Opening Statements

War of the Words: Scalia and Posner Are at It Again

As the legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell might have put it: The year has witnessed a pageantry of pugnacious pugilism. There was Obama vs. Romney, the Tigers vs. the Giants, Clint Eastwood vs. the Empty Chair. And let’s not forget the judiciary undercard between Judge Richard Posner of the 7th U.S.…

Dec 1, 2012 9:50 AM CST

No Will, But a Way: Law Prof and Students Launch African Probate & Policy Initiative

If a Tanzanian man dies without a will, his property goes to his family of origin. If he was married, his widow often receives nothing from the estate. In fact, a Tanzanian woman is more likely to receive property if she divorces than if her husband dies intestate. Gretchen Bellamy,…

Nov 1, 2012 9:20 AM CDT

You Gotta Fight for the Right to Tattoo

In September the Arizona Supreme Court became the first to recognize that getting inked is free expression protected by the First Amendment. In Coleman v. City of Mesa, the Arizona high court held that tattoos are a form of “purely expressive activity” or “pure speech” rather than merely “conduct with…

Nov 1, 2012 9:10 AM CDT

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

Legal Road Trip: Los Angeles

The legal sites of the City of Angels

Nov 1, 2012 8:45 AM CDT

Patently Delicious: Meat Specialist Seeks to Patent a Certain Cut of Meat

When is a steak not just a steak? When it’s a Vegas Strip Steak, which its “inventors” say is so unique that it is deserving of a patent. Introduced this year to a great degree of fanfare in the culinary and legal blogospheres, the Vegas Strip Steak is, according to…

Oct 1, 2012 9:10 AM CDT

Patient Beware: Biomedical Engineer Launches Service to Help with Foreign Med-Mal Cases in US

James Goldberg knows firsthand about the potential dangers of overseas health care. In 2006 Goldberg’s son died in Thailand after going to a hospital there because of numbness in his leg. The death of his son launched Goldberg on a three-year quest to find a lawyer to sue the hospital.…

Oct 1, 2012 9:00 AM CDT

‘Girls Who Code’ Seeks to Level the Playing Field for Women in Tech Sector

Reshma Saujani has a law degree from Yale and a master’s from Harvard. She ran (unsuccessfully) for Congress, is about to publish a book and is exploring a run for the office of New York City’s public advocate. Yet the 36-year-old former Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyer still has a…

Oct 1, 2012 8:50 AM CDT

Exposed: Louisiana Law Has Sex Offenders Listing Their Crimes on Social Media

Louisiana forbids registered sex offenders from operating buses, taxicabs and limousines. And now, if they use social media, sex offenders have to list their crimes on their social media account profiles along with their physical description and address. A new law that took effect this summer mandates the disclosure. It…

Oct 1, 2012 8:40 AM CDT

Higher Ed: Yale Announces a Degree for Those Aiming to Be Law Profs

If you’re thinking about academia as a career path, you might want to head back to school. Yale Law School has announced a new PhD in Law degree, and it’s aimed squarely at those who want to work as a law professor. The new PhD program, according to a press…

Oct 1, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

Hearsay: Short Takes and Fast Facts on the Law

Click here to email your law-related license plate.

Oct 1, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Hip-Hop at Law: Course Samples Hip-Hop’s Bottom-Up Critique of the Law

Back in 1989, when Chuck D and Flavor Flav exhorted Public Enemy fans to “Fight the Power,” it’s likely that they never envisioned their anti-establishment anthem would be deconstructed and analyzed as part of an innovative law school curriculum. But the lyrics and discographies of Public Enemy and other hip-hop…

Sep 1, 2012 9:40 AM CDT

Keeping Watch: NYC’s Stop-and-Frisk Policing Inspires New Video App

When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this summer that he planned to ask legislators to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, he was—intentionally or not—wading into one of the biggest issues facing the New York City Police Department: its stop-and-frisk policy. According to statistics from the NYPD, every…

Sep 1, 2012 9:30 AM CDT

Who’s Paying? More Women Are Becoming Payors in Alimony, Child Support

According to a recent survey of members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 56 percent of members have noticed an increase in the number of mothers who are paying child support. 47 percent of members have noticed an increase in the number of women paying alimony to their former…

Sep 1, 2012 9:19 AM CDT