« February 20, 2006 | Main | February 22, 2006 »

February 21, 2006

Clean Water Act Argument in SC Today: So What Are "Waters of the U.S." These Days, Anyway?

See today's WSJ Law Blog. If your firm does any environmental law, you may know know that two critical companion cases were argued today on the reach of the 33-year-old federal Clean Water Act in a test of the new U.S. Supreme Court. I almost forgot about this--probably because it was such a strange development (no pun), I was in denial the case even got as far as it did. In the two cases, developers are challenging the federal government's authority to regulate (and protect) wetlands.

Simply put, the question is: will wetlands or any other waterways which you can't float a boat in still fall under the jurisdiction of the federal Clean Water Act? If the answer is "no"--i.e., wetlands and certain smaller tributaries to navigable waters are now suddenly "out"--the Clean Water Act and much of its jurisprudence is changed forever unless Congress steps in. Although the case affects many U.S. businesses and persons from diverse political camps in different ways, it's in many ways a straightforward Environmentalists v. U.S. Business dispute. Also see the Associated Press's coverage of the argument.

Posted by JD Hull at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

Revisited: European blawgs anyone?

I'm still compiling a list of active worthwhile European legal blogs--especially those originating from or about the UK, Germany and France (English versions if possible), western Europe generally and the European Union. I've received some good responses (in comments to February 16 post) If anyone else of any nationality can recommend European sites they like and visit frequently, I would appreciate it.

Posted by JD Hull at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)

Abraham & Del Bianco--Two People You Should Get To Know.

No--this is not a multicultural-sounding law firm. It's two very different Washington, D.C. people I know who are both "digitally-advanced", and who I urge everyone to get to know personally and professionaly. Since more than 10 people a day (still mostly relatives and associates paid to view it but it's getting there) finally are visiting and really reading this site, I thought, why not briefly sing Chris's and Mark's praises in a post? I met DC-based Chris Abraham, an expert on corporate blogging and building on-line communities, and a very interesting human (likely because he's not a lawyer), at a Renaissance Weekend a few years back in California. His blog is at www.ChrisAbraham.com .

Another Washingtonian, and a D.C. native, Mark Del Bianco is an uncommonly talented telecom lawyer, lawyer's lawyer and friend who I have known most of my professional life. Mark is also an invitee to Renaissance but is always too busy to go. See Mark's main site at www.MarkDelBianco.com. Both Mark and Chris are in demand these days. Visit their sites and you can quickly figure out why. Very good people to know. And Mark and Chris--whether they know it or not--in different conversations two years ago got me interested in blogging. In fact, both had to explain to me the meaning of "blog". Neither Mark or Chris know about this post and both of them would be embarrassed by it. Well, maybe not Chris--he's got that Steve Jobs thing going.

Posted by JD Hull at 07:06 AM | Comments (0)

Client Interviews Need to Be A Continuing Issue--So Clip and Save this Post.

Three days ago Tom Kane at the The Legal Marketing Blog gave us another useful post on client feedback interviews, which stars a February 9 Small Firm Business article on taking client interviews to the next level. So if you click on Tom's post and then click on this, which collects all of the Michelle Golden-Jim Hassett-Patrick Lamb-Tom Kane multi-blog discussion on client interviews, and then follow the links, you have some great materials and comments on not only the need for client interviews but exactly how to do it. And, for my money, it's hard to improve on Tom's January 30 post on the 3-part formula for correct interviews: (1) Interviews by third party professionals (2) followed promptly by a visit from senior management and (3) assignment of a client service team or liaison to each key client.

Posted by JD Hull at 06:53 AM | Comments (0)