It takes some chutzpah for a Village blogger like Jon Cohn to insist
that progressives clamor for the Senate health bill. Cohn writes: I
should probably reiterate what I've said before. Nobody--not the
president and not the members of Congress--are going to move if
progressives don't push for [the health bill]. That's where the real
shove has to start. Progressives have been marginalized and insulted
throughout the process. Many, if not most, do not care for the Senate
health bill. And now one of the people Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am

Matt Yglesias writes: I was on the radio yesterday, for example, with
a woman who said that the GOPÂ’s Medicare privatization plan would
save money by giving people vouchers to buy private insurance. [. . .]
[W]hat RyanÂ’s plan actually does is first privatize/vouchers
Medicare, and then “save money” by arbitrarily mandating that the
cost of the vouchers have to grow slower than the cost of health care.
In other words, with every passing year Ryancare vouchers get smaller
and smaller relative to the cost of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am

The ACLU has released an issues brief arguing against the
criminalizing of the undocumented. It's both unlawful and harmful to
public policy. The use by states and localities of criminal laws to go
after undocumented immigrants simply for being undocumented is
generally unlawful, because the federal government has sole power to
regulate immigration. [More...] ...More important, the federal
government's decision to prosecute more immigration violations
criminally has diverted resources from prosecution of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am

MARK STEYN: "As Jonah and I have written here previously, 'climate
change' is not only a scientific scandal but also a massive
journalistic failure. . . . Like all the poodles of the environmental
beat, Margot O'Neill repeats those magic words 'peer review' every
couple of paragraphs like a talisman to ward off evil deniers. But, in
the course of invoking the phrase 'peer review', she never bothers to
look at whether the IPCC actually does it. By contrast, without
benefit of the resources of a national TV Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:40 am

IN THE MAIL: From Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, The Road from
Ruin: How to Revive Capitalism and Put America Back on Top. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:40 am

FRANK TIPLER: Obama vs. Einstein. I really think you've got to leave
this one with Larry Tribe. Obama was just the research assistant. Just
don't let Tipler see my piece on the Supreme Court and Chaos Theory. .
. . Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:40 am

We were beset by technical difficulties here at ATL yesterday (as we
explained in our Twitter feed). We apologize for the site outages;
hopefully the situation will be better next week. At least we didn't
have to go out in the snow. Our brethren in D.C. were not as
fortunate. The Washington Post reports: The full weight of winter
brought life in much of the Washington region to a standstill Saturday
as a storm predicted to be one of the most powerful on record dumped
12 to 21 inches of snow overnight. ... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 2:03 pm

Ed. note: Above the Law has teamed up with Law Shucks, which has done
excellent work translating all of the layoff news into user-friendly
charts and graphs: the Layoff Tracker. Regular readers of this column
are well aware by now that the overall unemployment rate isn't a
particularly good indicator, but it's the most-commonly discussed
number so we use it. The predictions are always wrong, and the rate
grossly undercounts the number of people any reasonable person would
define as unemployed. But for all Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 2:03 pm

[Brett Favre] decided to play the game at his age and all that goes
with it, and the effect he had on Minnesota and on that team and a lot
of sports fans was enormous. I think the excitement and the challenge
is something that is very alluring, and if I can play a small part in
paying the taxpayer back...then I will look back at this time and say,
for all the knockdowns that I will inevitably have, it would have been
worth the experience and the knowledge that I was helpful. -- Thomas
Russo, 66, former Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 2:03 pm

Updating this ILB entry from Feb. 4, 2010, here is the NYT report on
the decision. Here is the WSJ's... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:43 pm

See this Feb. 5, 2010 entry from the Sentencing Law and Policy
Blog.... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:43 pm

The Legislative Update blog, publishing weekly during the legislative
session by the Indiana Judicial Center, has posted this Mid-Session
Review.... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:43 pm

"A serial litigant is believed to have earned thousands of pounds by
bombarding employers with claims of ageism simply because they used
the words 'school leaver' or 'recent graduate' in job advertisements."
Full story The Times, 7th February 2010 Source: www.timesonline.co.uk Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:36 am

"Sikhs should be allowed to wear their ceremonial daggers - known as
Kirpans - to school and other public places, Britain's first Asian
judge has said." Full story BBC News, 8th February 2010 Source:
www.bbc.co.uk Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:36 am

"The Department for Transport (DfT) is facing an 'intensive
investigation' over claims e-mails about the expansion of Heathrow
Airport were deleted." Full story BBC News, 7th February 2010 Source:
www.bbc.co.uk Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:36 am

Over at the Faculty Lounge, Jacqueline Lipton asks whether audio books
are worth the candle. Meanwhile, Bainbridge links to a really boring,
but usefully concise, audio report on the SEC's proxy rules. It all is
a reminder that one way to manage a bit of knowledge acquisition in
the midst of all the rest of the multitasking is through one's iPod. I
can attest that there's nothing quite like a little 3 AM Niall
Ferguson or Jean Bethke Elshtain while walking a very small child up
and down a corridor. But as I Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:48 am

On Friday, I attended and moderated a panel for an extremely
interesting Symposium at Brooklyn in honor of our former dean (and
Eastern District Court Judge) David G. Trager. The Symposium was
entitled, "Sharing the Blame: The Law and Morality of Punishing
Collective Entities." We heard from panels of psychologists and moral
philosophers in the morning. In the afternoon, I moderated a lively
roundtable discussion (with Jim Fanto, Len Orland and Peter Henning)
regarding some of the problems that arise in Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:48 am

New Mexico is looking to hire a visitor to teach in our transactional
clinic in the Fall. The ad is below. My colleague, Nathalie Martin
(martin@law.unm.edu) would be happy to answer questions. The
University of New Mexico School of Law ("UNM") seeks a Visiting
Professor of Law to teach in its nationally-recognized clinical law
program during the fall of 2010. The candidate hired will teach and
supervise students in UNM's Business and Tax Clinic, who represent
clients involved with small businesses and Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:48 am

Last week, a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed in Richmond,
Virginia by five Christian evangelists some of whom were charged with
creating loud and disturbing noise for preaching at downtown First
Friday events and at a Christmas parade. Others were charged with
trespassing for preaching at the Watermelon Festival held in a
shopping area. The complaint (full text) in Craft v. City of Richmond,
(ED VA, filed 1/29/2010), charges that in the case of individual and
small group speech, the provisions Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Britain's Judicial Complaints Office this week began an investigation
into Cherie Blair, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Ms.
Blair, who practices employment law under her maiden name, Cherie
Booth, also acts as a part-time judge in London. According to UAE's
The National today, Britain's National Secular Society filed a formal
complaint against Ms. Blair after she gave a suspended sentence to a
Muslim man who was charged with getting into an altercation over who
was first in line at a bank. Blair Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Virtue Online today carries a report from the Feb. 1 Christian Post on
the struggle between two Anglican factions in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Controversy began in 2007 when Nolbert Kunonga, a supporter of
President Robert Mugabe's regime, accused the Anglican Province of
Central Africa of being pro-gay. Kunonga said he was withdrawing the
Diocese of Harare from the Province. He set up his own rival Anglican
province, appointed himself archbishop and claimed church property. A
High Court ordered the two factions to Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Journalist Steve Weinberg writes a review of David Dow's Autobiography
of an Execution for today's Christian Science Monitor, "A death
penalty attorney writes with candor about the painful burdens of his
job." Dow is not the first anti-death penalty advocate to criticize
the criminal justice system in print, and he probably will not be the
last. But his book is especially worthy, whatever a reader's opinion
about the morality of the death penalty. Dow's candor seems so
absolute that readers on both sides of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:25 pm

"State could save by ending death penalty," is the title of Jeanette
Krebs' column in the Harrisburg Patriot-News. Krebs is the paper's
editorial page editor. As Gov. Ed Rendell unveils what is expected to
be a tough budget this week, here is a money-saving idea: Abolish the
death penalty. If Pennsylvania did, it would not be alone. More states
are looking at a ban, many as they face tough economic realities. New
Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson, who was a long-time death penalty
supporter, signed legislation Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:25 pm

The ruling is here. The Arkansas News Bureau has, "Court Upholds
Lethal Injection Protocol." A federal appeals court has upheld
Arkansas' lethal injection procedure, finding it is designed "to avoid
the needless infliction of pain, not to cause it." The 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis upheld the dismissal of a
lawsuit filed by three death-row inmates, including two who are
scheduled to die over the next nine weeks. Terrick Nooner, Don
Williams and Jack Jones Jr. challenged the Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:25 pm

Government Bytes (Official Blog of the National Taxpayers), Raising
the Penalty for Tax Protesters/Deniers: Under current law, the willful
failure to pay taxes is a misdemeanor. You could go to jail for up to
a year and pay a maximum fine of $25K (for individuals, $100K for
corporations) for each... Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Andrew W. Jones (Andrew W. Jones PC, Marietta, GA) has published Note,
FASB--The IRS's New Best Friend: How FIN 48 Affects the Taxpayer-IRS
Relationship and Potential Taxpayer Challenges, 25 Ga. St. U. L. Rev.
767 (2009). Here is the part of the Conclusion: Why is FIN 48 so
problematic? After... Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:30 pm

Charles Grant (University of Reading, Department of Economics) &
Winfried Koeniger (Queen Mary University of London, Department of
Economics) have published Redistributive Taxation and Personal
Bankruptcy in U.S. States, 52 J.L. & Econ. 445 (2009). Here is the
abstract: Personal bankruptcy regulation and redistributive taxes and
transfers vary considerably across... Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:30 pm

The Download of the Week is Consensus Textualism: States as Statutory
Interpretation Laboratories by Abbe R. Gluck. Here is the abstract:
This Article undertakes the first close study of statutory
interpretation in several state courts of last resort, and illustrates
that many central ideas in mainstream (federal) statutory
interpretation, heretofore theorized only in the abstract, are
actually in play in a number of states. It would doubtless surprise
most academics and many judges to learn that, while Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:53 pm

The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Law, Economics, and Morality by
Eyal Zamir and Barak Medina. Here is a description: Law, Economics,
and Morality examines the possibility of combining economic
methodology and deontological morality through explicit and direct
incorporation of moral constraints into economic models. Economic
analysis of law is a powerful analytical methodology. However, as a
purely consequentialist approach, which determines the desirability of
acts and rules solely by assessing the Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Introduction The dominant approaches to normative legal theory in the
American legal academy converge on fairly robust role for the state
and government subject to the constraints imposed by an equally robust
set of individual rights. Normative legal theorists of all
stripes--conservatives and liberals, welfarists and deontologists-tend
to agree that the institution of law is fundamentally legitimate and
that the legal regulation has a large role to play. There is, however,
a counter-tradition in legal Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:53 pm

So holds the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Commonwealth v.
Zubiel. The case involved a sting aimed at catching pedophiles. Zubiel
approached a supposed 13-year-old online (actually an adult deputy
sheriff), and engaged in sexually themed conversations with her. This
was apparently likely a prelude to his trying to have sex with her,
but he wasn't prosecuted for attempted sex with a minor (perhaps
because it wasn't clear that his actions had gotten close enough to
count as attempt). Instead, he was Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:43 pm

Jim N., in the comments to my post below on snow removal - sometimes
it's good for us academics to hear from a real-world expert, so thanks
for commenting: As a non-lawyer, non-academic, snow removal company
owner I am relishing this opportunity to be the "expert" for the first
time ever on VC! Snow removal is NOT cheap, because the costs of
operation are equally high. For plowing and spreading salt my trucks
bill out on average $300 per hour. And I didn't have to go to school
for 7 years, have judges Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:43 pm

In honor of the DC snowstorm - it is still coming down! - this passage
from On Love, Book 2, Chapter 50, Love in the United States: In the
Winter, which as in Russia is the festive season of the country, young
people of both sexes drive about night and day over the snow in
sleighs, gaily traveling distances of fifteen or twenty miles without
anyone to look after them; and nothing untoward ever occurs.
Unchaperoned and "nothing untoward" happens ... does Stendhal here
anticipate the courtship culture brought Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:43 pm

With all the discussion of the filibuster, including some evidence of
hypocrisy on the part of a certain allegedly anti-pork Senator from
Arizona, it occurs to me that the Democrats in Congress might consider
something to put the Republicans to the test: Propose an amendment
making the filibuster a constitutional rule. If the R's won't go for
it, reserving the right to eliminate it when control of the Senate
changes, then the D's should get rid of it now. If the states roundly
reject such an amendment, then Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:25 am

The National Law Journal reports on the several class actions that
have been brought against Toyota in the wake of the gas pedal problems
and recalls. The lawsuits are consumer class actions that seek damages
for economic losses stemming from reduced value of cars subject to
this problem. It looks like the lawsuits are being filed state by
state with the expectation that they will then be consolidated as an
MDL. The lead plaintiffs in the lawsuits appear to be persons whose
cars actually experienced the gas Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:25 am

Jack Balkin (among several other commentators) argues that we are in
the midst of an emerging constitutional crisis, over the rules and
norms of the Senate and the uses to which they are being put.* The
routine filibuster--in which the GOP speaks, acts, and is perceived as
controlling the Senate by having 41 out of 100 seats--was the start.
The latest is Sen. Richard Shelby (AL) placing holds on 80
executive-branch nominations unless several Alabama-earmarked projects
are restored in the budget. Another is Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:25 am

DOJ Press Release, Two New Jersey Executives Each Sentenced to 27
Months in Jail for Roles in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud the Federal
E-Rate Program Celestine Bohlen, Bloomberg, German Bounty Tears Veil
Off Swiss Secrecy: Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant,... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:50 am

Amanda Bronstad, NLJ, law.com, Judge Tosses Remaining Broadcom
Charges, Finds 'Serious Problems' in SEC Complaint John Pacenti, Daily
Business Review, Law.com, Rothstein Pleads Guilty to All Counts in
$1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme; Paul Brinkmann & Susan R. Miller, South
Florida... Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:55 am

Judge Posner (7th Circuit) offers a stinging opinion for Former
Chicago Alderman Eddie Vrdolyak. (see decision here) Vrdolyak plead
guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and received a
sentence of five years probation.(see here) The government appealed... Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 6:55 am

A federal court policy-making body is belatedly entering the internet
age by proposing that judges clearly inform jurors they must not
electronically discuss cases they are hearing. It's standard procedure
to inform jurors to remain mum and not conduct any research about the
case until a verdict. But recent gadget use by jurors has forced the
hand of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the
policy-making body of the federal courts. The model jury instructions
(.pdf) the Judicial Conference released Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:01 am

Swedish investigators are probing a hacker U.S. authorities accuse of
unlawfully intruding into Cisco Systems, NASA's Ames Research Center
and NASA's Advanced Supercomputing Division, the authorities said
Monday. Philip Gabriel Pettersson, known in the hacking world as
"Stakkato," allegedly seized computer code that controls internet
traffic. After the 2004 breach of Cisco, the proprietary source code
for Cisco's IOS operating system was discovered on a Russian website.
Pettersson was indicted in the United Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:01 am

Google is teaming up with the National Security Agency to investigate
the recent hack attack against its network in a bid to prevent another
assault, according to The Washington Post. The internet search giant
is working on an agreement with the controversial agency to determine
the attacker's methods and what Google can do to shore up its network.
Sources assured the Post that the deal does not mean the NSA will have
access to users' searches or e-mail communications and accounts. Nor
will Google share Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 4:16 pm

Here are a few recent tidbits that deserve Grits readers' attention:
Dallas constables' ongoing fiasco At the Dallas News, Ed Timms and
Kevin Krause have the story of a deputy constable with a checkered
past accused of committing several felony crimes, including
"unauthorized use of two motor vehicles, tampering with government
records and coercing two women into performing sexual acts instead of
arresting them on outstanding warrants." (UPDATE 2/8: See a followup
story.) Meanwhile his blustering boss Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:53 pm

In 1993, Texas set the current threshold for felony theft at $1,500
for a state jail felony - below that, theft receives misdemeanor
charges that don't involve state prison time. The jump to the next
offense category is quite significant - someone must steal more than
$20,000 to be charged with a third degree felony. However, adjusting
for inflation, $1,500 in 1993 amounts to $2,208 in 2008 dollars.
Indeed, "if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2008 and
1993, they would cost you $1500 and Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:53 pm

I said from the get-go that the search warrant used to get on the YFZ
Ranch property in Eldorado back in 2008 was overbroad, based on lies,
and that evidence derived from the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup
should be suppressed in criminal court. Now an Arizona judge has
concluded the same thing after prosecutors there tried agreed not to
introduce evidence against polygamist "prophet" Warren Jeffs
discovered as a result of information seized during the raid. In
Arizona, at least, such evidence will be Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:53 pm

The government of South Australia has recently adopted a law that
requires people commenting on the forthcoming state election to use
their real names, and media will have to retain the names and
addresses for six months. The requirement appears to apply to bloggers
and comments on blogs etc. Unsurprisingly, not everyone likes this. Is
it fair to say that requiring people to give their real names is a
"gag" on debate? Would the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
prevent such a law in this country? In Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:47 pm

A 5-member panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal released a
significant, 150-paragraph reasoned decision this morning involving
conflicts of laws and when Ontario should take jurisdiction over
out-of-province defendants - see: Van Breda v. Village Resorts
Limited, 2010 ONCA 84
http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/2010/february/2010ONCA0084.htm
At issue were claims for personal injury damages occasioned as a
result of accidents suffered by Canadian tourists at resorts in Cuba
and whether the plaintiffs Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:47 pm

Back in November John Gregory wrote about Dealing with Digital Assets
After Death and a New York Times article quoting Montreal marketing
consultant Adele McAlear. Adele happens to be a friend, so I took the
opportunity to speak with her in detail about the topic on behalf of
Slaw readers. Our full interview (held in December) is below. Since
that time, she has launched her new website DeathandDigitalLegacy.com
to better track this wide-ranging subject. Adele will also be speaking
on "Death and Digital Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:47 pm

It's an amazing world where a few clicks leads me from boingboing's
overly enthusiastic endorsement of what it calls 'Afrikaans rap-rave'
(check out the comments too), to this chilling, compelling,
greasy-sickening south african trash-rap (now taking the world by
storm to this pointless confection) to wikipedia's dry dissection of
bubblegum dance. Now if I could just decide which I more wish I had
never heard of… Update: To ice the cake, according to the folks from
South Africa in this comment thread, Die Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:28 am

Snowpocalypse With Soundtrack Yes, it's a Baltimore weather forecast,
but it's right next door…. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:28 am

I, for one, salute our new South Florida blog overlords. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:28 am

On this day in ... ...2003, following 4 days and 21 rounds of secret
balloting by the 85 states then eligible to vote in the Assembly of
States Parties, the inaugural 18-member bench of the International
Criminal Court was chosen from among 10 female and 33 male candidates.
Elected, as follows, were 7 women and 11 men: Elizabeth Odio Benito
(Costa Rica), Rene Blattmann (Bolivia), Maureen Harding Clark
(Ireland); Fatoumata Dembele Diarra (Mali), Adrian Fulford (United
Kingdom), Karl Hudson-Phillips Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

(IntLawGrrls welcomes back alumna Doris Buss, who contributes this
Write On! guest post regarding a call for papers for an upcoming
conference she's organizing) "Sexual Violence and Conflict in Africa"
is the subject of a 2-day workshop to be held May 5 & 6, 2010, at
my home institution, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. At this
event, which is supported by the United Nations University, we plan to
bring together academics and activists to initiate a detailed,
multi-disciplinary, and Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

(Taking context-optional note of thought-provoking quotes) [B]logging
is now the uncoolest thing you can do on the Internet. It's even
uncooler than editing Wikipedia articles or having a Second Life
avatar. In 2006, 28% of teens were blogging. Now, just three years
later, the percentage has tumbled to 14%. Among twentysomethings, the
percentage who write blogs has fallen from 24% to 15%. Writing
comments on blogs is also down sharply among the young. It's only
geezers - those over 30 - who are doing more Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:23 am

The January 5th Holiday Message from the Law Librarian of Congress is
cited on this blog in conjunction with the LLC's support of Law.Gov.
One additional point in the message (pages 3-4) that is worth
mentioning is the LLC's collaboration... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:15 pm

"Millions of people now own Kindles," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO
of Amazon.com. "And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both
editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is
year-to-date and includes... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:15 pm

Article, methodology and complete ranking. See also the Best Perks
List, which includes companies that pay 100% of their employees'
health-care premiums, provides on-site child-care facilities, plus
some usual perks, such as Qualcomm's on-site farmers market. Fortune's
Top 10 Best... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:15 pm

They're invoking laws against wiretapping, which you might naively
think were passed to protect the people from the authorities, not vice
versa, [Boston Globe/Daniel Rowinski, New England Center for
Investigative Reporting; Radley Balko, Reason "Hit and Run"] Now
lawyer Simon Glik, who was arrested for recording an arrest, is suing
three cops and the city [NLJ] Tags: Boston, police, telecommunications
Related posts U.K.: "Disability discrimination risk for council suing
former MD" (0) "Author of Racist Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:11 pm

Wronged wife loses suit under California "Drug Dealer Liability Act"
(DDLA) against mistress who supplied crack cocaine to husband [OnPoint
News] "D.C. Circuit to Former Judge in Pants Lawsuit: Follow the
Rules" [NLJ, more, earlier] "Law firm demands retailer destroy all
copies of Olivia Munn comic, retailer refuses" [BoingBoing, HeavyInk,
earlier on TJIC] Can't find jury for tobacco trial: "Lawyers excused a
woman who said people have no right to sue over diseases that are
disclosed on the warning label of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:11 pm

"No actual kookaburras could be reached for comment, as they were too
busy engaging in howls of derisive laughter at these litigious
humans." [George Wallace, A Fool in the Forest, earlier] Tags:
Australia, copyright, music and musicians Related posts Kookaburra
sits on his royal-tee (8) Archived media law & free speech items,
pre-July 2003 (0) Why there aren't DVDs of some of your favorite old
TV series (29) Untraceable - but still under copyright (0) Toddler
dancing home video (0) Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 3:11 pm

If you are a registered investment adviser who - directly or
indirectly - has authority to obtain possession of client funds or
securities ("custody"), the SEC has increased your compliance burden
beginning March 12, 2010. It is now harder for registered advisers to
avoid being deemed to have custody of advisory assets controlled by
affiliated companies or funds. Registered advisers with custody must,
with several exceptions, begin having surprise annual audits of the
custody assets before year-end. To read Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 6:52 am

New revised Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for
advertisements containing endorsements or testimonials focus attention
on "new media" as an advertising venue. The guidelines require
transparency and disclosure of any material relationship between the
manufacturer and the endorser or poster. Postings on a wiki, blog,
social network, chat room or other internet site may be considered
endorsement/testimonial advertising regardless of who makes the
posting. The guidelines make clear that the same Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 6:52 am

Shashoua and another v. Sharma [2010] EWCA Civ 15 concerned an
application to the Court of Appeal by Sharma for permission to appeal
a procedural aspect of the High Court's decision in (1) Roger Shashoua
(2) Rodemadan Holdings Ltd (3) Stancroft Trust Ltd v Mukesh Sharma
[2009] EWHC 957 (Comm) (previously blogged here). Sharma sought
permision to appeal for clarification as to whether an anti-suit
injunction preventing Sharma from commencing proceedings in India also
applied automatically so as to prevent Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 6:52 am

On June 30, 2008, Nebraska Beef, Ltd., an Omaha-area beef processor,
recalled approximately 531,707 pounds of ground beef products because
the meat was potentially contaminated by E. coli O157:H7. On June 24,
2008, the CDC announced an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses among
24 residents of Michigan and Ohio. The next day, the CDC announced
that the number of outbreak linked cases had grown to 32, and that
ground beef sold at Kroger stores, the Cincinnati based grocery chain,
was the likely outbreak Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:37 am

Daniele International Inc., an establishment with operations in
Pascoag and Mapleville, R.I., is now recalling approximately 1,263,754
pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) varieties of Italian sausage products,
including salami/salame, in commerce and potentially available to
customers in retail locations because they may be contaminated with
Salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. FSIS became aware of the
problem during the course of an ongoing Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 1:04 am

For readers here, and those who saw the Washington Post article, who
have followed Linda and her family's struggle with E. coli O157:H7,
the report that I received late yesterday from her brother-in-law is
heartbreaking. It seemed only a few days ago that there was talk about
her leaving the hospital (where she has been since May 2009) and
starting rehabilitation. There was hope that both her ventilator tube
and feeding tube were being removed. There was a dream that she might
one day go home. Now this: Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 1:04 am

Robert D. Sloane (Boston Univ. - Law) will give a talk at the
University of Georgia School of Law International Law Colloquium
Series on "Human Rights for Hedgehogs: Global Legal Pluralism,
International Law and Some Reservations of the Fox." Christian Tams
(Univ. of Glasgow - Law) will give a talk today at the Lauterpacht
Centre for International Law Friday Lunchtime Lecture Series on
"Barcelona Traction: Forty Years After." Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:28 am

The Université d'Auvergne - Faculté de droit de Clermont-Ferrand
will host a conference on "Lucrum in bello: Les entreprises militaires
et de sécurité privées dans le monde contemporain," March 4-5,
2010. The program is available here. Here's a description: Les guerres
d'Afghanistan et d'Irak ont mis au jour des pratiques en plein essor :
le recours, dans des zones de conflit ou à risques, à des entreprises
privées qui fournissent à leur co-contractant (Etats, organisations
internationales, ONG, firmes Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:28 am

The latest issue of the Journal of World Trade (Vol. 44, no. 1,
February 2010) is out. Contents include: Veronika Hrbatá, No
International Organization is an Island . . . the WTO's Relationship
with the WIPO: A Model for the Governance of Trade Linkage Areas? Mira
Burri-Nenova, Trade and Culture in International Law: Paths to
(Re)conciliation Robert Wolfe, Sprinting During a Marathon: Why the
WTO Ministerial Failed in July 2008 Julia Ya Qin, The Challenge of
Interpreting 'WTO-PLUS' Provisions Jorge A. Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 5:28 am

Will be on a short blogging hiatus - discovering Costa Rica. Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 11:27 am

Provided for your review/use is this week's snapshot update of key
industry news and views highlighting key electronic discovery related
stories, developments, and announcements. eDiscovery News Context for
Applying Discovery 2009 e-Discovery Technology Trends -
http://bit.ly/5zbNEU A World of Connections http://bit.ly/9Vqexm
Caskey on Proportionality and the New Ontario Discovery Rules -
http://kuex.us/6f37 Considerations for In-Sourcing and Outsourcing
E-discovery (Legal Tech Session Report) - Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 11:34 pm

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: LegalTech 2010 Overview -
Applied Discovery View more presentations from Rob Robinson. Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 9:33 pm

The British Library plans to make more than 65,000 19th century works
of fiction available as free downloads for the public this spring. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:46 pm

Finnish Member of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala has added her
voice to the concerns over ACTA, calling for greater transparency. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:46 pm

The UK Digital Economy Bill is facing mounting criticism, as an
influential group of MPs has expressed concern the bill may violate
human rights. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:46 pm

Excerpt: Law school focuses the student's natural talent for thinking
logically, writing clearly, managing complex issues and anticipating
problems - capabilities that are further honed in the actual practice
of law. For law school graduates who quit being lawyers, or never
practiced at all, their prior skills and knowledge won't necessarily
go to waste. Writer Ellen Morris ... Prewitt's modest post-graduate
goal was to practice law for at least three years - the same amount of
time it took to earn her Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm

The presence of dogs is growing in US courtrooms. From "Using
training and lovability, Amos the dog calms kids in court" (Free Press
- Michigan): The idea of using dogs to ease courtroom tensions is not
new and is gaining popularity across the country. Courthousedogs.com
began in Seattle when an assistant prosecutor in King County, took her
disabled son's service dog to work one day a week and discovered that
the dog had a profoundly calming effect on young witnesses. Now that
county, and others in Texas, Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm

Excerpt: For the legal profession, the impact of the current
recession has been felt the most by the nation's one million-plus
lawyers who are sole practitioners or members of small firms. These
lawyers are not at the top of the compensation scale to begin with.
They generally work on what's called "the consumer side" of law,
representing individual clients and small businesses in personal
injury, family, criminal defense and personal debtor cases that tend
to pay less. In tough times, many such Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm

Janurary 21, 2010 Supreme Court Minutes (CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE
MINUTES) Decisions: 1-24 Total: 24 Published: 14 Displinary Cases
(published): 7 (however the 8th was not published re a reinstatement
to practice law and a 9th dealt with a fine for failure to comply with
CLE) Rehearing motions: 2 of 9 motions for rehearing Granted
Discretionary Review Motions: Motions granted: 11 Denied: 45 (11/55)
Running Tally for 2010 PUB/NPO Ratio: 14 of 24 published Motions for
rehearing - 2 of 9 grants MDR Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 12:04 am

Muncy v. Commonwealth 2008-CA-001814 11/20/09 2009 WL 3878086 Opinion
by Judge VanMeter; Judge Nickell and Senior Judge Lambert concurred.
The Court affirmed a final judgment of the circuit court sentencing
appellant to ten years' imprisonment for two counts of first-degree
trafficking in a controlled substance. The Court held that appellant
was not denied due process of law when the trial court permitted a
detective who testified for the Commonwealth to assist in replaying
portions of recordings during Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:21 pm

Kentucky Retirement Systems v. Robb 2009-CA-000437 11/25/09 2009 WL
4060881 Opinion by Judge Dixon; Judges Clayton and Thompson concurred.
The Court affirmed a decision of the circuit court reversing a
decision of the Kentucky Retirement Systems denying an employee's
application for disability retirement. The employee preschool bus
driver was unable to renew her Commercial Driver's License because of
mobility issues related to bilateral osteoarthritis of the knees. The
Court held that, although the trial Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:21 pm

A great story. And if you haven't read The Endurance, you should.. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Mark Steyn reviews the president's spending plans.. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm

I began the morning with Arianna Huffington on CNN's Reliable Sources.
Much time was spent on Arianna's favorite whipping boy, Fox News,
though host Howard Kurtz was as always an excellent guarantor of equal
time. I... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm

The Kat's wish everyone a very happy start the week and hope, if you
are in London, are enjoying the snow! The gloves are out for Aussie
Olympic flag - The iconic Boxing Kangaroo flag (left) attracted
controversy at the Winter Olympic Games Village in Vancouver over the
weekend. The IOC believed that the flag, being flown by the Australian
team in the Olympic Village, violated the IOC's rules on unauthorized
commercial symbols being displayed at the Games. The flag is a
registered trade mark of the Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:30 am

International patent filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT) fell by 4.5% in 2009 with sharper than average declines
experienced by some industrialized countries and growth in a number of
East Asian countries, the WIPO announced today. Provisional data
indicates that 155,900 international patent applications were filed in
2009 as compared to the nearly 164,000 applications filed in 2008. The
drop-off in Germany and the USA was about 11%, while PCT filings from
China increased by nearly 30%. China Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:30 am

As Joff Wild noted earlier today, and the EPO have just confirmed, the
EPO's Administrative Council has failed yet again to select a
successor to Alison Brimelow for EPO President. At the latest meeting,
none of the three remaining candidates received the required 75% of
the votes to make it. The AC will apparently now try yet again when
they meet in March. The IPKat thinks that this is making the
Administrative Council look increasingly ridiculous. After three
attempts, surely some bright spark could come Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:26 am

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is
Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:43 pm

Too much is written about the Super Bowl each year, so it is
increasingly difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. The
following are a few pieces that will provide a good primer for this
year's contest: This Hank Gola/NY Daily News article provides a
wonderful overview of the colorful history of the New Orleans Saints,
including the eminently forgettable Charlton Heston flick, Number One.
I tend toward being a stathead, so this Football Outsiders post
provided the requisite statistical analysis of Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:43 pm

Overcriminalization of life and the appalling condition of our
country's prison facilities have been frequent subjects on this blog
over the years. At least one member of the U.S. Supreme Court has
taken notice: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy criticized
California sentencing policies and crowded prisons Wednesday night,
calling the influence that unionized prison guards had in passing the
three-strikes law "sick." In an otherwise courtly and humorous address
to the Los Angeles legal Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 9:00 am

The Seasonality of Art Theft. Latest Art Loss Register Report. A
meritless Degas authenticity debate? Grosz claim dismissed. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:42 pm

Jen Graves on a copyright infringement lawsuit by the creator of a
public artwork in Seattle against a photographer who took a picture of
the work and then listed it with a stock photo agency. Sergio Muñoz
Sarmiento offers some thoughts: "One, it seems the piece was created
'more than 30 years ago,' so [the photographer] may want to look into
the exact date of creation and publication and find out if these were
before 1977, or between 1978 and March 1, 1989. There are certain
copyright notice requirements Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:42 pm

The mafia informer and the stolen Caravaggio. Lawsuit over Basquiat
painting. Guggenheim settles with Malevich heirs. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 11:42 pm

Three children were injured, one critically, in a Fontana dog bite
incident after a pack of five pit bull mixes attacked them. The
Press-Enterprise reports that the children -- Princess Colon, 7,
Hector Perez, 6, Destiny Colon, 5, and a 3-year-old - were on their
way to a park the afternoon of February 1, 2010, with their mother
Josie Arellano, when the dogs attacked them. Destiny suffered critical
injuries and bites while Hector had to get 235 stitches and Princess,
18 stitches to close up the tears and Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:44 am

Richard Ciancone, 58, was killed in a Huntington Beach car accident
after his motorcycle was struck at a street intersection early morning
on February 7, 2010. According to a news report in The Orange County
Register, the fatal motorcycle accident occurred when Ciancone was
riding his motorcycle west on Heil Avenue near Bradbury Lane. That's
when Nathan Bower, 19, the driver of a 2007 Honda Element heading east
on Heil, apparently attempted to turn left onto Bradbury Lane and
collided with the motorcycle. Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:44 am

Three children were injured in a Fontana dog bite incident after they
were brutally attacked by a pack of loose pit bull mixes. According to
a news report in The Press-Enterprise, 5-year-old Destiny Colon was
the most seriously injured in the attack, which occurred late
afternoon on February 1, 2010, when Josie Arellano was walking to a
neighborhood park with four of her children -- Princess Colon, 7,
Hector Perez, 6, Destiny, 5, and a 3-year-old. Arellano and the
3-year-old were the only ones uninjured in Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:03 pm

Alex Reinert (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law -- Yeshiva University)
has posted Public Interest(s) and Fourth Amendment Enforcement
(University of Illinois Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the
abstract: Fourth Amendment events - the recent arrest of Harvard... Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:43 am

ACSblog has this post laying out the administration's response to
criticism of its handling of the case, including efforts to block a
domestic trial. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:43 am

Tobin Harshaw canvasses the chatter on this topic--essentially, one
example of the question of the limits of the criminal model--at
Opinionator. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:43 am

The U.S. economy continued to hemorrhage jobs the first month of the
2010, but the overall unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent, according
to the latest report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:44 am

One upside of the recession: times couldn't be better for public
universities shopping for private law schools at bargain basement
prices. Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:44 am

The firm's profits-per-partner figure remains above $2 million despite
two straight years of decline. Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:44 am

As a general rule, I avoid aggressive monitoring of comments. Megan
McArdle explains my reasoning well in describing her own similar
policy: As y'all know, I exercise a pretty light hand on the comments
section. That's a tough choice. I could probably have a more civil
comments section if I were more willing to delete nasty comments and
ban trolls. On the other hand, I don't trust myself in the position of
censor.... One will always find most outrageous those people who
disagree with one's own pet notions. Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 12:29 am

These are some of the things I've been tweeting about today: would
you eat dog? ... in the new york times roger cohen writes opines about
"dog days in china" http://j.mp/9vgLKO how ridiculous! ... "nbc's
revisionist history of conan o'brien's tonight show: it never
existed!" http://j.mp/aYYrHW RT @nickdowse: Good one Cowdroy J. Now my
internet is going really slow because everyone is downloading
torrents. reading "'i'm not saying your mother's a whore': how fox
news censored jon stewart vs. bill o'reilly" Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 12:29 am

Jay and Dave together? Could it be true? It is, and there they were,
Jay Leno and David Letterman sitting on a couch - with Oprah Winfrey
between them - upstairs at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Mr.
Letterman tapes his show. The spot was shot last Tuesday afternoon,
under the strictest of secrecy which involved both Mr. Leno and Ms.
Winfrey flying in surreptitiously to New York, and arriving incognito
at the theater, while Mr. Letterman was in the midst of taping his
show for that night. It also involved Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 12:29 am

Well, we're more than half way through the work week. The total number
of posts today? 110. Not too bad. We have a few posts from some of the
frequent contributors to the roundup: Daniel Schwartz, Max Kennerly
and David Oxenford. Schwartz chimes in from LegalTech and Marylee
Abrams responds to his post. Child Labor Penalties Increased for
Violations that Cause Death or Serious Injury - New York lawyer
Douglas Weiner of EpsteinBeckerGreen on the firm's Prima Facie Law
Blog Pennsylvania's Cell Phone Driving Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 4:33 am

139 posts on the LexBlog Network today and some really great content
in today's top ten. Richard Renner of the Whistleblower Protection
Blog has a good post on Howard Zinn, founding Board member of the
National Whistleblowers Center. Chuck Peterson has a post on an
attorney who won a $31 million settlement for a drunk driving victim
and some insight on how he did it. Good stuff. Florida's Statutory
Fix: Race To Clean Up Congress' Estate Tax Mess - Miami attorney Juan
Antunez of Stokes McMillan Maracini Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 4:33 am

We have five launches in total this week with topics covered ranging
from construction law to human resources to employment and human
rights to oil and gas evaluation to nano and clean technology. Whew, a
lot. Whether these blogs cover your area of expertise or not, feel
free to drop in and take a look, maybe leave a comment if you feel so
inclined. Toronto lawyer Lisa Stam authors Employment & Human
Rights in Canada. One of the reasons Lisa decided to start the blog
was that social media in the Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 4:33 am

If you are filing a bankruptcy case because of massive medical bills
while you are pursuing a major medical malpractice claim, you have
opened quite a kettle of fish. It is very important that you tell your
bankruptcy attorney all about your medical malpractice case. To see
why, click here. The Cast of Characters Your bankruptcy attorney Your
medical malpractice trial attorney The opposing medical malpractice
defense attorney The bankruptcy trustee Your creditors in your
bankruptcy case Each of these Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:06 am

"Will I lose my home if I file for bankruptcy?" This is one of the
most frequently asked questions I hear from prospective bankruptcy
clients. More and more that the answer is "Yes you may very well lose
your home but you will not lose it because of the bankruptcy. If you
lose it, it will be because you can't afford it and bankruptcy just
can't help you save it." Filing for bankruptcy does not mean that you
will lose your home, and in fact many people who file for bankruptcy
keep their homes because they Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:06 am

For the last several weeks LTD Financial Services and United Recovery
Systems have been running ads in the Houston Chronicle for Collectors.
While this is no big surprise what with the economy like it is, it is
surprising to see them admit to some of the benefits they offer:
"great bonus program, plus full benefits", "above industry standard
commission rates", and contests. Contests is the one that bugs me. The
bill collectors have a contest to see who can be the meanest? Or, how
many people can they make Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 3:06 am

The China Online Marketing Blog recently did an interesting five part
series of posts discussing the various methods of making online
payments in China. Even three years ago, these payment were barely
being used at all and though their usage is nowhere near the levels in
places like Korea or the United States, they are increasing at an
incredible pace. Part 1 on Alipay is here, part 2 on Tenpay is here,
Part 3 on online bank transfers is here, Part 4 on credit card
payments is here, and part 5 on China Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:48 am

Every once in a while, I get an email accusing me of costing Americans
their jobs and going on and on about how China is terrible and anyone
who has anything to do with China is terrible, presumably including
me. I usually respond by talking about how China is a reality and how
countries should be judged not only on where they are now, but also on
where they came from and where they are going, and on how under those
criteria, there are plenty of countries far far worse with whom the
United States deals Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:48 am

I know some countries will not allow entry to people whose passports
are within six months of expiring. I know this because it once
happened to me, but I cannot remember whether it was Korea or China,
or maybe some place else. It was no big deal at the time because I
learned of the six month rule before I left the United States and I
was able to renew my passport in plenty of time. Today though I was
checking to see if China has the six month rule and my Google search
first led me to this excellent and Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:48 am

Oral Argument in case# 08-1114; Serafinn, Mark v. Int'l Brohd 722
(civil case) [uploaded: 02/08/2010] Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:34 am

Oral Argument in case# 09-1188; Walter Legg v. Steven Agee (civil
case) [uploaded: 02/08/2010] Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:34 am

Oral Argument in case# 09-1262; USA v. Theresa Phillips (criminal
case) [uploaded: 02/08/2010] Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:34 am

February 9, 2010 - Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing
Costs While Improving Patent Quality (Technology Transfer Tactics) -
1:00 - 2:30 PM (EST) February 17-18, 2010 - Biotech &
Pharmaceutical Patenting (IIR) - Munich, Germany February 24-25, 2010
- 2nd Expert Forum on ITC Litigation & Enforcement (American
Conference Institute) - New York, NY March 1-2, 2010 - 4th Annual
Patent Law Institute (Practising Law Institute) - New York, NY March
2-4, 2010 - 6th Annual Biosimilars Conference Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:31 am

By Sarah Fendrick -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has extended
the time for public comment for two recent Office initiatives and has
extended the period of effectiveness for a third Office initiative.
Extension of Period for Comments on Enhancement in the Quality of
Patents In December 2009, the USPTO published a notice in the Federal
Register seeking public comment on the enhancement in quality of
patents. Specifically, the Office solicited public comment with
respect to potential methods that may Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:31 am

By Christopher P. Singer -- On February 1, 2010, the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office issued a press release announcing President Obama's
$2.3 billion budget request for the USPTO for fiscal year 2011.
According to the statement, the amount of the budget request is
intended to support and achieve the strategic objectives of the
five-year plan for the USPTO as mapped out by Director Kappos and
Commerce Secretary Locke. Specific goals include reducing application
pendency and the existing application backlog, Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:31 am

Another Super Bowl comes today that I will not watch. I think I last
watched around 1992. Of course, by my not watching, I miss
television's efforts to avoid a repeat of nipple-gate and to be more
lenient in running controversial commercials; and miss any further
explanation of the roots of "Who Dat", including whether the phrase is
or is not racially demeaning. The problem about Soviet Olympic sports
was that the Soviet government apparently poured so much money into
its athletes as to make them hardly Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:03 pm

Dr. Phil exposes the unreliability of eyewitness testimony here. Just
click the video link listed below the headline EYEWITNESS EXPERIMENT,
and read in this link how, after seeing a video of a "suspect", "40
percent of [Dr. Phil's] audience chose suspect number 3. Dr. Phil
inform[ed] his audience that anyone who voted chose an innocent man
because the real perpetrator was not in the lineup." And there I was
assuming that Dr. Phil's show was just about fluff. That is what
happens when I make assumptions Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:03 pm

S.R. Sidarth and Jon Katz (Copyright Jon Katz.) I kept my composure
when encountering such excellent and accomplished people as Lou Jacobi
(through a storefront window), Geoffrey Holder (on a SoHo street), and
Madeline Kahn (in the audience of Aunt Dan and Lemon). A rare group of
people leave me awestruck. Tears welled in my eyes when I met McCoy
Tyner, who made musical and cultural history with John Coltrane. When
with Jun Yasuda, I try my best to restrain myself from doing a full
questionography of her Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:03 am

A state and federal investigation of the California company linked to
2009's pepper Salmonella outbreak that sickened 87 people in five
states found unacceptably dirty conditions and a veritable hot zone of
Salmonella Rissen. According to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration
report obtained by national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen, Union
City-based Union International Food Co. was filthy with bacteria
matching the outbreak strain of Salmonella. The outbreak started in
September 2008 and grew to Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm

Black pepper from two different suppliers to Daniele Inc. was
contaminated with Salmonella, leading investigators to conclude now
that pepper coatings are the probable cause of a nationwide salami
Salmonella Montevideo outbreak. The confirmation came from the Rhode
Island Health Department. The two pepper suppliers -- Mincing Oversees
Spice Company and Wholesome Spices -- imported black pepper from the
same source. "These recent findings show that black pepper used during
the manufacturing process at Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm

For the third time since January 23, a Rhode Island salami maker
considered to be the cause of a nationwide outbreak of Salmonella
Montevideo has announced a recall of its pepper salame products. The
two additional Daniele Inc. products weighing a total of 23,754 pounds
were recalled after the Rhode Island Department of Health cited pepper
salami coatings as the probable cause of the outbreak that has
sickened 207 people in 42 states and the District of Columbia.
Inspectors founds the outbreak strain of Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 12:32 pm

Continental Datalabel, Inc. v. Avery Dennison Corp., No. 09 C 5980,
Slip. Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 9, 2009 (Shadur, Sen. J.). Judge Shadur
ordered the parties to be prepared to discuss at a status conference
why defendants' respective noninfringement and invalidity declaratory
judgment counterclaims should not be stricken as duplicative of
plaintiff's patent infringement claims. * Click here for more on this
case in the Blog's archives. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 9:02 pm

The annual Chicago IP Colloquium continues this Tuesday, February 9,
2010. The Chicago IP Colloquium is jointly sponsored by Chicago-Kent
College of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law to discuss
a range of issues in intellectual property and cyberspace law based
upon papers by six nationally renowned intellectual property scholars.
The sessions are uniformly excellent, and well worth your time. The
next session will be Tuesday, February 9 from 4:10 pm to 5:50 pm at
Loyola and will feature Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 11:24 am

World Wide Sales, Inc. v. Church & Dwight Co., Inc., No. 08 C
1198, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Nov. 9, 2009) (Kennelly, J.). Judge Kennelly
granted defendant Church & Dwight ("CD") summary judgment on each
of plaintiff World Wide Sales' ("WWS") claims for trademark
infringement, Lanham Act unfair competition and fraud on the Patent
and Trademark office. WWS claimed that CD infringed and unfairly
competed with WWS's Forever Fresh for the Fridge trademark, used with
a refrigerator odor elimination product, Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 11:31 pm

Ensayamos un género infrecuente(*) la crítica crítica de obras
jurídicas. Dividido en tres partes, con abundancia de aclaraciones
culposas. Por qué un escrutinio estricto Las credenciales académicas
del autor (profesor titular de derecho constitucional en la UBA), el
formato y la extensión de la obra (5 tomos de más de 800 páginas
c/u), la ambición inequívoca del título ("Tratado"), la hermosa
edición en tapas duras color caoba de "La Ley" y hasta el precio de
venta (¡unos 660 dólares!) hacen de la obra Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 9:40 am

In your face Como hace un amigo(*) empezamos el análisis mirando
esto: El video es la transmisión oficial del discurso del Estado de
la Unión que Barack dio la semana pasada frente al Congreso.
Aprovechó para referirse a un fallo de la Corte Suprema. En la
primera fila del auditorio, seis jueces del tribunal: John Roberts
(Chief Justice), Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer; en la
segunda, Samuel Alito y Sonia Sotomayor. Vean a Alito, el primero
desde la izquierda, caliente como una pipa. Vean Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:49 pm

Segundo round. Here we go. 1. Redrado en el limbo. No está removido.
Pero no está repuesto. Pero hay ningún acto formal que lo suspenda.
¿Qué hace Redrado? Mi comentario: irresponsabilidad y error técnico
de parte de la Cámara. Tenía que aclarar el punto. No lo hizo, y
hace un nuevo aporte a la confusión general. Ante esto, que se
arreglen los abogados del gobierno y los abogados de Redrado. 2. Los
DNUs en el mientras tanto: tres posibilidades. Prometo un comentario
más amplio sobre los DNUs y su historia, Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 2:36 pm

Great game; great weekend for Miami. Now what peeps? Who's in trial?
What's going on? Here are a couple of items: 1. Justice Thomas is
making the rounds. Here he is speaking at UF Law. Thomas gave a big
shout out to a Florida lawyer in his talk. He'll be here in April. 2.
Who should Obama nominate for the S.Ct. pick? Let the debate begin. 3.
What about the other judges though? 4. More on Alito vs. Obama here. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:09 pm

Unfortunately, the applicant list and interviews for the open
magistrate position were kept secret... That said, the committee acted
quickly and cut the list to 5. Now the judges get to pick the next
magistrate. I've heard from multiple sources about 4 of the 5
candidates: 1. Jackie Arango (AUSA) 2. Rick Del Toro (AUSA) 3.
Jonathan Goodman (Akerman Senterfitt) 4. Daryl Trawick (State Circuit
Judge; U.S. Attorney finalist) 5. UPDATE -- well, we got this one
wrong, so I am taking it down.... Sorry! I will Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:09 am

Monday morning + Rain = FREAKING HORRIBLE TRAFFIC As you all know, I'm
not a fan of judicial elections. Tony Mauro writes that the recent
Citizens United decision might kill judicial elections: For years now,
judicial reform groups have more or less resigned themselves to the
reality that the public likes to elect its state judges and will fight
any effort to appoint them instead. The U.S. Supreme Court's Jan. 21
decision in Citizens United v. FEC may have altered that sober truth
-- or at least has given Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 5:56 pm