Opening Statements

Musicians Chafe at Politicians’ Misappropriations of Their Work

The 2010 midterm election may be a distant memory for most, but not for former Florida Governor Charlie Crist. The erstwhile U.S. Senate candidate has found himself embroiled in litigation with Talking Heads’ front man David Byrne after the group’s song “Road to Nowhere” was used in a Crist campaign…

Mar 1, 2011 11:10 AM CST

Website Gives Lawyers Another Way to Offer Class Action Updates

As a onetime information technology manager, Scott Hardy often wondered why no one had come up with a better way to connect consumers to information about time-sensitive class action lawsuits. So he took matters into his own hands and launched the website Top Class Actions as an alternative to costly…

Mar 1, 2011 11:00 AM CST

Major League Baseball’s Video Takedown Has Fans Crying Foul

Spring training may just be underway, but baseball fans are already in a tizzy. The latest snit is not over a bad call or fudged salary caps, but rather over Major League Baseball’s mass take down of videos stored on YouTube and other sites that contain MLB footage. The mass…

Mar 1, 2011 10:50 AM CST

Thomson Reuters Rolls Out ‘Mexican Legal Dictionary’ App

Whether NAFTA has helped stimulate trade between the US, Mexico and Canada is a continuing source of debate, but the agreement did lead to one thing: an iPhone app. In response to the growing demand for information on Mexican law, Thomson Reuters recently developed a Mexican legal dictionary app. The…

Mar 1, 2011 10:40 AM CST

Book Offers a Survey of the Past Decade in Courthouse Design

When it comes to courthouse design, there’s been a shift in attitude. That’s the finding behind the National Center for State Court’s new Retrospective of Courthouse Design: 2001-2010. The book features 94 courthouses designed in the last 10 years and is the third in a series published each decade. The…

Mar 1, 2011 10:30 AM CST

LSAT Connect Lightens Test Stress

Illustration by WatermelonExpress.com Studying for the LSAT might not call to mind words like “fun” and “social,” but developers of an iPhone app have made an attempt to forge such associations. In addition to offering users review material, test-taking tips, practice questions and mini-tests, LSAT Connect makes use of social…

Mar 1, 2011 10:28 AM CST

FCC Nears Ruling on Signal Boosters

One of the latest innovations in wireless may be something the wireless industry doesn’t want consumers to own. These innovations, called signal boosters, amplify cell phone signals. For anyone who’s ever had spotty cell phone service, the appeal of these personal cell phone towers is obvious. But the nation’s wireless…

Mar 1, 2011 10:22 AM CST

Pending High Court Decisions Fan Interest in Fantasy League

The words fantasy player and U.S. Supreme Court have never had a reason to be heard in the same breath, but for any law geek who’s ever dreamed of serving as the 10th justice, your fancy now can be fulfilled. The year-old website FantasySCOTUS lets aspiring Supreme Court justices, legal…

Feb 1, 2011 9:40 AM CST

Blawg 100 Popular Vote: The Readers Have Spoken

More than 4,000 readers registered to vote on ABAJournal.com for their favorite law blogs in our 4th annual Blawg 100. Here are the popular choices in each of the 12 categories: Court Watch SCOTUSblog is the one-stop shop for news and expert analysis of all things U.S. Supreme Court—from lower-court…

Feb 1, 2011 9:30 AM CST

Florida Lawyer Fashions Gun Trust (and Niche Practice)

Ask Jacksonville, Fla., lawyer David Goldman who benefits from the gun trust he created, and he’s unequivocal: “Criminals are not buying guns through this route. The reason we know this is that an illegal machine gun costs $200, and no one has to know about it. A legal machine gun…

Feb 1, 2011 9:20 AM CST

Will Dress Codes for Workplace Avatars Soon Be the Norm?

Filmmaker James Cameron may have depicted avatars in his film of the same name as futuristic humanoids with super powers that can be used for good or evil. But in reality, avatars often have much more mundane uses. Indeed, an increasing number of businesses have adopted the use of these…

Feb 1, 2011 9:10 AM CST

Oregon Attorney’s Documentary ‘Hot Coffee’ Makes the Sundance Cut

Hot Coffee “meet the artist” video. Many lawyers have fantasized about putting their practice on hold and making a movie, but few actually do it. Even fewer can say their maiden effort landed them a coveted spot at an internationally renowned film festival. Ashland, Ore., lawyer Susan Saladoff is that…

Feb 1, 2011 8:59 AM CST

MoFo Launches Newsletter Tracking Rapidly Shifting Social Media

It wasn’t long ago that clients came to Morrison & Foerster for help updating their employee handbooks to prohibit staff from blogging about their jobs. Then the San Francisco-based firm noticed a change. “Silicon Valley companies started to see value in loosening up,” says John Delaney, a MoFo partner. “Clients…

Jan 1, 2011 10:00 AM CST

Capital University Law Students Set Off in Search of Real-Life Solutions

After 21 years of practicing the Socratic method at Capital University Law School, professor Floyd Weatherspoon decided to shake things up. Weatherspoon, who specializes in civil rights issues, teaches a seminar called “African-American Males and the Law.” Instead of lecturing his students about the problems he sees, Weatherspoon sent them…

Jan 1, 2011 9:50 AM CST

Nebraska Rolls Out Free Docket App

Attorneys and judges in Nebraska have been able to use a searchable online court calendar for several years. But since this past fall they’ve had something a lot more slick for finding court dates: an app. Last September the state of Nebraska authorized and created a free state court docket…

Jan 1, 2011 9:40 AM CST