Opening Statements

New website provides searchable database of constitutions

If you find yourself drafting a constitution anytime soon and need ideas, you’re in luck. A new searchable database of 189 constitutions from around the world is now online. Constitutional scholars Zachary Elkins of the University of Texas, Tom Ginsburg of the University of Chicago Law School and James Melton…

Mar 1, 2014 10:39 AM CST

Chicago law school adds clinical rotation for 1Ls

Criminal defense. Employment discrimination. Tax law. Immigration law. Sounds like the course load for a typical 2L or 3L, right? But 1Ls at Chicago-Kent College of Law will have the opportunity to take these classes as part of an optional new clinical rotation next fall. While first-year curricula traditionally have…

Mar 1, 2014 10:30 AM CST

Child actor parlays his connections into an entertainment law practice

As a kid, Jeff Cohen was always a ham. That personality trait helped launch his television acting career as a child and then propelled him to his most famous role: Chunk in the movie The Goonies. Then puberty hit and forced Cohen into early retirement. No one willingly gives up…

Feb 1, 2014 10:10 AM CST

Law prof teaches meditation techniques for lawyers

In the 1980s, when Charles Halpern was serving as founding dean of the City University of New York School of Law, he had trouble harmonizing conflicting obligations, he recalls. A friend recommended meditation, advising: “Just watch your breath and your thoughts come and go.” Halpern gave it a try and…

Feb 1, 2014 10:00 AM CST

Blawg 100 winners’ circle of reader favorites

ABA Journal editors picked their favorite 100 law blogs of 2013 and then opened up the polls for some friendly competition. After some 4,000 readers weighed in, the winners and proud owners of bragging rights in each category are: Criminal Justice Defrosting Cold Cases defrostingcoldcases.com If there’s a dog-eared manuscript…

Feb 1, 2014 9:50 AM CST

Tattoo artists are asserting their copyright claims

One day you’re feeling bold, or perhaps temporarily insane, and you walk into a tattoo parlor to get inked up. Congratulations, you’re the proud owner of the art now displayed on your skin and you can flaunt it however you wish. Not so fast. A growing body of case law…

Jan 1, 2014 10:50 AM CST

Online yoga provider’s patent application causes stir in otherwise tranquil crowd

Yoga is known for its zen vibe. But one online yoga provider’s attempt to patent the filmed perspective of streamed classes has caused the normally tranquil community to become decidedly feisty. YogaGlo, the online provider, sought to patent what it claimed was a proprietary layout of a filmed yoga class:…

Jan 1, 2014 10:40 AM CST

Our first cartoon caption contest winner!

“What makes you think this is rigged?” —Submitted by reader Dale Stout Congratulations to Dale Stout of Colorado Springs for his cartoon caption, which earned the most votes in an online poll. His was among more than 150 entries and one of three finalists in the Journal’s inaugural legal-themed cartoon…

Jan 1, 2014 10:30 AM CST

Hearsay: January 2014

Say What? “Well, I don’t like the Supreme Court. I don’t think it’s a real court. I think of it as basically … it’s like a House of Lords. It’s a quasi-political body. President, Senate, House of Representatives, Supreme Court. It’s very political. And they decide which cases to hear,…

Jan 1, 2014 10:10 AM CST

What does it take to run a contest to find Bigfoot?

As legal counsel for companies creating contests and promotions, Shalom Stephens is used to tackling unusual legal issues. But even for Stephens, Olympia Beer’s Capture Bigfoot contest raised some fresh concerns. The contest, which started last spring and runs through March 31, offers a $1 million prize to anyone who…

Dec 1, 2013 10:49 AM CST

Opera based on Justices Ginsburg and Scalia is written by attorney

Most experienced lawyers can only dream about appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. But newly minted attorney Derrick Wang got the chance just weeks out of law school, holding court before a rapt audience in late June that included Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But Wang wasn’t there…

Dec 1, 2013 10:40 AM CST

NBA star’s divorce becomes an unexpected First Amendment contest

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash has faced many on-court battles in his more than 17 seasons in the NBA. But when the two-time MVP filed for divorce in 2010, it’s unlikely that he expected the off-court battle would end up testing the bounds of the First Amendment. According…

Dec 1, 2013 10:30 AM CST

University of Pennsylvania offers a boot camp on brain science

Phoenix public defender Ingrid Miller has been hearing a lot about neuroscience in the courtroom and wanted to know how much of it was hype. So she signed up for Neuroscience Boot Camp, a 10-day crash course on the brain run by the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Neuroscience &…

Dec 1, 2013 10:20 AM CST

Hearsay: December 2013

4 The number of women now authorized to practice law in Saudi Arabia Source: Jurist, Oct. 7. $60,000 The amount of attorney fees that MTV’s 16 and Pregnant star Kristina Head was ordered to pay on behalf of celebrity blogger Perez Hilton after losing a libel claim against him. Source:…

Dec 1, 2013 10:10 AM CST

Montana legalizes the consumption of roadkill

Wondering what to do if you come across a dead deer, elk, moose or antelope in the road? Or worse, if you hit one with your car? If you’re in Montana, you’re in luck. Montana recently joined at least a dozen other states that have legalized the consumption of roadkill.…

Nov 1, 2013 8:50 AM CDT