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April 10, 2014
The Duke experience: Salon excerpt from new book about Duke lacrosse rape case.
In early 2006, three members of Duke University's nationally ranked lacrosse case were falsely accused of rape in a protracted, much publicized, over-hyped criminal case brought in Durham, North Carolina (where Duke, for odd historical reasons, is located). It led, for starters, to the resignation of the Duke lacrosse team's head coach, cancellation of the remainder of school's 2006 lacrosse season, and the disbarment of the case's initial lead prosecutor for Durham County, North Carolina. The lacrosse case even had/has its own legal blog, Durham-In-Wonderland, still continuing, and one of the the better analytical blawgs out there. And now there's a new book (the third, by my count) about the episode: "The Price of Silence: The Duke Lacrosse Scandal, the Power of the Elite, and the Corruption of Our Great Universities" (Scribner) by William D. Cohan, a well-regarded business writer. Cohan, like me, is a Duke grad. The party where the alleged rape occurred was in a house a few down from my house at Duke, on Buchanan Avenue, when as an undergraduate I worked on Duke's daily newspaper. I am still active in things Duke. So I will buy and read the book. In the meantime, see this excerpt from the book in Tuesday's Salon. Note: While anyone could gather from the Salon excerpt alone that Cohan is a fine researcher, investigator and storyteller--I already know he is, having read his previous book on Goldman Sachs--I'll read the whole book before spouting off on it. Except it's not premature to comment on the book's sensational full title, i.e., with the subtitle ending in "the Power of the Elite, and the Corruption of Our Great Universities". It's ambitious; that's fine. But it panders a bit, too, even if the book supports it. In the meantime, let's just ask that Scribner be less trite and spastic when it shills books.
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Posted by JD Hull at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
April 08, 2014
Ontario trial judge: "Paper must vanish from this Court..."
So says Canadian Justice David M. Brown in a case administration decision penned on April 5 in Bank of Montreal v Faibish, 2014 ONSC 2178 (CanLII). The always-excellent SLAW, Canada's online legal magazine, just reported this. Excerpt from Justice Brown's decision, triggered in part by "profound frustration":
I know there are judges available who are chomping at the bit to conduct more e-trials. Paper must vanish from this Court and, frankly, the judiciary cannot let the legal profession or our court service provider hold us back. Accordingly, I order that the six-week trial of the Loretta and Brome Actions be conducted as electronic trials. More than enough time exists before the October 6 start date to organize the trial materials electronically. I order counsel to provide me with a formal e-trial plan at the June 26, 2014 case conference.
Posted by JD Hull at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2014
Think you can prepare and skillfully interview anyone? Then try Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel sometime.
Think you can skillfully interview anyone? I do. I take pride in dragging out facts, doing cross and direct, taking depositions, putting people at ease and, in general, making contact with people and getting them to open up. I'm good at it, others tell me. And then this morning I read The New Republic's recent interview with Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago congressman and Obama's colorful ex-chief of staff. This was that rare you-cannot-prepare-for-everything interview. TNR reporter Issac Chotiner was a very good sport--few journalists or lawyers could have done better. Me? Well, I like Mayor Emanuel. But I would have likely lost my temper at a couple of junctures. Strike that. Not likely. For sure. It's an interesting if contentious conversation.
Washington Post
Posted by JD Hull at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 06, 2014
Cross-Culture: Canada, the next global player.
"Deferential yet stoic" Canada is poised for a bigger global role, says Cross-Culture in its new post, "The Quiet Colossus". One of the best articles at Cross-Culture yet. Note in particular the points on Canadian-Russian partnerings in the Arctic region. Excerpt:
Canada, multilingual and multicultural, with favourable demographics and substantial economic freedom, is destined to exercise far greater influence amid the great powers than she hitherto has chosen to do: laid back and universally popular (who hates Canadians?), protected on either side by two great oceans and with access to a slowly-warming third, and with a friendly neighbour to the south, Canada can choose her friends and partners with little fear of being rebuffed.
No two countries in the Arctic region share so much in common as Canada and Russia. A map of the Arctic Ocean with the North Pole at its centre shows that the ocean is virtually closed by the coastal areas of Russia, Canada and Greenland. By far the largest Arctic nations, Canada and Russia – neighbours across the North Pole – bear a shared responsibility for the state of affairs in the region and must see each other as strategic partners.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)