Will those who led the financial system into crisis ever face charges?

In 2005, when the impending financial crisis was obvious to some and under the radar to many, Bill Black published a book laying out his theory of control fraud, his criminological term for looting a corporation from the inside. Read this ABA Journal feature recently honored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Feb 1, 2016 4:10 AM CST

China’s latest crackdown on lawyers is unprecedented, human rights monitors say

The attacks published in China's state-sponsored news media pulled no punches. Wang Yu is an "arrogant convict of a woman," screamed an op-ed article in one major newspaper. Wang Yu is a "hypocritical and false lawyer." Wang Yu is a "shrew."

Feb 1, 2016 12:10 AM CST

Metrics can tell the tale of a firm’s fate

It's never easy being a star witness.

Take former Dewey & LeBoeuf finance director Frank Canellas. In late July, at a time when many law firm executives are planning trips to exotic locales or spending time in their summer homes, Canellas got to hang out in lovely downtown Manhattan. He spent a tense and emotional week on the witness stand in Manhattan Supreme Court, where he was tasked with pointing the finger at his former bosses while taking some not-so-friendly fire from their defense attorneys.

Jan 1, 2016 4:30 AM CST

Sealed Windows

Editor's note: In September, we announced the results of the third annual ABA Journal/Ross Short Legal Fiction Contest. The winner of the $3,000 prize is retired California lawyer Andy Greensfelder of San Luis Obispo. Greensfelder's story describes a lawyer whose begrudging pro bono defense against a home foreclosure leads him to question his conflicts of interest, as well as the course of his highly successful career. The annual short story competition sponsored by the ABA Journal is funded by the Erskine Ross Trust and is intended to encourage literary fiction that illuminates the role of law and lawyers in society.

Jan 1, 2016 4:20 AM CST

15 signs you may be an introvert

According to author Susan Cain, you might be an introvert if:

• You feel drained when in a large crowd of people.

• You're a cautious decision-maker.

Jan 1, 2016 12:20 AM CST

Most lawyers are introverted, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing

As a child, Airina Rodrigues was an early reader and, by choice, spent a lot of time alone. "I had friends," she recalls, "but I needed time alone to unwind and decompress. That's where I gained energy."

Rodrigues, who is an intellectual property associate at DLA Piper in New York City, has long identified herself as an introvert. A former competitive figure skater, Rodrigues doesn't mind performing or being in court. Rather, "being an introvert is really about how I approach problems and how I recharge," she explains. "I'm not shy, but I find networking draining. I love meeting new people, but it requires extra energy."

Jan 1, 2016 12:10 AM CST

Employers and workers grapple with laws allowing marijuana use

On June 15, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court was the ultimate buzzkill.

When the state's residents passed a referendum in 2012 legalizing recreational marijuana use—long after the state sanctioned medical use in 2000—few had any idea that Coloradans who partook in the bud would end up jeopardizing their livelihood.

Dec 1, 2015 5:30 AM CST

What is the state of the legal blogosphere?

"Is blogging dead?" Legal Blog Watch asked that question five years ago.

In 2015, there's no longer a Legal Blog Watch at the National Law Journal. But law blogging appears to be flourishing.

Even the slow-to-embrace-change world of BigLaw is increasingly on board with blogging, whether to draw in potential clients or market the expertise of their lawyers.

Dec 1, 2015 5:10 AM CST

The 9th Annual Blawg 100

For this year's annual Blawg 100 feature—our ninth—we're going beyond announcing our list of 100 excellent legal blogs and the promotion of 10 more blogs to our Hall of Fame. We explore how the legal blogosphere has changed since we first started publishing this list. Do legal blogs have a waning or a thriving readership? And how has the emergence of new bloggers from BigLaw and elsewhere and other social media platforms in recent years changed blogging for the better—or worse?

As in years past, we looked to readers and bloggers to help us compile our list. But this year, no blogs are being forced into categories, and there will be no online voting. Read below to find out more about the blogs on our list, and click here to find our Blawg 100 Twitter list, which includes both the handles of our Hall of Famers and this year's nominees.

Dec 1, 2015 5:00 AM CST

‘Umpire’ blog is shuttered, but its judge-author is staying in the game

Blogging judge Richard Kopf says he hates the "mythology" that surrounds federal judges.

"I do think that all of us put our boots on in the same fashion. There's no harm—indeed I believe that there's some good—in acknowledging that," says Kopf, a senior judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, who prefers to be called "Rich" when he is not on the bench.

Dec 1, 2015 4:40 AM CST

Long-held beliefs about arson science have been debunked after decades of misuse

"Slow and painful has been man's progress from magic to law."

So began the report and recommendation of a federal magistrate judge last year in the case of Han Tak Lee, a New York man then serving a life sentence in a Pennsylvania prison for the 1989 arson murder of his 20-year-old mentally ill daughter, Ji Yun Lee.

Dec 1, 2015 12:30 AM CST

32 of lawyers’ most common fears

Does your law practice make you fearful? You are not alone, according to John Lande, an emeritus professor of law at the University of Missouri. Some of lawyers' most common fears include:

• Feeling that their offices or cases are out of control.

Nov 1, 2015 4:35 AM CST

How prosecutors brought down Lucky Luciano

The telephone rang at midnight, jolting Samuel Kornbluth from an already-troubled sleep. Maurice Cantor began by apologizing for the unseemly hour. A lawyer best known for his representation of the late Arnold Rothstein, Cantor wanted to know whether Kornbluth was still acting as counsel for Dorothy Russell Calvit, the daughter of stage legend Lillian Russell. Yes, Kornbluth replied—was there something the matter with Dorothy? Nothing of the sort, Cantor assured him. But he had with him a colleague who would very much like to speak with Calvit's lawyer. May he put George Morton Levy on the line?

Nov 1, 2015 4:30 AM CST

Debt-buying industry and lax court review are burying defendants in defaults

After more than four decades as a commercial litigator, Ward Benshoof was shocked at what he learned two years ago while handling a post-judgment debt-collection case. What had been accepted as evidence seemed to have no more substance than the shadow of smoke. And as he later learned, it also was not evidence at all.

Nov 1, 2015 4:20 AM CST

How lawyers can turn fear into an ally

When attorney Marshall Yoder was facing his first jury trial in 1992, he felt a deep, underlying sense of fear. "I remember being very anxious and very nervous," he says. "The stakes were high. I was thinking, 'This is my first one, and I really want to do it right.' "

Nov 1, 2015 12:20 AM CDT