March 31st: Recently Filed Petitions
Virginia v. LeBlanc, filed on March 28th Smith v. U.S., filed on March 30th To read either of these Supreme Court petitions, click the heading to open this post, then follow the links!
31
Mar, 2017
The Cockle Bur Blog
Legal minds on legal matters and whatever else strikes our fancy.
28
Mar, 2017
Pro Se Litigation Shouldn’t Be A Drawback
Pro se is a legal term that comes from Latin, meaning "for oneself, on one's own behalf." It basically means that an individual is representing him- or her-self in court by choice without the help of an attorney. People may choose to represent themselves in court for a variety of reasons. Some want to avoid [...]
23
Mar, 2017
Second Circuit Court of Appeals: Odd Local Rules
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals—like every other federal circuit court—uses both the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (FRAP), as well as its own set of local rules (LR). The FRAP lays out general practice standards for all of the federal appellate courts, but also allows the circuits to compile their own rules that can expand, [...]
21
Mar, 2017
Wiretapping, Trump, and the Court
Another day, another thought-provoking tweet from President Trump. Recently, he claimed that former President Obama authorized illegal wiretaps in Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. A number of people have stated that this is blatantly false, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, and of course, Barack Obama himself. [...]
15
Mar, 2017
Gorsuch’s Confirmation and Senate Democrats Revisted
There is less than one week to go before Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings begin and the political landscape continues to reflect the tension between the need to fill Scalia’s long-vacant seat and the conflicting demands placed on the Senators themselves, from both the party and their voters. Previously, we discussed that the Republicans would need [...]
9
Mar, 2017
The Cockle Difference
How Is Cockle Legal Briefs Different? We strive to craft the highest quality briefs. We succeed because we are the only Supreme Court brief printer to proofread everything—with teams of two professional readers—and our staff actively pursues an intimate knowledge of Court practices and conventions. Located in the heart of the nation, we are able [...]
23
Feb, 2017
How Good Is Your Legal Proofreading?
At Cockle Legal Briefs, we offer the most thorough and complete legal proofreading in the industry. We do not simply review the draft for rule compliance, or assign a single reader to quickly scan the draft for obvious errors. Our teams of two readers examine every line, word, and character to find any possible problem [...]
21
Feb, 2017
A Look Back at Korematsu
President Trump’s recent executive order on immigration is already facing several legal challenges, despite the policy being only a few weeks old. At the time of this writing, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to grant a stay on a temporary restraining order suspending the order, and the Trump administration is preparing to [...]
10
Feb, 2017
February 10th: Recently Filed Petition
T.H. McElvain Oil & Gas Ltd. P’ship v. Grp. I: Benson-Montin-Greer Drilling Corp. Inc., filed on February 7th To read this Supreme Court petition, click the heading to open this post, then follow the link!
31
Jan, 2017
Supreme Court History — “In Defense of Dissents”
Today in our look at Supreme Court history, we examine a lecture Justice William J. Brennan Jr. gave in 1985 entitled “In Defense of Dissents.” Brennan begins with the question: What does a judge…hope to accomplish by dissenting? After all, the law is the law, and in our system, whether in the legislature or the [...]