Corp Reform - Not Tort Reform

Twitterlanch… - UPDATED

Not sure what prompted it, but four people have begun following me in the last hour.  All with legal backgrounds – has someone just published a list of all the “legal types” who twitter?  For those who care, my twitter name is justinianlane, and my Spotjots name is justinian.  Spotjots is like twitter, but with GPS.

Technorati Tags: Twitter,Spotjots,Justinian Lane

Yes, there was a published list.  Check out “145 legal professionals to follow on twitter.”

I had to make conservative arguments

I’m taking a very interesting class on Food and Drug law, and one of the assignments is to debate policy choices.  I was assigned the opposite position of what I would normally take, and ended up having to argue:

• The cost of saving lives didn’t justify the cost;
• Consumers can choose to buy less-expensive, less-safe products;
• If consumers wanted safer products, the market would provide them.

I can’t wait to go take a shower.

Technorati Tags: FDA,Justinian Lane,Michigan State University,Food and Drug Law

First Thoughts on Google’s Chrome

I downloaded it a few hours ago.  Here are my thoughts:

• It’s fast.  Seems faster at rendering pages than IE, Firefox, or Opera.
• The most-used-tabs is a blatant rip off of of Opera. 
• I like the incognito mode.
• I love how it opens all links as a new tab.  I flippin hate it when a browser opens a new window.
• Flash worked out of the box.  Nice.
• Didn’t see any rendering errors on any sites.

Technorati Tags: Google Chrome,Chrome

I’m not going to say I had a lot of absences in Property Law…

…but I managed to be absent on the day this picture was taken.  Can you guess where I sat?

Technorati Tags: MSU Law,Michigan State University,Justinian Lane

Back in Michigan

I’m finally back in Michigan and will be back on the blog scene tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.  The trip was long, boring, and uneventful.  I think the coolest thing I saw was a cigarette store called “The Butt Hut.” 

Law school starts up again in about two weeks, and I’m enthusiastically looking forward to a course on Food and Drug Law.  I wonder how much we’ll talk Levine and preemption. 

I’m behind in my e-mail, so give me a few days to catch up… got something like 570 unread mails now. 

Large law firms = teh suck. Or, “Why I want to work for a plaintiffs’ firm.”

This from one of the new guys at ATL:

Being a junior associate at a large law firm is not very fulfilling. You're not even really a lawyer; you're a low-level corporate employee with legal knowledge. Go try a case or counsel somebody with a problem. You'll undoubtedly wonder why you ever cared about this week.

Source: Above the Law - A Legal Tabloid - News, Gossip, and Colorful Commentary on Law Firms and the Legal Profession - OCI Open Thread Follow-Up

Before I decided to get into law, I did computers.  I worked for quite a few law firms, and the ones I liked working for the best were the smaller shops.  Big law firms seemed to me like nothing more than corporate gigs.  And it only took me a few years working for “the man” to discover that I hate corporate gigs… all that stuffy hierarchy and pompousness just grates on my nerves. 

The point of the ATL post is about “On Campus Interviews” and how stressful it can be for 2L’s.  Well, not me.  I’m not stressing one bit.  Of course, that’s because there’s not a single firm coming to my campus that I would consider working for.  Ok, I think a couple of prosecutor offices are coming to my school, and I’d work for them for the trial experience… but not at the salary they generally offer.  That, and I’d have a real tough time prosecuting people for crimes that I don’t think are “big deals.” 

But with respect to defense firms – I just hate the attitude they all seem to have.  It just reminds me of in the new Batman when Joker does the whole “Why so serious?” thing.  I remember working as a consultant at one firm where all of the lawyers were addressed by the staff as Mr. Smith or Mr. Jones, or whatever.  Maybe I’m weird, but I couldn’t work with a secretary day in and day out for years and still be Mr. Lane.  My father isn’t even Mr. Lane; he’s always had his secretarial staff refer to him by his first name.  And he’s about as old school as it gets, since he started practicing law in 1964. 

So are there any defense firms that have casual dress and where everyone’s on a first-name basis?  And are there any plaintiffs firms that make the lawyers wear suits and where attorneys are Mr. or Ms. so and so?  Just curious if you readers know of any.

Ernie The Attorney Obviously Hasn’t Seen the Blackberry Bold or the Thunder

He boldly proclaims that the iPhone will eventually become the dominant smartphone:

I remember what the first generation iPods looked like compared to what's available now. This iPhone is in its second generation and is already a very impressive device. In 3 or 4 years the iPhone will probably be the dominant smartphone. The Blackberry folks have to be worried.

Source: Ernie The Attorney: New iPhone arrived

I’ve always thought that the iPhone is for people who can’t “man up” and buy a real smartphone like a Blackberry.  I wouldn’t trade my 8820 for two iPhone 3G’s and an Ipod.  Blackberry fanboys unite!

Technorati Tags: Blackberry,iPhone,fanboy,Ernie the Attorney

I am the happy victim of a defective Gillette Fusion Razor

The thing’s gotta be defective.  I’ve been shaving (3+ times a week) since late last year with the same blade, and it still works perfectly.  Maybe Gillette will buy it from me so they can figure out what they did wrong.  All the other blades in the box lasted one or two months, tops.  But this one just won’t die.  I think when it eventually does get dull, I’ll bury it.

Technorati Tags: Gillette,razors,Gillette Fusion,defective products,awesome razors

Poland apparently kicks ass.

The cops run the street races there.  Sounds like I need to take a trip to Europe.

LODZ, Poland — People drag-race on the main avenue here in broad daylight, and the police just stand by and watch. That is, until the commissioner steps up to hand trophies to the winners.

Throughout Poland, ownership of cars and interest in racing have grown rapidly.

Gleaming BMW M3 sports cars mingle with souped-up speedsters incognito in the form of stubby Fiats — and everything in between. “Are you kidding me? Suzuki never made a blue engine,” one of the organizers shouted, after popping a car’s hood during the prerace inspection.

A newly flush Poland has a new hobby, cars, and the faster, the better. Nowhere is that more clear than here in the country’s second most populous city, where municipal officials struggled in recent years to deal with an explosion in the number of illegal races on public streets and a raft of complaints from residents nearly driven off the road by them.

Source: Lodz Journal - Where Racing Is Fast and Police Aren’t Furious - NYTimes.com

Wonder how much shipping is on a Trans-Am...

Technorati Tags: Poland,Street Racing,Europe

I wish I was a rich trial lawyer... check out this watch

Man, I want one.

Carbon fiber is being used in a number of high-end watches, like the Bell & Ross watches we’ve written about in the past. It’s a unique feature that allows a watchmaker to differentiate themselves from other companies. That’s where designer John Pszeniczny comes into play for his Montre F1/Carbon GMT watch concept which he designed:

The watch is inspired by an F1 car, utilizing a variety of materials you’d find on the car itself; rubber, carbon fiber, and metal. On top of that, you’ll find Swarovski crystals, and 18 rubies that represent the 18 different F1 tracks around the world. Speaking of the 18 F1 tracks, the digital display can show the time at any of those tracks. On top of that, it also features a lap time function and a stopwatch.

This unique piece will run you well into the 5 figure range. I’ve read anywhere from $20,000-$40,000.

Source: Jewelry : Carbon Fiber Gear

They're probably all gonna be scooped up by hedge fund managers.

Technorati Tags: carbon fiber,watches,money