Featured Articles

Deterrence, Retribution or Rehabilitation?

Jamie Spencer
June 15, 2009 01:41

From the New York Times: On Monday, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, sentenced a former senior pharmaceutical executive to write a book. Earlier this year the executive had pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the federal government...

A Good Lawyer Is A (Very Very) Busy Lawyer

Jamie Spencer
May 28, 2009 08:55

Starting with a little free market theory, let’s assume that he who builds the best mousetrap will eventually dominate the mousetrap industry. (I don’t insist that this is so; just throwing it out there to start the post.) It follows therefore, that in the service industry, the better...

Sign Of The Times: iCop, iLawyer, iJudge

February 08, 2010 16:47

From a recent PC affidavit: …The tin contained four marijuana roaches and 6 small round pills with 2530 on one side and the letter v on the other. [Jamie’s client] said that the pills were Klonopin. I asked [Jamie’s client] if she had a prescription for Klonopin and she said she...

A 1:1 Ratio For Crack/Powder Cocaine?

Jamie Spencer
April 29, 2009 23:19

Wall Street Journal: The Obama administration Wednesday asked Congress to end the disparity in penalties for use of crack- and powder-cocaine crimes, a stance sure to bring on contentious debate from the law-enforcement community. "The Administration believes Congress's goal should be to...

De Facto Legalization of Prostitution?

Jamie Spencer
June 10, 2009 08:34

Mike, of Crime and Federalism, reads an article about sex trafficking, “San Francisco Is A Major Center For International Crime Networks That Smuggle And Enslave”, and proclaims: I'd always said, gee, of course prostitution should be legal. I'm changing my mind. San Francisco has de...

Strip Searches for Students, the Short Version

Jamie Spencer
April 23, 2009 07:25

Sometimes a journalist manages to put everything you need to know about a subject in the first sentence of his report. From Adam Liptak’s article “Court Debates Strip Search of Student”: The United States Supreme Court spent an hour on Tuesday debating what middle school students...

I'll Dismiss Yours If You Dismiss Mine: Innovative Negotiating Tactics

Jamie Spencer
August 06, 2009 09:34

This excerpt from the ABA Journal speaks for itself, so I’ll just file it in the “don’t try this at home” category, and move on: A lawyer says his letter threatening to reveal a prosecutor’s alleged car registration violation was intended as a joke, but Gage County...

Hot Dog Lawyers And The Courthouse Scam

March 10, 2010 04:36

Greenfield posted this morning about lawyers advertising their services on hot dog stands outside the courthouse. Reminded me of a few things that only I would consider blawgworthy, but then I make the decisions around this place, so here goes. First, we used to have a Porfirio’s Tacos truck...

Recent Articles

Sparta Townson, CEO Of Internet Guru Girl

July 15, 2010 21:01

 From the internet guru girl blog: Personal note from CEO of IGG: While there are many ways to project your business on line, you have to make sure you feel comfortable with the company or person you are intrusting[sic] your site and online marketing to. Make sure you understand what it does,...

How To Write An Anders Brief

July 15, 2010 15:39

I just read Anders v California for the first time (ever, or in a long time) in preparation for writing this post. You always hear about Anders briefs, and I have some vague notion that it’s what an appellate lawyer files when they want to tell the court that there is nothing worth appealing...