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Buffy the Vampire Trial Simulator

Posted in Hype on Tuesday June 22 2010 @ 4:22pm

The First Amendment could use a Watcher, goodness knows.

Free speech was the theme of a US District Court for the District of Columbia's law-related education program. That, and vampires (so sue us, we're more Buffy than Bella).

See Federal Judges and Vampires Teach Student Rights, Wrongs, US Courts (June 21, 2010).

Happy Graduation!

Posted in Hype on Saturday June 19 2010 @ 12:51pm

To all the law, etc., grads out there -- congratulations! You survived three insanely difficult years, you're studying for a mindbendingly complicated test, and you've never been more in debt or more overqualified for a job!

Court-o-rama is here to help. Here are a few job resources if you're looking:

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has several positions open, including bankruptcy judge, staff attorney, mediator, and a few different librarian positions.

Other US Court jobs can be found here.

The National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) lists jobs around the country.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is full of great people, and has an excellent jobs clearinghouse, plus links to state legislatures' employment offices.

DOJ!

Likewise, the National Association of Counties (NACO) maintains Jobs Online.

Happy hunting and good luck!

You (yes, you!) can do it!!!

Toon-O-Rama

Posted in Hype on Thursday May 27 2010 @ 7:47pm

A few good comix --

Parties are Free to Date, Mr. Fish, truthdig.com (May 6, 2010).

School's out for summer. Here's A Message From the Dean, Matt Holohan, I Fought the Law (April 19, 2004). (OK so it's an oldie but goodie.)

If school's out forever -- you may be taking a bar review course, which is just like school only more expensive and more useful. Beerkada has Time Saving tips for everyone who's spending their summer sweatin' to BarBri.

We've seen The American Gallery of Juror Art, so we think judicial doodling is only fair.

Miner Issues

Posted in Hype on Tuesday April 06 2010 @ 4:52am

Because getting stuck is only one way to die in a mine, students in the Washington & Lee School of Law's Black Lung Clinic work with ailing miners and the families they leave behind.

An offshoot of professor Uncas McThenia's Lawyering for Social Change class, the clinic replaces the former mental health law clinic (the state hospital work is now covered 100% by UVA's program).

Professor Mary Natkin (we love this picture of her on the phone!) guides the day-to-day work of students from the clinic's basement headquarters. Dedicated students (it's not like they have nothing else to occupy their time) [assist] coal miners and their survivors who are pursuing federal black lung benefits for the years the miners worked breathing in coal mine dust. The get first-hand exposure to the labyrinth that is administrative law.

Are we biased? Hell yeah! Full disclosure -- we were part of the mental health law clinic, Uncas is our former boss, Mary is the guardian angel of law students, and Sheryl runs the whole shebang without breaking a sweat. But we're also right to admire the project -- this is a kickass legal clinic, with students doing the work that the rest of the legal community won't do.

With the recent mining disasters in China and West Virginia, it's good to know that someone out there is keeping track of the issues, conducting research, and (most of all) is on the side of the miners.

At the Movies

Posted in Hype on Friday January 29 2010 @ 7:14am

What happens to English majors who go to law school? They write fun books (some even -- gasp! -- become bloggers).

One such book is Movie Therapy for Law Students (and Pre-Law, Paralegal, and Related Majors), by Maine lawyer Sonia Buck.

The book reads like a study guide outline -- which is exactly what it is, albeit in a more entertaining form. For each film, there is a synopsis, analysis of legal issues grouped by topic (say, witness testimony and judicial notice under the evidence heading), exam tips, and Legal Briefs & Movie Extras, which gives backstory, fun facts, etc. Buck includes study tips for law school exams as well as for the LSATs.

Buck also gives advice on what to do during the admittedly boring portions of some of these films: To avoid sheer boredom while waiting for trial [in Inherit the Wind], I recommend watching this movie while engaging in some secondary task (such as knitting, sewing, exercising, cooking, cleaning, emailing, texting, Facebooking, on-line shopping, etc.).

Fun for listophiles, the films are indexed in a variety of ways: chronologically (which is how the chapters flow), but are also sorted by legal topic and alphabetically. Pauly Shore's Jury Duty is blessedly absent from each and every list.

This would make a fantastic teaching tool or law student movie club agenda. Pick a film to watch together, then go over the notes and discuss amongst yourselves. Buck asks some good questions, such as How many ethical violations can you find by how many attorneys in Liar Liar? Best to share this book and its ideas with fellow students -- your non-legal friends and family might not appreciate the fun of pointing out every legal misstep made by Jim Carrey.

Al Nye the Lawyer Guy also has a review.

We'd love to see a squeakquel... -- um, make that sequel -- for legal tv shows.

Fun-o-Rama

Posted in Hype on Thursday January 14 2010 @ 7:07pm

Here's some fun (we think) stuff to do:

Name all the SCOTUS Justices (including Chiefs) from all time! Brought to you by famed time-waster, sporcle.

Learn the FRE hearsay exceptions from singing Lego people. What a shame that YouTube wasn't around when we were in law school.

Ponder life before Idol, and be sure to check out a pre-Fame rockin' mini Irene Cara!

For the techies among us, Build a Buzzword Bingo Card in PHP. If you're at a loss for buzzwords, reuse some from BuzzWhack.

Play First Person Tetris. It's Friday (well, almost).

Have a wonderfully long weekend!

Finding Info

Posted in Hype on Thursday January 07 2010 @ 6:40pm

It's been awhile since we've been in the game but still, we are nostalgic when we happen across particularly good ways to find things. In the spirit of sharing (and passable html skills!), they are, in alphabetical (what else?) order:

be Spacific: Sabrina Pacifici (her real name, how awesome!) is a librarian and walking library of legal tech issues to boot. As such, you can bet her tags are more meticulously maintained than Felix Unger's sock drawer.

Delaware Lawyers Weekly Search: Suppose you have a very favorite legal news reporter/author. Suppose you have a favorite Big Fat Legal Press (not meaning to sound like something that might happen in a football game there, it just came out that way). Or maybe you're looking for an opinion by a particular judge (say, Veasey) about a particular topic (say, ADR) --- up pops Pafri Holding AB v. Mirror Image Internet, Inc.! Subscription-only hampers the results but the database is pretty cool.

The beloved GAO: It's been too long since we last sang the praises of the GAO. (Hmm, Tom, can we make up a GAO song? Or did we already? Or did I just wish we did?) Everything you wanted to know about the government but were afraid to ask!

NORC: Nothing's cooler than Chicago, the headquarters of the National Opinion Research Council. Multidiscplinary fun, publications, and a host of issues -- from arts & humanities to technology -- make NORC a useful and readable resource.

RSI Resource Center: RSI aims to please. Susan & Co. even changed their name from the somewhat unwieldy CAADRS to the simpler RSI. Their database of ADR resources is one of the best around. It's searchable by keyword; sortable by title, author, etc.; can be restricted by resource type, field, case type, process type, topic, state/federal. court type, country, etc.; and each result includes a mini abstract hand-written just for you by research staff (read: Jen).

Happy hunting!

Congrats

Posted in Hype on Wednesday January 06 2010 @ 7:01pm

Kudos all around, especially to...

Local (to us) lawyer John Nalbandian, who was nominated to the SJI board by President Obama.

Washington state Justice Barbara Madsen, who will be sworn in as chief next Monday.

The Nevada judiciary, for adding mediators to its foreclosure mediation program roster.

Spectators jailed for contempt, who just had their records expunged. The 32 people were sanctioned for screaming during a rape trial. The state supreme court unanimously ordered the expungement, yet seemed to understand the trial judge's position that things just got out of hand.

Philadelphia courts, which will try some innovative reforms under State Supreme Court Chief Justice Castille.

Terrible Twos

Posted in Hype on Tuesday December 29 2009 @ 11:39am

We missed our very own anniversary!

It was two (plus a week or so) years ago today that we first welcomed readers to court-o-rama.org. We started the least dangerous blog in part to amuse ourselves (check!) and in part to entertain Jur-E Bulletin fans.

Thanks mostly to the Toms, without whom neither publication would have happened (Munsterman for letting us loose on Jur-E, and Carlson for instigating court-o-rama and for doing all the hard work!).

Old Curmudgeons Never Die

Posted in Hype on Monday December 28 2009 @ 6:25pm

...they just stop blogging.

That's what self-proclaimed curmudgeon Mark Herrmann did. See his farewell post.

Best of luck to Mark!

Meanwhile, another curmudgeon (who is not so self-proclaimed, but who will not mind at all if we call him one) is holding a contest for Best Criminal Law Blawg Post of 2009. Nominate your fave today! Time's a-wasting.

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