« June 01, 2008 - June 07, 2008 | Main | June 15, 2008 - June 21, 2008 »
June 13, 2008
Bad week for a great judge.
Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. See in the Los Angeles Times "Alex Kozinski Suspends L.A. Obscenity Trial After Conceding His Website Had Sexual Images" (783 comments so far) and Scott Greenfield's Simple Justice. Talented and even gifted people who occasionally collect porn and/or jokes? I never think less of them. I just don't always get them. Such folks usually excel at having magical encounters with real humans, and their uncommon wit permits them to fire off their own jokes. However, I do think that a guy as smart and as celebrated as Judge Kozinski doesn't get any points for letting this happen to him. That does matter. Sir, I may have to appear before you some day. I'm in your corner. I admire ability and achievement. People talk of you in language that glows. But could you have managed this differently?
Posted by JD Hull at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2008
The Economist: America getting there.
The London-based weekly magazine The Economist does not always love the United States. But it has undertaken a useful and entertaining role in the West: wonky Motherland commissioner to monitor and scold the world's busiest overachievers and self-appointed police force since imperial Rome. So I was happy to see this week's cover and cover story, "America at its best". I could not agree more, and had to pinch myself a lot in the last 18 months when thinking about the quality of presidential candidates produced in the 2008 contest. And we may have made longer-term gains, beyond candidate choice. Without question, America--the insular "ruffian" nation that could never quite square its domestic life with its democratic ideals--crossed thresholds, surprised people, and probably made race and gender history. For us, it was progress. The article's concluding paragraph:
Both candidates have their flaws and their admirable points; the doughty but sometimes cranky old warrior makes a fine contrast with the inspirational but sometimes vaporous young visionary. Voters now have those five months to study them before making up their minds (and The Economist will be doing the same). But, on the face of it, this is the most impressive choice America has had for a very long time.
Photo: The Economist
Posted by JD Hull at 12:03 PM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2008
What if "bad customer service" were actionable?
This AP article made the rounds last week: "Los Angeles Time Sues Time Warner Cable, Claims Shoddy Service". The suit, of course, really interested WAC? What if falling short of promises made in routine selling and puffing became, in effect, a business tort, or a breach of an implied contract? An action sounding in "shoddy customer service?" Much of the California Time Warner action is grounded on violations of California law governing unfair business and deceptive advertising practices. There are obvious "floodgate" problems with dressing up bad service as violations of California's business and profession codes--but we like the City Attorney's pluck, and lots of ideas with legal legs start in flaky California:
LOS ANGELES (AP, June 5): Time Warner Cable Inc. was accused Thursday of lying to Los Angeles subscribers and providing shoddy customer service in a lawsuit that seeks potentially tens of millions of dollars in fines against the city's main provider of cable television.
"The company has broken multiple laws, and harmed countless Los Angeles consumers," City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said in a statement. The suit was filed as a civil law enforcement action and names the people of California as plaintiffs. [more]
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2008
Jurywork: The eyes have it.
Anne Reed at Deliberations quickly has become a triple-threat, as she regularly has done the impossible: make bloggers, lawyers and jury consultants all look good, even productive and excellent. At WAC? and Hull McGuire we'd just about given up on all three. We were turning our eye to more reputable and productive professions--like insurance adjusters, call girls, and circus barkers. Anne gave us not only pause, but even undeserved redemption. Deliberations is truly insightful, immediately useful and challenging in all the best ways. If you try cases, and you think about the art-science of The Jury, see "When They Look Away", and be prepared for a surprise. It begins:
Your expert is on the stand presenting her analysis of lost profits damages, or whether an unintelligible patent claim was infringed. As she's explaining the most difficult part, you look at the jury, and your heart sinks; no one is looking at her. They're contemplating the ceiling, studying the floor, looking away.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Blawg Review #163: Client-savvy More Partner Income hosts.
For the past three years, and regularly, we've singled out More Partner Income, founded by Tom Collins, as the best overall site on the subject of building and running a client-centric law firm. If you manage a law firm from 3 to 3000 lawyers in size, and read only two or three blogs or periodicals, this should be one of them. Today, MPI hosts Blawg Review #163 in one of the most worthwhile and hardest-working BR performances this year.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Essential China Law
See "What Lawyers MUST Know About China" by Dan Harris at his China Law Blog. It's from a talk he gave to the International Law Section of the Alaska Bar Association.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2008
Germany makes politically-correct bombs.
Yes, environmentally-friendly bombs. America's liberal but respected The New Republic magazine noticed this one, too. But Hermann the German, our well-read man in Berlin, doesn't think it's that big a deal: "Well all the people that get bombed are biodegradable, aren’t they?"
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
Another woman with Gaul.
C'est Ma Vie: Tales of My Life Across the Atlantic is a kind of Notes From The Underground by a smarter but slightly disorganized version of the American girl-next-door. She and her young family have been living in Paris. She's been trying qualify to teach in Paris, bravely putting up with "the inspector" to make that happen. "I need a special therapist for how to deal with hierarchy in France."
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)