Lawyers, particularly young lawyers, often pride themselves on being more clever than one another, and so particularly resent other lawyers who don't seem to possess the same rapier wit and razor-sharp reasoning skills we claim for ourselves. Every lawyer knows that dimwit who they can't believe even passed the bar. The one with all those uninspiring and poorly-researched arguments in their briefs that never cite any relevant cases. The one who prefaces every argument to the court with "in layman's terms," as if the judge wasn't also a lawyer. The one who, despite being dumb as a stump, has a steady clip ... Continue Reading

[UPDATE II, February 7, 2012: Mike Tremoglie at Legal News Line (which is owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform) has published two follow-up stories in which I was quoted, one about the issue in general, and one about follow-up data the ICLE published on the location of plaintiffs in Philadelphia mass torts cases.] [UPDATE, December 3, 2011: More than a month after my post, the Wall Street Journal chimed in with an editorial parroting the "study" I discussed below. The WSJ, too, noted that, in medical malpractice trials, "Philadelphia juries find in favor of plaintiffs more often ... Continue Reading

SCOTUSBlog, the premier media source — internet, newspaper, anywhere — for Supreme Court news, has just undergone a revision, including sponsorship by Bloomberg Law. Scott Greenfield, the premier source for complaints about legal blogging, thinks something was lost in translation: Most disturbing is the resort to the formulaic approach of "ask the expert," and the expert invariably being someone with scholarly credentials so that their every utterance comes with built-in academic credibility. We see it in newspaper articles and on television news, the lawprof opining about things he's never personally touched and only seen from afar. We were knee deep ... Continue Reading

If you follow any legal news or law blogs, you won't go long without another article on the concept of "work-life balance." I try to stay out of the debate because it usually goes nowhere, but I've even had a post on it before. Two recent posts inspired me to write about it again. First, the Young Lawyers' Editorial Board at The Legal Intelligencer: We were saddened to learn about a 32-year-old corporate associate who passed away in June of an apparent heart attack. Some commentators have suggested a connection between her premature death and her workload, which had been ... Continue Reading

If you were diagnosed with bladder cancer after using Actos and are reviewing your legal options, please see my Actos Bladder Cancer Lawyers page for patients. As of June 2012, The Beasley Firm is still accepting cases and filing lawsuits on behalf of Actos consumers. I wrote this post for my legal blog, which is ordinarily read by other lawyers. Patients looking for legal help should read the Actos page linked above.  Personal injury law isn't like running an ordinary business, not even an ordinary law practice, because of the risk involved in taking cases. Defective drug and consumer products lawsuits ... Continue Reading