General

OK, this will be my first-ever and last-ever Michael Jackson post. But, celebrity aside, here is a rare opportunity to get an inside look at a grand jury proceeding. The always-digging folks at The Smoking Gun have posted what they say is the entire 1,903-page transcript of the grand jury proceedings that resulted in…

Dennis Kennedy delivered the news of Jerry Lawson’s tragic auto accident. Now Jerry follows with a photo of the car. Like Dennis, I’ve known Jerry a long time, and I wholeheartedly agree with Dennis’ statement: “I’ve never found anyone who ‘gets’ the implications of the Internet for lawyers (and others) more than Jerry…

Through sheer happenstance, I discovered the blogs Symtym and Patent Baristas with a couple days of each other. Their content could not have less in common. Symtym is described as “the meanderings of a board certified emergency physician at mid–career … who tumbled into law school … chasing health, law and technology rabbits.”…

In it simplest form, a blog is nothing more than a frequently updated Web page. So what is the line that divides Web page from blog? It is a question Bruce W. Marcus, publisher of The Marcus Letter, asks in his most recent article, Sez Who? Sez Me.The New World Of Blogging. Marcus…

“Because I only understand things by tinkering with them, I’ve decided to tinker with podcasting.” So explains Lawrence Lessig as he joins the ranks of lawyer/podcasters — or as Denise Howell calls them, plawdcasters.…

The OPEN Government Act filed today to shore up the federal Freedom of Information Act would appear to include bloggers as members of the news media and thereby protect them from excessive fees for document requests. I discuss how this is so at my Media Law blog.…

A new Web site has been launched as a companion to the first Sunshine Week, a March 13-19 national event aimed at promoting awareness of the importance of open government and freedom of information laws. Sunshine Week is spearheaded by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and supported by the Newspaper Association…

You know when you know there’s a word, but you can’t for the life of you think of it? I give you the OneLook Reverse Dictionary.

Here’s the description:

“OneLook’s reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can

If you like Web logs with a distinct point of view, then check out PointofLaw.com. Sponsored by the Manhattan Institute and edited by the person who also brings you Overlawyered.com, the point of view here is decidedly anti-ATLA. As an unabashed believer that tort lawyers wear white hats, I find much…

Off-topic, but interesting: Analysis by the Berkshire Eagle of the biographies of all 197 sitting members of the Massachusetts legislature shows that the typical Bay State lawmaker is a middle-aged, married white male with a law degree. The review found that 33 percent of the legislators hold juris doctor degrees. That is an increase…

With new blawgs appearing virtually every day, here is one that is calling it quits. Skallawwag, a blog that was devoted to law firm gossip and comings and goings, stopped publishing Feb. 9. Explains the anonymous law librarian who wrote it:

We’ve gotten a job outside the legal world, so this is our

The folks who publish the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin last week announced that the company has added 55,000 civil jury verdicts and negotiated settlements from Illinois and Wisconsin to its online research service, AccessPlus on the Web. Access requires a paid subscription, but the announcement did not provide prices.…