Do you remember when you were in elementary school and the teacher told you to write a 250 word essay? Or when you were supposed to write a two-page story about your summer vacation? Of course, for many of us, this was before the days of computer-assisted word counts and line spacing. As an aside [...]

A recent post by my colleagues, Faith Alejandro and Doug Rucker, raised the difficulty in representing clients where there may be divergent interests.  generally,  a lawyer cannot represent both sides.  This is not remarkable, and makes perfect sense.  But, of course,  legal fees are not cheap and sometimes parties can agree to a resolution and [...]

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS POST DESCRIBES LEGAL MATTERS HANDLED IN THE PAST BY OUR ATTORNEYS. OF COURSE, THE RESULTS WE HAVE ACHIEVED DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH MATTER. BECAUSE EACH MATTER IS DIFFERENT, OUR PAST RESULTS CANNOT PREDICT OR GUARANTEE A SIMILAR RESULT IN THE FUTURE. My colleague, Mikhael Charnoff, [...]

From the title of the blog, I should probably amend it to ask whether a lawyer “may” blog as opposed to “can” blog.  I jest because I find that application of the rules governing lawyer advertising seem designed for fifth graders and zombies with a pulse (obligatory Halloween reference). It would be remiss if I did [...]

Looking forward to participating in the Virginia Bar Association’s Fall Career Panel and Intellectual Property CLE Presentation at William & Mary School of Law on November 10, 2011. For the first half, I am a speaker on a Career Panel geared to law students. In the second half, I am moderating a panel on “P.R.O.T.E.C.T. [...]

Given the nationalization (and globalization) of various elements of our society over the past sixty years (e.g., WalMart, network television, interstate highways, Hollywood), the legal profession stands in stark contrast. While, to many, the crossing of a state border is an artificial construct, states have maintained a hold on the practice of lawyers, regulating anyone, [...]

A former first year law associate filed a fourteen count complaint against his former firm seeking $77 million.  Some thoughts.  In the law suit, the associate claims that: “[The firm] had told [him] it eschews artificial hierarchical structure, then refused [him] an assignment because it would be ‘unfair to the other associates.’ It told [him] [...]

My attendance at a legal conference in Boston has allowed me a chance to reflect on the remarkable stability of our country’s legal system. Clearly, to err is human and our judicial branch has had and will have numerous screw ups. Yet, I am chastened by the fact that when a judge makes a ruling, [...]

Lawyers really get a raw deal.  As a profession, they hold some of the highest rates in both “problem drinking,” suicide and divorce rates.  Yes, that’s bad.  They also get to compel witnesses to say such things as “you can’t handle the truth” and all drive BMWs,  Of course, lawyer jokes hurt but what really hurts [...]

Imagine this.  You sue a company and the judge holds a bench trial in November of 1999, and takes the matter under advisement.  The judge issues a ruling ten years and eleven months after the initial trial.  Who said justice delayed, is justice denied?  Believe it or not, this is a real story.  Apparently, the [...]