Law in Popular Culture

Harper Lee was aware of book deal, one agency concludes

One of two Alabama agencies investigating Harper Lee’s decision-making capability has concluded she was aware of the deal to publish a new book. The Alabama Securities Commission announced on Thursday it was ending its probe, report the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). One of the…

Mar 13, 2015 8:42 AM CDT

Alabama investigators interview Harper Lee after at least one complaint

Alabama’s Human Resources Department has dispatched investigators to interview 88-year-old Harper Lee, as well as her friends and caretakers, after receiving at least one complaint. A doctor–who is friends with Lee but has not treated her–sought an investigation by filing an anonymous complaint, the New York Times reports. The doctor,…

Mar 12, 2015 7:52 AM CDT

Winston Churchill wanted to give rare Magna Carta manuscript to US, documents show

Great Britain’s prime minister and other officials wanted to give the U.S. a rare historic manuscript of the Magna Carta during World War II, as a thank-you for America’s anticipated help during the war effort. However, the would-be donation discussed by Winston Churchill in documents unearthed less than a decade…

Mar 11, 2015 1:10 PM CDT

Erwin Chemerinsky and Laurence Tribe are among this year’s Silver Gavel nominees

University of California at Irvine law dean Erwin Chemerinsky is pitted against his mentor and one-time constitutional law professor, Harvard Law School’s Laurence Tribe, in the books category of the 2015 ABA Silver Gavel Awards for Media and Arts. The ABA announced 14 finalists on Wednesday for its Silver Gavel…

Mar 11, 2015 11:48 AM CDT

Female SCOTUS justices are portrayed in LEGO form

An editor and children’s media producer decided to celebrate International Women’s Day by creating LEGO replicas of the four female justices who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court. Maia Weinstock, a deputy editor at MIT News, uploaded pictures of her creation to Flickr, report the Blog of Legal Times…

Mar 10, 2015 2:25 PM CDT

HBO to make TV movie based on case of ex-lawyer accused of killing 2 prosecutors

The case of a former Texas justice of the peace accused of enlisting his wife to help him murder two prosecutors has provided the plot for an upcoming HBO television movie. Eric Williams was convicted last year of killing the wife of the Kaufman County district attorney and got the…

Mar 6, 2015 1:25 PM CST

Submit your diorama for Peeps in Law 2015: Game of Peeps

Winter is leaving … who will claim the Sugar Throne? It’s now the seventh year for our Peeps in Law diorama contest. And we can’t wait to see what our readers have in store for us! A list of the complete contest rules can be found by clicking here. But…

Feb 26, 2015 1:53 PM CST

Convicted in wife slaying, profiled in book and TV miniseries, Robert Marshall dies in prison

A former insurance salesman profiled in a best-selling book and television miniseries about the contract killing of his wife has died in prison. Robert Marshall, 75, was convicted in 1986 for conspiring to murder his wife, Maria, who was shot to death in 1984 at a isolated picnic area off…

Feb 24, 2015 12:10 PM CST

He’s a lawyer, he’s a financial analyst. No, he’s stock photo man!

Successful M&A lawyer Frank Rosen has been getting amazing results since he started using his wife’s anti-wrinkle cream, according to an ad for the product. The 63-year-old Boston lawyer said the results were so remarkable that colleagues assumed he had plastic surgery and baristas refused to believe he qualified for…

Feb 11, 2015 5:45 AM CST

Subject of popular ‘Serial’ podcast can pursue appeal, court rules

The convicted murderer whose case is portrayed in the popular Serial podcast will be allowed to pursue an appeal based on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. In a Friday ruling, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals set a briefing schedule for Adnan Syed, now 33, who is serving a…

Feb 9, 2015 12:55 PM CST

Katy Perry’s lawyers assert Left Shark copyright, send cease-and-desist letter to 3D printer

Lawyers for Katy Perry sent a cease-and-desist letter to a 3D printing company selling Left Shark, the uncoordinated costumed character who danced next to the singer during the Super Bowl. Greenberg Traurig confirmed that its letter to the company, Shapeways, is authentic, CNN reports. The letter says Katy Perry owns…

Feb 9, 2015 5:45 AM CST

New book reveals the story of the lawyer who was one of the last US soldiers to leave Vietnam

In 2003, Richard Pena was on his second tour in Vietnam, leading a delegation from the People to People Ambassador Program. During a visit to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon), he looked at a photo depicting a line of American troops boarding an…

Feb 7, 2015 8:59 AM CST

Announcement of new Harper Lee book stirs excitement and ‘a whiff of controversy’

Harper Lee’s decision to publish a second book 55 years after publication of To Kill a Mockingbird was news to her editor at HarperCollins. Hugh Van Dusen, who oversaw a 35th anniversary edition of Mockingbird in 1995, tells Vulture in a Q and A that he first learned the book…

Feb 5, 2015 5:45 AM CST

What book, movie or TV show would you most like to see developed into a sequel or spin-off?

For some fans who sincerely mourned the end of the AMC drama Breaking Bad, reports that the lawyer character Saul Goodman would be getting his own spin-off series on the network was welcome news. Better Call Saul, a prequel which explores Goodman’s origin story, will premiere this Sunday, according to…

Feb 4, 2015 3:25 PM CST

Lawyer’s new Super Bowl ad: Fire, religion, claimed political corruption and anti-bullying message

Personal injury lawyer Jamie Casino aired a Super Bowl ad last year in his hometown market that captured global attention, racking up some 5.6 million views on the Internet. So it was perhaps almost inevitable, following the high profile of his earlier effort, that reaction to the Georgia trial attorney’s…

Feb 4, 2015 9:45 AM CST