Blawg Review

It's not just a blog carnival; it's the law! ~ a fool in the forest

Blawg's Blog Blawg Review

Blawg's Blog is hosting Blawg Review #111.
Law blog, legal blog, blawg...by any name, the numbers are growing...

Blawg was started in December 2002 by Bill Gratsch. While not a blogger himself, Bill had stumbled across a few interesting and useful postings at various weblogs, but too often it seemed simply luck that he found good ones. There was little organization or structure to the blogosphere. With this in mind, Bill scoured the web looking for weblogs that focused on legal-oriented subject matter, with the idea of creating a law blog directory. He found 57. From lawyers writing about their area of expertise, to law librarians offering research tips and tricks, to law professors expressing their opinions and analysis, to technologists discussing the latest trends and ideas in legal technology, these law-oriented blogs or "blawgs," were providing an early view of the changing dynamics for communication and collaboration within the legal community.

Fast forward to November 2006 and the growth in the number and variety of blawgs has created its own unique slice of the blogosphere, what some term the "blawgosphere." And, the quality has never been better, with esteemed lawyers joining the ranks of law students, legal researchers and legal commentators in growing numbers. Add to this growth the continuing emergence of new technologies and tools to serve the practice of law and dissemination of legal information, and it is clear that change is now almost always just a matter of time.

With these trends in mind, Blawg will stay focused on what's ahead and continue to try and deliver useful features and functions -- whether connecting, collaborating or communicating -- to the legal community. Stay tuned. Good stuff ahead.
Blawg's Blog is hosting Blawg Review #111.

Memorial Day Special

Update: Blawg Review #110, a special Memorial Day presentation by Norman Gregory Fernandez at the Biker Law Blog, is now posted and will add more links to blog posts from law bloggers and others over the holiday to commemorate fallen warriors.



Blawg Review #59 for Memorial Day weekend in the United States was really special, and as we approach this weekend of remembrance of those who served and sacrificed for our freedoms, it's again time to reflect and look back at last year's presentation, including these posts:
On the Law of War and Just War Theory Blog, Professor Kenneth Anderson presents an excerpt from a paper in progress:
Democratic legitimacy, what non-Americans think about American policy, and the war on terror

The American people will not engage with the struggle against a transnational terrorist threat over the long run unless it is consonant with deep American values. Americans have not historically been very willing to support in blood and treasure – and, today, attention span – long running wars or foreign policy agendas that do not seem to them both necessary to the national survival and broadly just.
David Giacalone at f/k/a presents:
haiku moments - memorial day 2006

vietnam memorial --
a tear in the
old protestor's eye

dagosan


Photo Credit: Susan Scott Teachey, ON-Q Design, Inc., from the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally in support of MIA and POW.

John Pape & Marc Chandler should start a Motorcycle Law Blog, where they could write more great stuff like these choice words from their website:
Beware the attorney who assumes that he’s dignified and professional merely because he sports a neat little newscaster hairdo, sleeps in a business suit and works for or represents large corporations. You know the type of stuffed shirt we’re talking about. Professionalism and dignity are not products of such superficial nonsense. Some of the most dignified, loyal and trustworthy people we know haven’t worn a suit in years and have long hair and multiple tattoos. At Pape & Chandler, we believe that dignity and professionalism are qualities that you have to earn like a soldier earns his stripes.
This year, an Air Force / California Air National Guard veteran, who is also a real lawyer and a real biker, Norman Fernandez, will lead us as Blawg Review pays its respects on the Biker Law Blog this Memorial Day.

As with last year's Memorial Day presentation, submissions will be accepted throughout the holiday weekend, and added to a very special Blawg Review #110.

The Greatest Blawg Review

The Greatest American Lawyer, written by Enrico Schaefer of Traverse Legal, presents this week's Blawg Review #109.

Introducing Legal Sanity

What better introduction to Blawg Review #108 by Arnie Herz at Legal Sanity than this post by Dan Hull at What About Clients?

Working Mothers Day

In what has become a Mother's Day tradition at Corporate Counsel, Wendy Hufford, in-house lawyer, wife, and mother of eight, delivers her latest installment on finding that elusive home-work balance.
What is a working mother to do when she is offered her dream job 587 miles away from her extended family, close friends and spouse's job?
It's quite a story. Wendy's husband and children made a lot of sacrifices to enable her to follow her dream. Happy Mother's Day!

Blawg Review #107

Professor Bainbridge is absent, having been summoned to Washington, DC, this week to fix the government, so I've been asked to substitute for him today. I'm Professor Kingsfield. Some might remember me from Blawg Review #60 or Blawg Review #80, but the older readers here, and most of the law professors who are sitting in with us today, probably remember me better from my award-winning performance in The Paper Chase. It's an oldie but goodie, as films about law students and professors go, but recently a law student and amateur film critic compared the law school experience to these movies instead. Like many before him, he came into law school with a skull full of mush and leaves thinking like a lawyer...well, lawyerlike.

Many of you are already familiar with the Socratic Method of teaching in law schools, so let's begin, shall we?

The big case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States this past week, at least for patent attorneys like the host of last week's Blawg Review #106, was KSR v Teleflex. Have you noticed that everyone seems to be talking about KSR? Mr. Albainy-Jenei? Would anyone like to give us a complete analysis of the case? Mr. Buchanan

Mr. Manevitz, can you copyright a number, say, like the HD-DVD Processing Key? And does anyone have any thoughts on the controversy over the publication and censoring of posts disclosing that encryption key publicly on the Digg website? Ms. Denise Howell?

Can lawyers be good team players? Ms. Stephanie West Allen.

What will drive change in law firm culture? Mr. Herz.

What's the problem with women partners in law firms? Mr. MacEwen. Why, despite the fact that men and women enter law firms in roughly equal numbers, do women become partners at relatively low rates? Professor Lisa Fairfax.

Is that a video you're watching on that iPod? Speak louder, Mr. Hart! Fill the room with your intelligence!

Should custody arrangements in a divorce case be affected by a child's gender-identity issues? Ms. Jen Burke.

If you pay for an auction you won on eBay and the seller does not deliver, what can you do? Mr. Trout.

For those of you who draft legal documents, here's a question. Does justified text have anything going for it for purposes of word-processed documents? Mr. Adams.

Would the amended Hate Crimes Act, passed by the House this past week, be constitutional? Professor Lederman.

Can a person be charged with theft (class b misdemeanor) if merchandise was not found on a person? Or is this considered attempted theft? If so what is the difference and maximum punishment for each? Mr. Spencer.

What do tomorrow's voters think about criminal justice? Ms. Cowden.

What is the key to regulation and accreditation of legal process outsourcing companies? Mr. Ross.

There are few issues as divisive and polarizing as abortion. Would anyone like to give us an outline of the issues, considering the recent cases? Ms. Nicole Black.

Can a lawyer successfully argue a "competing harms" defense in an appeal of a drunk driving conviction of a man who said that he only drove to avoid the threat of a fight outside a bar? Mr. Nye.

Does a police officer's attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders violate the Fourth Amendment? What if it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death? Mr. Greenfield.

Can anyone give us a run-down of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Scott v. Harris, the high-speed car chase case? Professor Kerr. Now that the Supreme Court has placed a police video online in Scott v. Harris, the question presents itself: What other materials will be placed online? Mr. Turkewitz, any thoughts?

Can a municipal government sue in a quasi-parens patriae posture – that is, where it's suing over response costs created by purported injuries to its citizens rather than for damage to government property, or something similar? Mr. Hermann.

It's been reported recently that a law professor's survey found over half of lawyers have billed clients for work they didn't do, or work they didn't need to do. How did the law profession get to this point? Mr. Green. Would you like to comment on this survey, Professor Maule? Would you'd like to add something, Mr. Frank?

The most valuable thing you could ever provide to your client is good strategic thought. When was the last time you sat down and fully documented what the next steps were in your matter. If your client called today, could you tell them exactly how you are going to win their case or achieve the value you've defined for them on the front-end? Mr. Enrico Schaefer.

Is the mere act of forwarding an email or posting an exchange to a website is grounds for legal action? Mr. Nieporent. Are we overlawyered? Mr. Olson.

Can a notice of claim filed in a non-lawsuit by a lawyer who is not then retained by the potential litigant be valid? Mr. Freilich.

Have any of you sharp brains read any good articles lately? Any good books? Mr. Williams. Any good blogs? Ms. Monica Bay.

What's that? Is that an animal you've brought in here? I'm afraid you'll have to leave now, and take your friends with you. Class, please don't encourage these guys by laughing. It's too bad our serious study of the law has to be disrupted by a few who seem more interested in just getting together with friends and having fun. Since when is the practice of law supposed to be fun? Class dismissed.

Oh, one last thing. Remember, next week's host is Arnie Herz, and here are the guidelines for getting your law-related blog posts reviewed in the following upcoming issues:

See you all there.

Law Day Is Not Lawyers Day

David Giacalone reminds us it's Law Day.
Another May 1st means — among many other things — that we get to celebrate another Law Day.

At this website, May 1st has traditionally meant getting on our highhorse to remind lawyers that “law day is not lawyers day,” while suggesting ways the organized bar could create “a better law day” (by taking steps to put clients’ rights ahead of their own). The American Bar Association has taken over organizing Law Day celebrations, and tells us in this year’s Fact Sheet:
“[Law Day is a] national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law. Law Day underscores how law and the legal process have contributed to the freedoms that all Americans share. . . Law Day programs are designed to help people understand how law keeps us free and how our legal system strives to achieve justice.”
Each year, Law Day is given a theme. The 2007 Law Day Theme is “Liberty Under Law: Empowering Youth, Assuring Democracy.”
David Giacalone offers more thoughts on Law Day, and a bouquet of May Day poems here.