MetaFilter posts tagged with Lawyer

The Justice Gap in America

lunit — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:16:40 -0800

Nearly one million people who seek help for civil legal problems, such as foreclosures and domestic violence, will be turned away this year. A new report by the Legal Services Corporation, a non-profit established by Congress in 1974 to ensure equal access to justice, finds that legal aid programs turn away one person for every client served. The full report, "Documenting the Justice Gap in America" is available here (pdf). The 2009 report is an update and expansion on a 2005 report (available here) finding that 80% of the poor lacked access to legal aid. Some of the problem may be due to restrictions placed on non-profits that provide legal aid, including prohibiting LSC-funded programs from participating in class actions, seeking attorneys' fees, or advocating before administrative or legislative bodies for policy reform. The restrictions also make certain groups of people ineligible for legal representation from LSC-funded programs entirely and block organizations from using any other funds for any service or activity that they are barred from providing with LSC dollars. There is a bill currently being considered to end what some have deemed unjust restrictions on those providing access to legal aid.

Cemented

plexi — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:22:50 -0800

This fall, law students are competing for half as many openings at big firms as they were last year in what is shaping up to be the most wrenching job search season in over 50 years.

“Had I seen where the market was going, I would’ve gone to a lower-ranked but less expensive public school,” [a second year law student at Penn] said. “I’m questioning whether law school was the right choice at all."

Terror's Advocate

Brian Lux — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:36:01 -0800

If you’ve been arrested by the police and the lawyer you choose to call is Jacques Vergès then you’ve probably done something bad. Very bad. There’s a film out about his extraordinary career and his strange 8 year disappearance.

How Not to Run for Congress

cerebus19 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:04:26 -0800

Some advice for Mefites who want to run for Congress: It is probably not a good idea to give a speech at a birthday celebration for Hitler. It is also generally considered tacky to discuss segregation in a positive light. Also, posting anti-Semitic comments, links to David Duke's website, and other scary but interesting articles to your official campaign website is probably not a good idea, even if you actually seem to be a reasonably competent lawyer.

Monster

veedubya — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:49:13 -0800

Dear Monster Lawyers, Let me begin by stating, without equivocation, that I have no interest whatsoever in infringing upon any intellectual property belonging to Monster Cable. Indeed, the less my customers think my products resemble Monster's, in form or in function, the better.

Elephant Polo and other strange things

HuronBob — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:15:42 -0800

Elephant Polo. Alf Leif Erickson is the Captain of the American Screw Tuskers Elephant Polo team . Alf is a retired attorney and former law professor from Florida. This alone doesn't make much of a post, but, you guessed it, there more, sometimes NSFW, inside..... It seems that Alf retired to Bangkok and maintains a site called "Alf's Balloons", with a focus on, well, balloons, and of course corkscrews, and elephant polo. Alf's elephant polo team seems to consist entirely of transexuals (the riders, that is, not the elephants). Don't let the somewhat odd nature of the polo team throw you, because it doesn't really get strange (and, by the way, NSFW) until you begin to explore the inner workings of Alf's PatPong Corkscrew Club. This is no casual club, annual meetings are held, and the club, like, I assume, all corkscrew clubs, of course, its own balloon and meetings where the members sit naked on Alf's lap. Spend some time exploring Alf's world.

More Keims less Yoos please

lalochezia — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:03:37 -0800

One good lawyer is often what it takes. Contrast with this lawyer.

Catherine Roraback

serazin — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:43:50 -0800

Catherine Roraback was the only woman in her class at Yale Law School. She was a founder of the Connecticut ACLU, and a president of the National Lawyers Guild. During her long career she defended labor organizers, immigrants, civil rights organizers, Black Panthers, and maybe most famously, Estelle Griswold before the United States Supreme Court in the case that legalized the distribution of birth control. She died this week at age 87. One more bio and the NYT obit.

Court martial begins for Guantanamo JAG who leaked detainee list

planetkyoto — Tue, 15 May 2007 07:50:22 -0800

It began with an innocent-looking Valentine's Day card in 2005. Inside the card were several slips of paper, a hastily cut-up printout of names of 550 secret detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The human rights lawyer who received "this weird valentine" handed it over to authorities, and this week the court martial begins for JAG LtCmdr Matthew Diaz, facing 36 years for divulging state secrets.
Whither goest thou, American Jurisprudence?

Lawyerbear

Burhanistan — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:16:42 -0800

Lawyerbear: The Leader In Ursine Litigation and Defense The bear that is a lawyer. Comics and sundry parodies penned by a local. [via mefi projects]

In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxgirl

Blazecock Pileon — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:19:06 -0800

Taxgirl is a tax lawyer who invites you to ask her offbeat and unique questions about federal taxation in the United States, as well as Philadelphia-specific tax questions. She also covers the fun side of taxation and the not-so-fun side of tax evasion, usually the domain of Posse Comitatus and white supremacist groups, but lately extending in bizarre ways to celebrities like Wesley Snipes and Ron Isley.

Victims. Victims. Victims.

yeti — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 05:33:18 -0800

"I may be an SOB, but I'm your SOB." Jim "the Hammer!" Shapiro, a personal injury lawyer, had some of the craziest commercials in Rochester NY, [despite living in Florida]. The best commercials are here [avi / youtube] and here [avi / youtube]. While he admitted he could not "rip out the hearts" or "hand you the severed heads" of those who hurt you, he promised to "hunt them down and settle the score." Shapiro & Shapiro were sued for malpractice in 2002 for $1.9 million, and their website has been "under construction" ever since. Web archive has a great glimpse from May 2000. You call. I hammer.

The King of Torts

dios — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 09:04:42 -0800

The billionaire attorney. The King of Torts. Legendary Texas Lawyer. He is Joe Jamail. He is most famous for his record setting verdict in Texaco v. Pennzoil (which eventually made it to the US Supreme Court) in which Joe secured a $10.3 billion dollar judgment (though it is not known for sure, some speculate that Joe walked with $1 billion in attorney's fees in that case). In addition to being well known for his success, he is almost as legendary for his colorful demeanor. One such example was when he got reprimanded for his behavior in Paramount Communications Inc. v. QVC Network, Inc.. But to see him in action with your own eyes, we have video of classic Joe during a deposition he was giving. (via brainwidth).

"Inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet."

amro — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:06:09 -0800

This is Darrow,
Inadequately scrawled, with his young, old heart,
And his drawl, and his infinite paradox
And his sadness, and kindness,
And his artist sense that drives him to shape his life
To something harmonious, even against the schemes of God. [MI]

Lawyer Blog (?)

Tlogmer — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 21:48:47 -0800

Phila Lawyer reads like fiction (awesome, Hunter S. Thompson -esque fiction -- Part 1, 2 ) to outsiders, but that might just be because it's so fucking good. The lawyers commiserating in the comments, at least, think it's real.
The navigation is cumbersome -- if you're not careful, you'll come into a story in the middle. For your perusal, then, I've laid a few out:
Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Part 1, 2
Part 1, 2, 3, 4

How I Lost the Big One

ericost — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 00:53:18 -0800

How I Lost the Big One Lawrence Lessig on losing Eldred v. Ashcroft: "We had in our Constitution a commitment to free culture. In the case that I fathered, the Supreme Court effectively renounced that commitment. A better lawyer would have made them see differently."

Lawyer of the Rings

tdismukes — Mon, 22 Dec 2003 07:37:49 -0800

If you're going to make a deal with Sauron, consult your lawyer first.

Anchors Away, A Life Unmoored

tommyspoon — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 05:39:36 -0800

Anchors Away, A Life Unmoored An interesting, albeit sad, story about a once prominent D.C. lawyer who walked away from his life and now lives on a garbage-filled boat in the waters around Annapolis, MD. "Trash People" have always perplexed me; is there anything that society can do to truly help them?

Shirin Ebadi wins Nobel Peace Prize

dagny — Fri, 10 Oct 2003 02:37:22 -0800

Shirin Ebadi wins Nobel Peace Prize Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi has won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2003. Ebadi is Iran's first female judge and a leading figure in the struggle for women's and children's rights in Iran. She is known for representing the interests of persecuted individuals and has braved reprisals for her beliefs.

shauna — Tue, 17 Apr 2001 16:27:29 -0800

Apple lawyers target Mac Themes Project -- Apple has issued a cease and desist order against Mac Themes Project (MTP) for creating a theme editor. Apple claims the editor enables third parties to copy its copyrighted trademark themes by "improperly copying Apple's copyrighted software code and graphic files".