Two “new book discussions” on the fall schedule of the United States Studies Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars here in Washington are of special interest to legal historiansMae Ngai, Professor of History, Columbia University, will present The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America, on Friday, September 24, noon to 1:45 p.m.Samuel Read More...

Back in 1987, Elaine Fosse wanted to serve her family a salad dressing that didn’t contain the additives and preservatives that make up the ingredient lists on many popular name brands. High-fructose corn syrup, polysorbate 60, monosodium glutamate, propylene glycol alginate and artificial colors are just a few of the ingredients on salad dressing labels that would make anyone question their appetite. So Fosse decided to fix the problem the best way she knew how – she Read More...

The Justice Department today asked a federal judge in Washington to stay his ruling this month that blocks the government from funding research that involves human embryonic stem cells. Last week, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court… Read More...

D.C. Superior Court Judge Brook Hedge, who recently set a June 2011 trial date in the Robert Wone wrongful death civil suit, is scheduled to retire effective Dec. 3, 2010, the city’s Judicial Nomination Commission said today. The commission announced… Read More...

You know the old joke: How many Harvard men does it take to screw in a light bulb? Just one; he holds the bulb in place while the world revolves around him. Many a Harvard man takes that approach to household maintenance, professional endeavors, and even dating. You’re not going to believe this, but some people who graduate from Harvard are real douchebags. Some of them think that just by dint of having gone to Harvard, people will love them, respect them, and shower them with jobs and Read More...

* Dahlia Lithwick wonders: Is Justice Ginsburg “The Mother of All Grizzlies”? [Slate] * Five ways to write like David Boies and Ted Olson. [Legal Writing Pro (PDF)] * Speaking of legal writing, do you share our love of corny Bluebook jokes? If so, read this. [Laws for Attorneys] * And speaking of gays, and litigation, and people named Olson, Judge John Olson — a bankruptcy judge in Florida — just issued a saucy order, denying a recusal motion based on the fact that the Read More...

I’ll be on vacation the rest of the week, but I wanted to leave you with a little video music entertainment to tide you over until after the Labor Day holiday. As many of you know, consumer advocacy groups have… Read More...

Paper or Paperless: Who’s Doing the Filing?By Vicki Voisin, ACP There is a saying that goes like this: If you want to know if the person you are hiring is truthful, ask if she likes to file. If the answer is “Yes!” do not hire her because she’s not truthful. NO ONE likes to file! Like it or not, though, filing accurately and regularly is crucial in the legal industry. A filing system is really a finding system. This is your method for storing information today and Read More...

Kris L. Canaday, who recently relocated to Slidell, LA from Dequim, WA, answers my Thirteen Questions this week. Kris is a virtual freelance paralegal who works with attorneys across the country from her home office. You’ll enjoy reading the answers Kris submitted, particularly her opinion about the latest trends in the industry. Thanks, Kris! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Where do you work and what is your job title? I work as a [virtual] freelance paralegal from my home office providing Read More...

CALL FOR PAPERSThe Third Graduate Student Conference on the History of American Capitalism:“Capitalism in Action”Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | March 4th-6th, 2011Sponsored by the David Howe Fund for Business and Economic History at Harvard University.Keynote Speaker: Jackson LearsDiscussions of American capitalism often uncritically rely on loaded but abstract terms, from “markets” to “ Read More...

Thanks to Tom Gallanis, who has been our guest blogger for the month of August. Tom has posted onVictorian reform of civil litigation,history in the interstices of lawlegal history in an era of skills training, and other topics,provided links to U.K. legislation on the web,the Domesday Database,and the website, Making History: The Changing Face of the Profession in Britain,and passed on news Read More...

Good Idea: keeping careful records of your billable time and detailed information about your clients. Bad Idea: destroying those same records in a bathroom of the courthouse during a civil suit brought by your former law firm employer, when those same records might have probative and evidentiary value. This is one of those good idea/bad idea posts I feel is too obvious to write about. Regardless, it seems that some attorney out there could have used this information a while ago. A lawyer in Read More...

A federal administrative law judge said today that in the past four years, there have been more than 200 threats, including death threats, against ALJs and that there is not enough being done to ensure that judges who hear administrative… Read More...

Mark Davies, who until recently was a counsel in O’Melveny & Myers Supreme Court and appellate practice, has joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s Washington office as a partner. Davies served as a member of the appellate staff in the Justice… Read More...

A recent issue of Bank Safety & Soundness Advisor (paid subscription required) publicizes a trend that boots on the ground have been experiencing lately: “Federal regulators are increasingly inserting language into consent orders –instead of waiting to issue a Prompt… Read More...

Over the weekend, we received several messages about results for the North Carolina bar exam, which went out by snail mail on Friday. Here’s one email a Carolinian reader sent us: NC Bar Results were mailed out on Friday… thought you might want to start an open thread or something? I don’t know. Hmm, we don’t know either. We traditionally post open threads on bar exam results for the biggest states, like New York and California, but we don’t do them for every Read More...

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on a bit of a bedbug breakout in the Brooklyn D.A.’s office. We thought it was kind of funny, but people who work in that office are not laughing. Instead, emails have been flying around the office — and one message in particular is both informative and hysterical. It’s just hard to decide if it’s hysterical (haha) or hysterical (dogs and cats living together). The emails are coming from someone who calls himself or herself “Not Read More...

A quick book review round-up:A Passion for History: Conversations with Denis Crouzet by Natalie Zemon Davis is taken up in The Book (New Republic). THE MOST POWERFUL IDEA IN THE WORLD A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention by William Rosen is discussed in the New York Times, as is THE TWILIGHT OF THE BOMBS: Recent Challenges, New Dangers, and the Prospects for a World Without Nuclear Weapons Read More...

The Association for Law, Property and Society (ALPS) holds its second annual meeting March 4-5, 2011, at Georgetown Law. Property related topics will cover a number of subject areas including: Real, Personal, and Intangible Property Cultural Property Intellectual Property Real Estate Transactions and Finance Land Use and Zoning Urban Planning and Development Environmental Law Climate Change Housing Home Green Development Mortgages and Foreclosure Land Titles Indigenous Populations and Read More...

The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law is accepting scholarly papers related to “Biotechnology and Health-Related Issues in IP Law” for its spring 2011 issue. Professionals and scholars are invited to submit a working paper or idea for consideration. Published individuals may also be invited to present their works at the RIPL symposium April 15, 2011. Proposals are due by September 10, 2010. For questions, contact questions regarding submissions, contact: Wasim K. Read More...