Someone using John Coby's email address and a link to his blog tried to leave the following comment to this post:Your article is a bit too long for a blog entry. I couldnt finish it.I emailed Coby to ask if it was actually him leaving this moronic comment. He did not respond. Judging, however, from recent content on his blog, I suspect that this comment is reflective

I recently read Clotaire Rapaille’s The Culture Code. Rapaille is a marketing researcher who “is an internationally known expert in Archetype Discoveries,” which is a field of study that he invented. In The Culture Code Rapaille discusses some of the results of his research into “the unconscious meaning we apply to any given thing—a car, a type of food, a relationship, even a country—via the culture in

Three really smart creative empathetic lawyers—Joane Garcia-Colson, Mary Peckham, and Fredilyn Sison—are directing a four-day Trial Boot Camp in Palm Springs, California from May 13 to May 16, 2010. Tuition is $750. I know these women well from the Trial Lawyers College and psychodrama workshops, and I recommend their boot camp highly to women trial lawyers. (I would attend, but I am short on X chromosomes.)Joane, Mary,

Two blogs recently added to the blogroll: Liberty and Justice for Y'all—Texas criminal law mostly-anonymous (except for front man B.W. Barnett) group blog. They are writing for a Texas-criminal-law-savvy audience so far, but they're just getting warmed up. Trial Theory—Trial practice group blog. TLC grads Bobby Frederick (of the South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog), Paul J. Smith (of the Life and Times of a Texas Country Trial

Clear Springs High School students' responses to the folderol surrounding Judge Standley's talk at their school last week (from Facebook):Mickey Carr These are some of my friend's replies (from clear springs students) when I asked what had happened and from other friend's status updates as well, I didn't put their name up here, but once again I hope these  offer a little comfort."This whole thing is RIDICULOUS.

Somehow I seem to have become the go-to guy for out-of-state lawyers trying to get Harris County witnesses subpoenaed to trial out-of-state. This is sort of a see-one-do-one-teach-one procedure, and I've done five, so it's time for me to pass on what I know.The procedure is contained in the Uniform Act to Secure Attendance of Witnesses from Without State. According to California lawyer Robert Scofield, the Act

Defending People readers know that I am not fond of MADD. There are huge opportunity costs and unintended consequences inherent in a single-issue advocacy organization having the political power that MADD has.Now, using a little bit of that stick to bring a county criminal court judge in to talk to high school juniors about driving while intoxicated is a great idea. Such a judge sees hundreds of

While we're on the topic of stupid blog tricks, I got this telephone call yesterday: "I was just googling my name, and I saw it on your blog. I want you to remove it."Um . . . okay. Who is this?"Jeff Deutsch. "I know who Jeff Deutsch is. Jeff writes the excellent but sporadic Building Common Ground blog, dedicated to "building common ground between people on the

I tried to leave a comment on Texas Lawyer magazine's Tex Parte Blog. I got this in my email from the Managing Editor of Texas Lawyer:Thanks so much for taking the time to comment on Texas Lawyer's blog. To publish it, I need your written permission, full name and city, all of which will be published with the comment. Four days later, I got the same message

A Houston judge who ruled last week that the proceedings surrounding the Texas death penalty are unconstitutional rescinded his ruling this morning to schedule a hearing for lawyers on both sides to submit arguments on the issue.(Houston Chronicle, from which the Keirnan and Allen quotes below also come)While I wasn't able to attend this morning, I have it on good authority that the Houston Chronicle's description of