Happy West Virginia Day!

I originally posted this on Feb. 18, 2018, titled “The Post Horn”. For here were God knew how many citizens, deliberately choosing not to communicate by US Mail. It was not an act of treason, nor possibly even of defiance. But it was a calculated withdrawal, from the life of the Republic, from its machinery. […]

Days of Graduation

Friday morning, I was sitting in Pauley Pavilion at UCLA surrounded by thousands of parents for a graduation ceremony (the first of three that day). I’d forgotten how essential these rituals can be. The floor of the stadium was filled with students from the various schools and disciplines who – during their years in college […]

A Lesson In How Not to Take a Win (Or a Loss).

Be respectful in wins and losses. You’ll have both if you are a trial lawyer. Spiking the ball and dancing the Griddy in the end zone to celebrate yourself may turn around and bite you. McKenna’s speech was recorded on video and posted to his firm’s social media page, but quickly removed. Nevertheless, it is now in […]

Shaky Ground

Another perspective on the coming decision in Dobbs after the #BigLeak. … we will all wake up one day this summer and experience a fundamental right being pulled out from under our feet. We will feel powerless, lied to, vulnerable, and angry at just how fragile our rights can be. New York Review article by […]

Don’t Damn Me (Libel versus Invasion of Privacy)

With the never-ending Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard trial ongoing in Virginia, libel is all the rage. It’s a hot tort, what with all the crazy talk and nasty, personal name-calling going on everywhere. If offended, keep in mind the standard of proof you may be required to meet. You don’t want a judge making […]

That’s pretty ‘berk’, as the Brits say

Sentencing Mitchell, Recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl QC, said: “I don’t doubt you didn’t intend to undermine the course of justice but that is the effect of what you were doing.” As a solicitor, he added, Mitchell knew “the importance of court orders and the consequences of breaching them”. “I have formed the view […]

Stare Decisis and The Problem Of Encouraging Lying

Are we supposed to believe that the Justices who have signed on to the draft opinion shouting that Roe was “always” “egregiously wrong” – since it was decided in 1973 (almost fifty years ago) – were truth-telling during their confirmations when they praised Roe as “important” precedent that they’d never really thought about? If so, […]