Columns

ABA policy summit yields recommendations for racial equity and social justice

“Since the 2020 presidential election, the Biden-Harris administration has offered policy correctives on a spectrum of civil rights and social justice issues. Still, we have more to accomplish,” writes ABA Journal columnist Engy Abdelkader.

Apr 4, 2022 9:50 AM CDT

Making the Move: What should legal organizations consider when assessing how the cloud fits into their future?

The COVID-19 pandemic—coupled with the remote and hybrid work models that arrived in its wake—has spurred a move to the cloud for many of the key business systems that legal organizations rely on, from document and email management to collaboration and more.

Apr 1, 2022 2:40 AM CDT

Grammar Rules: The case of the unhyphenated phrasal adjectives

Before this honorable court is the complaint of Marian Short-Dash, who accuses her local newspaper, the Blunderbuss Clarion, of omitting “obligatory hyphens” from phrasal adjectives, thereby impairing her ability to read without annoyance.

Apr 1, 2022 1:10 AM CDT

When ‘Loof Lirpa’ goes awry, enter the lawyers

First day of April tomfoolery sometimes goes awry. Enter the lawyers—and then it’s no laughing matter.

Mar 30, 2022 12:04 PM CDT

5 tips from a law school librarian for assigning research projects to interns

As a law school reference librarian, I field a lot of questions from law students working at internships, externships and summer jobs. Over the years, I’ve seen some recurring issues with the research assignments given to law students, and I thought it might be helpful to discuss some of them here.

Mar 28, 2022 8:39 AM CDT

Conduct depositions remotely with these virtual technologies

Two years have passed since the onset of the pandemic, and no matter how you look at it, things will never be quite the same. COVID-19 changed everything. In many cases, the only way for lawyers to continue to practice law and maintain business operations during the pandemic has been to take advantage of remote working technologies.

Mar 25, 2022 9:06 AM CDT

Modern legal operations are at the intersection of law, business and technology

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Marla Crawford, the general counsel at Cimplifi, an integrated legal services provider that aligns e-discovery and contract analytics for corporate legal departments and law firms.

Mar 22, 2022 11:06 AM CDT

Crime drama film ‘Rush’ and the pitfalls of undercover addiction

I was a kid in the early 1990s. More accurately, I was a kid raised by kids. My parents were young, and I saw the gap in age (or lack thereof) as a blessing and a curse. They were young enough that it was difficult for our family at times, but I was able to find an awesome balance between “parent” and “friend.”

Mar 22, 2022 10:11 AM CDT

Tips for Better Billing: Why practice management software is critical to business success

When the COVID-19 pandemic stormed into our lives in 2020, many U.S. law firms saw increased demand for their services and a greater need for efficient operations.

Mar 16, 2022 9:52 AM CDT

Lawyers are all about camaraderie, civility and coin tosses

The legal profession. All good? Maybe not all, at least according to some observers, such as Shakespeare, who said something like, “First, let’s kill all the lawyers.” I retired about five years ago after spending more than 40 years in the Ontario court trenches, and I would now like to share some thoughts on what’s good about our profession.

Mar 15, 2022 11:15 AM CDT

Len Elmore’s journey from the basketball court to the courtroom and back again

It isn’t easy getting a seat in a classroom at Harvard Law School. Len Elmore did. But then the 6-foot-9-inch student was choosey about the one he took. “I tried to sit on the end of the row,” he says. “There was more legroom.”

Mar 10, 2022 1:00 PM CST

Mentorship is not all about the mentee

Mentorship. This one word can cause many a tough, battle-worn attorney to cringe. For many seasoned attorneys, the idea of being a mentor just sounds like you are being asked to add more hours of work to an already overloaded schedule. But before you reject the idea, consider the benefits that come with such a role.

Mar 8, 2022 11:12 AM CST

Chemerinsky: SCOTUS could make significant ruling on EPA’s authority to fight climate change—or not

In a term likely filled with blockbuster cases, West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency is an enigma: It could turn out to be unimportant and dismissed without a decision; it may be a major ruling on the scope of the EPA’s power; or it could be a huge decision about judicial review of agency decisions. The case, which was argued on Feb. 28, arose in an unusual procedural posture that may cause the court to dismiss it. But if the justices reach the merits, it could be a decision of great significance about environmental and administrative law.

Mar 3, 2022 12:08 PM CST

A dark—and potentially illegal—side of YouTube

“In the end, we need to be very conscious of the methods we use for research, but we also need to be mindful of the imagery and information we digest, whether technically legal or not.”

Mar 1, 2022 8:53 AM CST

Why some civil rights movement heroes were relegated to the shadows

I decided I wanted to be a lawyer at the age 9. As I grew older and advanced in my academic career, the harsh reality became clearer that one’s appearance, speech, background or lifestyle choice can greatly impact their opportunities and how others perceive their abilities and intelligence.

Feb 24, 2022 1:07 PM CST