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Legal Commentary

The Legal Reader

A daily dose of links to interesting legal news and Other Fancy Stuff, live from San Francisco.

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Last Entry: April 15, 2010 at 18:31:32

Law Students Can Be Real Scumbags

Posted on April 15, 2010
The law school was evacuated today due to a fire alarm. I just got this email: As the building was being vacated this afternoon because of the fire alarms, two laptops were stolen from the Moot Court office. A third...

Lesbian Teens Told By School Officials To Go To The Prom With Guys

Posted on March 17, 2010
Kind of misses the point of being a lesbian, doesn?t it? School officials in a rural Mississippi county told a lesbian student to get "guys" to take her and her girlfriend to a high school prom and warned the girls...

What Would Jesus Do? Oppose Iqbal and Twombly, Apparently.

Posted on March 16, 2010
I have to agree that the ?vague and malleable? standards invite judges to substitute personal feelings for legal reasoning. Glad to see that there are some conservative groups out there who are working to repair the system. The conservative Alliance...

Lesbian Teen sues high school because it canceled her prom

Posted on March 14, 2010
I suspect this is going to end up on many final exams in Con Law next year? JACKSON, Miss. -- An 18-year-old lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to...

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Supreme Court Adopts The 'Nerve Center' Test

Posted on February 23, 2010
Civil Procedure textbooks across the country are now out of date. The Supreme Court overturned that decision, sending the case back to federal court. "We conclude that the phrase 'principal place of business' refers to the place where the corporation's...

Does 'No Drama, No Dicks, No Douchebags' hiring policy run afoul of any laws?

Posted on February 19, 2010
Personally, I?d love to read a lawsuit in which a plaintiff alleged he or she wasn?t hired for being a dick or a douchebag. As DICE is a business conference, Pitchford was also quite open about what's important to Gearbox...

Toyota's cars are perfectly safe – it's all just a big union and trial lawyer conspiracy

Posted on February 19, 2010
Hmmm.. Republican governor is facing a reelection. He defends a big corporation, and bashes unions and trial lawyers. No surprise there. Washington -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry defended Toyota Motor Corp., suggesting that "union activists" and others are pushing criticism...

Casting Call For Litigators Who Would Like To Blog

Posted on February 17, 2010
Are you too busy litigating to run your own blog, but you?d still like to write a blog post now and again? Then get in contact with me. I?m about to launch a blog written by and for litigators. Lawyers...

Are Juries Getting More Skeptical Due To The Recession

Posted on February 16, 2010
Quite possibly. "I think with what is going on in the country, there are a lot of angry people," said retired Broadway actor Sammy Williams. "Money is such an issue and to give money to someone for results of a...

The Prempro Video Wyeth Doesn't Want You To See

Posted on December 17, 2009
Apparently, Wyeth is asking a federal judge to order attorneys to remove this video from YouTube. After watching the video, I can see why Wyeth has its knickers in a twist: Kudos to the attorneys who produced this video. It?s...

Check Out My Most Popular Post

Posted on December 11, 2009
In this six years I?ve been blogging about the civil justice system, I?ve never written a post that has generated so much discussion in the blogosphere. Apparently, I tapped into a vein of hostility towards self-described social media experts. Here?s...

This is why you should hire a lawyer, not a law professor

Posted on December 09, 2009
Nesson may be a brilliant Harvard law professor, but it appears that he?s a piss-poor lawyer. Keep this in mind if you ever consider hiring a law professor to represent you in a case. That was the backdrop, but when...

$5 million dollar lawsuit against Burger King – over three text messages

Posted on December 09, 2009
First, read this, and then I?ll tell you what I hate: Espinal's contention: Burger King "caused actual harm" by harassing her with the "cryptic" messages, according the lawsuit. Espinal was "subjected to aggravation" and made to pay for receiving them...

The Government Requested GPS Info From Sprint Alone Over 8 Million Times IN A Year

Posted on December 03, 2009
That and other particularly interesting bits of information are available at the link below. Maybe we are living in a surveillance state? Cox Communications, the third largest cable provider in the United States, is the only company I've found that...

Congratulations to the Center for Justice & Democracy

Posted on December 01, 2009
Today I got a wonderful e-mail from Joanne Doroshow, the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Justice & Democracy. Joanne is on my short-list of heroes, so I?m extremely pleased to share the following news with you: CJ&D?s...

Exposing Hypocrites By Attempting to Ban Divorce – Thumbs Up

Posted on December 01, 2009
If you don?t support gay marriage, that?s fine. But don?t lie and say you oppose it because you want to protect marriage. If you really want to protect marriage, you?d be all over this attempt to ban divorce: In a...

Greedy Bastards Scuttle What Could Have Been The Ultimate Web Device

Posted on November 30, 2009
I?d have bought at least two of these. I sincerely hope that Arrington and the rest of the Crunch boys sue the ?shareholders? into oblivion. It was so close I could taste it. Two weeks ago we were ready to...

Judge punishes bank by canceling mortgage

Posted on November 27, 2009
Reading this article, I got the feeling that the bank wasn?t interested in working with the court, but instead wanted to have things done its way. Looks like the bank learned that the Judge is the boss. The judge concluded...

I don't often agree with Posner, but I don't want him dead. Unlike this nutjob

Posted on November 27, 2009
I?m sure some people will accuse me of being a liberal socialist Nazi communist dictator? but I just don?t think that death threats should be protected speech. "These Judges deserve to be killed," declared Harold "Hal" Turner on his Web...

Looks like the legal profession will have to deal with another group of people who shouldn't be lawyers

Posted on November 27, 2009
There are a lot of good reasons to be a lawyer, and even more bad reasons. One of the bad reasons is that you?re looking for a good job: The number of people taking the Law School Admission Test is...

Debt collectors lose First Amendment suit in Alaska

Posted on November 27, 2009
Can?t say I think they got a raw deal. Check out what they tried to get away with: Pepper filed a separate suit alleging the collection agency and law firm had violated the state Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA) by...

If you're a reporter covering a jury verdict, here's what you MUST do

Posted on November 27, 2009
If you?re a reporter writing a story about a big jury verdict, please don?t just describe the verdict as ?a 25 million dollar verdict? and say nothing more. Please, break down the award. For example: The $25 million dollar award...

Transportation Department Issues First Fine Ever For Runaway Delays

Posted on November 27, 2009
I?m presuming there is some sort of federal shield against suing the airlines for false imprisonment. If not, in the immortal words of Harvey Birdman, ?I?ll take the case!? (As soon as I?m licensed.) WASHINGTON ? The Transportation Department imposed...

Washington Supreme Court Upholds $8 Million Dollar Default Judgment For Discovery Abuse

Posted on November 27, 2009
Hyundai learned that ?trial courts need not tolerate deliberate and willful discovery abuse.? Let this be a lesson to lawyers of all stripes that withholding evidence is not good for your clients. OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court on...

$56 Million in medical expenses, $244 million in punitives in smoker case

Posted on November 21, 2009
The thing is that even without the punitives, if Philip Morris has to pay a few thousand awards like this, there won?t be anymore Philip Morris. Er, wait. There?s still a Johns Manville. Nevermind. Still, I dream of the day...

KBR uses a fine example of doublespeak

Posted on November 21, 2009
Check this out: KBR is ordered to pay $3 million dollars to an employee who was raped in Iraq. KBR disagrees with the ruling, but believes it was in the best interest of the parties. WTF? A nearly $3 million...

Live in Abilene, Texas (or Taylor County)? Then Vote For Randy Crownover for Judge

Posted on November 20, 2009
I can honestly say that I wouldn?t be in law school if not for Randy Crownover. I?ve known this man since I was 17 years old, and to say that he influenced my decision to become an attorney would be...

ABA To Offer Coverage Of Notable Appellate Decisions

Posted on November 20, 2009
Everyone and their illiterate brother who somehow got into law school covers Supreme Court cases. Now it looks like there will be some decent coverage of the lower appellate courts: Welcome to the new Media Alerts on Federal Courts of...

Accuracy and truth are not the same?

Posted on September 23, 2009
Well, I guess it?s better than just showing up to court and shrugging your shoulders, but this argument doesn?t persuade me. The prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office on Sept. 18 filed a motion for reconsideration in the case,...

Will Congress Undo The Supreme Court's Iqbal Decision?

Posted on September 21, 2009
We often hear a lot of complaints about ?judicial activism.? Definitions vary, but most would agree that it occurs when a judge or judges substitute their own judgment instead of the law. The Supreme Court?s Iqbal decision is a double...

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