Legal Commentary

This year is just flying by... I'm realllllly happy to see the first hints of fall, as the humidity drops in NYC and it becomes wonderful again.

Here are a few items from the inbox:

? David Horrigan -- who manages to find some of the most interesting litigation (steady readers will recall his detailed coverage of the woes of Mr. Softee) -- wrote this recent article for The National Law Journal about a lawsuit filed in California by a disabled fan who argued that he is entitled to unobstructed views at NASCAR events. The appellate court agreed. The story was picked up by the gang over at the legal blogging team at The Wall Street Journal here.

? The American Bar Assn held its annual meeting here in NYC last month, and among the events was a session of the Scribes, a legal writers organization, who honored U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Here's West's blog about it, with video.

? Kudos to my alma mater: Also during the ABA meeting, the University of San Francisco Law School had a reception for its alum, where Dean Jeffrey Brand gave a very moving presentation about the school's continuing efforts to create a truly diverse student body -- with pretty breathtaking results. The 2007 entering class of 250 had 40% students of color -- 10% African American, 10% Hispanic, 16% Asian American, 4% other. Those are staggeringly high figures, and as a 1982 alumn, I am very proud of my law school.

Other stats tell of the challenges: Full time tuition next year will be $17,900. Nonetheless, there were 3,584 applications for 190 fulltime and 60 part time spots for the 2008 entering class. More info here.

? Henry Dicker and his team are already gearing up for LegalTech New York early next year, and are especially excited about a new feature that will launch -- the LegalTech Town Hall.
It will be lead by Patrick Oot -- Verizon's director of e-discovery and senior counsel. The idea is that LTNY attendees will be able to submit specific questions for the panel via video blog.
Patrick (a frequent speaker on LTN webinars and a member of LTN's edit board)  The session will be sponsored by Guidance Software and held Monday Feb 2 at 12:45, open to all attendees. More details will be coming soon -- you can check in at www.legaltechshow.com for updates.

Meanwhile, we're also planning a General Counsel Technology SuperSession -- produced by  Counsel Connect's editor Anthony Paonita and moi -- which we expect to record for my Law Technology Now podcasts -- after our huge success with the LegalTech West Coast FutureTech podcasts. Details TK here and on the LTNY site.

? Speaking of Anthony, he dropped by to tell me about a terrific website, www.flytecomm.com -- which tracks actual flight status. When his family was returning from Italy, and a bunch o' flights were delayed because of nasty thunderstorms, the website had more accurate arrival info than the airline staff. (Why am I not surprised?) FlyteTrax II combines graphics, maps and flight information to show enroute flights, weather and flight listings in one product. Individual flights can be tracked for free here.

? On the third anniversary of Katrina, my thoughts are not straying far from New Orleans today. I'm worried about my pals -- including Connie Nichols, Janine & Bruce Sylvas, Nancy Claypool, Tom O'Connor, Ernie Svenson, and Eric Barefield, the Brown family, et al. ? please stay safe and on high ground until Gustav fades. Let's hope Mother Nature is kind this week.