@BlawgWhisperer

‘My sentencing instincts suck,’ blogging judge admits, wishing ex-con-turned-law-student well

This week, we noted that Shon Hopwood—who wrote a rare winning certiorari petition to the U.S. Supreme Court while in federal prison for bank robbery and has since been released and entered law school—has been hired as a clerk for Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals…

Aug 9, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Blogger says farewell to tech expert who treated solos with respect, not like ‘desperate morons’

Ross Kodner, a legal technology expert who died this week at age 52, could have set his sights on large firms and large paychecks, Carolyn Elefant wrote at My Shingle. “With his talents and energy, Ross could have easily abandoned the solo and small firm community to focus on helping…

Aug 2, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Phase out court reporters, judge says; How would a ‘price point law firm’ work?

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska sang the praises of digital audio recording as an alternative to court reporters at Hercules and the umpire. Digital audio recordings can be quickly uploaded for public consumption, Kopf wrote. “By uploading the digital audio recording of a trial or hearing every…

Jul 26, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Is it macho for lawyers to put in long hours? ‘Too soon to tell’ about W&L curriculum, prof says

Last week, at the Careerist, Vivia Chen took notes a survey noted by Hastings College of Law professor Joan Williams at Harvard Business Review Blog finding that while 9 percent of mothers work more than 50 hours per week, 29 percent of fathers do. “Why the sizable gap? Williams suggests…

Jun 28, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Law firms say they want ‘practice ready’ grads—but who are they actually hiring?

Washington & Lee University Law School’s decision to emphasize practical skills in the 3L year and subsequent enrollment surge was called the “biggest legal education story of 2013” by Indiana University law professor Bill Henderson. And “National Jurist named the school’s faculty as among the twenty-five most influential people in…

Jun 21, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Law firm versions of big-box stores; IRS summer hours; Airbnb for the bar exam?

Some law firms have a “big box” model, New York City-based law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen writes at Adam Smith, Esq. Which is to say that they are highly specialized in one practice area, have a great depth of resources and expertise in that practice area and are deeply invested…

Jun 14, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Blogger reads between lines of NSA lawyer’s ‘false myths’ speech, knowing what we know now

Forbes blogger Kashmir Hill remembers a speech that National Security Agency general counsel Rajesh De made at Georgetown in February. “In light of recent reports that the NSA has been routinely sweeping up metadata from phone companies about all calls made in the United States, it’s worth revisiting the remarks…

Jun 7, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Blaming the Baby Boomers; Do young children believe that ideas can be owned?

Beware of the Boomers, Boston practitioner Dave Brown writes at Hungry Hungry Lawyers. “As exceptional as the Greatest Generation might have been, they really tanked the endgame, handing a dominant military, a booming economy and atomic weapons over to children whom they had negligently entrusted to raise themselves,” Brown wrote.…

May 31, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

In-person networking the right move for every lawyer?; Summer reading recs from bloggers

Late last week, Philadelphia law partners Jordan Rushie and Leo Mulvihill at Philly Law Blog and Lawyerist, respectively, wrote about “the hustle” that goes along finding clients for their small law practice. Rushie wrote about his unpaid professional / networking activities, which includes heavy involvement in and legal work for…

May 24, 2013 1:29 PM CDT

Question the quality of client leads from the Web; Should you link up with competitors on LinkedIn?

Last month, Arizona criminal defense attorney Matt Brown noted at Tempe Criminal Defense that he was taking a break from blogging to go on a 700-plus-mile hike. But he checked into the office periodically. “At some point after climbing onto the Colorado Plateau, however, the volume of voice messages increased,”…

May 17, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Schools that are nailing law practice technology; Prof compares SLU to Pakistan; Tumblr drama

Legal services delivery entrepreneur Richard Granat wrote at eLawyering Blog about the efforts of the ABA’s eLawyering Task Force to identify the top law schools currently teaching legal practice technology. “We include within this category courses that train law students in document automation, legal expert systems, and other course work…

May 10, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Who’s really driving the alternative fee arrangements movement; Blogger stands up for privacy

Jean P. O’Grady, a knowledge strategist at DLA Piper took on this year’s Alternative Fee Arrangements at Legal Departments and Law Firms report at Dewey B. Strategic. And she noticed some other things on top of all of the stats about the prevalence of AFAs. “A careful reading of the…

May 3, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

SCOTUSblog gets press credentials; eBay defamation case is dropped after bloggers turn up the heat

Last month, SCOTUSblog won a Peabody Award for excellence in electronic media–the first blog to ever do so. On Thursday, it announced that it had at long last, the Senate Press Gallery has granted its reporter Lyle Denniston a press credential. “The Supreme Court’s general practice, which we expect to…

Apr 19, 2013 1:29 PM CDT

Bloggers defend the brick-and-mortar law office; What if fathers had paid paternity leave?

At LexThink.1 at ABA Techshow last week, one memorable quip came from MyCase co-founder Matt Spiegel: “The office is dead,” he said. “If we can only advise clients by forcing them to come into our offices, we are destined to fail.” And in the last week, both Philadelphia lawyer Jordan…

Apr 12, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Law bloggers round up ABA Techshow’s highs and lows

ABA Techshow 2013 wrapped up this past Saturday, and law bloggers were out in force. For a comprehensive list of news stories and blog posts that previewed and covered Techshow, you can check out this list of links (that may still be being updated) at Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites. For more…

Apr 8, 2013 6:35 PM CDT