Columns
336 ABA Journal Columns articles.
Common sense dictates that lawyers fare better with jurors who have formed a favorable impression of counsel. Favorable and unfavorable impressions begin with voir dire. The ingredients necessary to build rapport with members of the venire are no secret.
Feb 2, 2023 9:11 AM CST
A recurring issue before the Supreme Court this term, including in two cases to be argued in the next month, concerns when state governments have standing to sue the United States. Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of such suits.
Feb 1, 2023 11:49 AM CST
The pandemic pressured corporate legal departments to control costs and collaborate online to an unprecedented degree as demand for legal services surged. But missteps await legal departments that rush into implementing technology without first taking a thorough look at the bigger picture.
Feb 1, 2023 2:20 AM CST
A great boon to clarity results from rejecting the four traditional dogmas about framing a legal issue.
Feb 1, 2023 2:00 AM CST
“On the basis of.” These four words from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 underlie the modern conception of illegal bias. From federal anti-discrimination statutes to state and local laws, this phrase nearly unites them all.
Jan 24, 2023 2:42 PM CST
Over the past few years, the legal industry has undergone significant changes, in large part driven by the adoption of technologies needed to maintain operability in the midst of uncertainty. Lawyers and law firms have necessarily adapted to unpredictability, and technology has provided the means to do so.
Jan 24, 2023 11:14 AM CST
For many of us, building a legal career is like climbing a mountain. It’s an obvious analogy; you put in lots of hard work, never taking your eye off the prize at the top. Working through the pain by visualizing the euphoric view at the peak. After thousands of hours spent climbing toward the top, your career pinnacle—making partner at a top-tier firm—will be in reach.
Jan 23, 2023 9:01 AM CST
Tulsa King stars Sylvester Stallone as a New York mafia capo recently released from prison after serving a 25-year sentence. Finally free, he is caught from left field with news that he’s being sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Jan 23, 2023 8:43 AM CST
Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Caren Ulrich Stacy, the founder and CEO of the Diversity Lab, a think tank that uses metrics, behavioral science and design thinking to produce initiatives that cultivate diversity and inclusion in legal organizations.
Jan 18, 2023 10:56 AM CST
What do we call a lawyer? No, this is not a lawyer joke. I am referring to titles. It has not been one of my regrets that lawyers in the English-speaking world are not addressed with formal titles, as doctors are.
Jan 12, 2023 11:04 AM CST
“‘Reasonable Doubt,’ a relatively new series that first aired in the fall on Hulu, is the next offering with high hopes of capitalizing on the public’s love for legal procedurals with a criminal focus,” writes lawyer and ABA Journal columnist Adam Banner.
Jan 9, 2023 12:28 PM CST
Sometimes an especially momentous U.S. Supreme Court term is followed by a quieter year with fewer blockbuster decisions. But that is not what we should expect when the court hands down its rulings for this term in spring 2023. Once more, the court’s docket is filled with cases of great legal and social importance that will profoundly affect the lives of many people.
Jan 5, 2023 12:59 PM CST
It is a new year, and the reruns of
It’s a Wonderful Life have finally stopped. During this holiday season, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the movie, and there are certain themes from the film that lawyers can carry into the new year.
Jan 4, 2023 3:08 PM CST
After one of the most challenging periods in recent history, 2022 was a year of reemergence. We once again entered public spaces, cautiously embracing a semblance of normalcy. At the same time, the painful memories of the incredibly challenging and tumultuous years of the pandemic were ever-present in our minds.
Dec 23, 2022 8:39 AM CST
There are pivotal years in constitutional law: 1787, when the Constitution was ratified; 1791, when the Bill of Rights was adopted; 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted; 1937, when the Supreme Court overturned 40 years of precedents that had limited the power of Congress and state legislatures to protect workers and consumers; 1969, when the liberal Warren Court ended, and the more conservative Burger Court began. And 2022 was such a decisive turning-point year.
Dec 23, 2022 8:35 AM CST
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