I knew before I finished law school that I didn't want to practice law. Actually, I knew that before I started law school. But I was really good at mock trial in high school, and my parents thought I was throwing away all that talent if I didn't go to law school. So I went.
It was a bad choice, but it is what it is.
The Care Bears used to say “It’s never too late if you care enough.” This week, Justice Donald Alexander of Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court offered a similar sentiment regarding F. Lee Bailey’s chances of getting his law license back, the ABA Journal reports.
All Bailey needs is a good ol’ fashioned Care Bear stare … and $2 million dollars.
America romanticizes the Southern trial lawyer, thanks, in no small part, to literature. From Atticus Finch to the Grisham-imagined protagonist du jour, we cheer for these characters. We want to be them.
There’s a definite archetype for the Southern literary lawyer: He comes from humble beginnings, and finds success by fighting for the little guy. (And yes, I intentionally used the masculine pronoun in that description because most of these fictionalized attorneys are men.)
Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the famed Mississippi tort lawyer, not only embodied the archetype, he’s partly responsible for establishing it.
Everyone knows that a lawyer needs a good suit for court, but is the wrong suit cause for a suit?
Manhattan attorney Robert Ginsberg is suing Brooks Brothers for $7,646.51, claiming that a New York City store gave him the wrong suit, The New York Daily News reports. Ginsberg, who purchased “a stylish new, tailored brownish-gray tailored suit” in December, received “a used gray jacket and the wrong size pants” in January.
Chris Rock tells us that there’s no sex in the champagne room. Judges’ chambers, however, are an entirely different story.
In March, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a complaint against Judge Wade H. McCree for making a false report of a felony, making misrepresentations to the Commission, and engaging in improper bench conduct and demeanor, the ABA Journal reports. Part of that improper conduct and demeanor included having sex in his chambers with Geniene LaShay Mott, a witness in a child-support case.
But don’t worry: He swears that his relationship with Mott didn’t influence his decisions in the case.
Most industries no longer demand a formal dress code. Suits are rarely required, and corporate casual has simply become “casual.” In offices across America, people are wearing jeans at this very minute.
But not you. You’re stuck in a suit.
Congratulations: Law and finance are practically the only industries where formal business attire is still the norm. And yet, there’s hope. Even the formal industries are starting to embrace a little sartorial flair.
Can that flair include leopard print? Why not? Leopard is a neutral now.
When you develop a reputation as the “master of disaster” for winning billions of dollars for tort victims, you have to expect that the those people you defeated in court will delight in watching you fall.
The people who had a bone to pick with “famed tort lawyer” Stanley Chesley must be rather delighted this week. Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court permanently disbarred Chesley for accepting an “unreasonable” $20 million fee on a $200 million settlement, the ABA Journal reports.
Earlier this week, Willie Peacock offered great tips to our gentlemen readers about building a professional wardrobe on a budget. The ladies, however, were none-too-pleased that Monsieur Peacock had no advice for filling our female readers’ closets.
To make it up to you, I’m going to start sharing my secrets on how, where, and when to snag the best deals. Since you’re reading this on the Internet, let’s start with tips about online shopping.
Yesterday, we introduced you to "Sharon Underbridge," a self-described "patent troll." Today, we have five more confessions from Troll Underbridge. (Yes, she chose that name intentionally.)
Let's jump right into it, so you can debate whether patent trolls are evil, or just misunderstood.
Patent trolls have a bad reputation. Run a search for the term, and you'll find headlines about misconduct and the death of innovation.
But is there another side to trolling?
Recently, I was surprised to hear an established intellectual property litigator describe herself as a patent troll, and curious about her side of the debate. She graciously agreed to answer a few questions. To protect her identity -- hey, even trolls need job security -- we'll refer to this attorney by her super-secret pseudonym, Sharon Underbridge.
