Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

The Wild Side of Lawyers: Line Spacing

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 [...]

 

Don’t Tread on my Internet

Regulation of the Internet is almost always in vogue.  The Luddites are scared of the technology and the politicians want to control it.  Recent proposed legislation has attempted to address copyright holders’ concerns over piracy of their digital content.  Specifically, the PROTECT IP and the Stop Online Piracy Acts aim to enhance powers for both [...]

 

Taking People’s Land: A Proposed VA Amendment

My colleague, Andrew McRoberts, posted recently on a proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution designed purportedly to protect property rights.   Purportedly, you say?  Yes.  I am all for property rights and embrace fully the notion that no one can take my property without paying me for it.  And there’s the rub.  You are entitled to [...]

 

Thoughts on Germany

Having graduated from high school at Patch American High School in Stuttgart, Germany, and obtaining a minor in German at William & Mary, I have a strong affinity with all things German (and it does not hurt that my last name is Geiger).  Understandably, there is a great degree of pressure to “internationalize” your business [...]

 

More Fun With FaceBook

Here, are two recently reported stories highlighting the vagaries of FaceBook and other such social media outlets. First, enter Dana Thornton. Apparently, she was not fond of her ex-boyfriend and decided to create a FaceBook page for him. She is accused of creating a fake profile of her ex-boyfriend, a Parsippany, New Jersey narcotics detective, [...]

 

Can a Lawyer Blog?

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 [...]

 

Upcoming Career Panel and IP CLE Presentation at W&M

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. [...]

 

Foreign Attorneys in Virginia?

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, [...]

 

Justice Clarence Thomas and Some Criticism

Reading an article concerning Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, my interest was piqued in that I had lunch yesterday at a bar function with a lawyer who described his experience in meeting with him as a summer law clerk at a local firm. Many commentators express with seeming disdain that Justice Thomas is not active [...]

 

Who Says the French Make Great Lovers?

While I normally shy away from salacious topics (or I try to), The Telegraph reported that a court in France awarded $14,000 to an ex-wife because her former husband failed to engage in ample sexual relations during their 21 year marriage. Apparently, he was tired and had health problems. The court ruled that “A sexual [...]