ABA Says Those Facing Removal from the US Shouldn’t Be Treated Like Criminals

As the federal government detains growing numbers of individuals facing deportation proceedings, the ABA is calling for reforms to ensure that detention facilities provide them with living conditions appropriate to their civil status and access to adequate legal representation. The most recent action by the association on the issue came…

Oct 1, 2012 5:49 AM CDT

The World of McElhaney: Jim McElhaney Closes the Book on a Storied Career, But Angus Lives on

If anyone is in a position to explain the essence of what makes Jim McElhaney tick, it might well be Steven J. Miller. After starting law school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Miller transferred in 1979 to Case Western Reserve University School of Law in his native Cleveland, where…

Sep 28, 2012 11:17 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Questions Employment Law Bloggers Would Like to See the Candidates Debate

In anticipation of the first presidential debate on Wednesday and the vice presidential debate on Oct. 11, five employment law bloggers joined forces this week to share what labor and employment-related questions they would ask the candidates. In “Face the Bloggers”—as Employment & Labor Insider blogger Robin Shea, a lawyer…

Sep 28, 2012 2:00 PM CDT

What Nonlegal Tasks Have Clients Asked You to Perform for Them?

Last week, one of the Westlaw Insider blog’s headnotes of the day was from Cincinnati Bar Assn. v. Alsfelder, 816 N.E.2d 218 (Ohio 2004): “Although attorney has a duty to assist his client in making informed decisions, a process that often implicates nonlegal considerations, attorney may not serve in a…

Sep 26, 2012 4:30 PM CDT

Author Describes Clash of Titans Jefferson and Marshall in ‘The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr’

Marbury v. Madison may have been their first major legal battle, but President Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice John Marshall clashed again in the treason trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr. Professor R. Kent Newmyer reveals these events in his new book, "The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr: Law, Politics, and the Character Wars of the New Nation," and joined the Modern Law Library podcast to discuss them with ABA Journal Web producer Lee Rawles.

Sep 24, 2012 1:56 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: David Lat Takes a Crack at ‘Clerk Lit’; Introverts and Extroverts on Juries

A Novel Blog Corrected: There was a subtle promo at the end of an Above the Law post last week and at the post at Underneath Their Robes the week before, that we missed. But let it be known that Above the Law founder and managing editor David Lat is…

Sep 21, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

When the Data Differs, Whose Jobs Stats Should Would-be Law Students Trust?

Finding trustworthy advice on law school can be no easy task. And it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. Pre-law advising for potential law students is too often a job pushed upon reluctant and ill-informed college faculty, says Frank Guliuzza, co-editor of Before the Paper Chase: The Scholarship of…

Sep 20, 2012 2:13 PM CDT

How Do You Physically Prepare for ‘Game Days’ in Your Legal Practice?

Last week, in a post titled Eggs Win Trials, Houston criminal defense lawyer Mark Bennett extols the virtue of eating eggs and bacon for breakfast—and hard-boiled eggs for lunch—on days he spends in the courtroom. “In fact, and even aside from the health benefits (which mainstream medicine doesn’t want to…

Sep 19, 2012 5:06 PM CDT

Pricing Amy: Should Those Who Download Child Pornography Pay the Victims?

“Amy” was just 4 years old when her uncle first trained his sights on her. He gave her rides on his motorcycle and bought her treats, including her favorite, beef jerky—gaining her trust before he started doing the unspeakable. It wasn’t until Amy was 7 or 8 years old, according…

Sep 14, 2012 11:06 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Law Profs Evaluate Self-Help Websites for Consumer Reports; Apples and Eggs

Juris Docs on Legal Docs Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites took note of how the magazine Consumer Reports used self-help legal websites LegalZoom, Nolo and Rocket Lawyer to create four documents: a car bill of sale for a seller, a home lease for a small landlord, a promissory note and a will.…

Sep 14, 2012 1:29 PM CDT

Which Celebrity Do You Think Would Make a Great Attorney in Real Life and Why?

Sometimes, child actors and star athletes grow up to be attorneys. In recent years, law blog Bitter Lawyer has interviewed both Jeff Cohen, aka “Chunk” from the 1985 movie Goonies and now a top entertainment lawyer; and Len Elmore, a onetime NBA player who later worked as a prosecutor and…

Sep 12, 2012 4:00 PM CDT

After Going from BigLaw to ABC News, Author of ‘Exit Interview’ Witnessed Seismic Changes

Sep 10, 2012 1:35 PM CDT