February 6th, 2007

Personal Injury Lawyer Talks Himself Off Jury Duty

Yesterday I had a pool of 30 jurors. Four of them were lawyers. One tried personal injury cases.

Now you would think that of all people in the world, the ones that try cases would be least likely to say things to deliberately get booted from the jury panel. After all, no one appreciates the need for jurors more than those who work in the well of the courtroom.

But more importantly, the experience of being a juror is one that every attorney should have. You might not learn anything new about law or about trial tactics in a routine matter, but you learn what jurors go through. This potential juror who did mass torts litigation proceeded to say the magic words to get kicked, either because he was too busy, or just too snobby, to sit on a routine trip and fall sidewalk case. (Since jury duty can be deferred a few times for scheduling problems, it was likely unrelated to being too busy.) Deliberately getting kicked off a jury panel is, in my view, a lost opportunity.

I sat once in the late ’90s on a criminal case. And while it was a run-of-the-mill burglary — knocking off a fish truck in broad daylight in midtown Manhattan while being trailed by two undercover cops — and the lawyers weren’t that good, it was an altogether different experience seeing a trial from the jury box. And from the jury room.

No one should ever mistake the inside of a courtroom for the inside of a jury room. And no lawyer should turn down the opportunity to serve.

January 25th, 2007

A Response to Justice Scalia on Bush v. Gore

In handling a Bush v. Gore question from the audience at Iona College the other day, Justice Scalia said:

“It’s water over the deck — get over it”

But the suspension of democracy in Florida in 2000 is not something to “get over” any more than other poorly decided Supreme Court decisions such as:

Plessy v. Ferguson’s holding that “separate but equal” race discrimination was OK, or the
Dred Scot decision holding that slaves could not sue in federal court since no slave or descendant of a slave could be a U.S. citizen, or
Korematsu v. United States, holding that U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry citizens could be summarily relocated to detention camps during WW II based solely on their race.

In fact, Bush v. Gore was worse than all three. For each decision above could be overturned by the voters either in Congress or by constitutional amendment. But since Bush v. Gore dealt with the actual disenfranchisement of voters, it could not. All legally cast ballots should have been counted.

Bad judicial decisions are not something to “get over,” but are mistakes to be learned from.

January 23rd, 2007

Simpson Thacher First Year Associates To Be Paid Like Federal Judges

New York’s legal marketplace is hitting a new milestone: Paying fresh-faced, 20-something, first year associates more than federal judges.

Rookie lawyers at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett will be paid a base salary of $160,000 before bonus, according to a New York Law Journal article today. Bonuses for first years start at $30,000/year:

The New York firm’s move, announced internally Monday, comes less than a year after an earlier round of salary increases boosted first-year salaries in the city to $145,000 from the $125,000 that had been standard for several years prior.

By contrast, federal judges start at $162,500 (no bonus, sorry), the same as members of Congress.

New York’s Supreme Court justices (our trial courts, not the top court) start at $136,700.

If judges can do so well in the private sector, then we need to increase the incentives to keep good ones from leaving the bench. It is time we brought judicial salaries more into line with the marketplace.

January 20th, 2007

Write A Story, Just Six Words (Win Your Case, 75 Words)

So goes the contest over at the non-legal blog at Middle Zone Musings, which ends tomorrow. You can read many of the 6-word stories over there.

The “contest” caught my interest because lawyers often take forever to get to the point in a “brief,” beat their point to death, or can’t figure out what their point is. So forcing brevity makes one think.

The best writing tips I ever heard came from Bryan Garner:

Frame your issue in 75 words or less.
Win your point on the first page.

My own entry in the contest, with one word to spare:

What’s your name?
Objection. Hearsay.

January 17th, 2007

Reflections on Two Months as a Blogger….

While New York personal injury law is what I want my tiny corner of cyberspace to be about, and not bloggers and the blogosphere, I step back today to reflect on the two months since I started on November 17, 2006.

First, I want to thank those who assisted in private emails and with links placed at their sites, particularly those legal blogs in New York. That certainly helped me get started.

I’m pleased that links were provided not just as part of a long blogroll, but to the content. Nicole Black, the queen of New York legal bloggers residing over at Sui Generis, has now linked to several of my entries, and has provided wonderful reading on all things New York.

Cyrus Dugger over at Tort Deform and Corp Reform has cross-posted my comments on issues of national importance concerning the attack on our civil justice system by large corporate interests that seek various levels of immunity for negligent conduct. This includes my comments on Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s attempt to reform New York courts, the ruling that an Oklahoma court “reform” law was unconstitutional, and other matters. Author Stephanie Mencimer over at The Tortellini writes on a similar subject and has also passed a nod or two my way.

The Blawg Review, perhaps the most widely read of all legal blog compilations on the web, has now included me in two issues, the first of which was #89 regarding my note on a federal judge preventing the use of a pseudonym in a sex assault case. In issue #91, two different posts on emotional injuries were noted: The first on the tax exempt status of emotional injury compensation, and the one on zone of danger emotional injuries.

The Health Wonk Review picked up a bit I wrote regarding counterfeit drugs, as did the Health Business Blog by David Williams. I’m particularly grateful for these, as I assume many in health care have more than a bit of skepticism about personal injury attorneys. Also in the health field, Juvan’s Health Law Update has been a great source of information to me on the continuing issue of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act and recent legal maneuvers that have stalled its implementation. (And the recent redesign of the site is simply superb.)

Finally, the Health Business Blog hosted the Cavalcade of Risk blog carnival this week, and noted the post I put up on Geico’s idiotic idea to put up “safety” billboards at the George Washington toll booth plaza. Even a caveman would know it isn’t safe to distract drivers in such a location with needless billboards.

I’m delighted (and flattered) that different communities of bloggers (New York-centric, tort “reform” and health care policy) have included my comments in their postings.

I’m now getting at least two dozen different feeds from various blogs (including all those in my blogroll), am constantly adding new sites, and am quickly finding it to be an outstanding source of information.

Now if only I had picked a wittier name for my blog…