English Grammar and Usage
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Alex Kozinski, Antonin Scalia, English Grammar and Usage, Federal Judges, Law Professors, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Westlaw
Black's Law Dictionary: An Interview with Bryan A. Garner
David Lat interviews Professor Bryan A. Garner about the newest edition of Black's Law Dictionary. -
Biglaw, Crime, English Grammar and Usage, Fast Food, Federal Judges, Morning Docket, Patents, SCOTUS, Screw-Ups, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 06.25.14
* With OT 2013 drawing to a close, here’s a nifty chart that shows which Supreme Court justices vote together most and least often. The division is real, people. [The Upshot / New York Times]
* “Not only do they have unique interpretations of the Constitution but they can’t even agree on how to pronounce words.” Listen to our SCOTUS justices flub the word “certiorari.” [Legal Times]
* Quinn Emanuel and Samsung must now pay more than $2M in sanctions to Nokia and Apple after leaking confidential, “attorneys’ eyes only” information in a discovery blunder. Oopsie! [Legal Week]
* “Why can’t you get a real job?” This judge — the same one who sentenced a rapist to just 30 days in prison — told a fast-food worker to get a better job to pay off his restitution more quickly. [Billings Gazette]
* If you think you’ve seen the best of the “Law and ______” classes, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Say hello to some newcomers, like Video Game Law and Law of Robots. Justice Scalia is pissed. [WSJ Law Blog]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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6th Circuit, Biglaw, Defamation, English Grammar and Usage, Federal Judges, Gender, Job Searches, Kids, Law Schools, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Sports, Summer Associates, Supreme Court, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 06.17.14
* Judges with daughters are seven percent more likely to support women’s rights than judges with only sons. Alas, Justices Scalia and Alito are impervious to human emotion. [New York Times]
* If you thought Supreme Court justices were “profoundly divided” over issues of law, wait until you see how they differ over the pronunciation of the word “certiorari.” [National Law Journal]
* This year’s summer associate programs sound pretty lame compared to the past: “The emphasis is certainly more on the work than it is on the social events.” All work and no play makes Jack an employed boy at graduation. [Boston Business Journal]
* “I saved the internet today. Your freedom continues.” Fair assessment. Sarah Jones’s win in her defamation case against Nik Richie and TheDirty.com was overturned by the Sixth Circuit. [Courier-Journal]
* If you’re choosing to go against the president’s wishes and apply to law school, here’s how you can leverage your major on all of your applications. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
* This cowgirl is putting aside her rodeo accomplishments to go to law school. At least she’ll have the experience needed to ride the bucking bronco of the post-recession job market. [Casper Star-Tribune]
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English Grammar and Usage, In-House Counsel
Why Are The Lawyers Pestering Us? Communicating About Law And Compliance
Write and speak comprehensibly as a lawyer, and more people will listen to your message. -
Biglaw, English Grammar and Usage, Minority Issues, Racism
Proof That Typos Are Racist
If you notice a lot of typographical errors, you might be racist. -
English Grammar and Usage, Facebook, Law Reviews, Law Schools, Social Media, Social Networking Websites
LOL Cooley Law School
Making law review doesn't help one's grammar on Facebook. -
English Grammar and Usage, Gender, Small Law Firms, Texas, Women's Issues
'Uppity Bitch' Frowns Upon Using Firm Funds For 'Strip Club Outings'
Everything really is bigger in Texas, including the lengths lawyers will go to bring shame to the profession. -
Contracts, English Grammar and Usage, Fast Food, Food, In-House Counsel
Fun With Fine Print: Fast Food Fun
Welcome to Above the Law's newest feature, a column devoted to especially clever or awful examples of legalese, fine print, disclaimers, disclosures, and the like. - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
English Grammar and Usage, Law Reviews, Law Schools
Law Review Editor Goes On Ironic Power Trip
A journal editor calls out the staff for sub and cite errors in a poorly edited email. -
English Grammar and Usage, Screw-Ups
Oops! Lawyer for Fortune 100 Company Wants Trial 'On All The C**ts'
Typos are a part of life, but when they're this unfortunate, the only thing you can do is laugh. -
English Grammar and Usage, In-House Counsel, Travel / Vacation, United Kingdom / Great Britain
The United States v. The United Kingdom
In which areas does the United Kingdom beat the United States? In-house columnist Mark Herrmann identifies a few. -
English Grammar and Usage
Some Of You Talk Funny And Don't Know How To Pronounce Your Own Career
Do you sound like Sam Waterston or Matthew McConaughey? -
Blogging, English Grammar and Usage
Above the Law Spelling Bee
Take the Above the Law Spelling Bee. You can spell better than Elie, but can you spell better than Google?
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English Grammar and Usage, Law Professors, Law Schools, Quote of the Day, Technology
Lawyers Like Their Evidence Like They Like Their Dates: Cheap, Quick, and Easy
Behold the power of the internet: why hire an expert when a tool like this is available online? -
English Grammar and Usage, In-House Counsel
Moonlighting: Why Law Firm Lawyers Care About Commas And In-House Lawyers Don’t
Susan Moon explains why you shouldn't sweat the small stuff when you're in-house counsel. -
Biglaw, English Grammar and Usage, Husch Blackwell, Job Searches
Rejection Letter of the Day: Srry, But Yuo Can't Spel Gud
Here's a Biglaw rejection letter that was so ridden with typos that a tipster felt the need to send it to us. -
Benchslaps, English Grammar and Usage, Federal Judges, Practice Pointers
Benchslap of the Day: A Public Shaming Is Great Motivation to Brush Up Your Legal Writing
Here's how one federal judge decided to deal with a lawyer who was a little too verbose in his pleadings... -
A. Raymond Randolph, D.C. Circuit, Election 2012, Election Law, English Grammar and Usage, Harry Edwards, Janice Rogers Brown, Politics
Pol Dancing: D.C. Circuit Plays Words With Friends
Campaign finance statutes? Ha! The D.C. Circuit blows off your pesky "plain English" as an illusion. -
Boutique Law Firms, English Grammar and Usage, Small Law Firms
From Biglaw to Boutique: Grammar Police
As lawyers, words are our stock and trade. What is an argument but a collection of ideas, expressed in words, intended to persuade? -
Election 2012, English Grammar and Usage, Immigration, Politics
Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Discrimination Against People Who Can't Speak English
How much English do you have to be able to speak in order to hold elected office? I don’t know, but apparently justices in Arizona think they know it when they hear it. Continuing Arizona’s quest to become the most racist state in the Union, the Arizona Supreme Court affirmed a ruling that prevented Alejandrina […]