Interesting new spat of lawsuits over the labeling of organic products. According to an article in the National Law Journal yesterday, the California Attorney General filed five suits yesterday; including one against Whole Foods for including allegedly cancer-causing ingredients in purportedly organic body products.
CBS has transcript and a video of Justice Scalia's interview on 60 minutes here.
The Recorder ran an article today about Chief Justice Ronald George's plea that the state not cut the Judiciary's budget by nearly $246 million.
The article covers the Chief Justice's annual presentation before the Legislature. For those of you without a subscription to CalLaw, here are some of the more interesting points:
"The legislation you enact into law may not be subject to judicial enforcement if that occurs," George said in his annual State of the Judiciary address to the Legislature. "I believe we all agree that a functioning court system is not a luxury - it is an essential component of state government. There are severe limits to how much we can reduce the services that we are required to provide."
The Chief Justice also requested 50 new judges, which the Legislator has tried to put off until 2009:
George also lobbied lawmakers to authorize a final set of 50 new judgeships, even though legislative leaders have already said there won't be enough money to fund them until 2009 at the earliest. And, as he had before, he asked the Legislature to boost pensions for judges appointed after 1994, an improvement, he said, that would attract more candidates "from diverse backgrounds to the bench."
I couldn't have said it better.
Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice explains the evolution of trial lawyers versus appellate lawyers.
. . . and I was still writing my opening brief.
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From the day we enter law school we hear the mantra "simplify simplify simplify". In honor of "simplicity" this holiday season, Howard Posner, an appellate attorney in Los Angeles, wrote a great article for California Lawyer Magazine about avoiding getting bogged down in words.
Posner writes about a holiday evening as he sits down to read "Harry Potter and the Demurrer of Doom" when he is visited by the ghost of his still practicing law partner who is dragging the chains of his verbosity . . .
"Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?" I started to exclaim, but the words died in my throat because, on second thought, they sounded lame."
I had a good chuckle (Would that be Ho!Ho!Ho!?) and a solid reminder to Keep It Simple! Read the full story here and many holiday wishes to Mr. Posner.
I am used to blank stares when -- in response to the typical question of “What kind of law do you practice?” -- I tell people that I am an appellate lawyer.
There are no “appellate lawyers” on Boston Legal or Law and Order. Its been awhile since I’ve seen an episode of Ally McBeal, but I don’t recall any there either. Its disconcerting, however, when I get that same stare from my colleagues.
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