ABA Journal Magazine Stories

The Less Final Option

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:49:39 -0600

She never knew what hit her.

Legal Rebels

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:40:52 -0600

Green Achers

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:30:33 -0600

Sedan, Kansas Situated halfway between Wichita, Kan., and Tulsa, Okla., lies the town of Sedan. It is a popular destination for hunters and known for having the world’s longest yellow brick road; its economic base is rooted in cattle, oil and tourism. With a population of roughly 1,200, Sedan is the largest city in Chautauqua County.

So You Want to Go Solo? You Sure?

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:20:44 -0600

As of 2005, some 62 percent of attorneys in private practice work as solo or small-firm practitioners, according to the most recent data available from the American Bar Association. Those numbers likely have swelled and will continue to do so as law firms reorganize and re-evaluate their professional staffing needs.

The Bad-Debt Blues

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:10:44 -0600

Note: Register for this month's CLE, "Current Developments in Tax Law," from 1-2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Lay Off the Coffee Talk

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:00:39 -0600

Leadership When It’s Needed Most

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:50:39 -0600

The economic crisis has taken its toll not only on the general public but also on every type of legal practice, from solo and small firms to in-house counsel. In addition, during the past year, more than 10,000 employees at major law firms lost their positions or endured significant pay cuts. Several national firms closed their doors forever.

Court Jester

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:40:04 -0600

One of Clarence Darrow’s Letters to His Granddaughter Jessie

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:30:39 -0600

See the related article, "Court Jester."

A Closer Look

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:30:39 -0600

Long before Leopold and Loeb, long before O.J. and long before Michael, there was Leo Frank.

Quick! Hail Me a Cupcake

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:10:39 -0600

Lev Ekster graduated from New York Law School in May, but he isn’t busy researching and writing case briefs. Instead he’s consumed with another type of paperwork: the receipts from the Cupcake Stop, his gourmet cupcake business on wheels.

Clearing the Bar

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:00:39 -0600

You begin to suspect that Ross E. Mitchell is a different sort of professional when he mentions his patented JetLag watch, which gradually adjusts to the correct time during flight to lessen the jolt of changing time zones.

From the Heart

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:50:39 -0600

Susan J. Cohen hears a lot of sad stories as an immigration lawyer; some are hard to forget.

By the Numbers

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:40:39 -0600

Home Settling

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:30:25 -0600

As many as 9 million homeowners may lose their homes to foreclosure over the next four years, with nearly one in eight mortgages delinquent or in the process of foreclosure, according to a June report from the Center for American Progress.

Adult Time for Adult Crimes

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:20:39 -0600

"As any parent knows,” children are different. So said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy more than four years ago in Roper v. Simmons. There, a deeply divided court ruled 5-4 that executing those who committed murder as juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment’s proscription against cruel and unusual punishment. Part of the reason, the court said, was that juveniles were less culpable, less mature and less responsible than adults.

Drawing the Line

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:10:56 -0600

The 1977 murder of John Schweer awakened sleepy Council Bluffs, Iowa, like an icy slap in the face.

Listen, Don’t Talk

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:00:39 -0600

Angus and I got to the office yesterday at 7:45 a.m. waiting at the door was Maria Archuleta, one of the town’s brightest young lawyers. Besides her briefcase, she was carrying a jug of dark mountain roast coffee and a bag of walnut bear claws.

A Line or a Loan?

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:40:39 -0600

Those solos who have earned their stripes have a word of advice to newcomers on financing: Get a line of credit from the bank before you actually need it.

Green Grows the Portfolio

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:30:39 -0600

For those who’ve watched a 401(k) take a beating during the recession, socially responsible investing may appear to be an oxymoron.

Suing Your Ex-Partners

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:20:19 -0600

A contract is a contract. You breach, you lose. It’s as simple as that—whether the economy is in boom or bust. That’s what Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge in New York City is arguing in a lawsuit brought by a terminated partner, Stephen Connoni. But resolving partners’ contractual disputes with their firms is rarely that cut and dried, some employment lawyers say.

Broadening Search

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:10:42 -0600

The next generation of search is arriving, if you know where to find it.

Climate Change

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:00:03 -0600

Rules requiring attorneys to disclose whether they carry liability insurance are rapidly becoming, well, the rule.

Self-Study Program

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:50:39 -0600

The ABA section of legal education and admissions to the Bar is still in the early stages of evaluating the rules and procedures it uses to accredit law schools in the United States. But the section already has signaled that it is looking at major changes in the accreditation process.

Taking Aim at Red Flags

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:40:39 -0600

When Congress passed legislation in 2003 requiring businesses to be more proactive against identity theft, it made no mention of lawyers.

The American Bar Endowment 2009 Annual Report

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:30:39 -0600

How does the American Bar Endowment (ABE) fit into the ABA puzzle of affiliates, Commissions, Sections, and charitable entities that make your ABA membership so valuable?

ABA Announcements

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:20:39 -0600

Heroic Hassles

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:10:39 -0600

Few of us go through life expecting accolades for the commendable—OK, borderline valiant—things we do routinely each day. So when it becomes necessary to defend oneself for having done a good deed, well, then the terrorists have truly won, or whatever it is they say.

November 16, 1939

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:00:39 -0600

In January 1939, Al Capone was transferred from Alcatraz to the federal prison at Terminal Island near Los Angeles. Ten months later, he was transported by train to Lewisburg, Pa., where he was quietly released to family and doctors. Addled by the long-term effects of syphilis, he was a mere ghost of the gangster who had ruled Prohibition-era Chicago.

Legal Rebels

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:40:32 -0500

Our September cover story featured the first seven Legal Rebels—some of the profession’s leading innovators. This month we showcase three more. We’ll profile 50 Rebels by the end of November, with at least three new profiles appearing each week on LegalRebels.com. Click here to see how you can participate in our 24 Hours of Rebels event Oct. 14-15. Adam Reich: Media Man Marjorie Shultz: Up to the Test Frank Aquila: Free Talker Every few days between now and late November, we’ll be posting new profiles at LegalRebels.com, along with videos, audio podcasts, slideshows, live chats and other multimedia presentations. Join us on this journey to the future of the legal profession. The revolution is in your head.

70 Sizzling Apps

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:30:44 -0500

Apps: It’s a little word for those mini-programs that can pay off big in productivity, knowledge or just plain fun. And they come at all price points, from expensive-but-worth-it to absolutely free.

True Lies

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:20:24 -0500

I am a terrorist. At least that’s what I’ve been told to be, as I’m sitting at a computer in the lab adjacent to J. Peter Rosenfeld’s cluttered second-floor office in the psychology department on Northwestern University’s leafy campus.

How Could You Skip… ?

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:10:11 -0500

Finding New Ways to Help

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:00:11 -0500

Central to our system of justice, our profession and the American Bar Association is assuring that all people, regardless of income or personal wealth, have access to justice. Indeed, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct call on lawyers, as “public citizens,” to work on improving access to the legal system.

Now Showing

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:50:53 -0500

The law has always provided ample fodder for filmmakers (see “The 25 Greatest Legal Movies,” ABA Journal, August 2008), and the public has demonstrated an insatiable appetite for it.

L’Avvocato

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:40:11 -0500

Few of Tina Maiolo’s colleagues suspect that her life could easily be shaped into a Harlequin romance—or a chick-lit, girl-power movie.

Operators Are Standing By

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:30:11 -0500

Infomercials have been used to sell all kinds of things—pocket fishing rods, blankets with sleeves, teeny wire loops that double as hairstyling tools. So it stands to reason that something like an infomercial could help lawyers sell their services, says Los Angeles television producer Brett Duncan. Only don’t call it that.

Drop ‘n’ Give Me 20

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:20:18 -0500

Fit lawyers may seem like an oxymoron to some. But this month the Chicago Bar Association aims to show that physically fit lawyers not only exist, but there are also a whole lot of them.

Visionary Work

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:00:11 -0500

Demand for free legal help surges during hard times, but at one unusual legal clinic in Chicago the demand is always great.

Legal Road Trip: San Francisco

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:50:11 -0500

Thou Shalt Not Sue

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:40:17 -0500

Mark and Sara Neill were deeply offended when a debt collector contacted them last fall over an unpaid $88 chiropractor’s bill.

Illegal Procedure?

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:30:11 -0500

For most of the second half of the 2008 college football season, the Alabama Crimson Tide rolled atop the Bowl Championship Series standings and appeared headed for the national title contest in Miami.

Shedding Tiers

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:20:29 -0500

In April, Justice Antonin Scalia did what he does best. To put it bluntly, he put it bluntly: If you want to be a clerk and you’re not from Harvard or Yale, he’s just not interested in hiring you.

Sotomayor Takes Her Seat

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:10:40 -0500

The U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice, Sonia Sotomayor, is its first Latina and the third woman. But she is also the third New Yorker on the bench. Sotomayor, who was raised in the Bronx, joins Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is from Brooklyn, and Justice Antonin Scalia, who grew up in Queens.

Give Chronology a Timeout

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:00:05 -0500

“What do you mean, jumbled?” said Harry. “I called every witness according to his or her position in the company. I arranged the testimony of all the witnesses and introduced each exhibit in strict chronological order. I spent weeks organizing my proof. I don’t see how in the world anyone could suggest it was jumbled.”

A Higher Law

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:50:25 -0500

Ethics rules trump even constitutional obligations when it comes to requirements that prosecutors disclose information to defendants if it might help them fight criminal charges.

What I Did with My ‘Go Away Money’

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:40:11 -0500

Gordon Chin’s wish to become a successful interior designer came true with the help of an audition video he sent to HGTV and a few design-challenged friends. But most of his fellow attorneys probably would say he had already arrived in life—he was on track to make partner at a national firm.

Mom Makes It Work

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:30:53 -0500

In the last year alone, Deborah Epstein Henry gave 35 speeches on the most pressing issues facing female lawyers. But Henry, who spent the past decade transforming a small support group for working moms into an industry leader on women’s issues, says her career path was heavily influenced by two men.

Make Lemonade

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:20:11 -0500

California lawyer Martin Trupiano, feeling overloaded, tried to schedule time with his equally pressed wife to talk about ways they could make their lives less hectic.

Fashioning a Top Career

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:10:11 -0500

When former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste recounts a pivotal victory—the moment when a lawyer in President Richard Nixon’s White House agreed to turn over incriminating tapes—he shares an odd detail: The lawyer was “unaccountably got-up in a lime-green shirt with a brown suit,” he writes in his memoir, The Emperor’s New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate to 9/11.

Fighting Flabby Files

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:00:27 -0500

It’s hard to imagine the practice of law before e-mail. but unfortunately for us, it’s easy to see e-mail is rapidly becoming a standard application that’s been asked to do far more than was ever intended. While it’s not time to talk about “the death of e-mail,” it is clear we are starting to look at the many alternatives—instant messaging, extranets, wikis and many more—to address its perceived shortcomings.

The Next Big Thing

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:50:11 -0500

When the U.N. General Assembly held a world summit in 2005, one of its most notable actions was to set forth the doctrine that states have an obligation to protect their citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. If a state fails to do so, says the doctrine, then the responsibility falls to the larger community of nations, even if it requires the use of military force.

A Time to Plant

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:40:11 -0500

A lot of trees have to die so lawyers can do their work. Even in this age of digital communications, most of a typical lawyer’s work output—all those briefs, pleadings, contracts, letters and memos to file—ends up on paper. And we all know where paper comes from.

Bucking a Backlog

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:30:11 -0500

The scene had all the appearances of a Social Security Administration appeals hearing: The claimant was represented by counsel, an expert witness was ready to testify on medical and vocational issues, and an administrative law judge was there to hear the appeal.

ABA Announcements

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:20:11 -0500

The Blame Game

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:10:11 -0500

We learn early on that life is much more pleasant when we’re not being excoriated for seemingly innocuous transgressions like tracking mud into the house or breaking a lamp or dangling a sibling out a window.

October 27, 1859

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:00:11 -0500

John Brown’s long, self-declared war against slavery came to a tumultuous end in October 1859 at Harper’s Ferry, Va., where he led a small band of followers on a raid of a U.S. armory. Intended to spark a slave insurrection, the raid was suppressed within two days by forces led by Col. Robert E. Lee. Brown was severely injured and 10 of his men were killed (including two of his sons); four townsmen and one soldier died in the clash.

Advertisers in This Issue

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:01:36 -0500

Town Without Pity

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:40:46 -0500

Hungry for Change

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:30:17 -0500

Note: Register for this month's CLE "Don't Eat That! Issues in Food Safety," from 1-2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 16.