Can generative AI tools make it easier for lawyers to offer pro bono services?

A commonly cited solution to helping bridge the access-to-justice canyon is for lawyers to provide more pro bono work. In that regard, have generative artificial intelligence tools made it easier for lawyers to provide pro bono services?

Jun 12, 2024 8:50 AM CDT

This BigLaw firm is tops for culture, most important factor to surveyed law students, new report says

Culture is the most important factor for Yale Law School students when deciding which law firm offer to accept, according to a new report by Yale Law Women+.

Jun 11, 2024 1:42 PM CDT

On secret recording, Justice Alito agrees on need to return US to ‘place of godliness’

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito agreed with a woman who approached him during a June 3 meeting of the Supreme Court Historical Society and commented that people who believe in God have to keep fighting “to return our country to a place of godliness.”

Jun 11, 2024 9:01 AM CDT

Retired D.C. Circuit judge talks about his memoir on navigating a legal career through blindness

Judge David Tatel retired late last year after nearly 30 years on the federal appeals court. In all that time, he never saw a single piece of paper nor an attorney arguing before him. Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice shares his journey.

Jun 11, 2024 8:35 AM CDT

SCOTUS financial disclosures are released; Thomas reports 2 trips paid by Harlan Crow

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has disclosed for the first time visits to Bali and to a private club in California in 2019 paid for by his friend and benefactor, Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, according to financial disclosures released Friday for eight of the nine justices.

Jun 7, 2024 1:20 PM CDT

FTC ban on noncompetes raises confidentiality issues—and can it be enforced?

The rule, which rescinds most current and bans all future noncompetes, is expected to affect nearly one in five American workers, according to the FTC. It will go into effect in early September if it’s not overturned or delayed.

Jun 6, 2024 1:44 PM CDT

Lawyer gives up license after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assaults, including one involving associate

A Washington lawyer has agreed to give up his law license, rather than fight allegations stemming from his guilty plea to misdemeanor assaults on a Delta Air Lines flight and after a work-sponsored event.

Jun 5, 2024 9:42 AM CDT

‘The Originalism Trap’ author wants to see originalism dead, dead, dead

Originalism is the ascendant legal theory espoused by conservative legal thinkers, including the majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices. But far from being an objective framework for constitutional interpretation, says author and attorney Madiba K. Dennie, its true purpose is to achieve conservative political aims regardless of the historical record.

Jun 5, 2024 9:04 AM CDT

Games Lawyers Play: Word counts and spacing rules in briefs appear open to interpretation

As teenagers, some of us played a game with our writing assignments. The goal was to make an essay or report appear longer than it actually was. Why? Because our teachers specified a minimum number of words or pages, and we struggled to reach that number.

Jun 5, 2024 9:01 AM CDT

‘Like Nike’s Slogan’: Veteran litigator has some advice about trying cases—‘just do it’

Daniel Small spoke to the ABA Journal about his latest book, Lessons Learned from a Life on Trial: Landmark Cases from a Veteran Litigator and What They Can Teach Trial Lawyers, which was published by ABA Publishing in February.

Jun 3, 2024 8:47 AM CDT

Coast Guard veteran speaks out for military sexual assault survivors

In December, Melissa McCafferty sat before members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs and spoke candidly about the darkest times in her life. While at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in the late 2000s, she was sexually assaulted by male cadets two separate times. She chose not to report the incidents, fearing no one would care or that she would face discipline.

Jun 1, 2024 12:50 AM CDT

Michelle Behnke looks to build community and strengthen the ABA with new strategic plan

“There are moments I’m amazed that a kid from Wisconsin is in this position, but at the same time, the ABA is a home for everybody,” Michelle Behnke, the ABA president-elect nominee, says. “You don’t have to be from an elite law school and a big law firm to contribute, and that part is pretty amazing to me as well.”

Jun 1, 2024 12:40 AM CDT

Meet the ABA’s newest leadership candidates

Jun 1, 2024 12:30 AM CDT

Thinking about retirement? Lawyers give advice about money, goals and happiness

Lawyers can have meaningful and fulfilling lives after retirement. However, there are some important steps to take long before leaving a full-time legal career.

Jun 1, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

Federal judge fatally struck by car had offered heartwarming advice in clerk interview

Senior U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks of the District of Nevada died Wednesday after he was struck by a car near the courthouse in Reno, Nevada. He was 80 years old.

May 30, 2024 3:11 PM CDT