ABA Journal

Probing Questions: Experts Debate the Need to Create Exceptions to Rules on Coerced Confessions

Former FBI Special Agent Coleen Rowley didn’t exactly shout out “I told you so!” But she gloated when she scribbled it atop a blog account after officers caught and questioned the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing. “After so many years of waiting and warning,” Rowley told the Huffington…

Jun 8, 2012 9:25 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: How Law Schools Can Make It Easier for Firms to Hire Students as Clerks

Help Lawyers Help Students At Small Firm Innovation, Washington, D.C., solo Carolyn Elefant writes that she’d love to hire some local law students to clerk for her on a project basis. But posting an ad on Craigslist and sorting through sheaves of resumes is a tedious proposition, as is going…

Jun 8, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Tell Us About the Best Law School Professor You Ever Had

All over the nation, school years are coming to a close, and many law school graduates have just left teachers and classrooms—well, aside from bar exam prep—behind them forever. So this week, at the suggestion of a reader, we’d like to ask you to tell us about the best law…

Jun 6, 2012 5:56 PM CDT

Diversify or Die: How Adding Ancillary Businesses Can Get Your Firm Through Tough Times

Podcast Transcript: This ABA Journal podcast is brought to you by WestlawNext, the most advanced technology combined with market-leading content and West’s history of trusted editorial excellence. Helping legal professionals save time is what they’ve been doing for over 125 years. Learn more at WestlawNext.com. Stephanie Francis Ward: Economists often…

Jun 4, 2012 1:29 PM CDT

Law Students & Mentors Across the Globe Team Up to Develop New Approaches to the Legal Profession

BREAKING BARRIERS TO INNOVATION IN EDUCATION AND PRACTICE Disquiet and frustration with the state of legal education and law practice has led two professors to create a cyber-based program that spans international time zones and school rankings to design a new legal profession from scratch. LawWithoutWalls is a collaborative academic…

Jun 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

Merger Momentum: 2010 Turnaround Continues in Firms’ Urge to Merge

Continuing a rebound that began in the last quarter of 2010, announced law firm mergers and acquisitions totaled 14 for the first quarter of 2012, according to the Altman Weil MergerLine, part of legal management consulting firm Altman Weil, based in Newtown Square, Pa. Also, 11 deals announced in 2011…

Jun 1, 2012 7:10 AM CDT

All In: For the First Time, Every State Is Represented at the Annual ABA Lobbying Event in D.C.

This report is written by the ABA Governmental Affairs Office and discusses advocacy efforts by the ABA relating to issues being addressed by Congress and the executive branch of the federal government. Every spring, hundreds of state and local bar leaders descend on Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress…

Jun 1, 2012 6:40 AM CDT

Do You Curse in Your Workplace? If So, in What Situations?

A story in last week’s Wall Street Journal explores whether cursing on the job can hurt one’s career. Fired Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said at a conference last month that she “probably wouldn’t have said the F-word” as often if she had a do-over with the Internet corporation, the newspaper…

May 30, 2012 7:33 PM CDT

Lack of Online Privacy Rights Is Very Troubling, Says Author

ABA Journal web producer Lee Rawles talks with Lori Andrews, author of "I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy" about the lack of online privacy rights and the need for a social media constitution. They discuss the changes that social networks have brought to all areas of the law, including evidence gathering; what evidence is admissible in courts; how social media can affect the right to a fair trial; and the right to control one's image.

May 29, 2012 5:19 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Nix ‘Here-and-There Words’; Has Blogging Changed Corporate Law Practice?

While Heretofore You May Have Used These Words—Really, You Should Stop Last year, U.S. Bank attorney Andy Mergendahl meditated on the work of Black’s Law Dictionary editor-in-chief Bryan Garner and took lawyers to task for their foolhardy uses of the word “shall” in contracts. This week, the Lawyerist contributor notes…

May 25, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

What Risks Do Lawyers Face When Clients Keep Some Legal Tasks In-House Or Assign to Outside Vendors?

ABA Journal business of law reporter Rachel M. Zahorsky discusses with Beazley’s Brant Weidner and solo practitioner and legal ethics professor John Steele the challenges of this trend for outside law firms and what lawyers can do to protect themselves and their clients when faced with the increased disaggregation of legal work.

May 24, 2012 4:22 PM CDT

Did You Get a Prenup Before Marrying? Would You Ever? When Would You Tell a Client to Get a Prenup?

Many news outlets took notice of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise wedding one day after his company’s initial public offering, and speculated that Zuckerberg and his now-wife probably signed a prenuptial agreement before walking down the aisle. This week we’d like to ask you: Did you get a prenup before…

May 23, 2012 4:51 PM CDT

Show Me Your ID: Cops, Courts Re-evaluate Their Use of Eyewitnesses

After more than three decades of laboratory studies, experts have found that a few simple changes in police lineup procedures improve the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. For example, having someone administer the lineup who doesn’t know who the real suspect is can prevent inadvertently influencing the witness’s pick. And telling…

May 18, 2012 11:18 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Bloggers Weigh in on LegalZoom IPO Filing; Vote for Best Law Firm Website

The Other Big IPO Today, Facebook makes its historic market debut. But many lawyer-bloggers are talking about a different initial public offering: Last Friday, Web-based legal services provider LegalZoom filed for an IPO of up to $120 million to expand its services in the United States and around the world.…

May 18, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Have You Ever Asked a Particularly Bold Question on a Job Interview? Did It Succeed or Backfire?

Last week at the Careerist, Vivia Chen took note of a post at Forbes’ Crossing Borders blog in which the post’s author, Maseena Ziegler, described a bold interview move she used repeatedly while in her 20s. At the end of the interview, when her interviewer would ask her if she…

May 16, 2012 4:51 PM CDT