Wisconsin becomes 27th state to allow same-sex marriage
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Blawg Log
BLAWG LOG: The Zimmerman trial and CGI evidence
The Zimmerman trial nicely illustrates how messy trials can be.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Is law school’s ‘Dude!’ ad the ‘lamest?’
Richmond School of Law is touting its selectivity and employment statistics in an ad that uses a text message format, complete with abbreviations and lingo.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Hylton on Superman and the Rule of Law; O’Hear on habeas roundup
This month marks the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: O’Hear on Milwaukee: The most dangerous size
Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics issued a new report compiling nearly two decades of data on gun crime, Firearm Violence, 1993-2011.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Is there a ‘Lawyer Bubble?’
A new book by a former litigator at Kirkland & Ellis, one of the nation’s largest law firms, has delivered a frisson to the already rattled legal profession.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: A quick survey of blogs written by judges
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Kopf made national news this week when he wrote on his blog, Hercules and the Umpire, about the frequent irrelevancy of the Supreme Court. “A lot of what the Supreme Court does is simply irrelevant to what federal trial judges do on a daily basis,” wrote Judge Kopf, who presides and blogs from Lincoln, Neb.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Wagner on SCOTUS weighs in on forced blood draws; Scoville on Supreme Court ruling on Alien Tort Statute
In the wake of (Wednesday's) decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Missouri v. McNeely, DUI defense attorneys across the land are doing the “happy dance.”
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Greer on frozen assets; Chmurski on 2nd Circuit’s ruling to impact sovereign debt market
Property law – who could forget the Rule Against Perpetuities, fee simple, remainders or Blackacre from your second semester at Marquette Law?
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Kloeden on ‘Landmark domestic violence ruling in China’; Hoffer on ‘Ending agricultural use assessment abuse’
Last weekend, a Beijing court granted a divorce on grounds of domestic violence, in a case which has garnered widespread attention and debate in China for the past year.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: McLeod on ‘Are unemployment insurance benefits taxable?’
It's tax time, and workers who collected unemployment in Wisconsin in 2012 are wondering whether they owe any taxes on their benefit payments. In short, they do.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: O’Hear on developments affecting right to counsel; Greipp on dogs and contracts
In three cases since 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court has seemingly strengthened the chronically anemic right to effective assistance of counsel.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Mazzie on ‘Time for a serious conversation about guns’
No child should have to endure such things. No child. Anywhere.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Papke on ‘Lincoln’ and the law; Bergner on home rule begins at home
Reviewers of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” have rightfully praised the film for its faithfulness to history and for the fine acting of Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, and Tommy Lee Jones, among others. As a “lifer” in legal academics, I was intrigued by the film’s engagement with law, lawmaking, and law-related ideology.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Important elder law number updates for 2013
The Social Security Administration recently announced that the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits will increase by 1.7 percent in 2013.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Geske on restorative justice, mediation in Ireland; Bergner on specialization threatening attorney’s function as counselor
I have the privilege this week of serving as the keynote speaker at the annual Irish Mediator’s Institute conference in Dublin, Ireland. I will talk to this professional mediation organization about the incorporation of restorative justice principles into high emotional conflicts.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: DiMotto on the state’s Good Samaritan Law
Section 895.48(1) of the Wisconsin statutes is commonly referred to as a "Good Samaritan Law." The intent of this law is to encourage people, particularly people with medical training and experience, to take action in an emergency situation to provide needed medical attention by providing them with immunity from civil, legal action.
Read More »Secunda on what second Obama term means for labor, employment law; Barnes on health care access, payment
In light of President Obama’s resounding re-election victory last night, and other developments in political races down the ticket, here are some of my initial thoughts on what might happen in the labor and employment law area during a second Obama administration.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: WSJ’s Law Blog: Bankruptcy judges scramble for courtrooms post-Sandy
New York City is crawling back to normal after last week’s crippling storm, but the U.S. Bankruptcy Court building in Lower Manhattan remains paralyzed, forcing a scramble by judges and lawyers to hold key hearings wherever they can find a courtroom.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Boyden on First Sale, ‘Lawfully Made,’ and Copyright Stalking-Horses
The Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., despite Hurricane Sandy’s imminent arrival and the fact the entire federal government in Washington DC is shut down today.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Kloeden on polarized America, non-compulsory voting
As a newcomer to the U.S., arriving in the months leading up to a Presidential election, I am struck by the apparent polarization of the American media into red and blue extremes.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Lawyerist.com: Don’t waste your time writing law review articles
[T]he strait-jacket of law review style has killed what might have been lively literature. It has maimed even those few pieces of legal writing that actually have something to say.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Wall Street Journal on five cases to watch this term
Wall Street Journal on Supreme Court: Five Cases to Watch This Term
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Hupy on social responsibility and giving back; Idleman on legal anomalies in federal Indian law
Years ago, I attended a seminar where the late Attorney Harry M. Philo was one of the speakers. I don’t remember where the seminar was or who the other speakers were, but I will never forget one thing that this very prominent lawyer said, “The primary social responsibility of personal injury lawyers is to prevent accidents and reduce the number of injuries. It is only when we fail in this responsibility that we move to our secondary responsibility of obtaining compensation for our clients.”
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Lawyers.com: Yes, you can ditch a student loan in bankruptcy
The mantra is repeated over and over: You can’t discharge student loans through bankruptcy. However, while it’s reality for most indebted people, the conventional wisdom isn’t quite true.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: O’Hear on marijuana possession arrests; Hupy on restoring public confidence in the judicial system
In 2010, Wisconsin law enforcement agencies reported 16,111 arrests for simple possession of marijuana, including both adult and juvenile offenders. The same year, Minnesota agencies reported only 7,453.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Who’s legally liable for bullying?
The perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre were discovered to have previously been the victims of bullying.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: DiMotto on credibility of witnesses; Barnes on health care
One of the most important functions of the "fact finder" in a judicial proceeding is to determine the credibility of the witnesses and the weight of the evidence.
Read More »BLAWG LOG: McMullen on ‘We are all Sikhs’
The day after the dreadful attacks of September 11, 2001, the French newspaper Le Monde published an editorial under the headline “Nous Sommes Tous Américains” (“We Are All Americans”).
Read More »BLAWG LOG: Court reporters see their numbers dwindle
Humans or machines? When it comes to documenting proceedings in courts, technology seems to be winning out.
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