Over the years, I've heard many lawyers tell stories of bosses—senior lawyers—who were explosively hostile, abrasive, cruel and dogmatic. They seemed to derive self-satisfaction from dominating, intimidating and humiliating their…
Jul 1, 2016 2:20 AM CDT
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/Garner.jpg
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Illustration by Sam Ward
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I'm looking at a letter to the Department of Justice that relates to a highly sensitive antitrust matter. It's written on behalf of a major corporation that seeks to merge…
Jun 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0616PWORDS_PenLawyer.jpg
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Illustrations by Sam Ward
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For years I was a runner/jogger. I logged 20-30 miles a week and did some of my best law work on runs. Unfortunately, my middle-aged knees and hips gave out…
Jun 1, 2016 2:00 AM CDT
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0616PSTORY_AdeleTaylorSwift2.jpg
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Illustration by Lars Leetaru
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When in 2004 Google announced its ambitious project of scanning all books ever printed and amassing the information into a huge database, perhaps nobody understood the full ramifications of the…
May 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0516PWORDS_Bobblehead.jpg
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Illustration by Sam Ward
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Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. begins
his dissenting opinion from a denial of cert in
Pennsylvania v. Dunlap this way:
May 1, 2016 2:00 AM CDT
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0516PSTORY.jpg
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Illustration by Brenan Sharp
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"Originalism," so called, is perhaps the single issue for which Justice Antonin Scalia, my co-author on two books, was most controversial. I'll never forget his ire—it was full-blown anger—when I…
Apr 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT
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Fascinated by the word soothsayer, Scalia took
a photo of the fortune-teller’s sign. But he refused Garner’s urging to have his fortune read. Photograph Courtesy of Bryan Garner.
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Judge Richard Posner’s disdain for The Bluebook has been well-documented. In a 2011 Yale Law Journal article, he admitted not having ever read it in detail. And that was…
Mar 30, 2016 1:00 PM CDT
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0815PWORDSBlues.jpg
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Illustration by Brenan Sharp
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Lawyers have plenty of demands on their time—but repetitive everyday tasks don’t have to be one of them.
That was the message of “The Automatic Law Firm,” a panel…
Mar 17, 2016 1:20 PM CDT
Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with the great Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)—or rather with his books—to see what he had to say about lawyers, their profession and their…
Mar 1, 2016 2:30 AM CST
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0316PWORDS.jpg
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Illustration by Sam Ward
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The moral of the story: Statutes, ordinances and rules are largely a mess in this country—and often highly misleading. Now for the story.
The year is 2012.…
Feb 1, 2016 2:20 AM CST
![](https://abajournal.com/images/mag_images/0216PWORDS_Bobblehead.jpg
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Illustration by Sam Ward
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This week, we wrote about computer scientists who developed an algorithm to help discern the authors of unsigned U.S. Supreme Court opinions. The program analyzed signed opinions and identified…
Jan 27, 2016 12:00 PM CST
A former law librarian at South Texas College of Law is suing the Houston school for alleged racial and gender discrimination.
Joseph Kelly Plumbar, who is black, claims that three…
Jan 25, 2016 3:20 PM CST
After reading a pro se lawsuit that involved an inmate soiling his pants, an Ohio state court judge felt moved to poetry.
Darek Lathan is serving a 17-month sentence for…
Jan 8, 2016 4:15 PM CST