Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JUNE 2, 2024 – In ancient times I was involved in a case concerning a prominent piece of real estate in downtown St. Paul[1]. For years the matter consumed a plurality, sometimes a majority, of my billable hours at the firm. Other lawyers with the pertinent client relationship that predated my hiring had reeled the …
MAY 25, 2024 – (Cont.) In the morning of May 25, Dan and I found our way to the Dalkon Shield Settlement Claims Administration facility occupying a full city block in downtown Richmond. On hand to greet us was Mike Sheppard. I remember him well even without the aid of my journal. He engaged with …
MAY 2, 2024 – Back in the day when lawyers wrote with a golden nib and spoke with a silver tongue, no member of the bar thought about marketing or advertising. In fact, until I entered law school in the 1976 of the Current Era (with emphasis on Current) advertising was strictly verboten. Part of …
MAY 18, 2023 – In the early days of my legal career, I dreaded “CLE” (Continuing Legal Education) seminars. Al Gore had yet to invent the internet, so “webinars” didn’t yet exist either. Even “casual Fridays” were a thing of the future. You had to attend all sessions in person and wear your usual uniform—a …
APRIL 20, 2023 – Every month or so for many months running, a good college friend calls me and opens the conversation with, “So, when are this Jack Smith character and Merrick Garland gonna come outta their comas and announce the indictment of your favorite ex-president? Last month you told me it was gonna be …
MARCH 31, 2023 – Today, Lindsey Graham called the indictment of Duly Defeated “the most irresponsible act by a prosecutor in the history of the country.” Currently, 9,832 people serve as prosecutors in the United States, which has been formally constituted for 234 years. Against the backdrop of those numbers, “most irresponsible . . . …
MARCH 29, 2023 – Those of us who are repulsed by the Duly Defeated are quick to draw a direct connection between FoxProp’s viewership and Defeated’s political success within the Republican Party. I know (and respect) a number of people who are dedicated members of that viewership. I’m also well acquainted with their blanket rejection …
MARCH 21, 2023 – When the Duly Defeated came to Minneapolis for a rally in October 2018, the best parts of the show were the clever protest signs among the thousands of demonstrators in the street outside the rally. My favorite: “WHERE DO I START?” At around the same time, I encountered a well-educated, well-heeled …
MARCH 2, 2023 – (Cont.) Despite my career as a lawyer, I’m not a legal geek, but as I explained in my previous six posts, I got sucked into following the trial, then the broader Faulknarian story of the Murdaugh murders. Now that the trial is over, I can close the book, return it to …
MARCH 1, 2023 – (Cont.) I know I’ve watched too much of the Alex Murdaugh trial, because my exposure to it has produced a dichotomy: at the same time I wish I’d observed none of it, I wish I’d observed all of it. To judge a case reliably, you must consider all the admitted evidence. …
FEBRUARY 27, 2023 – (Cont.) By a classic Socratic exchange with us students, Pirsig revealed how the defense could most effectively cross-examine the cop. It added up to this: DEFENSE COUNSEL: So it’s your testimony that when you turned your flashlight on the car window, you saw a naked man? COP: Yes. DEFENSE COUNSEL: You’re …
FEBRUARY 26, 2023 – Eventually, everyone with a law degree is asked about the accused in some recent, sensational crime, “Do you think he’s guilty [nine times out of 10 it’s a “he”]?” and “How could you defend someone you know is guilty?” These two questions assume that the person with the law degree knows …
FEBRUARY 25, 2023 – It’s okay: you can admit to your fascination over the made-for-Netflix “Murdaugh Murders” down in the “low country” of South Carolina. I won’t judge you. In fact, in the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll confess my own recent addiction to the case involving a scion of the Old South Old Boys …
JANUARY 28, 2023 – For many years I encountered no clients, lawyers or other parties whose mother tongue wasn’t English. Oops. I must amend that. There were two brothers with whom I tangled; real estate developers of Venetian origin, who spoke Italian first and English second—or maybe it was fourth or fifth, given their cosmopolitan …
NOVEMBER 1, 2022 – Yesterday the Supremes heard oral arguments in two affirmative action cases. The high court will likely stick a pitchfork in the long-standing law of the land—that race diversity goals may justify consideration of race in admissions to higher education. This morning I thought about these cases as I reviewed an essay …
JULY 27, 2022 – Blogger’s note: In Monday’s post, I mentioned a an old banking colleague of mine, Bill McRostie. He was such an unusual character, I thought he deserved a post dedicated solely to him. In retrospect, I wish I’d asked him more questions. I’m confident he would’ve provided more answers. Bill was tall, thin, …
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 – Simon Winchester wrote a book entitled, The Perfectionists, an interesting work about precision engineering. In the world of machines and micro-machines, precision to the nth-degree marks the difference between function and failure. Perfection applies with equal force to many fields, from music to medicine. It even rules in the practice of …
NOVEMBER 17, 2021 – I’d wanted to write something cool (but heartwarming), when Bam!—I read about the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois kid who grabbed his assault rifle and ammo and drove to Kenosha, Wisconsin to kill a couple of BLM protesters . . . in self-defense. After closing arguments in a courtroom presided …
SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 – I’m beginning to harbor second thoughts about my life-long profession. “Beginning”?! Well, not exactly, but as we’ve seen on stark display over the recent past, denialism and rationalization run rampant in our species. What’s led to second thoughts? “Repetitive introspection.” After hitting one’s skull against the wall 10,000 times, one discovers …
SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 – Recently, our friend R_______ found herself in a catch-22 pinch. After undergoing a medical procedure under light sedation, she was told that she could leave the clinic only with a responsible adult but that she’d have to exit within two hours after the procedure. R__________’s designated “responsible adult”—one of her daughters—wasn’t …
FEBRUARY 23 2021 – Recently, I watched on Netflix the four-episode, historical drama, Tokyo Trial (2016). It’s the Pacific (war) Theater counterpart to Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and mini-series Nuremberg (2000). A Japanese-Canadian co-production, Tokyo Trial was co-directed by a Dutchman and an American and filmed mostly in . . . Lithuania. Nominated for Best …
DECEMBER 3, 2020 – Yesterday I received a call from a lawyer asking me for advice about a case he’s working on. His client was pressing to “buy time” by bringing what I call a “monkey-wrench” motion to derail an upcoming hearing on the opposing side’s motion to dismiss. Although the lawyer offered to pay …
AUGUST 27, 2020 – Normally, my law practice doesn’t involve really bad behavior. In other words, I don’t practice family law or criminal defense law. My practice is mostly commercial real estate and business law. (Did I detect a yawn?) But one day along came a real estate case involving enough skullduggery to pinch over …
JUNE 25, 2020 – When I started law school, I figured the easiest subject would be “ethics.” I thought I had a solid handle on “right” and “wrong” and would know intuitively such foundational rules as, you can’t lie and you can’t steal from client funds in your firm’s trust account. Little did I appreciate …
JUNE 22, 2020 – In my first year of practice, I handled “misdemeanor prosecutions” under my firm’s contract with a small suburb. Most cases involved traffic violations, though occasionally a bar scofflaw produced disorderly conduct charges. I usually negotiated deals but drove harder bargains in DUI cases. Several went to trial, which I relished for …