Archive for November, 2008
Empirical Study of Civil Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts from 1992-2005
Some interesting statistics on trials were released recently in DOJ, Bureau of Justice Statistics: Civil Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005. Some of the findings significantly undermine the popular mythology of large awards runaway juries that fueled tort reform.
In 2005 plaintiffs won in more than half (56%) of all general civil trials concluded [...]
Google’s Gatekeepers
George Washington Law Prof Jeffrey Rosen has a fantastic piece in the New York Times today on Google’s Gatekeepers, chronicling the central role the company is playing, voluntarily or not, in setting a kind of global free speech policy.
In March of last year, Nicole Wong, the deputy general counsel of Google, was notified that there [...]
Cross-Posting: Should We Recognize a Child’s Right To Refuse Vital Medical Care?
The post below is cross-posted from my original post Should We Recognize a Child’s Right To Refuse Vital Medical Care? on the Children and the Law Blog.
CBS News: Girl Wins Right To Refuse Vital Transplant
Hannah Jones, 13, is not afraid of dying - she is afraid of spending her remaining days in a hospital bed. [...]
The Daily Show on Fleeting Expletives: What Not to Swear
The Supreme Court recently took up the case of ‘fleeting expletives’ aka the ‘Bono rule’ in FCC v. Fox Television Stations. It didn’t escape the notice of the Daily Show, which has in the course of it’s typical fare of sharp political satire and outlandish humor, developed the bleeped curse-word to an art form of [...]
Upcoming Conference at UT Law: The Rise of Appellate Litigators and State Solicitors General
There’s a great line up of appellate litigators descending on Austin in January for The Rise of Appellate Litigators & State Solicitors General. Even one of these panels would be worth the trip.
January 22, 2009: Appellate Litigators in the Private Bar
Eidman Courtroom
Introduction
Kimberly Hicks, Editor in Chief, The Review of Litigation
Dean Lawrence Sager, The University of [...]
On the Mootness of Moot Court
My girlfriend brought up an interesting point the other day. The word “moot” has two quite contradictory meanings. The more common one is of meaninglessness - rendering a legal proceeding without effect or depriving it of practical significance. Moot can also mean “to raise an issue” or “arguable.” Apparently this is transatlantic mistranslation, the latter [...]
Arizona State Law Student Goes to the Mattresses for Laptop
I think any law student would easily see the cost-benefit analysis at work here -
Arizona State University student Alex Botsios said he had no problem giving a nighttime intruder his wallet and guitars.
When the man asked for Botsios’ laptop, however, the first-year law student drew the line.
“I was like, ‘Dude, no — please, no!” [...]
Batman, Turkey Sues Over Unauthorized Use of Name
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, Real life Batman faces super test, there is a town in Turkey named Batman whose mayor is suing Chris Nolan, director of Batman Begins and the Dark Knight for some sort of name infringement, claiming rights to the royalties.
Although this might initially raise the specter for Nolan of being [...]
Baylor Law Goes to the Dogs
Here’s a great story from Waco.
When Amy Jones received her law degree from Baylor University, her playful service dog, Skeeter, got the same honor. As Jones got her juris doctor on Saturday, Skeeter received an honorary law degree. “Amy has busted through brick walls, and Skeeter has been faithfully by her side every step of [...]
Malcolm Gladwell Looks at What Makes a Successful Lawyer
As I noted here in Malcolm Gladwell on the Value of the Adversity in Personal Success and of the Outsider in Institutional Growth, Gladwell’s new book deals in part with the Uses of Adversity (preview in New Yorker). One of the examples that doesn’t make the New Yorker article, but gets a chapter of the [...]