2006-04-29T13:05:01Z links to comments made by the imbroglio recently tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2006, mowabb 2006-04-29T13:05:01Z 2006-04-29T13:04:51Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7449 2006-04-29T13:04:51Z

http://www.gulbransen.net/preaching/2006/04/breaking_news_d.html I love being gobsmacked, don't you?... That said, it seems like every day now Mr. Resident Bush is in some new part of the country or world and every time I hear he's flying here or there (meaning, every day), I wonder: How much freaking fuel does it take to move that dumbass all over the damn world? I'm sure it's a drop in the bucket, so to speak, but hey, he said the other day when he said he'd make no more deposits to the oil reserve that “every little bit helps.”

mowabb ai@mowabb.com politics http://www.gulbransen.net/preaching/2006/04/breaking_news_d.html kind of taken.) ]]> 2006-04-28T05:10:45Z 2006-04-28T05:10:32Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7445 2006-04-28T05:10:32Z

http://skellywright.blogspot.com/2006/04/frankly-yes.html That's a great piece. It reminds me of something one of my fellow interns said the first summer I interned at a public defender's office. She was a devout Christian and someone asked her about her faith and the work she was doing.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com crimlaw http://skellywright.blogspot.com/2006/04/frankly-yes.html That's a great piece. It reminds me of something one of my fellow interns said the first summer I interned at a public defender's office. She was a devout Christian and someone asked her about her faith and the work she was doing. Her response: “Jesus was the first public defender!” So there you go. 2006-04-22T18:26:05Z 2006-04-22T18:25:54Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7413 2006-04-22T18:25:54Z

http://skellywright.blogspot.com/2006/04/id-7-year-old-in-detention.html That's incredible. I thought the criminalization of childhood was confined to big city schools where cops roam the halls and file police reports for schoolyard fights and temper tantrums; those reports then lead to criminal charges.... I can't believe parents will stand for this kind of thing.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com crimlaw http://skellywright.blogspot.com/2006/04/id-7-year-old-in-detention.html That's incredible. I thought the criminalization of childhood was confined to big city schools where cops roam the halls and file police reports for schoolyard fights and temper tantrums; those reports then lead to criminal charges. Apparently this isn't just a big city phenomenon. I can't believe parents will stand for this kind of thing. Is this magistrate an elected official? 2006-04-19T16:01:16Z 2006-04-19T16:01:04Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7391 2006-04-19T16:01:04Z

I heard a prosecutor call one of my clients “a punk-ass bitch” as he tried to convince another prosecutor to make sure my client got sent to juve (jail).... A couple months later and teachers, social workers, and everyone else are praising my client up and down for his great improvement in attitude, work, etc. So stories like that are super-rewarding.... FYI: You may know about this already, but the National Juvenile Defender Center has some good listserves where you can discuss juvenile defense issues.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com crimlaw http://skellywright.blogspot.com/2006/04/kids-all-right.html listserves where you can discuss juvenile defense issues. They also offer some good resources for juvenile defenders, including the Juvenile Defender Resource Guide.]]> 2006-04-17T16:04:23Z 2006-04-17T16:04:13Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7377 2006-04-17T16:04:13Z

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/04/teaching_todays_1.html Just one little note about today's law students compared to those from the past: They are paying much more for every minute of class time.... While I admire your attempt to think about how to become a better teacher of law, I'm skeptical of your ability to do so in the current system.... How can one teacher, no matter how dynamic or learned or enthusiastic, possibly engage 100 students at a time w/all their different levels of preparation, different interests, and different questions?

mowabb ai@mowabb.com lawschool http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/04/teaching_todays_1.html Just one little note about today's law students compared to those from the past: They are paying much more for every minute of class time. If they they think of themselves more as consumers and seem to be more demanding, the fact that they're mortgaging their futures to be there might have something to do with that. While I admire your attempt to think about how to become a better teacher of law, I'm skeptical of your ability to do so in the current system. Today's model of huge classes will never satisfy students or even challenge most of them. How can one teacher, no matter how dynamic or learned or enthusiastic, possibly engage 100 students at a time w/all their different levels of preparation, different interests, and different questions? It's an impossible situation for you as a professor, and a nearly-criminal ripoff for the student. 2006-04-15T23:00:55Z 2006-04-15T23:00:38Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7359 2006-04-15T23:00:38Z

http://divineangst.blawgcoop.com/archives/2006/04/sa_tur_day_writ.html Dude!... Enjoy your new sense of balance, your natural energy cycles, your lack of dependency on some foreign substance, plus all the money and time you'll save not bothering to buy or make coffee all the time.... If I could go 40 days w/out coffee I'd be jumping for joy and looking forward to the next 400 days w/out my bad bad habit.)

mowabb ai@mowabb.com life http://divineangst.blawgcoop.com/archives/2006/04/sa_tur_day_writ.html Dude! Don't do it! If you've gone 40 days w/out caffiene, don't ever go back! Enjoy your new sense of balance, your natural energy cycles, your lack of dependency on some foreign substance, plus all the money and time you'll save not bothering to buy or make coffee all the time. Really -- why go back? (I'm posting this out of envy. If I could go 40 days w/out coffee I'd be jumping for joy and looking forward to the next 400 days w/out my bad bad habit.) 2006-04-13T03:58:30Z 2006-04-13T03:58:11Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7337 2006-04-13T03:58:11Z

http://www.jeremyrichey.com/2006/04/11/useful-book-for-new-attorneys/ To be more precise, it sounds like a good read for lawyers in firms that require billing hours and which provide them an “assistant” and who need to be concerned about building a law practice.... While this describes a large swath of law students and lawyers, many of us couldn't care less about billing hours, are unlikely to ever have an assistant, and may never really need to build a law practice, per se. In fact, some of us might be sick of hearing about those things, especially when they're discussed as if they were the elemental to the practice of law when they simply are not.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com law http://www.jeremyrichey.com/2006/04/11/useful-book-for-new-attorneys/ To be more precise, it sounds like a good read for lawyers in firms that require billing hours and which provide them an “assistant” and who need to be concerned about building a law practice. Law students who aspire to any of those things might like it fine, too, it sounds like. While this describes a large swath of law students and lawyers, many of us couldn't care less about billing hours, are unlikely to ever have an assistant, and may never really need to build a law practice, per se. In fact, some of us might be sick of hearing about those things, especially when they're discussed as if they were the elemental to the practice of law when they simply are not. 2006-04-03T12:49:34Z 2006-04-03T12:49:26Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7285 2006-04-03T12:49:26Z

http://favorabledicta.blogspot.com/2006/04/are-you-peeing.html I think you should be very proud of the fact that you “exist in an extreme degree.” I don't know why, but it makes me think of Thoreau: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Unlike “most men,” you're trying to get all you can out of life -- you're singing your song, dammit!

mowabb ai@mowabb.com life http://favorabledicta.blogspot.com/2006/04/are-you-peeing.html Thoreau: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Unlike “most men,” you're trying to get all you can out of life -- you're singing your song, dammit! There are many guys out there who will love you for precisely that, I'm certain of it!]]> 2006-03-31T15:28:37Z 2006-03-31T15:28:23Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7270 2006-03-31T15:28:23Z

http://unblague.blogspot.com/2006/03/calling-all-bloggers.html I started completely anonymously, then about a year and a half ago I came “out” by writing a short article about blogging, using my real name as a byline, and allowing the editors to mention the name of my blog.... I think the above is the best plan if you hope to maintain your blog long-term, but even if you just blog for six months, I still think you should do so with the assumption that your identity is known or easily could be. You may never run for public office, but someone may end up digging into your past for some other reason and wouldn't be nice if you didn't have to worry about all those crazy insane things you said on your blog?

mowabb ai@mowabb.com blogging http://unblague.blogspot.com/2006/03/calling-all-bloggers.html I started completely anonymously, then about a year and a half ago I came “out” by writing a short article about blogging, using my real name as a byline, and allowing the editors to mention the name of my blog. Since that time, I've continued to post pseudonymously, knowing full well that anyone who wants to spend a minute on Google can find my real name. I think it's better in the long run to blog under the assumption that your readers know your “real” identity or could know it very easily (e.g. via a Google search or two). If you block under this assumption you will be more careful about what you say and less likely to say something that you will regret in your “real” life. Yes, this means you sacrifice the freedom to publish whatever the hell crosses your mind, but in the long run, that's going to be better for you. I think the above is the best plan if you hope to maintain your blog long-term, but even if you just blog for six months, I still think you should do so with the assumption that your identity is known or easily could be. You may never run for public office, but someone may end up digging into your past for some other reason and wouldn't be nice if you didn't have to worry about all those crazy insane things you said on your blog? And remember, even if you delete a blog, it doesn't go away -- the Google cache will save it, as will the Wayback Machine/Internet Archive. In short, the risks of pretending that anonymity is even possible are just too large for me to accept. 2006-03-31T03:22:37Z 2006-03-31T03:22:26Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7265 2006-03-31T03:22:26Z

http://bitterlawstudent.blogspot.com/2006/03/bulldog.html Hey, congrats on the great feedback.... I think the clients who are going to seek out the “bulldog” lawyer are more often those who are trying to get away with something or screw someone. If you can make sure you never work for clients like that, you're good.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com lawschool http://bitterlawstudent.blogspot.com/2006/03/bulldog.html Hey, congrats on the great feedback. Whatever they want to call you, it sounds like you did an excellent job. What really matters is not what people think of you, but for whom you put your skills to work. I think the clients who are going to seek out the “bulldog” lawyer are more often those who are trying to get away with something or screw someone. If you can make sure you never work for clients like that, you're good. In other words: Be a bulldog for justice, not greed, exploitation, or other bad things. ;-) 2006-03-31T03:14:37Z 2006-03-31T03:14:18Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7264 2006-03-31T03:14:18Z

http://www.gulbransen.net/preaching/2006/03/steve_balmer_id.html I agree that Ballmer's an idiot, but just to play Devil's advocate (and in the highly uncharacteristic role of being ever so slightly critical of Apple, no less!), some believe Apple has thrived because it doesn't listen to customers either -- it tells them what they want.... A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.“... I don't know how it works exactly, but it seems that tech companies *do* need to listen to customers (and I think Apple does); they just need to be a lot better than Microsoft at responding to what they hear.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com mac http://www.gulbransen.net/preaching/2006/03/steve_balmer_id.html famous for saying: “It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.” Is the iPod so popular b/c it's what people want, or do people want it b/c it's so popular? I don't know how it works exactly, but it seems that tech companies *do* need to listen to customers (and I think Apple does); they just need to be a lot better than Microsoft at responding to what they hear. ]]> 2006-03-30T02:29:36Z 2006-03-30T02:29:22Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7255 2006-03-30T02:29:22Z

http://babybean.blogspot.com/2006/03/well-im-slightly-closer-to-small-temp.html Ouch. I fear I will be joining you in the land of the temp job very soon.... I've known law grads who have made some serious cash this way, but I don't know how common that is...

mowabb ai@mowabb.com lawschool http://babybean.blogspot.com/2006/03/well-im-slightly-closer-to-small-temp.html Ouch. I fear I will be joining you in the land of the temp job very soon. What about “document review” at a big firm? I've known law grads who have made some serious cash this way, but I don't know how common that is... 2006-03-28T12:46:45Z 2006-03-28T12:46:33Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7246 2006-03-28T12:46:33Z

http://blondejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/devil-made-me-do-it.html#comments I guess maybe I could imagine if a prosecutor let their emotions get the best of them and said, “I can't let this little girl's killer walk free.... Of course, don't you think that prosecutors commonly say the same thing about defense attorneys -- that they go too far and stretch or even break the lines of ethical conduct? We had a lifetime prosecutor come speak to a class recently who described this as a universally held attitude in the U.S. Attorney's office -- everyone there thinks the public defenders are a bunch of rule-breaking, unethical zealots who should have their law licenses revoked.

mowabb ai@mowabb.com crimlaw http://blondejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/devil-made-me-do-it.html#comments I guess maybe I could imagine if a prosecutor let their emotions get the best of them and said, “I can't let this little girl's killer walk free. I'd rather lose my law license than this case.” Well, sure -- that must happen all the time. Prosecutors have conviction, right? ;-) I just took the MPRE last fall, and no, the law hasn't changed. You're right that prosecutors have the a clear obligation to stand up to supervisors or anyone else who encourages them to act unethically. Of course, don't you think that prosecutors commonly say the same thing about defense attorneys -- that they go too far and stretch or even break the lines of ethical conduct? We had a lifetime prosecutor come speak to a class recently who described this as a universally held attitude in the U.S. Attorney's office -- everyone there thinks the public defenders are a bunch of rule-breaking, unethical zealots who should have their law licenses revoked. My question is: When attorneys (on either side) see other attorneys acting badly, why don't they report it and press for formal discipline for the bar? I know there are reasons, but still, isn't that also one of our professional obligations? Finally, you could use Audioblogger to record and share the sound of your professor saying “dispute!” We would love to hear it!]]> 2006-03-28T01:47:35Z 2006-03-28T01:47:25Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7245 2006-03-28T01:47:25Z

http://web.mac.com/washingtonydc/iWeb/parenthetical%20statement/blog/985A2BEE-7660-433C-9B23-6DBD6B867F10.html Congrats on your new home here. I'll be interested to see how things go w/iWeb and iLife for you. I've played w/iWeb and it's great for putting a cool site together quickly, but using it for a blog?

mowabb ai@mowabb.com blogging http://web.mac.com/washingtonydc/iWeb/parenthetical%20statement/blog/985A2BEE-7660-433C-9B23-6DBD6B867F10.html Congrats on your new home here. I'll be interested to see how things go w/iWeb and iLife for you. I've played w/iWeb and it's great for putting a cool site together quickly, but using it for a blog? May you find it to be as simple as you hope! 2006-03-26T22:40:04Z 2006-03-26T22:39:53Z tag:mowabb.com,2006:/ai/comment//28.7238 2006-03-26T22:39:53Z

http://blondejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/destination-unknown.html#comments It seems to me that the only way in which being a public defender is a “starter job” is that it requires a lot of energy and dedication -- things that tend to wane a bit for most lawyers over time. I very much respect and admire the “lifers” I've known in the office where I interned and during my clinic experience b/c these are the people who know the most about what they are doing.... (Of course, I need to get a job as a public defender before I can worry about how long I can keep it, but I'm trying to remain optmistic about that part....)

mowabb ai@mowabb.com crimlaw http://blondejustice.blogspot.com/2006/03/destination-unknown.html#comments It seems to me that the only way in which being a public defender is a “starter job” is that it requires a lot of energy and dedication -- things that tend to wane a bit for most lawyers over time. I very much respect and admire the “lifers” I've known in the office where I interned and during my clinic experience b/c these are the people who know the most about what they are doing. They have accomplished things I can only dream of and they have what appear to me to be very satisfying and high quality lives. I don't know if I will be a public defender for three or 30 years, but I know I could do much, much worse than to have a life like those “lifers” have. (Of course, I need to get a job as a public defender before I can worry about how long I can keep it, but I'm trying to remain optmistic about that part....)