There is a class of lawyer that thinks that there is no bad publicity; that anything that gets their name in the news, regardless of how undistinguished, is worth doing and bragging about. I know one lawyer here in Houston who will take a newsworthy case for a small downpayment, pump the case for publicity, hold press conferences that harm the client’s interests, and then, when the

For your enlightenment and amusement: (More as I find them, or in the pingbacks.) How Young Lawyers Should NOT Conduct Themselves Online « An ... Feeling Left Out - The Criminal Lawyer - Commentary on Law and Policy Simple Justice: Rakofsky v. Internet* MyShingle's Been Sued in Rakofsky v. - My Shingle This Is Not A Post About Joseph Rakofsky « Work Product Resuscitating the Joseph Rakofsky

Rakofsky had a problem.He'd gotten into a bad situation.A newspaper had written about it. People had commented on it on the internet. So he filed a lawsuit.But not this lawsuit (which Scott Greenfield has dubbed "Rakofsky v. Internet"). This one.Not these comments (list at the end of Josh's post).Not this newspaper.Not this situation (this one, if you're interested).And not this Rakofsky.The "bad judgment" gene must be near

Who should decide whether your children may be spanked while at school?Your national government;Your state government;Your local government;Their teachers; orYou?Republicans in the Texas Legislature think the answer should be "your local government." Allowing you to decide whether teachers are allowed to spank  your children, in their view, represents "big government intrusion."Okay, Republicans, let's review: parents are not government. You have been saying for decades that parents, and

A geeky little game I play with lawyers' internet advertising: from one website, I take a phrase that is unlikely to be written more than once intentionally. I google it and see who else is using the same copywriters, or who is plagiarizing whom.So when I saw this South Carolina ethics opinion (Greenfield quoted it at length here) quoting (in Allegation A) several false and misleading statements

First the good: State v. Golding, out of the First Court of Appeals today, is an appeal from the granting of a Padilla writ by the best damn judge in the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, our friend Larry Standley. Judge Standley showed yet again that he is not afraid to grant habeas relief, and the State appealed,

1. Propaganda. Aside from what the government and the media have told you, how do you know that Osama Bin Laden even existed, much less that he was responsible for 9/11?2. Substantive Due Process. Assuming that the government has told us the truth about Osama bin Laden, I think that most will agree that a quick death was not excessive punishment. We will likely never know what

Texas Rule of Evidence 404(b):Other crimes, wrongs, or acts. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith….Rule 405:In all cases in which evidence of character or a trait of character of a person is admissible, proof may be made by testimony as to reputation or by testimony in the form

So I’ve been taking martial arts classes. (Don’t worry, this will not be a self-indulgent “here’s why I haven’t been posting and I promise to post more” posts. Those of you who cared have emailed me, and as my priorities shift I may well post less. It will, however, be self-indulgent: there is lots of “this is my life” stuff and there are many shoutouts to some

The idea behind a lawyers' assistance strike force is that when a criminal-defense lawyer is under attack for doing her job, the strike force can intercede for the lawyer and protect the defense function. NACDL has a strike force; I helped several lawyers out of contempt citations on behalf of HCCLA's strike force, and will lead that strike force next year.When I had a civil lawyer trying