The Ethics of Snitching

I have written a couple of times about a lawyer taking the position that he will not help criminal defendants cooperate with the government in exchange for the possibility of lighter sentences. My contention is that a lawyer who feels that cooperating with the government in exchange for a possible sentence reduction is unethical should, [...]

The Myth of Fingerprints 2

A few weeks ago, inspired by the Brandon Mayfield case in district court in Oregon, I wrote about the myth of fingerprints. This week, inspired by the Brandon Mayfield Case a Baltimore Circuit Court judge in Maryland v. Bryan Rose, following a Frye hearing, excluded the testimony of a forensic fingerprint examiner because the “ACE-V” [...]

The No-Snitches Clause

Here is what I now put in my contracts on federal cases. (I cribbed it from another lawyer who has had the no-snitches policy for a long time.):
I do not represent people who “snitch,” “rat,” or cooperate, which means giving information against others to the government in order to avoid criminal charges, receive leniency, or [...]

Brits Discover Neurolaw, Rediscover Hume

Courtesy of CharonQC, this Times Online column by Raymond Tallis of “observations” about neurolaw and the inclination to blame someone’s brain for his behavior. Tallis’s observations are in response to Simon Myerson, QC’s column from yesterday’s Times Online (Simon’s blog).
Professor Tallis observes:
The brain is usually blamed for actions that attract moral disapprobation or legal sanction. [...]

Not Guilty. Wait . . . Never Mind.

In Dallas yesterday, a jury came back with a verdict in the “Holy Land Foundation” trial. They were mostly deadlocked, but they acquitted one of the six defendants of all charges and acquitted two others of most charges.
U.S. District Judge Joe Fish polled the jurors. Three didn’t agree with the verdict (Dallas Morning News article). [...]

Law School: Substance or Skills

In response to my post on lower-tier law schools being the better bet for aspiring solos, law student Zeb wrote:
I’m a second year student at the University of Baltimore, a supposedly 4th tier school (that just happens to supply the bulk of trial lawyers in Baltimore). Mr. Bennett’s intial post has inspired me to post [...]

Chapter 3, The Tao of Criminal Defense Trial Lawyering

It’s Monday; time for another verse from the Tao Te Ching.
If you overesteem great men,
people become powerless.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.
Who is “you”? Obviously, a person who overvalues possessions might steal, but I think the “you” who is the subject of the verse is us. If we overvalue possessions, some of us begin [...]

The Next Step in Preparing to Cross-Examine the Doctor

After you have decided on the narrow field on which you will cross-examine the State’s doctor, what next?
Go to pubmed.com, where you can search a database of medical journal articles. Pick out the keywords from the premises that you want to investigate, and search for these keywords in every combination you can think of. [...]

Go Downtier

At Lawyer for Profit today Michael Sherman posts, riffing on this post by Susan Cartier Liebel at Build a Solo Practice, LLC, about law schools’ failure to teach students how to hang a shingle.
Susan quotes Ryan Alexander, a Harvard law grad who started his own practice:
I hope HLS will eventually offer a seminar in running [...]

New York Popularity Contest?

Nicole Black, in her Sui Generis blog is polling blog readers on the best New York Blawg and Blawger.
The results so far are here. 51 people think the Reproductive Rights Prof Blog is the best; 36 think the Feminist Law Professors blog is the best.
I would describe Reproductive Rights Prof Blog as a news-clipping [...]

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