Sunday, April 22, 2007 8:46 AM
Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.
From the tragedy at Virginia Tech, Eugene Volokh at the The Volokh Conspiracy pointed out a Portrait of a Hero, Professor Liviu Librescu.
Thomas M. Hughes, writing at Reasonable Basis, noted in his post Find Rentals! (50% of the time), that [t]he New York Attorney General recently announced a settlement with FindRentals.com, an online company which allows vacationing homeowners to rent out their properties by posting ads on its website.
Jacobson Attorneys wrote about The unseen cost of litigation:
I am becoming less of a fan of litigation as time goes on. The fact is litigation is becoming more of a hindrance to business than a help because of the time need to fully conduct a matter, let alone the cost. Where courts are really useful is where you have a matter of great urgency and there the courts can really assist you because you can generally be in court in a matter of days and have some kind of ruling really quickly. In other matters you can really wait a while.
Bruce Allen at Marketing Catalyst offered another interesting post on the subject of rainmakers and firm culture, Protecting the Culture of Your Firm: Conflict Between Rainmakers:
It is an obvious fact that any one person cannot get along with everyone. In most instances it is relatively easy to navigate these differences--that's life. But sometimes we are thrown together (in work and away) with people we would choose to avoid. As in any workplace a law firm is no different. The larger the firm the greater the possibility. If the people in conflict are senior rainmakers the impact can be devastating to say the least.
Matt Cooper, writing at Capital, one of the new weblogs from Portfolio magazine, offered a post that really catches your eye, Paul Wolfowitz, Jennifer Lopez, and me.
IPA Blawg, from the Indiana Paralegal Association, offered a nice Report from the 2007 NFPA Regulation Conference in Dallas, TX.
Sheppard Mullin's Financial Institutions Law Blog offered a question and answer in the post OPERATING SUBSIDIARIES OF NATIONAL BANKS ALSO NOT SUBJECT TO STATE LAW LICENSING, REPORTING, AND VISITORIAL REGULATIONS:
Question: Section 484(a) of the National Bank Act provides that, "[n]o National Bank shall be subject to any visitorial powers except as authorized by Federal law." Does this statute, which preempts state laws of general application that conflict with the letter or purposes of the NBA, also apply to operating subsidiaries of National Banks?
Answer: Yes, According to the United States Supreme Court in Watters, Commissioner v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., No. 05-1342 (April 17, 2007).
Visit the earlier noted link above to see the more detailed answer...
ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg wrote at Legalities about Justice Anthony Kennedy in her post The Last Word:
It’s sometimes too easy to mock Anthony Kennedy, and people sure have done a lot of it over the years. He can seem infuriatingly unmoored. He agonizes over his decisions. He’s been known to change his mind in a case or two. And his writing style is about as grand as his ornately decorated chambers in the Court.
But in yesterday’s landmark abortion case, Kennedy was the Associate Justice he believes himself to be.
“If I say something,” Kennedy told me in the summer of 2006, “I want to stick with it.”
Professor Mark Godsey at CrimProf Blog wrote about an NPR report Archiving Security Cameras to Catch Suspected Criminals.
J. Benjamin Stevens covered Hiring a Private Investigator for Your Divorce, Child Custody, or Visitation Case at the South Carolina Family Law Blog:
Certain divorces or other family cases can benefit from the use of a private investigator. Investigators can be very helpful in obtaining documentation regarding lifestyle, assets, income, roomates, friends, paramour and parents, including their criminal history, work history, demonstrating hidden affluence, locating and interviewing witnessess, and obtaining information regarding abuse or neglect.
Bracewell & Giuliani's Energy Legal Blog noted that ColumbiaGrid Planning Agreement Wins FERC Acceptance:
ColumbiaGrid, a non-profit membership corporation formed in 2006 to improve the planning and operation of the Northwest transmission grid, has received FERC acceptance of its Planning and Expansion Function Agreement (Agreement) with its members and with Snohomish County PUD, a non-member party to the agreement. ColumbiaGrid's current members are Avista Corp. (Avista), Bonneville Power Authority (BPA), Chelan County PUD, Grant County PUD, Puget Sound Energy (Puget Sound), Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power. Completion of the Agreement comes as good news to parties that have weathered several stymied efforts to create such an organization in the northwest region.
Michael Fox wrote at Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer that Brokerage Woes in Employment Litigation Continue - $3.5 MDV.
Ron Coleman, writing at LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION, talked about a unique matter, Hasidim all right, and I don’t like what I see’d:
There’s a long and venerable — and not very pretty — history of disputes among religious groups, especially in break-away contexts, over the trademark rights in their names. There have also long been succession fights among Hasidic groups upon the deaths of their grand rabbis or rebbes, which in recent years have spilled into the secular courts, despite the grave religious prohibition on recourse to non-Jewish courts to resolve disputes among religious Jews. But this is the first time I know of where these two things have combined: A Hasidic trademark fight.
Staying in the IP world for a moment Professor Dennis Crouch at Patently-O, highlighted the IP Hall of Fame:
The London-based publication Intellecutal Asset Management (IAM) magazine has created the "IP Hall of Fame" to honor individuals - both past and present - who have played a major role in creating and improving our intellectual property systems. The Hall of Fame was started in 2006 with inductees such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Thomas Edison. More modern inductees include Marshall Phelps and Don Banner.
And, leaving today's post with another positive thought, Robert Kraft at the Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog pointed out Network for Good...a remarkable Web site where you can donate money or time to more than one million charities. You can also find consumer tips about making donations safely. See Link of the Day - NetworkForGood.org Charity Site
Have a great Sunday...