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The Once and Future Lawyer

Observations from a 3L law student on the East Coast.

Post Frequency: 1.7/day

Last Entry: March 11, 2009 at 22:22:00

A quick entry on earmarks

Posted on March 11, 2009
I haven't posted much lately, mainly because I have been incredibly busy. I feel compelled to write something about earmarks though, if only to point out the absurdity of the coverage of this bill. Most Americans, myself included, have no understanding of how much much money is spent in the budget per year or how much it takes to actually get a budget passed...

Fun with Madoff

Posted on February 04, 2009
Harry Markopolos, the now famous whistle blower who attempted to blow the cover on the Madoff ponzi scheme, testified before Congress today. I tried to find the actual transcript of the testimony after hearing about it from some people at work, but no dice...

The Superbowl ads were super bad, but one online was pretty funny

Posted on February 01, 2009
For what turned out to be a great Superbowl game, the ads certainly were much more of a let down. I figured with the economy tanking there may be some funny ones that played on bailouts and what not, but they were plain terrible. If you missed them, Hulu has them online...

President Obama elected

Posted on January 20, 2009
I was able to watch part of the inauguration today. One thing I thought was good about the speech was that it attempted to inspire people to start setting goals and trying to unite together. And manage expectations, that's the big thing I got out of it...

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New season of 24: pass

Posted on January 12, 2009
As a followup to my post the other day, I did wind up watching most of the four hour season premiere of 24. I'm sure there will be some good episodes mixed in, but the plot isn't doing anything for me and I will not be watching any further episodes, except maybe the season finale depending on my schedule...

24 new season starts up

Posted on January 11, 2009
Although I have been fairly successful in limiting my television watching (or at least limiting the tivo to just a couple of shows), I think I'm going to go ahead and watch 24 tonight and then decide whether I want to keep watching it or just record it and watch it all at once in the summer...

NY Model wants to unmask anonymous commenter

Posted on January 07, 2009
A blogger called model Liskula Cohen a "skank" has decided that she wants to confront the person who hurled the insult under the guise of first amendment protection. See Model Liskula Cohen Sues Google Over Blogger's 'Skank' Comment. Apparently these posts came shortly after what amounted to a drunken brawl...

Thoughts after a month of online dating with match.com

Posted on January 05, 2009
Much of this sort of echoes my previous experiences with online dating, but it's changed somewhat since I'm not in school and I'm actually have a decent job, so I thought it worth writing some thoughts. Maybe someone with experience from the other side can chime in as well...

Uncle Scrooge decides to put a tax on air

Posted on December 16, 2008
This is just ridiculous: Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes new taxes, layoffs and cuts. This is the sort of progressive taxing plan that operates to hurt those not making those hefty six figure salaries. Taxes are going up on everything related to entertainment, junk food, travel, clothes, gas, and everything else...

A quick followup to the Dr Pepper and Chinese Democracy debacle

Posted on December 14, 2008
One additional post on this Dr Pepper deal that had good intentions but didn't quite have its intended effect (although given the publicity that was spawned as a result, I am inclined to think that the campaign was more successful than either camp lets on)...

More bailing out - but don't forget who is in charge of the country right now

Posted on December 08, 2008
I see that the Big 3 auto industry is on the verge of receiving a bailout. See Automaker Plan in Bush's Court. I'm not getting into the logistics of all of this, but merely point out two aspects of this that are troubling. First, although the "Big 3" auto players are in trouble, I fail to understand how their plight is such that they require government help when other auto manufacturers who also have plants in the US are not suffering...

Libel lawsuits continue

Posted on December 02, 2008
In another story about online gossip and those who get offended by it, I saw a headline that shows another person who has turned to the court system to stop the spread of internet libel. See Colorado Man Charged With Libel Over Craigslist Posts. I find this story particularly interesting in light of a recent comment posted in response to one of my former television stories...

Chinese Democracy, GNR, and Dr Pepper

Posted on December 02, 2008
Did you ever notice that Dr Pepper doesn't have the "." in Dr.? Besides this factoid, the long awaited promotion that the Dr Pepper soft drink company would give a free can of soda when Guns N' Roses would finally release their Chinese Democracy album has run into a bit of a snag...

Why serving as your own lawyer is generally a bad idea

Posted on November 25, 2008
This headline jumped out at me yesterday: More Americans Serving As Their Own Lawyers. Basically, it implies that in the midwest and other parts of the country, people are deciding to represent themselves in certain disputes, such as over custody and divorce...

24: Redemption thoughts

Posted on November 24, 2008
I did sit and watch the 24: Redemption preview yesterday. It was okay. I had heard that episode was supposed to be the start of last season (which got cut short) and they reworked it so they could essentially start over when the new season starts in January...

These pirates are making me thirsty...for some naval warfare

Posted on November 18, 2008
Here's a simple observation in light of these pirates attacking every boat on the other side of the atlantic. Cut your losses and sink their ships! They are on boats, which should be just as sinkable as the Titanic. The British have started to fight back; my lack of foreign policy experience doesn't provide me with any reason why we (or Russia, or whoever else) can't do the same...

Incredibly long days and another attempt at online dating

Posted on November 17, 2008
November is not even half over and I have already billed an inordinate number of hours this month. Who says a recession is bad for lawyers? Not I.As a result of work, I must say that my social life has taken a bit of a nosedive, particularly because I wind up getting done work late and am often too tired to go out except on weekends...

Money found in walls and the legal battle that ensued

Posted on November 09, 2008
This article was all over the news yesterday and merits a brief discussion, if only for the humor of it. See Finding Cash in Walls, and Reaping Grief. A contractor found $182,000 hidden in a wall of a house he was working on. Since that's a lot of money to hide from the government, he decided to do the right thing and tell the owner, with the expectation of getting the equivalent of a "finders keepers, losers weepers" fee...

Obama wins and the sun still came up today

Posted on November 05, 2008
Well, the world didn't end. I think the breadth of Obama's win is going to be good for this country. For those who are disappointed, McCain's comments in his concession speech should be taken to heart: "I urge all Americans . . . who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited...

Vote cast

Posted on November 04, 2008
Although I recognize generally the idea that voting is an irrational practice, I still did my civic duty this morning and cast my vote. Now I will sit and watch the returns come in and watch this three-ring circus finally come to an end.

With less than a week to go before the election, is there any reason to believe any smear ad at this point?

Posted on October 30, 2008
The answer to the question posed by my post topic (With less than a week to go before the election, is there any reason to believe any smear ad at this point?), the answer is no. Like the bottom of the ninth or the late fourth quarter of a football game, the advertisements for both campaigns at this point are really just a hail mary to try and get through the campaign noise...

Concurring Opinions posts the Berg opinion

Posted on October 27, 2008
I haven't had time to read through it yet, and I will decide whether I need to chime in and post any thoughts that contribute to a more intelligent discourse later. Rather than post the direct link to the PDF, I will simply post to the entry on the Concurring Opinions blog, which has the link to it: See Dave Hoffman, Berg v...

Little known news blip, but interesting nonetheless

Posted on October 26, 2008
I saw that the Obama-Berg lawsuit got dismissed and commented on that on that entry. This was an interesting news story that is likely to be overlooked: Charles Fried, a well-known conservative lawyer and con law professor, announced that he endorsed Obama...

A point about red states & blue states

Posted on October 25, 2008
I was speaking with one of my friend's dad's over the weekend and he made a good point about this connotation about red states and blue states. His point was that not even 15 years ago, if you referred to something as "red" it was associated with Communism...

This concept of billing time

Posted on October 23, 2008
Billing time reminds me of this quote from William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury (book available here), which I last read in high school:Time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life...

National polling data sites analyzed

Posted on October 21, 2008
Because I am a news junkee in some respects, but one who tries to find the middle ground in reporting through a series of balancing acts, I am always on the lookout for what could be correct or indicative polling data. For the past few weeks, I have focused much of my attention on the Real Clear Politics poll and Rasmussen's data...

Why is it so unamerican to have negotiated a good contract for yourself?

Posted on October 20, 2008
What I would really like to write about is Gen. Powell's endorsement of Sen. Obama and why his comments lay out, quite intelligently, at least three specific reasons why his support, despite being a Republican, is behind the distinguished gentleman from Illinois...

Two funny internet videos

Posted on October 19, 2008
I rarely post links to videos, but these two were particularly funny. I'm not sure how long either of them will be available, but I'm sure they will make their way onto YouTube or something like that. The first is one of a wedding where the best man trips and knocks the bride into a pool...

Is Joe the Plumber going to become the catalyst symbol of the average joe? I don't think so

Posted on October 18, 2008
Just a quick thought on this Joe the Plumber story and I will be more consistent in tying legal thoughts to some of these rather juicy legal news bits as of late.When I heard the Joe the Plumber story break, I thought Obama's choice of phrasing was a little off...

Some thoughts on big government

Posted on October 09, 2008
For a quick jump at humor, I note that I still am getting humorous comments to my thoughts on this Obama citizenship lawsuit. Today's thoughts, however, turn back to the economy for a moment.Last week the Congress passed, and the President signed into law a massive "bailout" (or "rescue", depending on how you spin it) plan to save the planet, or economy, if you will...

Things for a clerk to negotiate when weighing their post-clerkship options

Posted on October 08, 2008
Obviously there are a lot of things to consider after you have your post-clerkship job lined up, but here are two to give serious thought to: start date and payment of the clerkship bonus (if any). Most of the clerks I know were able to get a start date sometime 4-6-8 weeks after the end of the clerkship and probably 3/4 were able to get their clerkship bonus either in full or in part upon completion of their clerkship...

The VP Debate, or why the cable media is continuing to distort common perceptions

Posted on October 03, 2008
I watched the debate with some moderate interest last night, not because it was a debate between the vice presidential candidates, but because it was the first and only live uninterrupted and unedited coverage of the choices the candidates had made. After the first twenty minutes of the debate, it became clear (to me anyway) that the Democrats have the stronger ticket by far...

Is the media being too hard on Palin? Or being less hard on McCain?

Posted on October 02, 2008
Certainly, this debate is going to be heavily scrutinized and spun in ten different directions for the next few days, if not the next month. Setting aside any worthless speculation on that issue, I think I have figured out at least one underlying reason why Gov...

A little jetlagged, and financially stable...for now

Posted on September 30, 2008
Luckily for me (and most other recent law school graduates), my debt far outweighs whatever losses I may or may not have taken in the stock market's latest see-saw (or dead cat) bouncing. Anyone who graduated from professional school in the last three years will likely still be working in a decade, so it's not going to be too bad in the long run (fingers crossed)...

A quick point from an airplane terminal regarding this bailout plan

Posted on September 29, 2008
I only have a few minutes between flights, and I must admit that I could not have picked a worse week to stop watching the news for the last of my pre-work vacations, but I am torn between whether this bailout plan passing or not passing is a good thing...

Maybe it's time for another New Deal

Posted on September 18, 2008
I do have some thoughts on this Palin email hacking debacle, as well as a growing concern that legislative subpoenas (e.g., Rove, Palin's husband) have absolutely zero power, which seems troubling. In the meantime, however, I will simply comment on the recent financial whiplash experienced by our economy...

Berg v Obama citizenship TRO lawsuit

Posted on September 08, 2008
Someone asked me whether I had heard about this lawsuit over Sen. Obama's citizenship. I told him I hadn't, but that it was unlikely to go anywhere in any court for lack of standing. Because this news story has some legal crossover, however, I figured I would get a more informed opinion over it...

Soon off to vacation, but first, a comment equating Gov. Palin to the Miers selection choice

Posted on September 02, 2008
I am not going to wade into these political waters at this time, mainly because I am going to get away for awhile and will be away from the internet. But with John McCain's selection of relatively novice governor Sarah Palin, it instantly reminded me of when President Bush selected White House counsel Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court...

One week to go in clerkship

Posted on August 25, 2008
I have only a few things left to do on my list of things that need to be done by Thursday or Friday, so it certainly continues to be busy as I get things ready for my replacement. And with Biden getting the surprise (sort of) nod for vice president, the news has been filled with plenty of things to keep me busy...

Less than two weeks to go, and probably less if i use the last of my vacation time

Posted on August 19, 2008
It has been incredibly busy, which I still think is kind of odd, but mainly because I have been trapped with the school mentality that August is the end of summer where everything is comfortably slow, and I guess I'm just going to have to get used to the fact that the answer is "not necessarily...

Right to privacy and strict constructionism

Posted on August 16, 2008
Sadly, I am doing work on a Saturday night with two weeks to go in the clerkship. In the background, I am listening to Pastor Rick Warren attempt to grill the candidates on various "hot button issues" at the Saddleback Civil Forum. See Obama and McCain Try to Woo Conservative Voters at Forum; McCain and Obama cite moral failures; O...

Olympic glory

Posted on August 16, 2008
Despite what I said earlier regarding the Olympics, and the various oddities that have emerged with the coverage (the lipsynching girl, the children used in the opening ceremony, the potentially forged passports of the gymnasts, among others), I have been watching most of the events at night, which has been taking a surprising amount of time...

The site that purports to invite people to litigate

Posted on August 07, 2008
There are so many more pressing issues to write about, but I wanted to take a few minutes and write about this "who can you sue" website that has been over the news lately. I may have written about this idea earlier in the year, but my point with this report and "service" is more in what it does than what it does not...

Less than a month of the clerkship to go

Posted on August 05, 2008
With what little time I have left in my clerkship, I must confess that I am going to miss it. I certainly recommend it to anyone, and I believe it's reasonable to assume that anyone who took a clerkship would agree that it's a wonderful experience. I've written about clerking a few times over the past few months, so here are some more thoughts about it...

Too fit to be president? Has our country become this lazy or has the media through its 24-7 coverage?

Posted on August 01, 2008
This headline makes the article almost worth reading for its ridiculousness. See WSJ's Too Fit to Be President? Facing an overweight electorate, Barack Obama might find low body fat a drawback. Now there have been some poorly marketed commercials coming out of both sides lately, and the only effect it is having is on the mental acuity of the nation...

Cell Phone Termination Fees Illegal under California Law

Posted on July 31, 2008
I haven't read the case, nor will I have time to, but I saw a headline that sparked at least enough interest to read the article. See California Judge: Sprint's Early Termination Fees Illegal. I'm sure this will make for a much more interesting read on appeal (assuming they don't reach some settlement, which is equally likely), but the gist of it is that the contracts that basically put a $150-200 termination fee if you decide to get out of your cell phone contract early violate a California unfair practices law...

The Chinese Olympics

Posted on July 29, 2008
I can't say I'm overly excited about the Olympics. I should be, but I'm not. I have noticed, however, that there is much more news about the weather conditions and press access than the athletes themselves. Maybe that's part of it. At least the world will get a peek at the emerging Chinese market and see exactly what all the fuss is about...

Ah, the joy of not having to take a bar exam

Posted on July 29, 2008
A great many people across the country are sitting down over the next two or three days and taking the bar exam. I wish them well, and I will temporarily rest on my laurels because thankfully, I am not in the same boat.

YouTube Divorce case ends rather abruptly

Posted on July 26, 2008
I followed this only in passing and only to the extent that it emphasizes my disinterest in family law. Nonetheless, I saw that the husband who was vilified by his ex-wife on YouTube was the victor in their divorce proceeding. While her rant became national headlines and entertainment news fodder, in the end, the neutrality of the law and the prenup did her in...

Web networking photos and the effect on litigation strategy

Posted on July 22, 2008
This headline jumped out at me the other day. See Eric Tucker, Web Networking Photos Come Back to Bite Defendants. Basically, these pictures are being used as evidence in various trials (likely personal injury cases) and, at least in my take of the article, are invoking from the jury (or better, the judge at sentencing) the opposite of what the defense is trying to portray: antipathy...

Batman Dark Knight movie review

Posted on July 19, 2008
I saw the new Batman movie, and I'll say it was pretty good. Kind of long for me and (notwithstanding the suspension of belief already required), some of the storylines were pretty out there (sneaking an airplane into Hong Kong, for example, to extradite a foreign national)...

JibJab posts a new ad

Posted on July 16, 2008
As any reader of this blog can figure out after a few entries, I appreciate intelligent humor above most other things that make me laugh (although I freely admit that I find many more things funny now than I did a few years ago). I speculated last year on the growth of user-generated content on the internet and its effect on political campaigns and the public generally...

Texas Joe Horn's "make my day" killing

Posted on July 08, 2008
I've only paid loose attention to this news story other than to get the gist of it. I see it now as an issue of "good state, bad state" (which varies depending on who you are talking to), but more of an issue of individual state rights. For context of my entry, see Commentary: Was Burglary Worth Killing 2 Men?, Texas Law Helped Clear Man in Prowler Shooting; Discussion from Anderson 360 with Jeff Toobin on the case; Texas Man Cleared of Shooting Suspected Burglars...

Hancock movie review: Worth seeing, not only for its originality, but for its entertainment value

Posted on July 05, 2008
I saw the movie Hancock this weekend and since I am taking it easy tonight, I thought I would give a quick review as to why I think it's one of the better movies I have seen in a while. Credit to Will Smith for picking another great movie.Admittedly, the reviews I had read made this movie out to be sort of a let down...

Pundits with Law degrees - there are only two!

Posted on June 26, 2008
Having watched the news in the background to some briefing I feel compelled to work on, I am surprised by the number of people who can speak intelligently in such stark contrast to the Supreme Court's gun ban decision, which came out a mere twelve hours ago...

Locks, Stocks, and Two Smoking Barrels

Posted on June 26, 2008
Between guns and oil/stocks, today was a pretty impressive day. I have only begun to wade through this gargantuan opinion, and will likely just skim it because it is unlikely that I will be working on anything over the next two months that will be affected by this ruling (one would hope)...

DC Gun ban/second amendment case out shortly

Posted on June 26, 2008
As the world will soon find out, the so-called "DC Gun ban case" is due out today. See SCOTUS; Washington Post Supreme Court Blog. I, for one, am interested to see how it will be reconciled within the strict constructionist theory. Some initial (and incomplete) thoughts were posted in March...

Failing grades blamed on Wikipedia instead of at themselves

Posted on June 22, 2008
According to a recent headline that caught my attention, Failing Exam Passes Blamed on Wikipedia 'Littered with Inaccuracies.'. Without reading anything in the article, I am inclined to think that the online encyclopedia isn't to blame for the bad grades, just the person stupid enough to use it...

West should move to a CD/DVD system for its hard copies

Posted on June 18, 2008
Regional reporters sure take up a lot of space, don't they? And in today's cost and affordable prices for both online research services, it seems odd that the regional reporters continue to pump out book after book, practically on a biweekly basis. Here's a thought? Why not put the all the regional reporters on a 1 or 2 DVD set, containing folders of the PDFs? And since most people print from the online systems anyway, you'd probably have as many people copy the DVDs as you would those who copy the books in lieu of printing from online...

What's an 8 letter word for what happens when a jury plays sudoko during a trial

Posted on June 11, 2008
This little noticed headline caught my attention earlier today. Apparently, one of the attorneys during a trial noticed a few of the jury members writing vertically instead of horizontally. Notwithstanding how that can be noticed, it turns out that five of the jury had decided that finishing their Sudoku puzzles (and some crossword puzzles) was more important than paying attention to the trial...

A way to change oil prices without reaching into the pockets of big oil and business

Posted on June 10, 2008
I will refrain from publishing my thoughts on the economic policies of Senators McCain and Obama for a little while longer since the jury is still out on which plan is actually productive and which is full of air. In the meantime, permit me to offer an idea into the internet discourse on how the Republicans and Democrats over on Capitol Hill can do something to help out the middle class in this growing gas crisis...

New Indiana Jones Movie - mildly entertaining, but not worth the $10

Posted on June 08, 2008
I finally got around to seeing the new Indiana Jones movie this weekend. I had heard from initial reviews that it was okay, and even from a couple of my friends that it was entertaining, and I figured, "hey, it's Indiana Jones, of course I'm going to go see it in the theater...

Justice O'Connor lends her name to an online civics program for middle schoolers

Posted on June 05, 2008
Personally, I think this is a great idea. Justice O'Connor is colloborating with James Paul Gee, a professor at Georgetown on Our Courts, "an upcoming online learning program for middle school students." See G4C: Justice O'Connor Talks Our Courts Learning Game; Retired Justice Developing Online Civics Lessons; ASU Law school press release...

Fantasy football owners can breath a sigh of relief, for now

Posted on June 02, 2008
As I mentioned last week, there appeared to be some truth to this fantasy sports case being challenged in the federal courts and teed up for the United States Supreme Court to take. The Supreme Court, however, thought otherwise and denied cert in the case...

Texas Supreme Court agrees that the police needed more to enter the polygamist compound

Posted on May 29, 2008
I still have not followed this case any more than I did when the story first broke any more than reading the headlines. I saw that the Texas Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeals decision, which had held that the removal of the children from the compound was unwarranted...

If the Clinton campaign was a public corporation, there would be multiple shareholder derivative suits

Posted on May 26, 2008
I have to confess that I was offended by Clinton's most recent remarks, which admittedly, have been blown out of context. I have no reason to be offended by them, but they were just stupid. I accept that it may have been a misstatement, and I also accept that similar statements were (largely) ignored by the press when put in a press article earlier in March...

American Airlines attempts to show that it's not going bankrupt by gouging passengers who wear excessive amounts of clothing, such as shirts

Posted on May 22, 2008
In the world of the ridiculous, American Airlines has decided that charging an extra $25 for a second checked bag is not enough to save them from inevitable bankruptcy and government takeover. In a rather pathetic attempt to "save money," the company has decided that if you check ANY bag, you're going to tip them $25 for the pleasure of doing so...

Paper money discriminates against blind

Posted on May 20, 2008
Well, I'm not going to comment on this too much other than to speculate that this sort of suit (a 2-1 D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision) will certainly be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court at some point. See Paper Money Discriminates Against Blind; Court Rules U...

Myspace suicides and same-sex marriages - and you thought the subway series was something to chatter about

Posted on May 15, 2008
Not that I have been following this case beyond the headlines, but I saw that the mother in this MySpace case where the mother posed as a 16-year old boy to pretend to be in love with a girl, which led eventually to the girl comitting suicide. See Mom indicted in deadly MySpace hoax...

Any former basketball player realizes the point when the game is over, so why can't Clinton do the same?

Posted on May 06, 2008
As promised, I have not bothered to spend much time thinking about this election since my numbers suggested that the delegate game and debate over who has a better shot of beating McCain has long been over. (I also note that at least one website has come up with similar projection numbers without any credit to anyone...

Clerk bluebooking

Posted on May 06, 2008
What is interesting, at least to me (and only to a certain degree) is how different some of my co-clerks' styles are when it comes to the bluebook. Obviously it controls, but there are certainly liberties taken sometimes with how short cites, reference cites, books, typeface, parentheticals, etc...

The Volokh Conspiracy almost has the correct plot script for Supreme Courtships

Posted on May 03, 2008
I saw on Above the Law a thread on Supreme Courtships, the show apparently about the lives and melodrama of this particular subset of clerks. I have written about this show twice before, including the pilot plot. See Fox Greenlights Supreme Courtships and Firms Bump to $35k and The Supreme Courtships Pilot Spoilers...

Last night's Lost episode - best one this season

Posted on May 02, 2008
I haven't said much about Lost this season, not because I haven't been watching it, but because it just hasn't been that good. Last week's episode, The Shape of Things to Come, was decent, but overall bad (I thought). Last night's episode, however, Something Nice Back Home, started bridging a lot of these gaps that have been created in this season...

Spitzer call girl sues 'Girls Gone Wild' and thinks she has a better chance than the Borat Frat Boys

Posted on April 29, 2008
Here's a quick morning headline sure to get a laugh: Spitzer call girl sues 'Girls Gone Wild.'. A few weeks ago, when 'Hookergate' was all the news in NY, there was some talk of having this call girl pose nude for 'Girls Gone Wild.' But, upon doing a little internal due dilligence, it turned out she had already posed...

A look at the law and salaries from October 1996

Posted on April 27, 2008
I was doing some spring cleaning today and came across an article from the Oct. 28, 1996 edition of US News & World Reports (pp. 89-99). The article was the "20 Hot Job Tracks" and basically outlined what jobs were hot and up and coming. While I can't imagine the actual reasons I saved this article (other than it probably had something to do with my pending college plans and having no real idea of what I wanted to do), the article has a certain nostalgic quality to it now, and warrants brief discussion...

High school skipping to meet a presidential candidate costs him his presidency

Posted on April 23, 2008
A rather simple observation on a rather silly story that was on the news today. Apparently a couple of high school seniors caught wind that Senator Obama was taking a pit stop near the high school and two of these guys decided to cut class to run out and meet him...

American Idol jumps his contract

Posted on April 22, 2008
I saw this the other day online and thought to myself, "now, I can't imagine his American Idol contract allows him to do that." And sure enough, it does not. See American Idol's David Cook's digital MP3 album yanked from Amazon. The gist of what happened was that this kid David Cook (who is probably going to finish in the top 2 or 3 of this year's poorly rated contest) decided that he didn't want to go through the proper channels and make a quick buck by releasing some tunes through another vendor seemingly unaffiliated with American Idol...

Texas polygamy and the family lawyers/judges that are fixing their coffee right now

Posted on April 17, 2008
I make this note only in passing because I have a couple of friends who are involved in the family court system either as lawyers or clerks. Supposedly, or at least according to the attorneys I have spoken to, at some point in one's legal career, one crosses paths with the wonderful world of family law...

The Sky is Falling and NASA gets into a pissing match with a 13 year old

Posted on April 16, 2008
I just saw this story this morning and since I vaguely remember reading something about this a few years and again a few months ago, thought I would click on it. Supposedly, an asteroid is projected to come within a few thousand miles (which is close, relatively speaking) of Earth in about 20 or 30 years...

Headlines are good at being poorly misleading

Posted on April 14, 2008
I have many more fun things to discuss, based in part on the nice weather and my past and pending travel plans, but for now I'll simply chime in on yet another example of bad reporting, or at least "bad headlining." I only clicked on it because it seemed to be legally related and did not make any sense, and when I read through the article, saw that it made perfect sense and the headline was merely sensational gobbledegook...

AA starts to fly south, will dissenting shareholders skybus back?

Posted on April 09, 2008
I have no idea whether AA is publicly or privately owned, but with all of Wall Street shaking on Bear Stearns, subprime mortgages and other messes, I can only imagine the types of litigation brewing in the airline industry (and particularly AA given that flights are being cancelled left and right)...

Fancast - probably the best current source for online television - and it's legal

Posted on April 07, 2008
I came across this site today and must provide a slightly unusual free bit of advertising for the service. The site is Fancast, and while it apparently is some subsidiary of Comcast, it has worked out licensing agreements with a bunch of shows, essentially allowing one to watch entire seasons of current and old shows as if you are watching them from the actual network website...

Conclusions of Match.com part deux: Still not worth the money

Posted on April 07, 2008
My second attempt at Match.com, this time as an entry-level employee as compared to as a student had much less success. My conclusions as to why are strewn throughout this entry, but essentially echo those found in these other sites: Match.com sucks for the professional type, if there is such a thing...

Attorneys generally are quite ready to pump themselves up

Posted on April 06, 2008
I do have more relevant and timely topics to talk about, I just have to get the time to talk about them. I have noticed, however, that many attorneys, upon finding out that you are (a) either a law clerk, (b) have worked as a clerk, (c) have an interest in law, or (d) have ears, are more than willing to monopolize a conversation about themselves and their accomplishments...

Some april fools day humor

Posted on April 01, 2008
I am tempted to weigh in on a couple of more timely stories, but at least one of them may wind up in front of me at some point in the next month or so, so I'll simply state that the clerkship work I have been getting lately has been quite satisfactory and interesting, on a multitude of levels...

Lighting system during oral arguments: Red means stop, just like when you're driving

Posted on March 27, 2008
I am constantly surprised by the number of lawyers who don't understand the lighting system the court uses during oral arguments. Green means go, yellow means you are in your reserve time and red means stop. I have no reason to believe this isn't the same everywhere...

Finally, the Sirius-XM merger is approved

Posted on March 24, 2008
There are plenty more interesting things to write about, such as the ongoing battle against anonymity in the AutoAdmit AK47 case, a similarly related issue with the JuicyCampus.com gossip site, and a tenuously related issue from the 7th Circuit (Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc...

Supreme Court to hear gun ban case today

Posted on March 18, 2008
I admit that I haven't followed this case too closely other to hear the generalities that it involves the Second Amendment. Nevertheless, the D.C. Gun Ban case is to be argued today and will undoubtedly spark controversy for everybody no matter what the court decides...

Westlaw's green "c" misleading

Posted on March 18, 2008
This is just a quick gripe about Westlaw. Sometime in the past few months (or at least I've started to notice it, maybe it's been around for a while), Westlaw has begun using its green "C" for "C"ite (meaning something has cited to that case or statute) whenever a party has a brief that cites to the case...

Spam keeps getting more clever - "final verification of email account" is as real as the african lottery

Posted on March 14, 2008
Most of my spam gets filtered away without a second glance except to see the ridiculousness of the subject lines. In this case, I've seen one that is pretty clever (and relatively new), but obviously fake. As with any other spam emails that ask for your username and password, use your common sense and delete it...

Kentucky tries to stop anonymity on the internet: good luck enforcing that one

Posted on March 11, 2008
Notwithstanding the unlikelihood that this sort of bill would ever pass a state legislature and be signed into law, lawmakers in Kentucky attempted to throw a punch at virtual bullies by requiring "anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site...

Once again a celebrity death emphasizes the need for estate planning

Posted on March 10, 2008
It's no wonder that estate planning/wills/trusts is such a lucrative practice for lawyers interested in it. While I can't speak to Australian law, I would think that its premises regarding "unborn heirs" is consistently the same as in New York or any other state for that matter...

Why Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Virginia are, almost atypically, the key to this election - some final thoughts about the 2008 election

Posted on March 09, 2008
Let's talk about numbers. It takes 270 points to win the presidential election. Bigger states have more points, but in the end, it's just a numbers game. So who has the easiest road to get to 270? My research, explained below, suggests that Obama can easily get to 270 against McCain, whereas Clinton can, but it will certainly be a harder battle, in over a dozen states, and if the Dems still want to try and duke out Florida and Michigan, the money is probably going to become a bigger issue in the next couple months...

Finally this election nonsense will be over (hopefully)

Posted on March 04, 2008
I was joking with one of the other clerks that maybe tomorrow the news will have something other to talk about besides who will win the primaries. The response? Perhaps, but then the next few months will be speculation about who will be the VP and who should win between the R's and the D's...

Some facts you need to know about NY and a top 10 list of interviewing tips

Posted on March 04, 2008
Apparently, some of the questions asked during the interview prior to the NY bar swearing in ceremony are quite unceremonious. The best one I heard about started off with the interviewer asking whether they understood that the NY court system is opposite that of nearly everywhere else, mainly because the trial court is the "supreme court" and has "justices" whereas the highest court is the "court of appeals" and has "judges...

Chinese takeout at the airport: A safe bet except at DFW

Posted on March 03, 2008
After a brief hiatus to the middle part of the country, I have returned reinvigorated to the east coast for the remainder of the six months I have left in my clerkship (entry about that to come later this week). There is much to write about, however, I will need to gather my thoughts for dramatic effect and more cohesive commentary...

Attorney frustration

Posted on February 26, 2008
Sometimes, and without tipping any cards or hands, I read some of these attorney briefs and wonder what are these people thinking? Granted, while some, if not a majority of the briefs we receive are written very well, every so often we get some that make me wonder how these attorneys can, with a straight face, argue that Case X says Y (when it clearly says Z)...

Myspace friend request violates protective order

Posted on February 24, 2008
This was a pretty neat news snippet I saw the other day. In an interesting case that is sure to cause Family Courts around the country to start giving this issue some thought, a New York judge recently decided that a Myspace "friend request" could violate a TRO or temporary restraining/protection order...

Frozen in Time Prank

Posted on February 24, 2008
I heard about this the other day and the prank, if that's really what you can call it, is visually impressive. Basically a large group of 200+ people walked into Grand Central Station and decided to "freeze" themselves in place for five minutes. As you can see by the videos, the effect is pretty neat...

Opinions left and right

Posted on February 22, 2008
I've been pretty busy working on several things lately. One I worked on recently even got mentioned in a major metropolitan newspaper, so that was a feather in the cap, so to speak. I still am gathering my thoughts now that I'm over the six month hump, so maybe I'll have time next week to pontificate about that...

Fun with Photoshop: Clinton/Obama photo contrast on Drudge today

Posted on February 20, 2008
Since part of my pre-law career path familiarized myself with the intricacies of Photoshop, I was somewhat surprised to see how the photo journalists who are editing their various candidate photos have continued to push a less than neutral agenda to the internet public and, through a simple edit, turned what was probably an ordinary photo of Clinton into something that looks like something out of the American Idol rejection pile...

Phillies Pitcher Punk'd: Ashton Kutcher files suit for copyright infringement

Posted on February 18, 2008
The internet news report tells of a horseplay practical joke that is sure to raise legal eyebrows involving copyrighted materials, trademark infringement, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Apparently, spring training has reached a fever pitch for the Phillies pitching staff as the right handers have aligned against the southpaws and orchestrated an elaborate prank against Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick...

A review of news reveals who the news currently favors: Obama v. McCain

Posted on February 17, 2008
A week ago, I said I would keep track of news headlines from the major news organizations and see if there is any sort of pattern which could prove my hypothesis whether the media is in fact biased, and if so, for whom? My answer, at least as it is based on my notes of the headlines (pasted below), is that most of the major news organizations are prone to write with pro-Democrat headlines and, in part because the momentum is on Obama's side right now, are either pro-Obama or against-Hillary...

All this call for change - aren't the candidates capable of doing this now as senators?

Posted on February 14, 2008
The other night on one of the channels, I heard Former Speaker Newt Gingrich remark that any of the three candidates could walk the walk right now in Congress in their positions as Senators. Of course, since Obama and Clinton are far junior to McCain, he implied that really only McCain could gain from this, and in reality, probably had more to lose by trying...

Jericho returns tonight

Posted on February 12, 2008
Although the writers strike has left me watching very few shows, one that will be watched by me (live tonight, and in most other cases, probably on the internet because 10 is past my bedtime) is Jericho. As I pointed out last year, this show has some interesting points, and since I've invested so much time into so far, I figure why not go for eight more episodes and see how it ends...

How quickly the news reports

Posted on February 12, 2008
As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm saving my results based on my online news reporting article until Sunday. In checking out tonight's headlines, however, I saw that the VA polls closed at 7. Since it's a little after 7 now, I figured that it would take a few minutes (at least) before a "winner" could be reported...

Price of stamps going up again? Don't run out and buy liberty stamps just yet

Posted on February 11, 2008
Once again, the price of stamps is going up, which will cause a lot of grumbling at the 1 cent stamp line, but is really not that big a deal (not that I'm not complaining about it). See Stamps to Cost a Penny More. It hasn't even been a year since they went up to 41 cents...

Media momentum and all eyes are on Clinton

Posted on February 10, 2008
I don't think it's any secret that the media is pretty biased (or at least my perception of them is pretty biased). Since I'm always trying to stay informed, I've been struggling lately with the media, much to the point that I'm about ready to disconnect my cable and rely solely on the internet and online television media (for the few remaining shows I watch anymore)...

Chinese democracy? Maybe in 2009 - athletes conform, or else

Posted on February 10, 2008
Just a quick note since I'm in the middle of finishing up a major brief reading session and needed a quick internet fix. I'll save my comments for the 2008 Beijing Olympics for when they get closer, but I saw on the Drudge wire that the Chinese government has required athletes not to comment about the Chinese society while they are over there...

ebay seller fees

Posted on February 10, 2008
Because I really only have time to use ebay in the summer (and starting even earlier this year because my pmbr and barbri books have nearly gathered enough dust in my room), I haven't had time to digest the change of fees/feedback process that CNN has been reporting about...

Supreme Court candidates

Posted on February 09, 2008
I saw on WSJ online that there is already talk about the new makeup of the Supreme Court depending on who the next president is. See McCain and the Supreme Court. See also The Supreme Court and Public Opinion: Will They Soon Diverge, if a Democrat is Elected...

First Pete, then Repeat - Or When the steam of a campaign pot started boiling way earlier than expected

Posted on February 08, 2008
I saw just now that the media tide against Clinton has turned even further as now the Washington Post agrees with my earlier prediction that the Republican machine will fare far better against Hillary than against Obama. See George F. Will, Democrats Living Dangerously: Early Voting Insanity and a GOP Gift...

Nebraska Supreme Court weighs in on death penalty - so long old sparky

Posted on February 08, 2008
The Supreme Court of Nebraska, in an convoluted state constitutional grounds argument, has given the United States Supreme Court some more secondary sources to churn through in their current death penalty case. See Nebraska Court Bans the Electric Chair...

ABC's Eli Stone thoughts - this show sucks and don't waste your time

Posted on February 07, 2008
I haven't seen more than 15 minutes of this show Eli Stone, but that is plenty enough to say that I can't really keep watching it - the premise is okay, barely, but I just can't suspend disbelief that a first year associate would be allowed to say anything in a meeting, let alone speak over a senior associate during a settlement negotiation...

New car gets 300 mpg...for $30,000

Posted on February 07, 2008
There are several things that I saw on the news today - this little piece is the most interesting and I can save the others to discuss either after Lost or sometime over the weekend. On the radio this morning, I heard that a car is slated to come out next year that gets a whopping 300 MPG for a little more than a luxury sedan cost of $30,000...

As predicted, Super Tuesday results in a super disappointment depending on who you talk to

Posted on February 06, 2008
I see that the Washington Times has picked up on a comment that was discussed briefly a few weeks ago in response to my post about a theoretically united Democratic ticket consisting of Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama. See Hillary the Lesser Threat to McCain...

All this election coverage reminds me of one of the greatest Simpson's quotes ever

Posted on February 05, 2008
As Marty McFly said in Back to the Future, "this is an oldie but a goodie." The incessant election coverage tonight reminded me of a great Simpsons quote (from Treehouse of Horror VII):Homer: America, take a good look at your beloved candidates. They're nothing but hideous space reptiles...

Superbowl nearly a super disappointment

Posted on February 04, 2008
A couple thoughts and then I have to work on an opinion. Well, for 56 minutes or so, last night's game was quite possibly the most boring one ever. And, in a span of about 50 seconds, the Giants relegated the Patriots to a footnote in football history and left Miami as the only truly undefeated team in football history...

LSAT correlation with law school performance and legal work = zero

Posted on February 04, 2008
One of my friends from high school has decided that law school may be worth the effort, despite my suggestions that he give it considerable consideration. Nevertheless, he told me a bit about his LSAT experience this past weekend, which brought up some humorous memories...

Internet outage equals less spam?

Posted on January 31, 2008
Although I rarely post from work, because I know I'm not going to be on the internet for a few days, due in part to the season premiere of Lost and my weekend plans (and the Superbowl, of course), I thought I would chime in with this latest report that came across the CNN wire...

And after all this hype, now you can download music all you want?

Posted on January 29, 2008
I don't have time to write on this right now, but I saw this article the other day and wonder how in the world this happened. See From Today, Feel Free to Download Another 25 Million Songs - Legally. Interesting. I wonder how artists will make any money from this one...

Some strategery in light of the pending Super Tuesday

Posted on January 28, 2008
Here are some of my thoughts regarding the upcoming "super" primary event, esp. since Sen. Kennedy put the smackdown on Billary over the weekend. Some of my less humorous remarks are repeats from my entry last week; a little is new. The way I see things playing out at this point is that McCain is going to win the Republican primary...

Law clerks and internet dating

Posted on January 27, 2008
By coincidence and not by New Years resolution, I signed up for a three month long Match.com account earlier this month. I'll save my comments for intra-office clerk dating for another day. Here are my initial and brief thoughts, since I have to go into work to do some stuff and I am delaying that as much as I can today...

Bought a diamond ring from 1994-2006? Get some money back

Posted on January 24, 2008
This was an interesting piece of news that seems to have flown under the radar. DeBeers is settling a lawsuit regarding their monopoly on the market. For all diamonds bought between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006, you are automatically eligible for a refund...

An interesting juxtaposition of headlines and a couple funny law blogs (or blawgs as it is)

Posted on January 24, 2008
While I certainly have interesting work-related things to write about to a limited degree, I will point out an interesting couple of headlines that appeared on Drudge the other day. In this order:What killed Heath?Jack Nicholson: 'I warned him'...What made that funny (to me) was it didn't seem too long ago that the headline was that Jack Nicholson was 'furious' about the late actor playing the role of the Joker...

The media's hate for the economy and how Tom Brady has decided to attack it

Posted on January 22, 2008
Just a quick note on how I am continually amazed at the level of negative press that is given about anything remotely related to the economy. It's borderline of a test to see how influential the current media market is, with the theory being that if by scaring people into thinking that a depression or recession is inevitable, it will actually happen...

A united democratic ticket?

Posted on January 21, 2008
Just a short thought I was discussing with some other clerks the other day. Given the near even split Senators Clinton and Obama are pulling from the Democratic caucuses, wouldn't it make sense for them to run on a joint ticket? I would think that if Clinton wins the nomination, she would give some thought to appointing Obama as VP (rather than say, her husband)...

Letters from beyond the grave and Crawford issues that are created

Posted on January 20, 2008
As much of the legal world and evidence students are aware, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 redefined the understanding of the confrontation clause of the Constitution. Since that decision, there have been probably thousands of cases dealing with the aftermath and even a blog that appears dedicated to it...

Regardless of this writers strike, Hollywood loses: Or, Why I am going to stop watching Heroes when it comes back on

Posted on January 15, 2008
Notwithstanding my efforts to contribute productively to the global discourse on more relevant topics, this entry is another jab at the goofy television industry. I saw an interesting article the other day that basically predicts that the result of this writers strike will have the same effect on Hollywood that the 1994 baseball strike had on baseball (or the lockout on hockey or the strike in basketball a couple years ago)...

Law school debt

Posted on January 14, 2008
I saw a thread on Above the law today about debt consolidation and thought I would talk about this a little since I'm in the thralls of paying back at least part of my massive debt. As far as where I stand personally on the debt spectrum, I'm probably less than most but more than some...

American Psycho recut trailer

Posted on January 13, 2008
I wrote about recut movie trailers a few months ago. I happened across one for American Psycho the other day that was pretty funny. See American Psycho: Romantic Comedy. If you haven't seen it, American Psycho is, shall we say, not quite a romantic comedy...

Finally, some fun travel plans

Posted on January 12, 2008
After four plus months of working as a clerk, my checkbook is finally starting to balance out again (despite gobs of money going toward student loans every month, but that's another entry for another time). And, as a result or merely by coincidence, I have a trip planned for every month over the next few months...

Dr. Phil is no doctor and other misconceptions

Posted on January 10, 2008
While I have no personal interest in the personal lives of the celebrities (other than one or two I may potentially date one day), it's hard to avoid the Britney Spears saga that permeates pop culture nowadays. I'll only comment on one segment of it, the fact that Mr...

Yale strikes back and evens up the score and other news

Posted on January 09, 2008
To be fair to my somewhat one-sided entry the other day, I will note that the New Hampshire independents took Senators Clinton and McCain to heart yesterday in their primary polls. So, the score, at least on the Democrat side, is tied at 1-1 between Harvard and Yale, with UNC still way behind the 8-ball...

So much to write about, but for now I'll focus on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's recent sperm donor opinion

Posted on January 08, 2008
One of my friends pointed this article out to me and I thought it was an interesting piece. See Sperm Donor Wins Child Support Battle. Pennsylvania apparently splits their decisions up very oddly, but eventually I was able to find the case online. The majority opinion for Ferguson v...

Best online airline flight search services

Posted on January 06, 2008
This is more of an entry for myself since I can never find these online flight things when I need them. Now to just get frequent flyer miles on my credit card for free.I have used most of the major airline search services and have never had problems with any of them...

Another example of poor writing

Posted on January 05, 2008
Just a quick note that I saw on the AP wire that Tom Brady won the NFL's MVP for this year. And, typical of Yahoo's crappy news service headline writers, the headline on Yahoo reads "Brady Not a Unanimous MVP." And from reading the article, you can't even tell what actually happened...

Late night gives up on doing reruns

Posted on January 05, 2008
I see from CNN that the striking writers are mad that the late night talk show hosts have decided to roll the dice and go back on the air. See Strikers hit Leno with criticism for punchlines. Apparently these late night hosts (probably with some prodding from their bosses and sponsors) have remembered the simple maxim "you don't get paid if you don't work...

Harvard Law 1, Yale Law 0 (UNC Law 0.5)

Posted on January 04, 2008
As evidenced by every major news organization, Sen. Obama led the charge out of the primary gates. See, e.g., CNN's recap of the 2008 Iowa caucus results. So, score one for the Crimson. And, as I predicted almost a year ago, Sen. Clinton's steam has started to run out before the race has even started...

The Hawkeye State: One of these lawyers are going to win

Posted on January 03, 2008
Well, considering that Senators Obama, Clinton, Edwards, and Biden are all lawyers, the only thing for sure that we'll know tomorrow is that the Democratic frontrunner, at least as claimed by a few Iowans, will be a lawyer. Yay law! (I don't think Gov...

Something to think about in 2008: Farmer economics

Posted on January 01, 2008
Happy new year. For the first time since 1999, I decided to take the new year off. Ever since the Y2K new year, I've been coming to the belief (on the morning of January 1) that New Years Eve is like amateur hour anyway, particularly since the bars are packed with a lot of people out who rarely, if ever normally go out...

The RIAA forgets about fair use and decides that digital is the devil

Posted on December 30, 2007
In another affront to its core audience, the RIAA has decided that it wants to try and crack the ten most famous lawsuits of 2007 list by suing people who have copied legally purchased songs for personal use. Today, as the Patriots rest from a so-far perfect season and the Cowboys are beginning to question whether they can win the NFC, the Drudge Report has given me a much more interesting thing to write about: Recording industry says illegal to transfer music from CD onto computer...

Abortion, Equal Protection and When and If Raich and the Commerce Clause take abortion out of the scope of Congress's enumerated powers

Posted on December 30, 2007
Although I try to stay out of weighing in on such matters, there was a passage about Justice Ginsburg in The Nine that has got me thinking. Basically, Toobin writes that Ginsburg was selected in part because of how she approached the entire Roe debate from an equal protection standpoint...

Calling the Clerk who worked on the Sean Connery lawsuit

Posted on December 27, 2007
Unfortunately, this sort of thing hasn't made it to my desk yet, and I doubt it will. Nonetheless, it's pretty entertaining: Judge to Sean Connery, Neighbors: Stop Suing. And, if all you're looking for is the court opinion (dated December 7, 2007, by the way and the news story just broke today, so take that for what it's worth): Sultan v...

Some thoughts for 2008

Posted on December 26, 2007
As is often the case at the end of a year, one contemplates the past and looks toward the future. These "looks" are better known as "resolutions."Since my main goal in 2007 was to pass the bar (and in 2005 and 2006 to put myself in a position to pass), I can now look toward 2008 to make new goals...

Lost season 4 trailer, a nice present for the holidays

Posted on December 25, 2007
I saw that Lost Season 4 is definitely going to start on January 31, so I'm glad that my show hasn't fallen victim to the writer's strike. In either case, TV.com has the 2 minute trailer on their front page: TV.com & Extended Lost season-four trailer hits web...

Happy holidays (or winter interval as it is)

Posted on December 21, 2007
I get to spend a few days off from the crazy world of law, which will be good since I can hardly believe that I've already been working for almost four months. So, in the words of Krusty the Clown: "Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, a Krazy Kwanzaa, a Tip Top Tet, and a solemn, eventful Ramadan...

The separation of facts from reality

Posted on December 18, 2007
As I've alluded to several times (I think) over the past few months, I cannot discuss the substance of most of my work for the court (and obviously the merits of a case are out of the question). It's the nature of the profession I suppose. Because some of my work deals with criminal matters (as much of appellate work covers I would say), I find it much easier to think about facts in theory than in reality...

The bump to $180k

Posted on December 17, 2007
The firm of Williams & Connolly has bumped its first year associate pay to $180,000. This, obviously, is "well above market," as ATL reports. See Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Williams & Connolly to $180k. See also Skaddenfreude's earlier report from March about last year's W&C bump...

I am Legend review

Posted on December 16, 2007
I saw the new Will Smith movie, I am Legend. Overall it was pretty good, and considering that there aren't too many new shows on tv anymore for a little (or a long) while, and all that is otherwise out is kid's movies, this one is the one to see. A couple quick thoughts (including spoilers) follow...

The Road Less Taken

Posted on December 13, 2007
One of my favorite poems is Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. So, when I saw ATL's link about Sen. Barack Obama's decision to forgo the clerkship route for greener pastures, I thought it would make an interesting read. And it certainly does. See The Man That Got Away: Judges Dreamed of Having Barack Obama as their clerk...

Greedy traders are worse than greedy associates

Posted on December 11, 2007
I saw that the stock market reacted fairly negatively to the rate cut. Everything is hunky dory and then, KABOOM. Obviously a lot of people are upset. But give me a break. MSN has this as their lead quote: "Stocks tumble as investors see the central bank's interest-rate trim to 4...

Unbelievably busy days

Posted on December 10, 2007
Who would think December would be so hectic? In either case, my schedule is finally starting to settle down again and so I thought I would chime in on what I think is the most interesting internet/free speech/criminal law question around nowadays and that is this cyberspace myspace case in Missouri...