.44 Caliber Gavel
Apparently, judicial ethics in NY do not prevent a judge from carrying concealed weapons while on the bench. Let’s just hope the judge gets the right implement when reaching for the gavel, or else the judge may dispense some unexpectedly…
Ethical Issues in Contract Drafting
Last month, I gave a presentation entitled Ethical Issues in Contract Drafting to a group of lawyers. My slides. An interesting anecdote about this presentation–I had a former Vice President of the United States in my audience. At this point…
Lawyer Gets Discipline for Humming “Twilight Zone” Theme
Steven H. Levy, a lawyer in Torrington, CT, received a public reprimand under Rule 4.4 (using “means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person”) for improper humming (registration required). In a contentious…
Junior Lawyer War Stories
The New York Lawyer (reg. required) has a story recounting various mishaps and war stories involving embarrassing experiences of attorneys. Some of my favorite war stories are from my summer associate experience: 3) While driving to lunch, a summer associate…
Motion Denied for “Being Incomprehensible”
A pro se debtor files a motion to “discharge response to plaintiff’s response to defendant’s response opposing objection to discharge.” The court dismisses the motion for “being incomprehensible” and quotes some lines from Adam Sandler’s movie “Billy Madison” to punctuate…
Coasean vs. Coasian–Which is Correct?
My next big paper is titled “A Coasean Analysis of Marketing.” An earlier draft was titled “A Coasian Analysis of Marketing,” but then I got nervous that Coasian was not correct. So I asked my buddy Scott, who teaches Law…
Attitudinal Survey of IP Lawyers
Carol M. Langford, Depression, Substance Abuse, and Intellectual Property Lawyers, 53 U. Kan. L. Rev. 875 (2005) This article contains the results of an attitudinal survey of IP lawyers. Like any survey, this survey is only as good as its…
Wiki-Law
I love the idea of Wikis–there’s something appealling subversive yet democratic about them. However, I am skeptical of the long-term viability of open-access Wikis because I believe they are inevitably overtaken by the spammers (among other defects). I got a…
Attorneys Exempt from Graham-Leach-Bliley Act
The DC Circuit has ruled that the FTC overstepped its authority by trying to include attorneys within the scope of the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act. This isn’t huge news in the sense that the DC Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling. On…
Illegal Spyware Use Contributes to Attorney Discipline
In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Kristine Katherine Trudeau, 2005 WL 3007005 (Minn. Nov. 7, 2005). In matters not involving client representations, Trudeau “pled guilty to gross misdemeanor interference with a 911 call and misdemeanor unauthorized computer access by…