Blog Posts

What's all this fuss about Dr. Laura Schlessinger and, gasp!, the N-word? I confess that I have not followed it closely. It struck me as even less consequential than the Don Imus dust up. So she said "nigger" on the air. That doesn't exactly make her a white supremacist now, does it?
I was...

The United States Government huffed, puffed and blew an elected governor out of office in the State of Illinois. But at the end of the day, all prosecutors have to show for their efforts in the prosecution of Rod Blagojevich is a single count of making a false statement. The jury could not reach a...

If you think that trial experience doesn't matter for a Supreme Court justice, I urge you to read Justice Sonya Sotomayor's dissent in Skilling v. United States. Having actually tried cases, albeit as a prosecutor, Sotomayor is not uncritically seduced by the embrace of a cold trial record. She...

Here's something I have never understood. In a criminal case, the government has the burden of proof. It must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. To do that, all jurors must agree. In other words, it takes a unanimous verdict to convict a man. Anything less amounts to a failure on the part of...

I swear it almost happen the other day. It really did. I was sauntering into a bookstore when the barbershop nearby caught my eye. "Why not?," I thought. "How long's it been?"
In truth, it's been a good twenty years since I checked into a barbershop. Oh, I get hair cuts every so often. We've...

A recent issue of The New Yorker carried an article George Packer that painted an unflattering picture of the United States Senate. "The Empty Chamber," The New Yorker, August 9, 2010. Far from the greatest deliberative body on the planet, the Senate looks more like a geriatric Animal House, with...

One of the most dismal experiences a trial lawyer can have is reading a transcript of a case you have already tried. The only thing worse is having to sit through a read back or replay of testimony> I think of myself as fluent, sometimes even eloquent. My transcripts betray me to be a stuttering...

I have a confession to make: I've always been wary of the white collar criminal defense bar. Real criminal defense lawyers defend those accused of murder, rape and other crimes of violence, right? I mean, wassup with the pinstripe suits and the Grey Poupon sensibilities of those with money to burn?...

Yesterday's New York Times carried a story about morals and mortgages. The news value of the story was that plenty of folks are simply walking away from mortgages they can no longer pay. As real estate values have plummeted many home owners now found themselves "under water," paying down a debt to...

I’ve toyed with the idea of a form letter along the following lines to be sent every six months to clients:: “Herewith a periodic report on the status of your case. We are ready for trial and have been for some time. We are awaiting assignment of the case. As we...