In a recent opinion, Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner, who some describe as perhaps the greatest living appellate judge (a claim with which I would not necessarily disagree), offered some useful advice on the subject of brief writing. Specifically, he addressed the dense legalese that littered the briefs that had been submitted in a complex…
“The Whole Thing Is a Crock of SH*T”
So says defense attorney Mark Geragos about the federal investigation into steroid use and distribution that led to the recent indictment of home run king Barry Bonds. As outlined fairly persuasively in this recent article on Reason magazine’s website, Geragos appears to be right. The BALCO case appears to be yet another federal boondoggle in…
The Persecution of OJ Simpson
Most people believe that OJ Simpson murdered his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ron Goldman. Many believe that his acquittal of murder charges for their deaths by a Los Angeles jury was the greatest miscarriage of justice in modern American history. Both of these claims may well be true. Nonethless, there should be no doubt…
Regan Sues News Corp. for $100 Million
Book publisher Judith Regan has filed a lawsuit against her former employer, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., seeking $100 million in damages. The New York Times reports that, among other salacious allegations, Regan claims in her complaint that a News Corp. executive ordered her to lie about her affair with Bernard Kerik, the former, and recently…
Spotlight on the Ninth Circuit’s Alex Kozinski
Spotlight on the Ninth Circuit’s Alex Kozinski: “ A ‘California eccentrics’ theme has emerged from our morning items. We just posted on Seymour Lazar, an 80-year-old lawyer who pleaded guilty to crimes related to the Milberg Weiss case. On the opposite end of the Golden State-bar respectability spectrum, but no less colorful: Judge Alex Kozinski,…
3rd Circuit Upholds FCC on Internet Deregulation
The Legal Intelligencer reported today that the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an FCC decision relieving telephone companies of the obligation to grant competing high speed internet providers access to the companies wires at “non-discriminatory” rates. This is, of course, a major victory for proponents of internet service deregulation. If only Verizon…
Nifong Seeks Reimbursement for Attorneys Fees
The ABA Journal reports that disbarred, discredited and disgraced former Durham District Attorney and former inmate Mike Nifong has formally requested that Durham should either assume his defense in the civil suit that the former Duke lacrosse players have filed, or pay for him to hire counsel. Of course he has. Nifong claims that he…
Barnes Foundation Headed For More Litigation
Seems like the saga of the Barnes Foundation, a venerable institution in the art world, isn;t over quite yet. Three years ago a Pennsylvania state coirt judge gave the institution, which has been on financial life support, permission to move from its location in the Philadelphia suburbs to new, as yet to be constructed quarters,…
Exonerated Duke Lacrosse Players Prepare to Sue City of Durham
Courtesy of the Duke Basketball Report (I’m a Duke alum. Get over it.) comes the news that the three lacrosse players wrongfully accused of rape by Crystal Mangum are preparing to sue the city of Durham, North Carolina. Most interesting to me is the identity of the two lawyers representing the Duke Three, Brendan Sullivan…