The Practice

The sadistic editor and the lawyer who survived his wrath

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 subordinates. I've not only heard others tell stories of such "mentoring" personalities but also witnessed them myself. In fact, I…

Jul 1, 2016 2:20 AM CDT

Honesty is the best policy for character-and-fitness screenings

For would-be lawyers, the two- or even three-day, nerve-wracking bar exam is just one hurdle. The other step is often underappreciated but can make all the difference in a graduate's ability to practice.

Jun 1, 2016 2:20 AM CDT

Dear Sir/Madam: How should you handle writing salutations and signatures?

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 with another major corporation—both within an industry vital to the nation's national security. The author is a partner at a…

Jun 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT

What Adele and Taylor Swift can teach you about finding justice

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 and I had to move indoors onto the elliptical trainer at the gym. It's not quite the same thing. It's…

Jun 1, 2016 2:00 AM CDT

Ethics opinion revisits rule on providing client representation information

In legal ethics, like so many other fields, it's not easy to address all the possible applications of a rule on the first try. And the task becomes even tougher when the rule undergoes major changes before all the variations in its application can be considered by the courts and…

May 1, 2016 2:20 AM CDT

How to incorporate big data into your day-to-day toolkit

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 endeavor. But lawyers may have sensed as well as any group some of the implications. After all, lawyers had been…

May 1, 2016 2:10 AM CDT

Solving Mysteries: Lawyers play detective in legal writing

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

SCOTUS antitrust ruling against dentists raises questions about lawyers’ regulatory structures

The organized bar is feeling pain from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a regulatory board for the dental profession in North Carolina doesn't have state-action immunity in a Federal Trade Commission antitrust action challenging the board's efforts to block nondentists from providing teeth-whitening services to consumers.

Apr 1, 2016 3:00 AM CDT

Bryan Garner’s tribute to his friend and co-author Antonin Scalia

"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 suggested, while we were working on Reading Law, that we change the term "originalism" to "historicism." A scholar in England…

Apr 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Practical advice for trial lawyers from a playwright who just finished jury service

Recently I had the privilege of serving on a jury in a malpractice case. And I think I saw something you can use.

Apr 1, 2016 2:40 AM CDT

ABA opinion gives guidelines for communicating with people receiving limited-scope representation

As more individuals handle their cases pro se or hire lawyers to represent them on a limited basis, lawyers representing other parties in those matters often are left in a quandary about who they may talk to, and what parts of the case they may discuss.

Mar 1, 2016 2:40 AM CST

A ‘conversation’ with the late, great lexicographer Samuel Johnson

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 writing. I essentially interviewed him through his known sayings.

Mar 1, 2016 2:30 AM CST

Martin Luther King Jr. offers insight into ‘justice for all’

"In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mar 1, 2016 2:20 AM CST

Florida rules prohibiting uncertified lawyers from advertising as specialists are struck down

A federal district court has ruled that a Florida Bar prohibition against individual lawyers and law firms stating on their websites that they are specialists or experts in a practice field without being certified in that field violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling also applies to…

Feb 1, 2016 2:30 AM CST

How a lawyer devoted to clear writing can make a difference

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. You're a lawyer in Minneapolis. You learn that libraries everywhere are "deaccessioning" books to reduce the "clutter" on shelf space, and you're concerned.…

Feb 1, 2016 2:20 AM CST