Potential Moot Court Tool - SCOTUS Blog

Two of the best resources for monitoring the USSC are the SCOTUS Blog and SCOTUS Wiki. The blog is great for keeping you up to date: use the RSS feed or your iGoogle feed application. The wiki links to the original documents filed in the case. The two are joined at the hip: the blog generally links to the wiki page where the documents are maintained.

Here's an example to consider. Just this last semester one of the LP sections had an assignment that involved an issue about impeachment evidence that was illegally obtained. That issue was eventually resolved when the USSC heard the case of Kansas v. Ventris and entered its decision. Not only was the progress of the case through the USSC tracked by blog posts, all of the relevant documents were posted on the wiki along with a recap and analysis of the oral argument and the decision.

Dressing for Moot Court - Sort Of

How should you dress for oral argument? The 7th Circuit (the same people that brought you the 7th Circuit Meltdown) have some suggestions about what is not appropriate. And, here to make their usual cynical observations about the 7th Circuit judges is an Above the Law posting.

Judge McCuskey's observations make interesting reading.

New Article on Oral Advocacy for Moot Court

Check out the new article on moot court written by James Dimitri as part of the Stetson Law School Center for Excellence in Advocacy Symposium: Stepping Up to the Podium with Confidence: A Primer for Law Students on Preparing and Delivering an Appellate Oral Argument, 38 Stetson Law Review 75 (2008). You can find it on Westlaw at 38 STETLR 75 or on Lexis at 38 Stetson L. Rev. 75. The original working paper is available on SSRN. The abstract is here. Just follow the links to the full paper.

This article is a true primer; quite useful for making sure you've covered the basics. Take a good look at the "brainstorming" section. This is a step that many students skip.

A note of explanation: Symposia issue are often published long after the fact. This symposium was held in 2008. The article is just now being published. This can often be a key factor when trying to find an article specifically written for a symposium.

7th Circuit Oral Argument Meltdown

Here's an example of what can happen when you completely misjudge your case, your audience, yourself... Follow this link to the 7th Circuit oral argument page for the case of U.S. v. Johnson. Then follow the hyperlink "Oral Argument" to the audio file to see just how bad things can get.

After counsel's attempt at oral argument, the case went on to be decided; the full opinion appears at 123 Fed.Appx. 240, 2005 WL 589976 (2005).

Souter to Leave USSC

This became news late last night. Here is a sampler from some of the sources this blog follows:

The NYTimes - Souter Retiring Leaving Obama a Choice.

The SCOTUS Blog - Justice Souter's Retirement and Where We Go from Here.

Above The Law - ATL Poll: Who Should Replace SCOTUS Justice David Souter? The usual snarky comment ATL is known for? Check it out right here...

That the next Supreme Court justice will lack a Y chromosome is a virtual certainty, but we've thrown a few token males into the poll anyway. Who strikes your fancy?

But, here's the best from a surprising source - GAWKER - Rush Limbaugh Saw Obama's Top SCOTUS Candidate Coming Years Ago. Wow! What prescience from the Big Guy...

Tip of the hat to Roberta on the Gawker story...

Ventris v. Kansas Opinion Issued

It's right here courtesy of a link from the SCOTUS Blog Orders and Opinions page.

The SCOTUS Blog continues to be one of the best sources for keeping track of what's happening at the USSC. The entire case of Ventris v. Kansas can be viewed here on the wiki page. Virtually every document filed with the court is available as is insightful analysis. Access to the information is free.

For years the "gold standard" in keeping up with events at the USSC has been BNA's U.S. Law Week. You have to wonder about the continued viability of that business model in the face of SCOTUS Blog.

West Changes Keys, Topics

According to the latest West elert Newsletter, the Key Number system has been changed yet again. There has been a reclassification of over 300,000 headnotes, two new topics added (Privileged Communications and Protection of Endangered Persons), a total revision of four more topics (Convicts, Prisons, Disorderly Conduct, and Products Liability), and one topic has been removed (Breach of the Peace is now subsumed by Disorderly Conduct).

Researchers still complain about the antiquated headings for the Key Number system but it seems obvious that West is sincere in their attempts to stay current.

Who Is To Blame In Stevens Case?

Apparently, there is plenty of blame to go around. The NYTimes story from this morning mentions several possibilities. Prosecutorial misconduct knows many fathers. First, there are the attorneys themselves. Did they forget about Brady v. Maryland? Did they take Criminal Procedure in law school?

Next, there are the supervising attorneys, the top attorney-managers of the Public Integrity Division of the DOJ. By letting their subordinates act without supervision, they compounded the problem

Finally, there is the AG himself, Michael Mukasey. Ultimately everything your employees do comes back to the head of the organization. In this case, of course, it looks like Mukasey didn't bother to answer inquiries from head defense counsel, Brendan Sullivan. This was a real mistake. Anyone with a sense of history will remember Sullivan at the Oliver North hearings where he lost his temper and made the now famous "I am not a potted plant" statement. It can be dangerous not to respond to attorneys like Sullivan.

Law Shucks Layoff Tracker

Interested in the current legal employment situation? Of course you are. Although depressing reading the Law Shucks Blog seems to be right on top of the recent trends. Check out the Layoff Tracker here.

One of the worrisome trends is the ratio of staff layoffs to attorney layoffs. A good rule of thumb is two staff employees (e.g., paralegal, secretarial, accounting) to one attorney. Attorneys can always prepare their own pleadings and correspondence; but, it takes talented staff to support the practice of law.

Prosecutorial Hubris

See it all unravel here.