ABA Journal Magazine Stories

Just Like Everyone

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:40:18 -0600

Like many in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, Liza Barry-Kessler has never been sure of the reaction she’ll get when potential employers, supervisors, co-workers and clients learn she’s a lesbian. In the early 2000s, while working at a small lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., on issues of education, technology and the Internet, many of Barry-Kessler’s colleagues knew she was gay. But the issue was never discussed, and she sensed it was best not to mention it to clients.

“This was during the big debates about blocking Internet materials harmful to minors, and the big concerns were child pornography and sexual predation,” Barry-Kessler says. “I felt like I couldn’t be as out, not so much in my day-to-day job but in terms of the clients we worked with.

“That wasn’t something anyone ever said—the people I worked with weren’t homophobic. But there was an additional level of hypersensitivity to the possibility that it would look somehow off-putting to the clients.”

In 2003 with new employer AOL, then based in Dulles, Va., Barry-Kessler got an entirely different reception when she returned from her honeymoon after a non-state-sanctioned wedding.

“It blew my mind,” Barry-Kessler says. “My co-workers did whatever they’d have done for anybody else getting married. They decorated my cubicle, everybody contributed to a gift, and they had a cake for me. It was better than I’d hoped for. It was treated as normal.”

Grade Anxiety

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:29:03 -0600

Among Southern California plaintiffs lawyers, Paul Kiesel is something of a go-to guy. Twenty years ago he set up an information database for fellow plaintiffs lawyers to discuss arbitrators and mediators, and among the defense bar he is known as an adversary who honors his word. He’s also held board posts with the Los Angeles and California plaintiffs bars, and he chairs the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s litigation section.

The War of Winds

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:20:36 -0600

Note: This month's CLE, "A Storm Brews Over Wind Power," is from 1-2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 17.

Bloggy Eyes

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:10:18 -0600

Holding a Mirror to the Profession

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:00:18 -0600

The world has changed. in law school, I was one of only 10 women in my class. When I began practicing, nearly all of my colleagues and all of the judges were white men. Women had to work especially hard just to be accepted and advance their careers. Although our profession today is much more diverse and inclusive, obstacles to free and equal professional success remain and impose the proverbial “glass ceiling.”

We Can Work It Out

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:50:18 -0600

As traditional media dwindles, fewer journalists than ever are covering the courts. But that doesn’t mean the courts aren’t being covered. Thanks to social media, blogs and Twitter, user-generated content is surging.

Soy Vey!

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:40:18 -0600

Prison life isn’t supposed to be easy. But should it make prisoners sick? That’s the central question in a novel federal lawsuit filed last year over the soy-laden diet the Illinois state prison system serves to prisoners.

See for Yourself

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:30:03 -0600

Nowadays, finding a lawyer is as easy as a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse. But that doesn’t make the hiring decision any easier.

Birmingham, Ala., lawyer Lew Garrison thinks he has developed the perfect solution: LegalTube.com.

Philly Payback

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:20:38 -0600

They sported Yankee pinstripes, but they weren’t feted by a ticker-tape parade or handed keys to the city. Still, this team was most welcome when they arrived in New York to honor their end of a losing bet on the World Series.

The Results Are In

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:10:44 -0600

More than 3,000 readers registered to vote on ABAJournal.com for their favorite law blogs in our third annual Blawg 100. Here are the popular choices in each of the 10 categories:

The Flip Side of ‘Reverse Payments’

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:00:18 -0600

For the second time in three years a case about “reverse payments” is before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. And this time the New York City-based court may ignore its own binding precedent and do a sharp about-face on the issue.

Crunching Clerks

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:50:29 -0600

Vanderbilt University law student Andrew Gould heard the information loud and clear: When applying for a judicial clerkship, look “more widely and broadly” than applicants previously did.

A Touch of Terror?

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:40:18 -0600

Ralph Fertig believes in peaceful social advocacy—and he has the scars to prove it. In 1961, he was a young social worker in Chicago when he journeyed to Alabama and rode with the Freedom Riders to integrate the interstate buses. He was arrested and beaten in a Selma jail, leaving him with broken ribs, but he calls it “one of the proudest moments of my life.”

A Breach Too Far

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:30:18 -0600

Experts on cybersecurity warn that law firms need to fear the same kind of illegal intrusions into confidential information maintained on their computer systems that already are striking government entities and private corporations with increasing frequency.

Meet Mongo

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:20:18 -0600

You knew it was a bad question to begin with. You said “strike that” at least three times, “with reference to” twice, and included one each of “a time came, did it not” and “Would you indicate for the benefit of the judge and jury what, if anything, transpired next?”

Virtual Escape

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:10:18 -0600

Last summer, Cincinnati estate planning attorney Aaron Byrd took a vacation ... from technology. Byrd, 33, hadn’t planned it that way. When he first headed out with his wife, in-laws and two young sons on a rented houseboat on Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs, Ark., he was hoping for at least intermittent coverage on his firm-issued BlackBerry. But as the week went by and the bars on his phone faded while he swam and fished, Byrd did something experts say lawyers should do more: He disconnected.

Going Mobile

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:00:18 -0600

The most important technology tagline last year could well be the too-well-known “There’s an app for that.” Apple’s iPhone and App Store have opened the doors of possibility for mobile phones with surprising rapidity. So if you see your phone merely as a vehicle for calls and e-mails, you are missing the rise of the mobile platform.

Bank On It

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:49:18 -0600

Between being chief attorney, rainmaker and, all too often, in-house Xerox repairman and coffee-pot-washer, solo practitioners have a lot to juggle. So sorting through the options for the right business bank may seem like yet another task with no real right answer.

Tweet Deals

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:40:32 -0600

As law firm layoffs continue and corporate legal work lags, some advertising, marketing and promotions attorneys haven’t had any trouble keeping busy—thanks to the increased popularity of social networking websites and the proliferation of user-generated content on the Web.

Outsiders Inside

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:30:18 -0600

Having launched an outsourcing general counsel business nine years ago, Jon Levitt noticed a significant change after the recession began. Potential clients of Outside GC now get it as far as his business model is concerned.

Oh, and the Boston-based firm more than doubled in size since 2007—it now has 27 lawyers.

Search and Deceive

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:20:18 -0600

For New York City-based lawyer and blogger Eric Turkewitz, “comment spam” is a common occurrence. Like graffiti artists, some commenters sprinkle Turkewitz’s popular New York Personal Injury Law Blog with unrelated gibberish accompanied by links that point back to their own websites.

Strength in Numbers

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:10:18 -0600

Sara Selman is 86 years old now, and she lives a quiet lifein Tarzana, Calif., part of the sprawling San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. But she still is haunted by many painful memories from 70 years ago, when she spent practically all of World War II in Nazi concentration camps.

Halftime Report

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:00:18 -0600

Coming as it does at roughly the halfway point of the ABA year, the aptly named midyear meeting gives the association’s leadership a chance to collectively catch its breath and measure progress on various initiatives and policy priorities.

Cultivating Capitol Hill

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:50:18 -0600

From the very beginning of her term as ABA president in August, Carolyn B. Lamm has been emphatic about the need to increase the association’s advocacy with federal policymakers on issues of interest to the profession and the public. “Issues arise daily that require us to be heard and be visible,” says Lamm, a partner at White & Case in Washington, D.C. “We must be credible, prominent advocates on important issues and preserve the rule of law.”

ABA Announcements

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:40:18 -0600

Pur$e String Proponents

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:30:18 -0600

It’s comforting to know that as U.S. citizens we’re guaranteed our day in (traffic) court to explain how we were just-having-a-really-bad-day-and-can’t-we-just-kind-of-consider-this-a-warning. But it’s actually quite intimidating for the average person once he or she gets there.

February 2, 1848

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:20:18 -0600

In the 1840s, journalist John L. O’Sullivan coined the term manifest destiny, giving expression to a widely shared belief that it was America’s providential mission to extend its borders to the Pacific. That expansionist vision put the U.S. on a collision course with Mexico, which claimed much of the Southwest, and within months of the annexation of the Republic of Texas in December 1845, the two countries were formally at war.

Advertisers in This Issue

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:01:29 -0600

Secret Sharers

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:39:15 -0600

Soliman Al-Buthi has never read Franz Kafka’s The Trial. The absurdist novel chronicles the last months in the life of banker Joseph K., who is arrested, hauled into court, condemned and put to death without ever learning the charges against him.

Saving the School

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:30:31 -0600

When Leroy Pernell speaks about becoming dean of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Law School, it’s with a reverence of history and excitement about the future.

The Pain Spreads

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:20:08 -0600

Note: Register for this month's CLE, "Real Estate Law: No Commercial Break," from 1-2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Condolences, Conundrums

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:10:07 -0600

Staying on Message

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:00:40 -0600

A cornerstone of the legal profession is to give our clients objective, independent advice and maintain the ability to advocate honestly and zealously on their behalf. Our commitment to this rests on our dedication and compliance in the critically important realm of professional responsibility and ethics.

The Age of Innocents

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:50:40 -0600

Barney Brown should have listened to his mother that fateful day in 1970 when she told him to stay home while she was at work.

Patent Pending

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:40:55 -0600

A plan to help some federal judges wade deeper into the pool of patent cases is awaiting U.S. Senate approval—just like it has for two congressional sessions.

Like All Good Things ...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:30:40 -0600

In the decades before attending law school became a prerequisite to practicing law, it was relatively common for states to grant “diploma privilege” to those who did graduate—requiring their bar exams only for those who did not.

Good Rx for Employers

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:20:18 -0600

If you thought keeping your office swine-flu-free was all you needed to worry about this flu season, you may be headed for a rude awakening. Labor and employment attorneys are fielding an epidemic of questions from clients about how to best inoculate themselves against liability regarding their office policies about influenza.

Civil Obedience

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:10:40 -0600

It probably comes as no surprise that the youth of today know little about the civil rights movement: the 1963 “children’s crusade” in Birmingham, Ala., or the desegregration of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas or the role played by a 15-year-old African-American girl.

Letting It All Hang Out

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:00:40 -0600

Alexander Lee is dedicating his professional life to airing out laundry. Clean laundry—not that other stuff.

Wringing Truth from Tragedy

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:50:35 -0600

In June 2006, Reno, Nev., judge Chuck Weller was shot in the chest by a disgruntled litigant in a divorce case assigned to him. Earlier that same day, it was discovered, the judge’s assailant had murdered his ex-wife.

Worth the Work?

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:40:19 -0600

What, GC Worry?

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:30:04 -0600

That’s Hot. And That’s Not.

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:20:40 -0600

Meet John Doe

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:09:07 -0600

Masked by the Web’s anonymity, Internet users feel free to flame celebrities, blast politicians, or blow the whistle on employers for corporate misdeeds.

Taking Techs to Trial

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:00:40 -0600

It’s one thing to demand that the prosecutor produce a technician to testify on the lab report at a criminal trial. It’s quite another to shift the burden to the defendant to find and bring in the lab tech.

A League of Their Own

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:49:55 -0600

Usually winners in lawsuits count up their take and go home. They don’t ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look.

The Power of Plain Talk

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:40:08 -0600

Wednesday evening’s bar association program with Angus and Judge Standwell was on effective oral communication. The room was packed well before 7:30, and when Angus and the judge walked in, law professor Vince Warbler marched up to the front and offered to join the program.

Conflicts Check, Please

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:30:26 -0600

Joining a law firm no longer implies the long-term commitment it once did.

Lucky No. 7?

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:19:47 -0600

Release of a new version of windows is always big news, and the arrival of Windows 7 on the heels of the perceived failure of Windows Vista makes it especially noteworthy. It’s a good sign that comments from the large and lengthy beta test period and the early reviews have been quite positive for Windows 7. Reviewers say the new operating system is what Vista should have been, that it fixes the issues in Vista—even that it is the most “Mac-like” version, which sounds like faint praise.

Phone Pay

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:10:40 -0600

In a global economy, tasks done outside regular work hours in the U.S. may occur during business hours where a deal is being negotiated. So some companies have handed out smartphones —once issued only to senior executives—to sales associates, information technology workers and others outside the executive suite.

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:00:20 -0600

For some lawyers, joining Facebook is a no-brainer. not so for solo Michelle Rozovics. “It was a huge, huge decision,” says Rozovics, whose office is in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake.

Should a Case Go Webwide?

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:50:13 -0600

Shortly after oral arguments before the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a marketer for the defense attorney launched a website dedicated to the wrongful-conviction appeal that included everything from court filings to information about the lawyer.

E-Degree

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:39:59 -0600

E-discovery is a rapidly developing field involving attorneys, paralegals, technical support staff, litigation support professionals, consultants, vendors, software developers and the judiciary. But are these participants knowledgeable enough about e-discovery to be considered competent?

Common Ground

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:30:40 -0600

The ABA has been engaged in the legal debate overhow to deal with terrorist suspects since the earliest days after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Search for New Executive Director Under Way

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:20:40 -0600

ABA Executive Director Henry F. White Jr. resigned effective Nov. 20 after three years at the helm of the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. General counsel R. Thomas Howell Jr. has been named interim executive director.

Survey Says ...

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:10:40 -0600

When it comes to following the rule of law, the United States has room for improvement, according to data presented in the first formal version of a study that seeks to measure adherence to fundamental legal principles by nations around the world.

Riding the Wave

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:50:44 -0600

The reach of any major health care reform legislation passed by Congress is likely to be felt far beyond the specific boundaries of medical care.

Case Clothed

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:40:46 -0600

Somewhere between Milton Berle yukking it up in a dress in the early days of television and 1999’s gender drama Boys Don’t Cry, the appropriate reaction to seeing someone in the duds of the other gender got a whole lot more complicated.

ABA Announcements

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:40:40 -0600

January 28, 1916

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:30:40 -0600