“F*** greedy law schools” seems to be the phrase of the day. At least on the blogosphere. A few weeks ago, David Segal had an excellent expose on the culture of greed that permeates the business of law school. He appropriately entitled his piece: “Law School Economics: Ka-Ching!” The NY Times followed [...]
I recently ran across a cool way to check whether my writing is readable. The tip comes from Ross Gubberman's book Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation's Top Advocates. I was unaware that Microsoft Word has a feature that measures the readibility of Word documents. Word generates a readibility report that is based on the [...]
The intersection between state law sanctifying medical marijuana and federal law outright banning it is a hot topic around the country. On Tuesday, the debate landed at the U.S. Supreme Court’s white marble steps. An Oregonian County filed a petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that a federal law banning firearm possession [...]
First impressions are rarely accurate. At least mine, anyway. So when I first read Justice Sotomayor’s concurring opinion in Freeman v. United States, No. 09-10245, I didn’t think much of it. The number of guideline amendments that turn retroactive is few as are Rule 11(c) plea agreements. But giving the opinion a [...]
The San Francisco Chronicle has an eery look at musicians that tragically died at the age of 27. They include some of the biggest names in music and include the likes of blues legend Robert Johnson, guitarist Jimi Hendrix, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison, the raspy-voiced Janis Joplin, Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and the newest [...]
The Washington Post covers the work of LeRoy Carhart--the Nebraska abortionist whose legal challenges were twice reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Since Nebraska passed laws banning abortions beyond 20 weeks of gestation, the WP reports that Carhart has moved his abortion practice to Maryland. The WP notes that "[m]ost of the abortions Carhart performs [...]
Several major media outlets are reporting today that the California prison hunger strike has ended. Click here, here, and here. “Yet prison advocates claim that those reports have yet to be confirmed,” ColorLines reported. You might be wondering why California prisoners started the hunger strike. It started over what prisoners call “inhumane” conditions in [...]
Ross Guberman is President of Legal Writing Pro, Adjunct Professor at George Washington University Law School, and author of Point Made: How to Write Like the Nation’s Top Advocates. I learned of Ross’s work after reading an essay entitled “Five Ways to Write Like John Roberts.” In the essay, Ross distills five [...]
With the start of the summer recess, the Supreme Court discontinued use of the 2010 Term docket numbers, ending with number 10-1558—a petition for mandamus filed by firefighter Frank Ricci. Yes, that Frank Ricci. For the fifth straight year, the number of paid petitions for certiorari, mandamus and original habeas corpus filed [...]
It seems like every time I go online I see the omnipresent Casey Anthony. Her pictures always elicit the same taste as her media coverage—it’s like regurgitating curdled yogurt. So, with bile and awe, I’ve recently read how several states and even the federal government are considering new laws in her honor, [...]