ABA Journal

Take a note from how Bob Dylan cleverly retrofits traditional melodies to craft a story

For me, the most important law songs, the ones that are closest to my heart, are often not about lawyers at all but instead about themes of justice and injustice. The most remarkable of these songs are by our two greatest folk poets: Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.

Apr 1, 2019 1:30 AM CDT

Day-to-day reality of depression may not look like you think

Depression can look as you might imagine: the inability to function or fulfill one’s daily responsibilities and to be in a constant state of gloom. But this isn’t true for everyone. As you’ll see from the stories below, there are many faces to depression and many paths for getting better.

Apr 1, 2019 1:20 AM CDT

Old-fashioned textualism is all about interpretation, not legislating from the bench

Although some lawyers and judges will always care more about policy arguments, nobody can safely ignore grappling with textual arguments.

Apr 1, 2019 1:15 AM CDT

Congolese warlord convicted of war crimes with the help of ABA ROLI

Last month, after years of efforts, the warlord Marcel Habarugira Rangira, lieutenant colonel of the Congolese armed forces, was convicted of war crimes before a military tribunal in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mireille Kahatwa Amani was one of the chief attorneys from the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative who worked to convict him.

Mar 28, 2019 2:47 PM CDT

Medicaid work requirements in these 2 states blocked by federal judge

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked work requirements imposed on Medicaid recipients in Kentucky and Arkansas. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in the Arkansas decision that federal approval of the program was arbitrary and capricious because it didn’t address whether it would affect medical coverage to…

Mar 28, 2019 11:23 AM CDT

Have you adapted your law practice for an aging population? If so, how?

It stands to reason that elder law will provide new opportunities for lawyers. Yet elder law covers a wide range of practice specialties, which makes this emerging discipline hard to pin down. In a recent ABA Journal story, Marc Davis notes how the legal practice has followed the demographic shift…

Mar 27, 2019 3:20 PM CDT

55 years after first SCOTUS appearance, lawyer is back for second redistricting case

Lawyer Emmet Jopling Bondurant II was only 26 in November 1963 when he first appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court to argue that congressional districts should have equal populations. Bondurant won the case, Wesberry v. Sanders, and he’s hoping for the same result when he appears before the Supreme Court…

Mar 26, 2019 7:30 AM CDT

Your client’s gone viral—now what?

Drawing attention to a client's plight can be a great outcome for an attorney wanting justice in a case. But what do you do when your client is trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons?

Mar 25, 2019 7:45 AM CDT

Stop comparing your startup to TurboTax

While people often see TurboTax as a successful company that makes tax filing easier, TurboTax is not worthy of its vaunted rhetorical role. It’s a rent-seeker that actively lobbies to keep the tax system complex, justifying its ongoing existence.

Mar 25, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Law firm marketing goes hand in hand with technology, consultant says

Ari Kaplan spoke with Deborah Farone, a law firm marketing adviser who served as the chief marketing officer for Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Debevoise & Plimpton. She is the author of the new book Best Practices in Law Firm Business Development and Marketing
(Practising Law Institute), which is based on more than 60 interviews with law firm leaders and marketers, general counsels and innovators in the profession.

Mar 22, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Is there an optimum age to go to law school?

The typical trajectory for a lawyer’s education is a high school diploma to an undergraduate degree to a JD. With this life plan, you can be a practicing attorney by your mid-20s—which is not uncommon. About half of all law school applicants from 2011 to 2015 were between 22 and…

Mar 20, 2019 2:09 PM CDT

Did an ax murderer go free? ‘The Trial of Lizzie Borden’ examines the evidence

In The Trial of Lizzie Borden, Cara Robertson uses her skills as a lawyer to go over the strategies used by the defense and prosecution, the evidence brought before the court, and the societal influences that contributed to the outcome.

Mar 20, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Cartoon Poll: What sketchy caption deserves to get framed?

Which caption truly captures this artful courtroom scene? We brushed through about 130 submissions and just can’t draw our own conclusion. Vote in the poll to help us pick the winner. The caption that gets the most votes will appear in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Vote in the…

Mar 19, 2019 4:18 PM CDT

Should we eliminate daylight saving time and why?

Sleep is a resource that can be hard to come by, especially for legal professionals. When daylight saving time struck this past weekend, lawyers, judges and others who work in the legal industry across the country lost an hour of sleep—a sacrifice that can take a toll on health. The…

Mar 13, 2019 2:59 PM CDT

Not content with retirement, Jeff Carr continues the fight against billable hours

Jeff Carr has been on a 40-year path of improving lawyer efficiency and effectiveness. “There’s an old saying that if you pay for service by the hour, you buy hours and not service,” he says. “And I still believe that very much.”

Mar 13, 2019 6:00 AM CDT