Blawg's Sunday Paper

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 6 - 17 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:26:30 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

It's Father's Day in the USA and for those fathers who are also fans of golf, you couldn't ask for a better Sunday with Tiger Woods two shots back of Aaron Baddeley but in the final group at the US Open...and, if you are anything like the other fathers I know, you can invoke your Father's Day rights today, and actually watch the final round!

Starting over in Europe, BLOG@IP::JUR highlighted a recent quote from Mr Wim Van der Eijk, EPO: "Patents are granted too easily"

Mr Cillian Donnelly on EU Reporter:

"[...] 'Patents are granted too easily', suggested Wim Van der Eijk, Principal Director of the International Legal Affairs and Patent Law Department at the European patent Office (EPO). 'We need to have a more critical look, and steer policy in the direction of less, but stronger patents'. [...]"

Did Mr Van der Eijk speak on behalf of the EPO or did he merely express his private opinion?

Meanwhile, IPKat reports on European trade mark jurisprudence in the post "Not your vodka", ECHR tells Russian business, discussing Case 1641/02 OAO Plodovaya Kompaniya v Russia, judgment being given on 7 June.

Bridget Crawford at Feminist Law Professors asked Is This Advocacy for Women or Punishment of Black Male Sexuality? Genarlow Wilson’s Case.

Stephanie West Allen at idealawg mentioned that the New edition of LAW PRACTICE looks at making partner: Another worth-reading edition of the ABA's Law Practice is now online.The current edition asks, "In? Up? or Over?" and then provides many answers.

Kevin O'Keefe at LexBlog highlighted an interesting post he found about blog binders: Blog binder to keep yourself organized.

David Stras at Empirical Legal Studies wondered about The Future of Personal Papers and Archival Research?

I spent an enjoyable day in the personal papers of Justice Pierce Butler, which are housed at the Minnesota Historical Society...

As I was reading the hand-written correspondence between Justice Butler and his various family members, friends, and colleagues, it struck me that archival research may look a bit different in the future...

Besides enjoying the content of the documents, I kept asking myself the question of what the personal papers of the future will look like? Will prominent individuals donate their hard drives to document repositories in the future? Will we, as researchers, be searching servers full of electronic documents rather than reading the rich hand-written notes of the past?

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyers Blog called out a series of articles on tort reform: Thompson, Torts, and True Conservatism is another great article from the Center for a Just Society. See also its outstanding pieces on "Tort Reform." Click link above for more information.

Peter Black's Freedom to Differ talked about Deconstructing Facebook.

Perhaps following the increased comings-and-goings of laterals at law firms, TaxProf Blog noted the same trend at law schools in the post: NLJ: Law School Lateral Hiring Frenzy

Larry Bodine, writing at his Law Marketing Blog, was on a roll and offered a number of interesting posts and news bits this past week: Duane Morris Business Development Model, Tales from the Front: Getting Business from Corporate Clients, Jenner & Block Demoting 15-20 partners, American Lawyer Editor Teaches the Dark Lessons of Law, among others.

Securities Law Prof Blog talked about The Lure and Abuses of Variable Annuities.

Tom Collins at More Partner Income wrote that Law Firms Benefit From Competitive Intelligence:

Janet Ellen Raasch asks and answers the question “What do the top firms have in common?” Her answer is competitive intelligence or CI.

Her article in Law Practice Today highlights some of the ways competitive intelligence is being used by “big law” to make better decisions. She notes the movement made by large firms to dedicate resources to the collection and analysis of competitive information.

And, finally, in a bow to the lighter side of life, many thanks to John Mesirow at Legal Juice for continuing to point out the obscure and funny, most recently in the post Low Rider Pants Won't Fly In This Louisiana Town

Have a great Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 6- 10 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 12:44:51 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Richard Sander wrote a very interesting post, Some Good News About Women in Law, at Empirical Legal Studies. Among his findings:

Traditionally, men and women lawyers have been at least somewhat segregated in two ways: the type of employer they go to work for, and the area in which they specialize. Women have tended to be overrepresented in government and non-profits; men have concentrated in private firms, especially (compared to women) in smaller firms. Within firms, women were more likely to work in family law or probate; men dominated many of the commercial and "big business" fields.

That seems to be changing.

Visit Some Good News About Women in Law for more.

In the post, Another Law School??, Mitchell H. Rubinstein at Adjunct Law Prof Blog read that Wilkes University was going to hire a legal education leader to develop plans for establishing a law school.

Cindy Chick at LawLibTech pointed out her recent article, Law Librarians in the New Millennium, in her post Knowledge Management for Librarians:

Law librarians frequently complain that attorneys are terrible at knowledge management because they're just not willing to share. That may be true, but I'm not so sure librarians are much better. We have to ask ourselves if WE are good at collecting and sharing our knowledge with other librarians and library staff. See Knowledge Management for Librarians for more.

Mary Flood, writing at Legal Trade, highlighted a story in her paper, the Houston Chronicle concerning the diabetes drug Avandia: Drug doubts put lawyers, pharmaceutical companies in motion. In her post Avandia - the birth of a mass tort, she suggests that:

When Avandia, a popular diabetes drug, came under attack in a medical journal last month, lawyers quickly prepared a major attack on the drug maker itself.

In this story in today's paper, we look at how advertising lawyers who troll for clients got to work with ads on the Internet, TV and in newspapers. Meanwhile drug maker GlaxoSmithKline ran ads in the nation's largest papers, including the Chronicle, to calm their customers.

Ms. Flood continued by noting the various methods lawyers use to find potential clients, from 1-800 numbers to internet advertising. Perhaps most telling, was one lawyer mentioned in the article, who said while he hated all the ads on TV and ads on the Internet...he can't argue with the results.

Filewrapper offered a brief summary of last week's Senate hearings on the Patent Reform Act of 2007:

Of most interest was the testimony of Director [Jon W.] Dudas, as it represents the views of the USPTO on the currently-proposed patent reforms. Possibly the most troubling aspect of his testimony was his view that virtually all applicants should be required to go through the hoops required by the accelerated examination program, such as the examination support document, a prior art search, as well as the various other requirements (more detail about the requirements can be found in this post).

Martin George wrote about The Dangers and Benefits of Facebook for Universities.

Steven Merican at Illinois Appellate Lawyer Blog posted about Decaro v. M. Felix, Inc., No. 1-05-2460 3/9/07, noting that the First District Illinois Appellate Rules Appeal From Denial Of Injunction Can Wait Until End Of Case.

Bob Carroll at Tampa Bay Personal Injury Attorney was recently reminded of the McDonald's hot coffee case:

I was in the Tampa International Airport last week waiting to board a flight, and I stopped in the terminal Starbucks to check my email and grab a cup of coffee.
While I was sitting there, a woman who had just purchased one of those five-step drinks (triple, half, whip something or other) dropped her beverage on the floor as she was getting it off the counter. The piping-hot drink didn't get on anyone in the accident, but the spill brought the obligatory jokes about the McDonald's coffee case throughout the crowded store.
It's been 15 years, and the McDonald's case still stands as the model for "frivolous" lawsuits. I thought it would be a good time to revisit the facts. The American Association of Justice, a group of attorneys dedicated to protecting the rigths of citizens, provides a thorough look at the case, including a look at the verdict

See Mr. Caroll's post The McDonald's Hot Coffee Case Revisited for more, including links to additional materials on the subject.

Michael J. Hassen at California Class Action Defense Blog reported that Labor Law Class Action Cases Reclaim Top Spot Among New Class Action Filings In California State And Federal Courts

Ed Poll at LawBizBlog said Increase your legal fees in one easy step!: Collecting Your Fees: Ethically Getting Paid from Intake to Invoice will be offered by the ABA on June 21st at 10 a.m. PT.

Stan Rule at Rule of Law wrote about Statutory Declaration in Canada by way of example in his post Singh Estate v. Shandil.

Howard Bashman at How Appealing, offered some updated links to articles related to Guantanamo.

Stephen Seckler at Counsel to Counsel pointed out an interesting article by Carey Bertolet in the post Law Firm Associates as Luxury Items?

Appellate Law & Practice has all the links to the Libby Letters for those so inclined.

Kenneth W. Davis at Manage Your Writing noted Long words make you look stupid.

Daniel J. Solove at Concurring Opinions wrote about a topic recently in the headlines: Google's Street View and Privacy.

Finishing, as always, with something from the lighter side, thanks to Legal Andrew for pointing out the Elmer Fudd Google Search (just in case you want to search for that wascally wabbit) and other Fun Google Easter Eggs.

Have a great Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 5 - 20 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 20 May 2007 13:15:41 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSBlog wrote an Analysis: The Court and the 2008 Election:

As the presidential campaign season gets an unprecedented early start, it is not too early to start the hyperbole on the importance of the election for the future of the Court and, as a consequence, the future of American law.

The most important caveat to predictions like these is that no one actually knows; this is speculation. The Justices don’t disclose their retirement plans, and those plans they do have are subject to change. What I say below is simply my sense personally, informed by a number of conversations that I think are reliable.

Francis G.X. Pileggi at the Delaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation Blog, noted that the Delaware Supreme Court Rules: Creditors Have No Direct Claims Against Directors Of Corporation in Zone of Insolvency:

In North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. v. Gheewhalla, (Del. Supr., May 18, 2007), read opinion here, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the Chancery Court's determination that creditors of a Delaware corporation do not have a direct claim against directors of an insolvent corporation, or one in the zone of insolvency, for breach of fiduciary duty. Professor Bainbridge comments on this important decision here. This decision will be of great interest to both corporate lawyers and litigators as well as bankruptcy lawyers.

The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog asked: Legal Writing: Is Shorter Really Better?

You've heard the conventional wisdom. When writing a brief, make it short, because shorter is better.

But is it really? Based on the briefs I regularly see in my own practice, many lawyers don't seem to think so. Even in courts that have imposed page limits on briefs, lawyers routinely include motions with their overlong opuses seeking relief from the court's guidelines.
What are the reasons for long briefs? Since I too have struggled with page limits, both as a defense lawyer and a plaintiffs' lawyer, I have a few ideas. Click Legal Writing: Is Shorter Really Better? to see those ideas

DailyWrit offered up 2006 Term Cases: Updated, a compilation of U.S. Supreme Court cases:

I updated my Term Case Index by adding the cases that are currently before the Court. I’ve included a hyperlink to the oral arguments as well as the Questions Presented Document which lists the key questions to be answered by the Court. I also included information about the general topics, case number, and date argued. I’ll be updating a few basic things like the formatting to both tables, but the information there is likely to stay the same.

Larry Bodine reported in his post Helms Mulliss & Wicker Unveils Branded Vehicle that Helms Mulliss & Wicker, a 130-lawyer firm in North Carolina, rolled out its new branded delivery vehicle. It is believed to be the first law firm in the country to utilize the latest technology in vehicle branding. For the curious, the post includes a picture, click link above to see it.

Inside Sarbanes-Oxley reported Just Days Away: The Fate of 404:

After nearly five years of hearing concerns about uncertainty regarding management's responsibilities under 404 and complaints about burdensome audits under its companion auditing standard, the Securities and Exchange Commission may formally make the first change to the provision before Memorial Day weekend. In back-to-back meetings, the SEC will vote on its proposed management guidance for complying with the internal-control rule on May 23, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will decide whether to adopt its new companion auditing standard on May 24.

In the post Water Privatization in Indonesia, Mohamad Mova Al 'Afghani at Indonesian Law Reporter pointed out a recent op-ed piece he wrote regarding water law.

In his post Legal Newswire for Thomson-Reuters?, Tim Stanley at Justia offered some interesting predictions in the wake of the news that Thomson will acquire Reuters: ...I believe that Thomson will use some of their education division sale money to purchase American Lawyer Media. We will see... in the mean time, I am taking bets.

Rees Morrison, writing at Law Department Management, suggested Income and intelligence: profits per partner shouldn’t cause in-house insecurity:

Underpaid in-house lawyers who retain highly-paid partners marvel at whopping figures of profits per partner (See my posts of March 6, 2006 on international comparisons; and Aug. 26, 2006 about “Law firms make too much.”). Aside from income envy, many people attribute high intelligence to those with high earnings. That’s not so smart.

Jack Vinson at Knowledge Jolt with Jack is Compiling academic KM programs. Contact him if you know of any he has missed.

Monica Bay at The Common Scold continued her "Food Chain" postings with news that DATACERT BUYS CORPRASOFT.

Neil Squillante at TechnoLawyer Blog wrote Truly Media Truly Savvy About Marketing Its Animated Demonstrative Evidence Services.

And, finally, leave it to Legal Juice to point out this odd bit of news: You bet (while you still can!) Better get down to Louisana and catch a cockfight before it's too late. It's the only state that still allows cockfighting, but not for long. See Cockfighting Is Still Legal?

Have a great Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 5 - 13 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 13 May 2007 13:30:24 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

It's Mother's Day, and in the spirit of the day, Freedom to Differ has posted some links to videos, both funny and otherwise, making the rounds out there across the world wide web: Happy Mother's Day

Edge International's Gerry Riskin at Amazing Firms, Amazing Practices wondered Does Cravath have an ace up its sleeve?

I am not willing to bet against Cravath Swaine & Moore, are you? In fact their strategic decision in creating an insolvency practice may be cause for additional respect rather than cheap shots.

Kevin O'Keefe at Lexblog pointed out, in Law bloggers challenge role of traditional journalists, an interesting post from Danny Glover at the National Journal's Beltway Blogroll in which he looks at Blawgers vs. Journalists in covering the United States Supreme Court as well as the larger discussion on journalism versus blogging.

Carolyn Elefant's other weblog, Offshore Renewable Energy Law Blog, covered a lot of ground in a series of posts: The Wonderful, Sometimes Wacky World of Marine Energy, Sea to Shining Sea: Ocean Energy Statewide Round-up, Winds Blowing In Favor of Offshore Wind in Delaware, Inslee Bill Proposes Dollars for Marine Energy and Ocean goes IPO, among others.

Freedman Consulting's Law Practice Management wrote about the continuing "Gen Y" debate in its post Those Kids Want It All Right Now:

The words echoing in the mouths –and thoughts — of the entrenched baby boomers and remaining first generation founding partners at firms are not all that flattering about today’s young lawyers. When asked to describe these Gen Y lawyers, we hear laments like,

“No fire in the belly”
“Spoiled”
“Not willing to work hard for what they want”
“Want everything now — not willing to wait”
“The office is dark at 5:30 and on weekends”
“No loyalty”
But make no mistake. This generation will take over our firms, and they will transform it to meet their own needs. The question is how peaceful a change will it be at your firm? How prepared to change, in order to hold onto this generation of talent, is your firm ? Or are you going to live in denial, and fight it to your own bitter end?

The post also referenced Arnie Herz's Legal Sanity, which has a number of posts on the same subject. See what will drive change in law firm culture and can law firms change to meet lawyer-user demand for starters.

Matthew Lerner, writing at New York Civil Law, documented some Jurisdictional Tidbits in Recent New York Court of Appeals' Decision: the case of Pavlou v. City of New York raises some extremely interesting issues.

Bankruptcy Fraud Resource Center noted The collateral consequences of a client's bankruptcy fraud:

One of the perils of bankruptcy work, particularly in representing debtors, is the risk that a client accused (or convicted) of bankruptcy fraud will claim "my lawyer told me to do it." Of course, the allegation is nearly never true, and is no defense besides. But the allegation once made can be a nightmare for the bankruptcy practitioner. The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in United States v. Roti, No. 06-3192 (7th Cir. May 3, 2007), illustrating this point, should be mandatory reading for the bankruptcy bar - or at least that segment of it that does debtor work.

Adobe's resident expert, Rick Borstein used his incredibly informative Acrobat for Legal Professionals offered some screenshots and tips on Batch Conversion to PDF/A.

The Garbrecht Gazette noted that the Law Library Resources Exchange has updated its website, and noted the changes to look for...LLRX All New

Robert Ambrogi, who recently wrote an article for Law Technology News about legal-oriented wiki's, Legal Wikis Are Bound to Wow You, noted that the 7th Circuit Launches Judiciary's First Wiki.

Cutting the Sunday Paper a bit short this morning as my family has a full day planned for Mother's Day and we have to get hopping.

Have a great Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 5 - 6 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 06 May 2007 11:08:52 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Wish I would have followed the advice of Bloodhorse's Steve Haskin yesterday at Churchill...oh well, on to the Preakness...

John L. Welch, writing at The TTABlog, noted that the Fame of "GOOGLE" Blows Away "BLOGLE" in TTAB 2(d) Summary Judgment:

Despite obvious differences in the marks, the Board granted summary judgment to Google, Inc. in its Section 2(d) opposition to registration of the mark BLOGLE (Stylized) for "computer software for searching, compiling, indexing and organizing information." The Board found that mark confusingly similar to the registered and famous mark GOOGLE for search engine software and services. Google, Inc. v. Pivot Design, Inc., Opposition no. 91171124 (April 20, 2007) [not precedential].

Elizabeth Nowicki at TRUTH ON THE MARKET found that last week's action by Dow Jones' board could have the makings of a good exam question:

Does a bid for Dow Jones implicate Revlon duties? Can a board “just say no”? What if the Board says nothing, b/c they know a majority of their s/h will not vote for the acquisition? This is the stuff good Corporations or M&A exam questions are made of. Luckily, counsel to the Dow Jones Board must have paid attention in class...see Dow Jones Board Action: Nice exam question for more.

Dan Harris at China Law Blog summarized in the post, China Real Estate Law, the recent China Real Estate Seminar in San Francisco, [i]n this post and over the next few days, I will try to convey some of what went on there as it really was a terrific conference for those interested in investing in China real estate.

Michelle Golden, writing at Golden Practices, suggested that lawyers Don't Treat All Your Clients the Same:

Your firm or company should have base-line service standards that are applied to all customers across the board. All customers should be able to rely on treatment that is prompt, fair, respectful, and pleasant--even if the 'news' or 'deliverable' is unpleasant. This is reputation insurance if nothing else.

Sabrina I. Pacifici at beSpacific pointed out that a report that CNN Announces Copyright Free Presidential Debate Footage.

Marie Kaddell at Federal Info Pro, wrote about Giving Libraries a Second Life in a Virtual World:

Paul Henriques, currently a contractor with the U.S. Postal Service Headquarters Corporate Library, Washington, D.C., shares his takeaways from a recent DC/SLA program on Second Life. Are you curious what all the buzz about Second Life is about? Read on and see what Paul has to say...

Patently-O ( USPTO Issues Preliminary Obviousness Examination Instructions ) and Filewrapper ( USPTO issues memo detailing preliminary obviousness instructions in light of KSR ) both noted that the USPTO has issued a memo to the technology center directors regarding examination of applications in light of KSR.

Rich Klein, President of Riverside Public Relations LLC, recommended "Book Yourself Solid" by Michael Port: I highly recommend both to any lawyer and chief marketing officer who is looking for fresh ideas about business development. "Book Yourself Solid" Has Much for Lawyers

Thomas O. Gorman, writing at SEC Actions, asked Insider Trading or Hard Work: Trading Before News Corp’s Bid for Dow Jones:

Suspicion abounds when trading picks up in advance of an announcement, particularly if it turns out to be a significant one. Sometimes the market-monitoring computers of the regulators signal possible anomalies, triggering an initial inquiry into “suspicious” trading to determine if there was illegal activity, such as, insider trading. Sometimes a flurry of trading generates a lot of finger pointing and head nodding coupled with suggestions that “it must have been” illegal insider trading. Sometimes it might be a sign of illegal activity. Other times it might just be the sign of a healthy market.

Brian Wolfman at the Consumer Law & Policy Blog, wrote:

The Seventh Circuit just issued a short, powerful decision concerning the Fair Credit Reporting Act's fundamental requirement that “[e]very consumer reporting agency shall, upon request . . . clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer [a]ll information in the consumer’s file at the time of the request.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)(1). In Gillespie v. Equifax Information Services, L.L.P., No. 06-1952 (May 3, 2007), the court reminded the world that a technically accurate disclosure is not necessarily a clear disclosure.

See Mr. Wolfman's post, Seventh Circuit: Under FCRA, Accuracy Doesn't Necessarily Mean Clarity, for the full story.

Dan Nunley at Oklahoma Family Law Blog ( Home Schooling and Child Custody Determinations in Oklahoma ) and Grant Griffiths at Kansas Family and Divorce Lawyer ( Home Schooling and Child Custody Determinations in Oklahoma ) both wrote about home schooling and child custody determinations: In making custody decisions, Oklahoma law prohibits a judge from giving a preference or a presumption for or against home schooling, private schooling, or public schooling.' 'See 43 O.S. 112 (C)(4).

Professor Paul Secunda at Workplace Prof Blog covered Law Schools, Tenure, and Accreditation:

The American Bar Association — at the urging of some law deans and to the dismay of many law professors — is considering an end to having tenure systems be one requirement for law school accreditation. A special task force of the ABA has been working on a set of recommendations about accreditation and will not submit its findings until next month. But reports about what the group may recommend, and what law deans have urged it to recommend, have been circulating in recent weeks — and e-mail has been flying among law professors.

Kevin Funnell at Bank Lawyer's Blog talked about continuing consolidation in the banking industry in his post Banks: The New Frontier?

And, finally, if you love patent work, stop by Stu's View's for a recently updated assemblage of Patent Cartoons.

Have a great Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:40:31 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Ben Stevens wrote at The Mac Lawyer about How to Use iChat at Work.

Jason Schultz, writing at LawGeek, pointed out SCU's Tech LawForum interviews me about EFF's Patent Busting Project. For those curious, but not familiar with the project, click here: Patent Busting Project.

Rick Garnett at Mirror of Justice wondered about "Talking past each other" on Catholic judges?

Hull and Hull's Toronto Estate Law Blog highlighted two recent podcasts, Tax Considerations for Separated Spouses - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast #57 and Joint and Several Liability of Trustees - Hull on Estates Episode #55.

Andrew Lavoott Bluestone at New York Attorney Malpractice Blog, posted about Pre-Decision Interest and the Costs of Fixing a Problem in Legal Malpractice:

The Court of Appeals decided two interesting legal malpractice cases today. AmBase v. Davis Polk is one and Rudolph v. Shayne Dachs is the second. Rudolph is interesting on at least two counts.

Rick Klau opined about The future of distributed media via his own experience in consuming and sharing news and information using Google Reader. Curious about Google Reader? Check out The Official Google Reader Blog.

Tom Collins at More Partner Income, wrote about the Economic Outlook for Law Firms:

Bruce MacEwen, an economist at heart, reminded law firm leaders that sooner or later, they are going to face another recession. His post on Adam Smith, Esq. noted that the Hildebrandt/Citigroup 2007 Client Advisory anticipates that the 2007 bottom line for U. S. law firms will be squeezed by increasing cost with little, if any, revenue growth over 2006.

Morepartnerincome’s outlook for midrange law firms is more optimistic. Nevertheless, as Bruce reminds us “….we all know one lies in store sooner or later.” The important question posed by MacEwen is, “Will you be ready?”

Fourth Amendment covered a new decision, Hot pursuit of a DUI took police to defendant's door and justified arrest without a warrant:

Officers followed defendant to her home suspecting her of DUI. When she answered the door and admitted driving the car, they had probable cause to arrest her, and, because DUI is a jailable offense, hot pursuit applied and they could go after her. The court surveys the cases and distinguishes Welsh. State v. Robinson, 2007 Ida. App. LEXIS 37 (April 25, 2007)

Dennis Kennedy wrote about podcast sound quality in his post Do Excerpt Feeds and Poor Sound Quality Podcasts Have Something in Common?

In part because of the high bar NPR sets with the sound quality of its podcasts, especially in comparison to some of the poorly-recorded, unedited podcasts you can find, I've started to use poor sound quality as a quick way to determine whether to delete or keep podcasts around for later listening.

In a funny way, poor sound quality in podcasts has become the analogy of an excerpt feed in a newsreader.

The Wired GC looked at Apple and its Options:

It is an unfortunate situation; there are ways of accurately documenting board action (such as by consent) that should not be construed later to involve a “fictitious meeting.”

We are in an era where observing corporate formality is more than just good housekeeping. It is about how things look, often many years after the fact.

Larry Solum at Legal Theory Blog continued compiling entry level hiring statistics from law schools. His ongoing results and more details are listed in the post Entry Level Hiring Report. He has already posted quite a bit of information, but still apparently could use a little help from the blawgosphere:

Help! I hope to begin preparing the full version of the entry level hiring report soon--with specific information on PhDs by discipline, post-doc (fellowship and VAP) programs, date of JD, etc. If you have an additional report, it would be very helpful if you could send it in before May 1. Also, if your law school will not make an entry-level hire this year, please report that information.

Ethisphere reported on AFLAC shareholders’ word of advice regarding executive pay: Duck:

Aflac has become the first company to allow shareholders to vote on executive pay. The company’s board approved a resolution, effective in 2009, that gives shareholders a vote on the pay of the insurer’s top five executives. Although the vote will be non-binding, analysts note that it would be hard to ignore the opinion of a majority of the shareholders. Similar shareholder proposals are on the ballots this year at about 50 other companies.

Eric Rein wrote at Schwartz Cooper's International Asset Recovery Blog about Anguilla asset protection devices:

Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory, which lies in the Eastern Carribbean. Anguilla's financial sector is well developed and its current trust and corporate laws were launched in 1994. Anguilla's legal system and trust law is based on that of England. Under The Trusts Act, a trust exists where a trustee holds property for the benefit of the beneficiary and the settlor may also be a trustee, beneficiary or protector of the trust.

And, finally, John Mesirow's Legal Juice caught up with some Some Strange Oklahoma Laws (nothing against Oklahoma, every State has its own peculiar mix of strange). From cursing to tattoos to duels, the State has it covered.

Enjoy your Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:46:58 GMT

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...

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 4 - 15 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:59:34 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Paul Ohm, guest-blogging at The Volokh Conspiracy asked Do Blogs Influence SSRN Downloads? In his post, Mr. Ohm outlined some analysis he has completed, and concluded Yes. In fact, yes, they do. Among his conclusions, perhaps not surprisingly, is that Blogging about an article at the Volokh Conspiracy appears to be a good way to increase SSRN "Abstract Views" and "Downloads."

Professor Gordon Smith at Conglomerate wrote about the The Difference Between Revlon and the Business Judgment Rule:

Vice-Chancellor Strine's opinion in In re Netsmart Technologies, Inc. Shareholders Litigation was issued a month ago, and I have been pondering it ever since. This case has a lot of interesting features, and I hope to blog about some others later. For this post, however, I concentrate on Leo's attempt to distinguish the Revlon standard from the business judgment rule...[read more by clicking The Difference Between Revlon and the Business Judgment Rule ]

Larry Bodine's Law Marketing Blog pointed out Four Hot Trends in Marketing outlined by Silvia L. Coulter, managing director of CoulterCranston, Inc.

Meanwhile, Marianne Richmond at Resonance Partnership Blog, which covers Social Media, Word of Mouth Marketing, and Branding, spent some time creating topical link lists worth exploring links for 2007-04-15, links for 2007-04-14, and links for 2007-04-13.

Out of the Jungle reflected on one of the week's news items in the post Laptops in class -- again! with a discussion of the conversation that followed among law faculty.

The BLT: The Blog of the Legal Times gave notice of a recent interview, A Senior Justice Official Speaks Out, in a post from Friday:

In an interview with our Tony Mauro, Daniel Metcalfe, a longtime senior lawyer at the Justice Deparment, says Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has “shattered” the department’s tradition of independence and politicized its operation more than any other attorney general in more than 30 years. Gonzales is slated to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week to provide further testimony in the burgeoning U.S. attorney scandal. Metcalfe, a former career official at the department, retired in January, before the current controversy over the firing of U.S. attorneys erupted. He views the episode as an “awful embarrassment” that has only worsened already-low morale at the department, especially among career attorneys. [Click A Senior Justice Official Speaks Out to read more and find links to the full article ]

LexLibris wrote a brief post on the news that Law.com Launches Legal Web Search Engine, citing TVC Alert which in turn, cited Robert Ambrogi.

V.U. Lawcity, the Valpo Law Blawg, reported Survey says Google draws 64 percent of U.S. search queries.

Freedman Consulting's Law Practice Management asked Are You Ready for the New Postal Regulations and a Whopping Increase in Costs?

New postal regulations go into effect on May 14, 2007. It’s called Shape-Based Pricing. There are a few decent sites on the internet for information at this point.

This is probably one of the most under-reported events I have experienced in recent years, particularly when it may result in an increase in postage costs of as much as 50% overall to an uneducated law firm. We’re not talking about just an increase of 2¢ per letter. We’re talking about a whole new labor-intensive mailing process, and some significant price increases in actual postage for the bulk of mail which is sent by a law firm. In fact, for most firms the most significant price increases aren’t even on the radar screen. I know they weren’t on mine. But I attended a seminar today presented by ITS Mailing Systems, an authorized dealer for Hasler. And it was an eye-opener.

The Harvard International Law Journal Digest highlighted an international border dispute, Peru to Take Chilean Border Issue to the ICJ:

The president of Peru, Alan García, announced over the weekend that the country will turn to the International Court of Justice in the Hague to resolve its maritime border controversy with Chile. Peru says that this border has never been legally set, while Chile sees as binding a pair of treaties signed by the two countries in the 1950s. President García’s announcement followed a highly charged protest near the coastal border organized by nationalist groups last Thursday.

Mark Beese at Leadership for Lawyers reported that

Earlier this month I had a chance to interview Chris Marston, founder and CEO (not managing partner) of Exemplar Law Partners for an article that will appear in the ezine, The Complete Lawyer. Marton is a thirty-something entrepreneur who started a law firm with a unique approach, characterized by flat-fee only billing, hiring only entrepreneurial lawyers, creating cross-functional teams from the beginning of a matter, and an obsession for client service.

Read Mr. Beese's full post on the subject here: Chris Marston Interview

Duke Law and Technology Review’s iBlawg offered a post on The Federal Circuit and Administrative Law Principles:

Recently, the Federal Circuit handed down its decision in Pfizer, Inc. v. Apotex, Inc., No. 06-1261 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 22, 2007), invalidating one of Pfizer’s patents on Norvasc, U.S. Patent No. 4,879,303 (“the ‘303 patent”). Chief Judge Michel, writing the opinion, included a discussion on the appropriate level of deference given to findings by patent examiners, but under the specific facts of the case, the court’s holding resulted in an interesting twist. [click link to find out more about this 'twist']

Noric Dilanchian at IP Lightbulb Blog wrote about the Top 50 trade marks in the UK in 2006

And, finally, to end as usual on a lighter note, Court TV's weblog Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors gave its Awards of the Week under the category "Another day, another burglar."

Enjoy your Sunday...

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 4 - 8 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 11:17:01 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Allison C. Shields at Legal Ease Blog wrote about Cost of Legal Services, Value and Compensation:

The perception of the client is paramount. Lawyers must take the time to establish the value to the client up front and discuss the client's expectations - as one of my clients said recently, even though he's a litigator, not all of his clients have the same mix of desires. Some clients may be seeking their day in court, some may be seeking to maximize their recovery, some may be seeking to minimize legal costs, or to send a message to the other party.

The Inspired Solo said Billable Hour, Schmillable Hour: Why Giving It Up Entirely Is the Only Rational Course of Action:

This is why I believe that the only rational course of action is to abandon the model altogether and go to value billing, flat rates, or any other billing method besides billable hours, and make the metric that counts something really soft and subjective - client satisfaction, measured by periodic mid-representation and lengthier exit questionnaires. (And if you’re truly tuned into your clients, you won’t have a problem.)

Ed Poll at Law Biz Blog noted that Flat fees is an art:

Profits can be stated in a mathematical formula: P = R - E. But, the "E" has a limitation. You can reduce expenses only so much before you start cutting out the "meat" of the law firm. "R," on the other hand, has no limit. You can increase revenue without limitation. Focused practice development efforts will attract new work; and once you get the work, you can develop the appropriate infrastructure to handle the increases.

Rich Klein, writing at Riverside Views, suggested Goodling's Attorney Chooses Wrong Words:

[Monica] Goodling's attorney, John Dowd made a huge public relations mistake by comparing Ms. Goodling's situation with what happened to Scooter Libby. That's because Mr. Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice --and now the American people will link the two and think that Ms. Goodling might have similar skeletons in her closet.

Institutional Shareholder Service's Corporate Governance Blog posted its Securities Litigation Watch Update: Q1 Review: New Cases Up, Settlements Even:

A quick review of the SCAS database reveals that 30 new federal securities class actions were filed in the first quarter of 2007. On a pro-rata basis, this would translate to 120 new federal securities class actions for the year. This would represent a slight increase from 2006 securities class action filings, but would still remain below historical levels in the post-PSLRA world.

Split Circuits reported that First Circuit Notes Split Over How the Government May Enforce a Money Judgment Granted As Part of a Forfeiture Order.

David Hardy at Of Arms and Law offered My take on Parker v. DC: The Parker case, and anticipated cert. petition, has attracted a lot of attention lately, and I thought to give my take on it.

Ethics news blog, Ethisphere, noted that the SEC votes to ease up Sarbanes-Oxley burdens…

At long last, the SEC has voted to ease up some of the overkill provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley which have been onerous on companies, particularly smaller ones. This vote represented an endorsement of the recommendations of the agency’s professional staff to eliminate waste and duplication in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and encourages filers to be able to focus on ”what truly matters”.

Betsy McKenzie at Out of the Jungle compiled some useful links, quotes and information regarding Student Debt.

Tom Kane at The Legal Marketing Blog asked the question: Want to Increase Profits by 90%? Do what the Ambrose Law Group of Portland, Oregon did. Switch to flat fees.

Legal Writing Prof Blog pointed out some memorable grading tips.

Professor Michael Geist did some Thinking Outside the Canadian Copyright Box:

Given the Canadian marketplace realities and the Lehman recommendation to chart our own course on copyright, how might Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda respond? I point to three possibilities.

Meredith Hamilton at Expert Witness Marketing noted some News/Opinions about Expert Witnesses.

And, finally, ending on a lighter note, Scott Vine at Information Overlord highlighted an entertaining video about bad powerpoint presentations in his post Powerpoint - watch and learn.

Have a great Sunday.

Blawg's Sunday Paper, 4 - 1 - 07

Bill Gratsch — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 11:49:11 GMT

Blawg's Sunday Paper, a quick spin through the blawgosphere and the week that was.

Another Sunday morning, this one probably finding alums from Florida and Ohio State, a bit happier than the rest of us...

Jason Eiseman, writing at Jason the Content Librarian, talked about using Cataloger’s notes as knowledge management wiki tool.

In her post, Email paranoia?, Faye Jones at the FSU College of Law Library Blog pointed out an article concerning people who don't use email:

The U.S. attorney general doesn’t send e-mails—and he’s not alone. From government to business, many powerful people are choosing not to use email. President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, CEOs and others do not use email.

Law library technician Emma Wood talked about New features in LinkedIn and Zoominfo at her weblog Ballad in Plain E.

Jack Vinson at Knowledge Jolt with Jack wrote about Defining multitasking. An excerpt:

The kind of multitasking that is worrisome is that which creates task fragmentation (a phrase from Tom DeMarco). This comes about when you are a working on a task in a series of tasks (on a project): the next task cannot get started until you complete the current one. This might be for your own work, where you get to manage the damage by staying up late or working over the weekend. Or it might be in combination with other people, where a delay on one task gets pushed down the entire sequence of activities and people. Task fragmentation has you working on five activities all at once, frequently because five different project managers are screaming to get their activity completed.

Professor Herbert N. Ramy, posting at the Law School Academic Support Blog, discussed academic support in Figuring Out Who Needs Help:

One of the most difficult aspects of ASP work is figuring out who is in most need of our help. The reason? As I see it, the primary reason for this problem is that we have competing factors at play that don’t always lead to the same conclusion.

For example, most would agree that we want to get students into our offices as early as possible. Addressing weaknesses in how students approach their studies as early as possible, gives students more time to implement our ideas and, ultimately, succeed. If earlier is better, then we should all be using LSAT scores and college GPAs to select students who should work with us, right?? Not so fast.

An anonymous 3L on the East Coast, The Once and Future Lawyer, wondered Clerkship bonus jumps, who will follow?

All around the clerkship circuit, people are buzzing about the fact that S&C have upped their clerkship bonus to $50k (details as to what type of clerkship qualifies remains unknown). Regardless, it seems inevitable that the rest of the big firms will follow and up their ante from the $10-25k range to somewhere in the $35k ballpark. If the rest of the big law firms follow to $35k, that will at least be around $21k after taxes, so it's something, and it's not something to sniff at.

Another law student, PT-LawMom, pointed out an Interesting dichotomy in Beltway immigration policies:

While Virginia is trying to pass a bill to withdraw state funding from charities that provide aid to undocumented immigrants , Maryland is trying to pass a law to give them in-state tuition benefits .

Ernie the Attorney recently finished Michael Lewis' latest book, The Blind Side (which I happen to be about three chapters into myself), and wrote about not only the book itself but actually getting the chance to ask Mr. Lewis a burning question he had about one moment in the story. You can read all about it at his post Michael Lewis & The Great Gazoo.

At Between Lawyers, Dennis M. Kennedy, announced an upcoming book that he will be writing along with Tom Mighell: Collaboration Tools for Lawyers - The Book. Expected release is early 2008.

Tim Stanley at Justia continued to announce new tracking tools and features being offered at his site. For a sample, see Justia Regulation Tracker Beta - Tracking Federal Regulations, Rules, Proposed Rules and Notices, Dockets.Justia.com -- beta 2 - More Updates & Faster, and Federal Court Case Filings - Dockets.Justia.com.

At The Lawyer Coach Blog, Allison Wolf, posted her list of Must have coaching books:

I just returned from the LMA (Legal Marketing Association) Annual Conference in Atlanta where I had the good fortune to present “Coaching the Alpha Lawyer” with Heather Gray-Grant the Marketing and Business Development Director from the firm Alexander Holburn LLP. I’d like to thank the members of the audience who attended the presentation for their warm welcome, active participation, and great questions. As promised, here is a list of my favorite coaching books...Must have coaching books

DealLawyers.com Blog noted the SEC Grants Class Relief under Rule 14e-5 for Purchases by Offeror Outside of Tender Offer.

Susan Crawford had a vote on ICANN Board with regard to the proposal of a .xxx domain, but ultimately found herself in the minority. She shared her statement on the vote on her weblog:

The ICANN Board voted today 9-5, with Paul Twomey abstaining, to reject a proposal to open .xxx. This is my statement in connection with that vote. I found the resolution adopted by the Board (rejecting xxx) both weak and unprincipled. I am troubled by the path the Board has followed on this issue since I joined the Board in December of 2005. I would like to make two points. First, ICANN only creates problems for itself when it acts in an ad hoc fashion in response to political pressures. Second, ICANN should take itself seriously as a private governance institution with a limited mandate and should resist efforts by governments to veto what it does. See her post Why I Voted For XXX for more...

And, finally, in a post from John Mesirow at Legal Juice (as only Legal Juice can post 'em!) Husband And Wife Despise Each Other. New York Jury Won't Let Them Divorce!

Have a nice Sunday...