Former slave’s skirt tells lawyers’ family story in museum exhibit

Attorney Lori Anne Douglass already knew she came from a long line of strong women, starting with her great-great-grandmother Lucy Lee Shirley, who was born a slave. But Douglass, an estate law partner with Moses & Singer in New York City, learned a lot more about her ancestry when one…

Feb 1, 2017 3:20 AM CST

Feb. 23, 1923: Justices hear a challenge to ‘English-only’ laws

On a May afternoon in 1920, a county prosecutor showed up at a one-room parochial school in rural Nebraska to watch a 10-year-old boy take part in a crime. The crime evolved from the fact that the boy was reading aloud in class in German. The boy’s teacher, Robert Meyer, was later charged with violating Nebraska’s Siman Act, for which he could face jail time and a fine.

Feb 1, 2017 12:30 AM CST

What do you think were the most significant legal actions of the Obama administration?

The second term of President Barack Obama—the United States’ 25th lawyer-president—ends Friday, Jan. 20. This week, we want to look back before we face the future of our executive branch of government. We’d like to ask you: What were the most significant legal actions of the Obama administration—whether you agreed…

Jan 18, 2017 12:10 PM CST

Alberto Gonzales reflects back on Bush administration and gives his advice for Trump staff (podcast)

The Hon. Alberto R. Gonzales rose from humble beginnings in Humble, Texas, to some of the highest legal positions in the country as White House counsel and U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush.

Jan 18, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Lynching cold cases are re-examined as law students compile archive

The document is more than 85 years old, handwritten and hard to read. Many death certificates from this period are ambiguous or euphemistic: The victim died from a “broken neck.” Not this one. The cause of death, recorded in loopy cursive, is “hanged by mob.” Robert Appleberry, 22 and known…

Jan 4, 2017 9:00 AM CST

Letters: The Rules on Rules

Jan 1, 2017 3:55 AM CST

Jan. 19, 1988: Woman wins the right to be homeless

Joyce Patricia Brown’s case had provoked national debate on the moral and ethical boundaries of dealing with homelessness and mental illness: Was the object to help the mentally ill or to clear affluent neighborhoods of human nuisance?

Jan 1, 2017 12:30 AM CST

The top legal stories of 2016

Updated: As the ABA Journal staff looked back over the past year, these were the 10 legal stories that seemed the most important and prominent. A summary of each is below. 1. Trump wins. If someone had told you one year ago that the 45th president of the United States…

Dec 23, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Was this lawyer-turned-WWII-spy the basis for James Bond? (podcast)

In a different time, Dusko Popov might have enjoyed the life of a Serbian playboy without the interruption of espionage, subterfuge and violence. But from the early days of World War II, Popov risked his life as a double agent to aid the Allies in the fight against the Nazis.…

Dec 21, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Sons of Ethel Rosenberg make last-ditch plea for presidential exoneration

The sons of convicted spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg stopped by the White House on Thursday and attempted to deliver a letter calling on President Barack Obama to publicly exonerate their mother. Robert and Michael Meeropol stopped by uninvited and a guard turned them away, report the Associated Press and…

Dec 2, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Litigator expands interrogations into book on presidential history

What do you get when you mix a seasoned litigator, a presidential history buff and a passionate writer?

Dec 1, 2016 3:40 AM CST

Dec. 17, 1798: The Senate convenes the first impeachment

Sen. William Blount was confronted in the Senate chambers with an extraordinary letter that detailed a plot devised by him and several other land speculators to help Britain gain control of Florida and Louisiana, then held by Spain.

Dec 1, 2016 12:30 AM CST

Arrest records of civil rights leader are unearthed; persistent lawyer sought them for 15 years

At first, Nashville city officials said there were no arrest records in existence for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia who was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963-1966. But officials unearthed mug shots and arrest records stemming from Lewis’ efforts to desegregate lunch…

Nov 29, 2016 7:00 AM CST

Why the president pardons turkeys and other Thanksgiving facts (gallery)

Primary school plays may have convinced you that you know the story of Thanksgiving. But the establishment of Thanksgiving as a national holiday is much more recent than the Plymouth colony’s feast with the Wampanoag in 1621. Just how did we settle on the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving…

Nov 21, 2016 4:10 PM CST

Lawyer who got $1M sanction reversed will have to pay $45K for other ‘egregious tactics,’ court says

Pennsylvania insurance defense lawyer Nancy Raynor isn’t entirely off the hook after a decision earlier this year overturning a $1 million sanction against her for allegedly eliciting banned testimony in a medical malpractice case. In a decision (PDF) on Tuesday, a three-judge superior court panel said Raynor will have to…

Nov 17, 2016 10:25 AM CST