SBM Blog

Oakland County Bar Wins Prestigious National Award

The Oakland County Bar Association's Pro Bono Mentor Match Program has won the LexisNexis Community & Educational Outreach Award for outstanding bar public service and law-related education programs. OCBA partnered with the Family Law Assistance Project and Legal Aid & Defender Association to engage new lawyers in providing assistance to the poor, mentored by attorneys with seven or more years' experience.  The award will be presented during the National Association of Bar Executives' Annual Meeting in Toronto.

The Journeyman Lawyer -- New Career Path?

Monday's New York Times' business page featured a story, At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner, describing the new associate levels cropping up at some big NYC law firms.  The positions pay annual salaries in the range of $65,000 a year -- a fraction of partner-track positions -- but also come without the grueling work schedule that characterizes traditional associate positions.  The story notes that this new two-track system probably saves jobs from going offshore and offers a more family-friendly lifestyle than the typical BigLaw paradigm. Brad Wendel at Legal Ethics Forum says "it's about time."

Watching the Michigan Supreme Court from Russia

The changes to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct concerning advertising announced last week are beginning to grab the attention of Michigan lawyers, as well they should. The new rule, which takes effect September 1, drew strenuous and detailed criticism before publication from the bar, and dissents from three of the Justices at publication.  Justice Markman, for example, predicted that the changes will fail to help consumers while placing small law firms at an increasing economic disadvantage to large law firms.

Turns out that interest the changes is even more wide-ranging than you would expect -- the service that registers what our readers are viewing and how they got there has registered a reader from Russia who not only read the post but translated it.  If you want to test your Russian skills, the translation follows.

A Banner Week for Department of Justice Introspection

First, Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal criticizes the conduct of a former Solicitor General, Charles Fahy, for his handling of the Korematsu case.  Then, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales questions the conduct of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, for failure to ensure that DOJ hiring was free of political considerations in its hiring of interns:

"Obviously everyone is smarter in hindsight. In hindsight you wish you would do some things differently and ... I feel disappointment in myself."

The BLT says the statement came during a deposition last September in a suit brought on behalf of applicants who were rejected for the internship program for political or ideological reasons.

Everything Going for Him -- Except a Law License

From the Chillicothe Gazette, the sad story of a 35-year old former school board President and member of the state school board association who practiced law in Kentucky for five years.  Problem was, he didn't have a law license.  Further complicating matters, his name, "Kelly Fulmer," could easily be confused with the the name of a real Kentucky attorney, William Kelly Fulmer II.

The school district website listed the pretend-lawyer-Fulmer as a "Michigan Law School" graduate. News stories appear to agree that he was one semester shy of graduation from some Michigan law school, but are unclear about which one.  Fulmer pled guilty today to one count of felony theft by deception for accepting money for legal services and three counts of unauthorized practice of law, a misdemeanor.

Changing Courts: Thinking Out of the Crate

The Judicial Crossroads Task Force Report on changes that will transform Michigan's courts points to the need for spreading new problem-solving techniques throughout the state, for better outcomes and savings.  Here's a new one, as described in a Free Press story: "Court Dog Offers Hope, Help to Veterans Facing Legal Trouble."

Real Life Motion in Limine About Breasts, Straight Out of Rumpole of the Bailey

From Chicago, the irresistible story of an honest-to-goodness motion to exclude a large-breasted woman from sitting at opposing counsel’s table because, says the motion, her sole purpose is to serve as a jury distraction. (If this is a hoax, the AP and the ABA Journal were both fooled.)

Jezebel has the motion, which reads in pertinent part:  

MOTION IN LIMINE (Presence of Plaintiff's Counsel's Companion at Counsel's Table at Trial).

Now Comes your Defendant, Exotic Motors, by and through their attorneys, Gauthier & Gooch, and as for their Motion as aforesaid states to the Court as follows:

1. That Defendant's counsel is anecdotally familiar with the tactics and theatrics of Plaintiff's counsel, [redacted]. Such behavior includes having a large breasted woman sit next to him at counsel's table during the course of the trial. There is no evidence whatsoever that this woman has any legal training whatsoever, and the sole purpose of her presence at Plaintiff's Counsel's table is to draw the attention of the jury away from the relevant proceedings before this court, obviously prejudicing the Defendant's in this or any other cause. Until it is shown that this woman has any sort of legal background, she should be required to sit in the gallery with the rest of the spectators and be barred from sitting at counsel's table during the course of this trial.

Where to begin?   For now, just noting the presence of the rare double "whatsoever" in the third sentence.

Perp Walk Culture Shock, Part Deux

For how the shock of seeing Dominique Strauss-Kahn in handcuffs (French law prohibits the media from displaying such images) is playing out in Paris's tonier salons, read The New Yorker's Paris Postcard: Strauss-Kahnikov.

Perp Walk Culture Shock is here.

Indiana Supreme Court Decision Provokes Death Threats Against Court and Cops

The Indianapolis Star reports that a May 12 Supreme Court decision holding that residents have no right to resist a police officer's illegal entry of an Indiana home has generated email and phone death threats against the Court and the State Police. Here's the opinion (PDF), published May 12.  A spokesperson for the Court told the Star, "I would say this is uncommon."  Let's hope.

U of M Settles Case with Former Professor for $550K

Ann Arbor.com is reporting that the University of Michigan will pay $550,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former non-tenured Pediatrics professor, Andrei Borisov, who the University had "banned for life" from campus.  The campus ban policy has been challenged by the Michigan ACLU and is under review. Inside Higher Ed reports on the story in "A Mess at Michigan."  Deborah Gordon and Sarah Prescott represented Borisov.

The University's website has a public apology (PDF) that acknowledges that "more fully articulated procedures and expectations may have led to a more positive outcome for all parties."