Thread of legal hubbub

Shyster
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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Shyster » Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:55 pm

:thumb: I cannot recommend Garner's work highly enough, and his in-person seminars are great (albeit pricey). Garner is The Man when it comes to legal writing.

tifosi77
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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby tifosi77 » Tue Oct 30, 2018 3:33 pm

I just know the Plain English book, but didn't he also write with Antonin Scalia?

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Shyster » Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:32 pm

Yes, two books co-written with Scalia: Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges and Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts . His most recent book is The Law of Judicial Precedent, which was written in collaboration with 12 state and federal appellate judges (two of which, namely Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, have now been elevated to SCOTUS). Garner also wrote a book called Nino and Me: My Unusual Friendship with Justice Antonin Scalia, the subject of which is self-explanatory. I know Garner is not a political conservative, and he has said that he didn't expect to get along well with Scalia, but they became good friends despite their differences.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby tifosi77 » Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:43 pm

That's honestly not too surprising. Everything I've ever seen about Scalia is that he was very gregarious and personable. Wasn't his BFF on SCOTUS RBG?

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Shyster » Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:09 pm

Yes. They were pretty close friends from what I understand. They were both big fans of opera.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby dodint » Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:56 am

Pittsburgh legal pros.

I'm thinking of approaching one of the below firms about doing an externship. Would be about 90-135 hours depending how many credits I want to earn from it. Looking for a Lemon Law/Consumer Protection firm, anyone I'm missing?

Roseman Law Firm, PLLC
Kimmel & Silverman PC
David J. Gorberg and Associates

Any red flags or anything else I should know before I start going door to door? Happy to discuss in PM if you need to be discrete.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby slappybrown » Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:24 pm

Pittsburgh legal pros.

I'm thinking of approaching one of the below firms about doing an externship. Would be about 90-135 hours depending how many credits I want to earn from it. Looking for a Lemon Law/Consumer Protection firm, anyone I'm missing?

Roseman Law Firm, PLLC
Kimmel & Silverman PC
David J. Gorberg and Associates

Any red flags or anything else I should know before I start going door to door? Happy to discuss in PM if you need to be discrete.
I am confused by why you would want to do this given what I understood to be your career goals, but perhaps they have changed.

That aside, I have never heard of these shops. I've never had occasion to deal with lemon laws, whether personally or professionally, so my own lack of knowledge doesn't mean they aren't successful at what they do or that they aren't talented lawyers.

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Postby dodint » Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:37 pm

If I take an externship it makes graduating early easier. I don't need it, but I've been saving the time off at work just in case and now I'm at the point I need to plan it soon if I want to pursue it. I am trying to finish in Fall 2019 instead of graduating on time in May 2020.

I have a particular interest in Lemon Law, Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act, etc. If there were anything that could cause me to drop out of my current career to pursue law full time it would likely be this area of law. My other interests (estate planning, etc) are so generic that I can learn it any time. I would very much like the opportunity to see how attorneys make money doing Lemon Law in PA as PA doesn't have the friendliest lemon law in the country (Michigan awards treble damages + fees, much more lucrative and I bet the litigation is less frequent; PA just awards damages and fees so the margin is much smaller).

I've also talked with some lawyers visiting my school and it might be possible for me to conduct this kind of law part time while I wait to retire from my current vocation. That would ease my transition from this job to becoming a full time sole practitioner in retirement.

I am confused too, my priorities are probably different than what you remember. My interest in rejoining the military is very low, and I don't see a road to being a federal attorney. The play right now is to just sit on the degree and not practice until I retire in 12 years. Or, practice in the meantime in some limited form such as the lemon law pursuit, veterans legal aide, etc. I'm not making any decisions at all right now, just exploring the Lemon Law course of action since I need the credits anyway.

I'm really impressed by Roseman's bio. But she's a sole practitioner so she may not have time to babysit me, and the entire staff is women so there is an unwelcome feeling that comes from that. The other two are, from what I can tell, local offices of larger firms that service the northeast US.

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Postby Shyster » Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:01 pm

I don't practice that area of law, so I've never run across any of those firms.

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Postby Tomas » Thu Nov 15, 2018 11:00 am

Am I milking my 15 minutes of legal - now apparently cross-Atlantic - fame? You're goddamn right I do! :lol:

https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-b ... governance

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Postby dodint » Thu Nov 15, 2018 11:02 am

Globally recognized big timer!

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Postby Tomas » Thu Nov 15, 2018 5:18 pm

Legal knowledge exchange between the USA and Oxford University on November 15, 2018:

My article and....

http://www.tmz.com/2018/11/15/stormy-da ... eech-porn/ !!!! :lol:

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby dodint » Mon Nov 26, 2018 5:06 pm

Just sent a visiting student application to Duquesne Law. Hoping to take a class there in the Spring and Fall of next year. Never thought I would have to deal with LSAC ever again, but here we are.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Tomas » Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:18 am

@dodint : Not sure if you are still working on the "castration report", but here is another oddity of the Czech (German-based) legal system. Basically, the person is like Jerry Sandusky times 100, and yet...

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... -zpravy_vh

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Postby dodint » Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:24 am

Well.

Maybe 8.5 years in a Czech prison isn't as nice as it would be here? Either way, seems low. And sad.

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Postby dodint » Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:55 pm

Woo, Duquesne is allowing me to visit.

First thing I did was inquire about how to petition to take a final exam on a make up day. They're going to love me.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby dodint » Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:00 pm

My fellow legal types may be interested in this product. A new company called LegalBoard just introduced a computer keyboard "designed by lawyers for lawyers." It has a "legal mode" that uses the F keys and the number pad to permit a lawyer to insert common legal symbols and abbreviations and words (for example §, ¶, See, e.g., F.3d, Plaintiff, Appellant) and also do stuff like add footnotes and change spacing with one keystroke.

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2017/01/deb ... wyers.html
https://www.legalkeyboards.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N392dt7dqzw


I personally use a programmable X-keys XK-16 Stick to provide a lot of the same functionality. It's an add-on 16-key keyboard where you can program the keys to insert text, trigger macros, etc.

http://xkeys.com/xkeys/xk16.php
I thought you were the mechanical keyboard guy? I was searching old posts for a rec on one because all the ones on Amazon seem to be for LEET gamers and I just want something sturdy that won't fall apart after a year.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Lemon Berry Lobster » Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:03 pm

Don't type so hard...

Shyster
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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Shyster » Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:35 pm

I thought you were the mechanical keyboard guy? I was searching old posts for a rec on one because all the ones on Amazon seem to be for LEET gamers and I just want something sturdy that won't fall apart after a year.
I use a full-size Unicomp Classic keyboard (http://www.pckeyboard.com/) in the 101-key configuration (without the special Windows keys), coupled with an P.I. Engineering X-keys XK-16 Stick (http://xkeys.com/xkeys/xk16.php), which I've programmed to type a bunch of special symbols and terms (such as: § §§ ¶ ¶¶ – — × ÷ … + - See See, e.g., p. pp.) with a single press. The stick sits nicely on the shelf at the top of the full-size Unicomp:

Image

Unicomp bought the production rights for the legendary IBM Model M keyboards (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard), which was introduced back in 1984. These are buckling-spring keyboards where a coil spring bends when you press a key, and that spring produces the famous loud "click" with each press. I have one at work and one at home. The Unicomps aren't quite as study as the original IBMs—for example, they have plastic backplates rather than the original metal plates—but I've had both of mine for probably 10 years, and they still work perfectly. These keyboards are known for being darn near indestructible. The downside is that they are pretty noisy and might not be suitable for open work spaces.

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Postby dodint » Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:56 pm

Yeah, that's the stuff.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby dodint » Wed Jan 02, 2019 9:44 am

It's weird how people can perceive time. Stayed up and watched the ball drop on New Years. Laying in bed at 2am trying to fall asleep and am suddenly fully concerned about the bar exam. It's like a switch was flipped when 2019 rolled around and now I see the path I'm on for the next thirteen months with clarity. Hoping to sit for the exam in Feb 2020.

PA is insufferable, though. $115 fee to take the exam on a computer (what is it, 2003?) or else you have to write the essays by hand. This is on top of the minimum $650 fee just to sit for it.

First time test taker pass rate is about 75%. I'm a very good multiple-choice test taker so I'm not worried about the MBE. Just have to sack up and knock out the essays with something that looks like proficiency. I'm trying to decide which prep program to use. In reading some reviews it seems like Kaplan, Themis, and Barbri are all about the same for the MBE and for UBE jurisdictions but start to show their differences when the jurisdiction has a state specific format like PA. Kaplan is garbage but it's provided, 'free' at a cost of $250/semester, by my school. I always thought I would use Barbri and they supposedly have the best state-specific material; but from what I've read their program is hyper-intense and leaves people paranoid and shell-shocked. Lots of folks at my school love Themis products and I"m starting to lean towards them. I'm sitting for the MPRE in March and will use the Themis study program for that (all of the big bar prep providers offer free MPRE prep to hook you onto their specific platform).

So, I went from "I'm going to take the bar exam in 2030 maybe" to "omg, bar exam is in 13 months!" fairly quickly thanks to a renewed interest in JAG work and now there is a bit of pucker factor building. :lol:

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby Shyster » Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:28 pm

Image

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Postby dodint » Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:54 pm

Grades are in and I passed. Actually raised my cumulative GPA a tad. I will never take six classes again, what a ride. :lol:

Two more semesters and I'm done.

Duquesne is a nice enough place. Tiny building for a law school, was really really surprised by that. Really enjoyed attending class there last night and look forward to the rest of the semester and hopefully I can visit again in the fall to take PA Con Law. I missed out on PA Civ Pro when they moved it to day this spring. :(

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby slappybrown » Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:56 pm

Grades are in and I passed. Actually raised my cumulative GPA a tad. I will never take six classes again, what a ride. :lol:

Two more semesters and I'm done.

Duquesne is a nice enough place. Tiny building for a law school, was really really surprised by that. Really enjoyed attending class there last night and look forward to the rest of the semester and hopefully I can visit again in the fall to take PA Con Law. I missed out on PA Civ Pro when they moved it to day this spring. :(
Congrats pal, where would you be in the traditional path? Entering 3L? Or further along? Wasn't sure if you had a light load these last two.

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Thread of legal hubbub

Postby dodint » Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:06 pm

Thanks.

I've been overloading to get the most out of my GI Bill since it ran by time and not load (12 credits is the same as 15, etc). I used it all up this last semester so now I'm paying my own way, scary!

Algebraically 3L starts at ~55 credits in and I've completed 61. So, I'm underway as a 3L.

Typical* law school is 6 semesters. My program is 8 semesters. I accelerated and will graduate in 7 semesters.

*A generalization, doesn't account for summer experiences, etc.

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