Law in Popular Culture

Top 3 ‘Peeps in Law’ Entries

Updated: Thanks to all those who submitted dioramas to the ABA Journal’s Peeps in Law gallery. There were 45 submissions from across the country and throughout the legal profession, including law-themed scenes by law students, law firms, ABA entities and even a judge in Missouri. With so many good entries,…

Apr 13, 2009 5:01 PM CDT

1st Circuit Mulls Plan to Webcast Hearing in RIAA Music Downloading Case

Does webcasting court proceedings violate the traditional rule against cameras in the courtroom? And, if so, should the traditional rule be relaxed? That is the issue that the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is now expected to decide on an expedited basis, after a U.S. District Court judge…

Apr 10, 2009 12:49 AM CDT

Some Long-Haul Truckers Linked to Serial Killings, FBI Says

The job is solitary, albeit with long hours. It’s highly mobile. And there’s little supervision. Hence, some serial killers and others who prey on women may be attracted to work as long-haul truckers, federal agents tell the Los Angeles Times. After making the connection about five years ago concerning the…

Apr 7, 2009 10:01 PM CDT

Colo. Law Partner’s Rallying Call: SOS Could Create Many Individual Jobs

What if every business that had the ability to create just one job did so? That’s the premise for an unusual idea to help improve the global economy that is described by a Colorado lawyer in an op-ed piece in the Denver Post. Partner Larry Pozner of the Reilly Pozner…

Apr 6, 2009 11:37 PM CDT

Double Jeopardy for Legal Reporter Featured in Scalia Clue

A reporter for the Legal Times was stunned to discover that he was featured in the Jeopardy television program on Friday, along with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The $2,000 clue, in the Double Jeopardy round, under the category of “journalists,” was: “This two-word job of Tony Mauro sounds…

Apr 6, 2009 8:26 PM CDT

True Crime Helped Ex-Prosecutor Plot Latest Novel, ‘Lethal Legacy’

When Linda Fairstein is looking for a plot for her latest crime novel, the former career prosecutor finds the news to be a handy resource. Fairstein relied on an actual New York case when she opens her new book, Lethal Legacy, with a fake fireman ringing the doorbell of a…

Apr 1, 2009 7:02 PM CDT

Souter Bobblehead with Audio and Bling Released

Because it’s April 1, we did some double-checking. But we have confirmation that the David H. Souter Bobblehead has been released today. The kitschy doll, created by The Green Bag law review, comes complete with bling and audio. We can see from the fine print on the bobblehead promo sheet…

Apr 1, 2009 6:43 PM CDT

Texas Law Dean Resigns to Raise Emus ... Not Really

It’s an April Fool’s Day joke, of course. But in an e-mail sent to students at the University of Texas School of Law today, Dean Lawrence Sager announces that he plans to resign in order to raise emus. And that’s just part of the joke: Although the e-mail sent to…

Apr 1, 2009 6:14 PM CDT

Law Prof’s Whirlwind Engagement to Poster on Her Blog Sparks Comments

Law bloggers are in a flurry over news that professor Ann Althouse of the University of Wisconsin School of Law is engaged … to a man she met after he initially made contact with her more than four years ago as a commenter on her law blog. While many commenters…

Mar 30, 2009 6:14 PM CDT

Matthew McConaughey to Star in Legal Thriller

Hollywood’s Matthew McConaughey is set to appear as “The Lincoln Lawyer,” a legal thriller presented by Lakeshore Entertainment. The movie, based on a 2005 Michael Connolly bestseller, is about “low-level criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller who finds himself representing a wealthy client with ties to a previous murder case Haller…

Mar 30, 2009 5:36 PM CDT

Fla. Judge Vaults Bench, Helps Subdue Suspect, Makes TMZ

When a melee broke out in his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., courtroom yesterday morning, one of Broward County’s newest judges didn’t make a safety play and retreat to chambers. As a suspect suddenly attacked a witness who had been testifying in a restraining order matter, Judge Ian Richards vaulted over the…

Mar 25, 2009 5:11 PM CDT

‘Whack! Ow!’ Spanking Whistle-Blower Wins $200K in Discrimination Suit

News of a $200,000 federal jury verdict in a unusual employment discrimination suit is gathering traction on the blogosphere. Filed by a municipal worker who says she was fired after she blew the whistle on a relative spanking a child in a Chicago Park District restroom, the case started with…

Mar 24, 2009 9:54 PM CDT

Webster Makes It Official: Definition of Marriage Has Changed

Marriage is no longer limited to opposite-sex unions, a persuasive authority has ruled. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, it is also defined as “the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage,” reports the Adjunct Law Prof Blog…

Mar 24, 2009 2:35 AM CDT

As Traffic Movie Predicted, Cocaine is Now a Popular Molding Material

Remember the scene in Traffic in which Catherine Zeta-Jones, playing the wife of an imprisoned dealer, negotiates an exclusive deal to provide a Mexican druglord with seeming toys manufactured from cocaine? As the druglord watches, she dissolves a toy and sets up a line of coke, but refuses to partake…

Mar 21, 2009 2:37 AM CDT

Oops. Major NE Law Firm Isn’t Bankrupt

Despite the dismal economy, McCarter & English hasn’t needed to make any attorney layoffs to stay on sound financial footing. In fact, the well-known Northeastern law firm is planning to announce on Monday that it is bringing in a group of intellectual property attorneys. So it was with considerable surprise…

Mar 20, 2009 9:31 PM CDT