Legal Blog Watch
Legal Blog Watch
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Lawyer/Witness Disconnect Represented Graphically
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I like Venn diagrams. I was kind of jealous when Bruce got to use one on Tuesday. Luckily, D.A. Confidential apparently likes Venn diagrams as well. He picked up on the same one Bruce wrote about, comparing what lawyers publish in their bios with what clients are looking for in said bios. And based on that, he was inspired to create his own. So, without alteration or elaboration, I present the "Lawyer/Witness Disconnect" from a prosecutorial perspective: Have a great long weekend. I'm off to start drinking, and get a naked girl tattoo that looks like Elena Kagan.
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Copyright for Cocktails? Color Me a Contributory Infringer
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It's the Friday before Labor Day weekend. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that some of you readers are going to be doing a little imbibing over the holiday. I'm not much for fancy mixed drinks (with the exception of anything involving vodka and jalapenos), but I'm enough of a fan of the consumption of alcohol generally to have been offended by the idea of copyright protection for drink recipes, as discussed in this article in The Atlantic. (The Atlantic article, written by a food columnist, was a little light on the legal niceties. See this post at Techdirt for some clarifications and scathing criticism.) Exclusive rights to the "Long Island Iced Tea," anyone? Sorry, but that's ridiculous. Don't take my word for it. Felix Salmon at Reuters (via Overlawyered) thinks so too. So does Ezra Klein at the Washington Post. The drink copyright movement appears to be spearheaded by a gent named Eben Freeman (pictured above), who doesn't think he gets enough recognition for his innovative recipes. In honor of Eben, I say we all make a variation on his American Beauty this weekend. Swap out the orange juice for a dash of self-importance, add a...
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Lawyers Ain't Scared of No Bedbugs!
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Well, at least those in the private sector. While the Brooklyn DA's office is all up in arms about the bedbug infestation in its building, some New Yorkers -- including an attorney -- are putting on brave faces and getting out there on the front lines. You know, buying old crap. From the New York Times (via the ABA Journal), comes a story about what effect the citywide bedbug invasion is having on the bottom line at vintage clothing stores and thrift shops. While some shoppers interviewed for the story expressed hesitation at buying clothing and furniture of questionable provenance, a lawyer named Lisa Slocum bit the bullet and shelled out $33 for a ("This is beautiful, what is that") velvet coat. Demonstrating that lawyers are either incredibly courageous or a little dense, Slocum did this despite having "lived through bedbugs a couple of years ago." Her bedbug experience threw a little fright into her, but she powered through it, as she might have through a particularly lengthy and repetitive privilege log: The infestation was enough for her to stop making the rounds of vintage shops “for a while,” even though she had no evidence they came from the stores...
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Is Blogging Dead?
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And if it is, can I go back to bed? I raise the question because some esteemed legal bloggers have been chewing on it recently (that's a legitimate basis, right, Bruce?). Bob Ambrogi, who in the not-too-distant past patrolled the hallways here at LBW, proclaimed on Wednesday that "reports of blogging's death have been greatly exaggerated," and, as evidence, cited 15 legal blogs of relatively recent vintage that he believes to be of value to the legal community. Scott Greenfield took issue with Bob's proclamation yesterday. Obviously, not with the notion that legal blogs continue to exist, and people keep right on starting up new ones, but with the notion that many of them serve a useful purpose. Here are Scott's thoughts on a random sample of the 15 blogs Bob listed: What I found was distressing. No conversation. No synergy. Limited analysis and little effort. But what struck me clearly between the eyes is that the ones I looked at could have been taken out of the social media marketer's handbook. Trying to look informative, these were created for the purpose of self-promotion, marketing. Having clicked on a couple of the links myself (no way of knowing if they're...
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Thursday's Three Burning Legal Questions
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Here are today's three burning legal questions, along with the answers provided by the blogosphere. 1) Question: My wife pronounces the name of our home state as "Ne-VAH-dah," while I say it as "Ne-VAD-a." Who is right? Answer: You are, of course, but please reassure your wife that the Nevada Legislature has "submitted a bill draft request for the 2011 legislative session for a resolution that asserts while the preferred pronunciation of the state's name is 'Ne-VAD-a,' pronouncing it 'Ne-VAH-da' is also acceptable." (Lowering the Bar, Nevada Legislator Proposes Bill on How to Pronounce "Nevada") 2) Question: Darn these airport security scanner machines! Why do they keep beeping when I walk through with no metal on me? Should I try the machine over here to the side where you go through horizontally? Answer: Sir, that is for baggage only! (Consumerist, Man Passes Self Through Airport X-Ray) 3) Question: I'm being kidnapped, but my foolish captors forgot to take my cell phone -- I can call 911 and have the police apprehend them! Ha! Answer: Before you make the call, make sure that your "captors" aren't actually police officers giving you a ride home because you are too drunk to drive...
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Schools Use Technology to Track Exact Whereabouts of Buses and Each Child
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Back in my day, we had to walk to school barefoot, in the snow -- uphill both ways. That made our feet cold. Then the kids started riding on those newfangled "buses," which seemed like a good thing until parents realized there was a 45-minute period when they did not know the exact whereabouts of their children. Now even that problem has been solved, thanks to GPS technology and identification cards that are now issued to all elementary school bus riders in places like Palos Heights, Ill. The Chicago Tribune reports (via Consumerist) that in Palos Heights, school officials have assigned ID tags to 400 students in preschool through 5th grade. Each child clips the card to their book bag, and the card/child is then "logged in" upon boarding the bus. This "allows a transportation supervisor sitting miles away to track when and where each student in Palos Heights School District 128 stepped on and off the bus." The location of the bus itself is also known to the transportation supervisor through GPS technology. The combination of the students' ID cards and the buses' GPS system allows: transportation director Barbara Lynch [to] check when a student boards or exits a...
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'It’s Only a Dream Until You Write It Down, and Then It Becomes a Goal'
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Before I get to the point here, I'd like to set forth the Rules of LBW Procedure (as decreed by me), which govern this blog's jurisdiction over any given story: 1. It was discussed on a legal blog; 2. It is law-related; or 3. Special jurisdiction under the "Pick of the Litter" theory* I am asserting jurisdiction over the insights below on "How a Dream Becomes a Goal" based on #1 above (it appeared on Heather Morse-Milligan's Legal Watercooler blog), and also because after 40+ years of having never heard the key quote below, I've now heard it twice in two days from completely different sources. Moving on. Morse-Milligan writes that she accidentally wound up listening to Emmit Smith’s induction speech into the NFL Hall of Fame, which she found "incredibly inspiring." Morse-Milligan particularly liked the the part in which Smith explained the difference between having a dream and fulfilling a vision. Smith says that at a young age, he learned a key lesson from one of his high school coaches: "It’s only a dream until you write it down, and then it becomes a goal." Smith said that: By the time I was 20, I wrote, I want to...
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'I Can Stalk U': A 'Please Rob Me' for People Who Upload Photos to Twitter
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As discussed here back in February, a website called "Please Rob Me" launched earlier this year with the mission of raising awareness of a possible downside of using the new geolocation services such as Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz, etc. As I described it at the time: Those of you on Twitter have no doubt seen people using these services to announce things like, "I'm at the Grand Canyon" or "I'm the new mayor of the Reston Sport and Health Club." Please Rob Me highlights the flip-side of these services: If you are at the Grand Canyon then you aren't at home. Its homepage states the site is "Listing all those empty homes out there," and features a real-time feed of "opportunities" (for robbers) in the form of people who have announced their locations through one of the geolocation services. Please Rob Me recently decided to get out of the robbery-assistance business, stating on its home page that it is "satisfied with the attention we've gotten for an issue that we deeply care about," i.e., the perils of over-sharing. Enter "I Can Stalk U." I Can Stalk U is a new site using the Please Rob Me/"Scared Straight" approach. It mission...
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Plastic Bags Still Legal in California
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The California State Senate hates the environment. That body, per CNN, voted down a bill that would have banned plastic bags in grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores. You know, the places you get plastic bags. The California Assembly had already passed the bill, and the Governator had stated publicly that he would sign it into law if it passed the Senate. Twenty-one senators weren't persuaded by the soothing voice of Jeremy Irons in the "Majestic Plastic Bag" mockumentary, produced by the environmental group Heal the Bay. Are you?
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Miss. Court of Appeals Starts Tour; Taylor Swift Opening Rumor Unconfirmed
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Do you go to college in Mississippi? Do you like hearing lawyers blather on and on about obscure legal issues that likely have little if any relevance to you? Then you're in luck. Because the Mississippi Court of Appeals (pictured, left) is starting its Fall 2010 tour. The court has a program called "Court on the Road," pursuant to which it schedules oral arguments to take place at locations around the state. Over the next three months, arguments will be held at three Mississippi universities: "The court will convene special sessions at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena on Sept. 16, at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg on Sept. 30 and at Mississippi State University in Starkville on Nov. 18." Luckily, none of these universities have law schools, so it's unlikely participants will be embarrassed by some know-it-all 1L tweeting about counsel's misunderstanding of the finer points of the Mississippi mussel laws.
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