Law in Popular Culture

Wife-Murderer Made Infamous by ‘Blind Faith’ Book and TV Movie Is Denied Early Release

A New Jersey insurance salesman whose contract-for-hire murder of his wife became high profile after Joe McGinniss wrote a best-selling true crime book about it, Blind Faith, that was made into a television miniseries has been denied early release from prison. Robert O. Marshall, 72, who is serving a life…

Dec 7, 2012 6:37 PM CST

Is ‘Benchslap’ Worthy of Black’s Law Dictionary? Editor Tweets Question

The next edition of Black’s Law Dictionary could include the word “benchslap” if editor Bryan Garner can be persuaded. Garner raised the issue in a tweet, Above the Law reports. “How old is ‘bench slap’?” Garner wrote. “Should I put it in Black’s Law Dictionary? How would you define it?”…

Dec 3, 2012 12:15 PM CST

Zombies-at-Law: NY Lawyer Fascinated by the Law’s Fascination with Zombies

Zombies. They’re everywhere. Just ask New York City lawyer Joshua Warren. He’s even seeing them in court opinions. Warren has been dutifully tracking the number of times zombies (the word, not the undead) has appeared in opinions and, if he has his way, he’ll also be publishing a textbook on…

Dec 1, 2012 10:40 AM CST

Movember Mustache Mashup Features 10 Famous Legal Faces

What do Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Eric Holder and Adam Reposa have in common? In addition to being well-known attorneys, their noteworthy mustaches, reports Bloomberg Law in a video posted on YouTube in honor of the Movember men’s health initiative. Other memorable legal “lip rugs” include those sported by Johnnie…

Nov 27, 2012 5:30 PM CST

Documentary Claims Serial Murderer Could Have Killed Nicole Brown Simpson

A documentary scheduled to air on Investigation Discovery on Wednesday argues that a serial murderer may have been the person who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. The documentary identifies Glen Rogers, originally from Hamilton, Ohio, as the possible perpetrator, report the New York Post, Cincinnati.com and…

Nov 20, 2012 12:15 PM CST

New ‘Lincoln’ Movie Gets Great Reviews, Focuses on Enactment of 13th Amendment

The new movie about Abraham Lincoln that premiered at theaters throughout the country on Friday has been getting great reviews, especially for a film whose plot revolves around the enactment of the 13th Amendment. “To say that this is among the finest films ever made about American politics may be…

Nov 16, 2012 10:53 PM CST

Michael Connelly Accepts Second Annual Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction at Ceremony

Michael Connelly was a highly successful author long before he started writing about lawyers. His 1998 novel Blood Work was named one of the best books of that year by the Los Angeles Times before it became a Clint Eastwood movie. And by the time he introduced Mickey Haller in…

Nov 1, 2012 9:00 AM CDT

Hearsay: November 2012

iStockPhoto Judge Judy’s annual salary —estimated at $45 million— is approximately 207 times that of U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.’s $217,400. Source: National Center for State Courts. Your Case This summer New York City criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield challenged readers of his Simple Justice blog to complete…

Nov 1, 2012 8:50 AM CDT

Plot in New Grisham Novel Is Based on Criminal Procedural Rule

Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is central to John Grisham’s new book, The Racketeer. Rule 35 allows federal defendants to get their sentences reduced if they provide “substantial assistance in investigating or prosecuting another person.” The book’s main character, convicted ex-lawyer Malcolm Bannister, seeks to use…

Oct 22, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

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

In Harmony’s Way: Lawyer Bands Add Musical Heat to the ABA Annual Meeting

In the glory days of the Swing Era, a big dance band might take weeks to travel from Los Angeles to Chicago, with the musicians hopscotching by bus or auto from town to town as they played a grueling schedule of one-night stands. But that’s not the way it’s done…

Oct 1, 2012 6:20 AM CDT

Criminal Defense Associate Played a Role in Creation of New CBS Legal Drama ‘Made in Jersey’

In all honesty, Creston P. Smith isn’t much of a television watcher, except when the Baltimore Orioles are trying to make the playoffs. But he’s planning to record a new legal drama that premieres Friday on CBS, to watch later and see if any of the scenarios he talked about…

Sep 28, 2012 1:35 PM CDT

Cast of West Wing Reunites to Plug Nonpartisan Voting and Michigan Supreme Court Candidate

It helps to have friends in the fictional White House. University of Michigan law school professor Bridget Mary McCormack is running for the Michigan Supreme Court in real life. Her sister, Mary McCormack, played deputy national security adviser Kate Harper in the TV show West Wing. The Huffington Post and…

Sep 21, 2012 2:16 PM CDT

Lawyer Pitches Zombie Law Casebook, Following Others Who Have Linked Lawyers to the Undead

As a viral YouTube video produced in response to a corporate dispute over cable television distribution and fees demonstrates, zombies can elicit quite a reaction from the general public, even among jaded New Yorkers. Now, as the living dead creatures gain an increasing foothold in pop culture (even the feds…

Sep 10, 2012 10:34 PM CDT

The Producers of ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Film Brooklyn Public Defenders at Work

A new documentary special by the producers of Dog the Bounty Hunter offers a behind-the-scenes look at the public defenders working for Brooklyn’s Legal Aid Society. The special, Criminal Defense: And Justice for All, was scheduled to air in two half-hour episodes beginning Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on…

Sep 10, 2012 6:49 PM CDT