Blog Posts

I envy physicians their proximity to death. It goes without saying that those who master the ups and downs of the life cycle must learn a thing or two about bracing folks for the end of life. I imagine that physicians-in-training get some counsel on how to advise a patient that his days are...

There's a new security rule in the state courthouses. At least I think there is a new rule. As with so many security measures, practices across the state are inconsistent. It's maddening.
I was asked the other day in Bridgeport to show my bar card. The request surprised me. So far as I know,...

For a few tense hours the other day, it appeared my 71-year-old client, Robert Stackowitz, was going to be led from the courtroom in handcuffs, locked up, and taken to a jail to await the arrival of lawmen from Georgia. You see, he escaped from a Georgia prison 48 years ago, and returned to his...

Odds are you did not know that the United States government can be sued only with its consent. That’s because a legal doctrine called sovereign immunity, a doctrine nowhere found in the Constitution of this great land, prohibits anyone from suing the government for money damages.
I...

I am deflated suddenly, staring out the window wondering about the point of it all. News is just now breaking that another lawyer has committed suicide. The body of Meriden’s John Ivers, 50, reported missing this past weekend, has been recovered. A self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,...

The decision to have Khizr Khan address the Democrat’s national convention at the coronation of Hillary Clinton was a stroke of genius. Who better to take aim at Donald Trump on the topic of Muslim immigration?
Humayun Khan, Mr. Khan’s son, was a captain...

If you’re looking for a good summer read, I’ve just the book: Lionel Shriver’s, “The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047.” But first a warning: It’s not a feel-good tale.
The world economy has changed, and the United States’ economy has collapsed, a victim...

It’s hard to avoid online commentary about the value of social media to practicing lawyers, so my decision to leave Twitter and Facebook is, at a minimum, counterintuitive.
An active online presence gives a lawyer an opportunity to attract clients, to educate the...

Corey Menafee wants his job back at Yale University. He is also hoping he doesn’t face criminal charges for his on-the-job conduct. His hopes should be dashed, unless, of course, we are now prepared to recognize political correctness as a defense to criminal conduct.
On June 13,...

The doom and gloom forecasts about the consequences of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union are bewildering. Why all the storm and stress? The vote — Brexit, it was called — makes perfect sense. So does the sense of inevitability revolving around Donald Trump’s run for...