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November 29, 2006
"It's Balmier in Buffalo"
Californians are wimps when it comes to weather. Low temperatures are dipping into the 30s at night (which is unseasonably cold), and this produces lead stories in the local paper that "It's Balmier in Buffalo." I'm still able to remember the many, many days in Milwaukee when I was thrilled that the HIGH temperature reached the 30s, so you're not going to hear any complaints from me!
Posted by Eric at 05:39 PM | California Living | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 27, 2006
Beef with a Frank--Gershengorin v. Vienna Beef
Some observant Jews are suing Vienna Beef Hot Dog for extensively marketing that they are 100% beef (and, thus, acceptable for some Jews to eat, even if the hot dogs aren't otherwise strictly kosher), even though allegedly the wholesale ingredients list discloses that the ingredients include pork casing. As a vegetarian, I HATE undisclosed ingredients! My recommendation: next time, skip the meaty hot dogs altogether and go for the tofu dogs.
Posted by Eric at 06:31 PM | Legal Industry , Vegetarian | TrackBack
November 26, 2006
Bob's Pumpkin Farm, Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay is our local pumpkin-picking capital. There are at least a dozen pumpkin farms in the area, most of them straddling Highway 92 as it heads west towards the ocean. These farms range from no-frills pick-your-own farmstands to Lemos Farm, a pumpkin stand on steroids that is closer to amusement park than agriculture. (Lemos Farm is also responsible for causing the near-gridlock on Highway 92 during pumpkin season).
Based on a recommendation from Sunset Magazine, we bypassed all of the options on hectic Highway 92 and went 5 miles south of the 92/1 intersection to Bob's Pumpkin Farm. What a terrific destination! It had all of the standard elements of a pumpkin patch--a hay bale pyramid, a few farm animals, a decent corn maze and lots of varieties of pumpkins and accessories like corn stalks. Bob's also had a great produce stand with farm-fresh fruits and veggies. But what really distinguished Bob's was its setting--it's on the east side of Highway 1, with uninterrupted 180 degree vistas of the Pacific Ocean less than a mile away. This stretch of the coast can be foggy regularly, but on the day we went, we were blessed with 70 degrees and sunny weather right along the coast. There may be nothing more enjoyable than picking pumpkins in shorts and t-shirts while gazing at the million dollar views of the Pacific Ocean where ever you look. Recommended.
(See some photos we took at the farm).
Posted by Eric at 07:23 PM | California Living | TrackBack
November 24, 2006
Jacob Turns 4
Jacob turned four last week. After a birthday party at his school, where he got to wear a crown, we had a birthday party for him in our backyard--it was 70 degrees, sunny and beautiful. At Jacob's request, Lisa made him a "schoolbus cake" using a recipe from the Internet. Lisa's parents flew up from Palm Springs, so you'll see photos of them enjoying our farmer's market (with lots of produce still in season despite being mid-November) and playing with Dina in the pool. See the photos.
Posted by Eric at 02:13 PM | Family & Friends | TrackBack
November 19, 2006
Everyone Loves a Slinky
I haven't had the chance to mine YouTube for good nostalgia, but on further reflection it seems obvious that the slinky commercial already would be posted there.
Posted by Eric at 03:31 PM | Slinky | TrackBack
November 16, 2006
Princess Bride and Jurisprudence
A Wisconsin lawyer is defending a client from charges of "sexual gratification with an animal." But in this case, the deer was dead at the relevant time, so the principal defense is that a dead deer isn't an "animal" as contemplated by the statute (i.e., the law doesn't outlaw sex with a carcass). In support of this argument, the lawyer invokes a reputable secondary authority, the movie Princess Bride, citing the line uttered by Miracle Max (played by Billy Crystal) that "there's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead."
This got me thinking about the number of times that lines from the Princess Bride movie have been cited in judicial opinions. After all, that movie is filled with quotable lines, and my law school roommate and I wasted many, many hours watching the movie and quoting the lines to each other. So, I did a search in Westlaw for the term "Princess Bride" and came up with 2 relevant hits:
1) Westfield Ins. Co. v. Galatis, 100 Ohio St. 3d 216 (Ohio Nov. 5, 2003). In a dissent, Jduge Pfeifer wrote:
{¶ 100} The three sitting justices who are in the majority have all been applauded as practitioners of judicial restraint. As to that restraint, I am reminded of the words of the character Inigo Montoya from the movie "The Princess Bride":
{¶ 101} "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Ouch!
2) Adkins v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., Inc., 1995 WL 704779 (D. Del. Nov. 21, 1995):
FN5. Despite this representation, plaintiffs close their argument against defendants' Rule (9(b) motion with a plea that, should the court find for defendants, plaintiffs be granted leave to amend. The court is hard pressed to see just how plaintiffs could amend, given their position that the provision of a more specific pleading is "inconceivable." The court assumes that in their word choice plaintiffs have succumbed to cinematic hyperbole. See, The Princess Bride (Twentieth Century Fox, 1987).
UPDATE: In the Wisconsin case, the appeal to Princess Bride failed.
Posted by Eric at 02:29 PM | Legal Industry | TrackBack
November 10, 2006
FTC Lawyer Convicted and Disciplined for Using the Office's FedEx Account to Send Personal Mail
From NY Lawyer: Seth Zimmerman was an FTC lawyer and an active eBayer. He actively sold Washington Redskins tickets via eBay--a total of 1,100 sales over the course of 3 years, grossing nearly $100,000 in revenues. After he fell behind in ticket deliveries, he caught up by sending 159 FedEx packages of tickets using the office FedEx number, costing the federal government almost $2,000 (FedEx also claimed that the hefty federal government discount meant it had almost $4,000 of foregone revenue). For this, he pled guilty to criminal theft and got a 1 year suspended prison sentence; and the attorney disciplinary board has recommended disbarment. There is a fine line between theft and the tolerated personal use of some office services/supplies. Using office resources to run an eBay business appears to cross that line.
Posted by Eric at 10:10 AM | Legal Industry | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 09, 2006
Law School Exam-Taking Tips for First Year Law Students
In October 2004, I gave a talk to Marquette first years about taking law school exams. I thought it would be useful to share my notes from that talk:
Preparing for the Exam
1. Learn how to take law school exams
2. Determine how the professor will evaluate the course
• open book v. closed book
• multiple choice v. checklist v. holistic
3. Do every sample exam you can
• If the professor doesn’t make sample exams available, ask for them!
Taking the Exam
4. Manage your time
• Allocate time in accordance with points
• Don’t freak out
[For essay exams]
5. Spend extra time issue-spotting
• Mix it up with the facts
6. Invest in organization
• Put your strongest arguments first
7. Answer all questions asked
• Don’t answer a question that wasn’t asked
• Don’t answer the question from the wrong perspective
8. If you are uncertain about the facts or the law, state your assumptions and discuss both ways
9. Don’t brain-dump
• Cutting and pasting costs the professor's confidence
• More words aren’t better; it’s about the right words
10. Be accurate with the law and the terms
11. If you’re handwriting, write legibly
After the Exam
12. Move on and don’t compare notes
13. After grading is completed, review every exam to learn what you did right and what you can improve
14. Recognize the poor correlation between grades and anything that matters
Posted by Eric at 02:50 PM | Legal Education Industry | TrackBack
November 03, 2006
Halloween Photos
Photos from our trip to Bob's Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay (more on that soon), the obligatory Dina-with-chocolate-face photos, and other goodies here.
Posted by Eric at 09:35 PM | Family & Friends | TrackBack