RSS FeedCanada Goes for Another Hockey Gold
Hot on the heels of the victorious Canadian women’s hockey team is the men’s team, which is aiming for its own hockey gold. The game against the rival United States promises to be an Olympic classic!
Beginning at 12:15 p.m. PST (3:15 p.m. EST), you can watch USA v. Canada online at CTV’s Olympics website. The site offers full HD streaming video, which is perfect for me, since I don’t have a TV. The link to the video is here.
And since this is a law blog, I’ll see if I can do a haphazard legal tie-in to end this post.
If you ever had any doubt that hockey was one of Canada’s true national sports — not just lacrosse — check out the National Sports of Canada Act, S.C. 1994, c. 16. The Act provides:
2. The game commonly known as ice hockey is hereby recognized and declared to be the national winter sport of Canada and the game commonly known as lacrosse is hereby recognized and declared to be the national summer sport of Canada.
Another sign that Canadians are obsessed with hockey: have a look at how many times “hockey” comes up on a CanLII case law search. I come up with over 7000 results, beginning with a case called Hockey v. Hockey from the BC Court of Appeal. You can’t get much more Canadian than that!!
Go Team Canada!
The Other Google Spot, and Florida Divorce Attorneys
Google’s ad last night attracted quite a bit of attention.
Kenneth Corbin of Internet News said,
For Google, Super Bowl Sunday was something of a departure.
In the third quarter of the game, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) aired a nearly full-minute ad promoting its search engine, marking one of the few television appearances for the company that rarely advertises and its first spot during a Super Bowl.
At it happens, the ad, “Parisian Love,” had been online for several months, posted on Google’s “Search Stories” page on YouTube where it has been viewed more than a million times.
Dan Goldgeier of AdPulp points out that so has this parody from Slate:
Florida divorce attorneys almost make the cut. Is Google trying to tell us something? Is Slate?
h/t Paull Young
Vinny Guadagnino, Coming Soon to a Law School Near You?
Vinny Guadagnino of MTV’s Jersey Shore might be a future member of the bar.
See more on WSJ and US Magazine.
Former AG of NB, “Pants on the Ground”
T.J. Burke, the former Attorney-General of New Brunswick, made this interesting statement to the Legislature recently:
Burke resigned from Cabinet in July of last year to practice law, but remained a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
If you still have no idea what Burke is talking about, you have to see this episode of American Idol.
7 Police Myths Perpetuated by Media
Cezary Jan Strusiewicz of Cracked has the 7 Bullshit Police Myths Everyone Believes (Thanks to Movies):
#7.
Forensic Science is Magic
#6.
The Insanity Defense Lets You Get Away With Murder
#5.
Not Talking To Cops Equals Obstruction of Justice
#4.
Undercover Cops Have To Identify Themselves If Asked
#3.
Tracing a Call Takes a Long Time
#2.
Criminals Must Be Read Their Miranda Rights or They Will Go Free
#1.
Everyone Gets One Free Phone Call
(n.b. it’s American law, for interest sake only)
ABC’s The Deep End
The stories of young associates in big law firms are legendary among law students, and it seems there’s enough fodder her for a television sitcom. Starting January 21, 2010, ABC is launching The Deep End, which follows the careers of five lawyers in Los Angeles.
Check out the interview with David Hemingway, the lawyer who quit his career to write and produce the show, on Bitter Lawyer.
New Bob Marley Brand “House of Marley,” Heirs Take Steps To Protect Father’s Legacy
First posted on Commercial Law International on Jan 7, 2010.
“Old pirates, yes they rob I.”
The opening words to Redemption Song are as hard hitting now as they were when first bellowed by the iconic musical legend – Bob Marley - years ago. These words however may be taking on a new meaning in this era digitization and globalization where information is king. This era is all about IP – Intellectual Property – and the right to access, control and exploit for ones own benefit the concepts encapsulated within creativity.
As a matter of course the Brand – how you package and sell your IP, in fact branding itself becomes a form of IP – in this era becomes of great import. In fact one could argue that brand is not the everything but is the only thing. Consumers no longer simply buy a product or service – no, no – rather they are buying a brand.
Now this brings me to the House of Marley. The heirs of Bob Marley – the holders of the exclusive rights to the reggae superstar’s image – are drawing clear battle lines in the IP war on whom can access, control and exploit Marley’s iconic status. They have enlisted the aid of Canadian private equity firm Hilco Consumer Capital to package, manage, market, sell, monitor and protect the IP that is Bob Marley through the products sold under the new House of Marley brand.
Rather than attack the hawkers of existing wears, which would result in a multiplicity of protracted legal battles spread-out across the globe, Hilco and the House of Marley have instead embarked on a branding campaign. It is quite simple, the House of Marley will be authentic and all other comers will only be imitators – a potentially very lucrative strategy, if it can be pulled off.
According to reports, the Marley brand – name, sound and image – are estimated to generate $USD 600 million in a year and this is on the bootleg side alone. On the legal side, the brand generates a profitable but substantially smaller $USD 4 million a year.
With numbers like those no wonder the Marley heirs sought out and gained a partner like Hilco with a proven reputation in IP generally and branding specifically?
While I applauded this new venture, I can’t help but how long will it be before we see a court case or two? Maybe a few Anton Piller orders – best described but somewhat inaccurately as a civil search warrant, that feature so prominently in IP cases – or maybe the odd Mareva injunction – a court order freezing assets -?
The reason why I am thinking this is that it is impossible to escape the fact that branding – intellectual propertization – eventually means not only the allocation of exclusive rights but also the enforcement of those rights.
Top Ten DUIs of the Decade
Check Points has the Top Ten DUIs for the Decade:
* Academy Award nominee Nick Nolte was arrested in September 2002 when highway patrol pulled him over for erratic driving in Malibu. Nolte was described by officers as “drooling” and “completely out of it.” Nolte had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, once referring to himself as a “functioning drunk,” according to CBS News.
* Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan, formerly of Saturday Night Live, had a blood–alcohol level of .13 when he was arrested in Hollywood in December 2005. Morgan was given three years of probation as a result of the DUI offense, and had to attend an alcohol education program, according to an Associated Press report.
* Canadian rock group Nickleback’s front man, Chad Kroeger, was arrested for DUI in British Columbia in June 2006, according to the Canadian Press. Kroeger was pulled over for “excessive speeding and erratic driving,” while in his $175,000 Lamborghini. After the arrest, Kroeger’s main concern was how his car was to be transported home. The officers allowed him to make arrangements and stay with the car until he was sure it would make it safely back to his house.
* In July 2006, actor Mel Gibson was arrested for DUI in California. He also reportedly had an open container in his car, according to CNN. Gibson’s DUI arrest was made memorable after he was reported to have made anti-Semitic and sexist comments, for which he later apologized. Gibson’s DUI has since been expunged.
* Child star Haley Joel Osment, famous for his roles in The Sixth Sense and A.I., was charged with DUI in July 2006. According to People Magazine, Osment crashed his car into a mailbox and flipped over. He was charged with the possession of marijuana and for being under the age of 21 with a .05 blood-alcohol level. Osment was 18 years old at the time.
* Paris Hilton: Singer, actress, comedian, heiress, arrestee? According to MSNBC, Hilton was on her way to In-N-Out Burger after having not eaten all day when she was pulled over and arrested for DUI in September 2006. The heiress said of her DUI arrest, “It was nothing,” and her publicist said he doubted it would hurt her reputation – if anything, it seems like it made her more famous.
* Nicole Richie, star of TV’s “The Simple Life,” was arrested for DUI in California in December 2006. According to an ABC News report, Richie was driving alone in her Mercedes SUV. Officers picked her up after receiving 911 calls about a car driving on the wrong side of the expressway. At the time of her arrest, Richie was said to be 5′1″ and weighed just 85 pounds.
* In July 2007 in Santa Monica, Calif., Lindsay Lohan was booked in jail for a DUI investigation after a 911 call from a woman who was allegedly being chased by Lohan’s SUV. This arrest occurred only two weeks after the actress left rehab, according to a Fox News report. Lohan was unable to pass a field sobriety test at the time of her arrest.
* Comedian and former Saturday Night Live cast member, Bill Murray, was traveling abroad in Sweden when was seen driving around in a golf cart in August 2007. Murray was never convicted, according to CBS News, but he refused a breathalyzer when Swedish authorities pulled him over, so they required a blood test. Officials said prison was unlikely, but the actor faced a fine. No one knows where the golf cart came from, but officials asserted that there were no theft charges against the actor.
* The star of the hit TV series “24″, Kiefer Sutherland, was arrested in Hollywood in September 2007 on suspicion of DUI. After making an illegal U-turn, the actor was pulled over by LAPD officials and failed a field sobriety test, according to People Magazine. This was Sutherland’s second DUI arrest of the decade (the first was in 2004), so he served mandatory jail time.
I Never Knew Hustlers Confessed in Stereo
Over 13 years ago Jeru Da Damaja warned wannabe gangsters in Wrath of the Math,
I never knew hustlers, confessed in stereo.
Or on video,
get caught you’ll know who turned State’s Evidence,
murder weapon, confession and fingerprints.
Mama always said watch what comes out your mouth.
Tight case for the DA from here to down South.
Knowledge wisdom understanding like King Solomon’s wealth.
You’re a player but only because you be playin yourself.
Jah-Youth Sutton probably wasn’t paying attention in 1996 as a 7-year old out in Jersey when this track first broke.
He probably should have when he posted a video on YouTube, where he was laughing at a mother crying at the morgue, talking about his hollow tip bullets, and threatening presumed rival gangs while extensively pointing gang signs at the camera.
Sutton was out on bail for the alleged murder of Darius Powell, 20, pistol-whipping him to death when in 2006, when he was only 17.
Circuit Judge Kenneth R. Melvin was not impressed during sentencing yesterday. Sutton was given 25 years’ active time, 18 years suspended, and 10 years’ supervised probation.
Let’s hope his supervision includes his YouTube channel.
Interogation Tricks You Should Never Fall For
As a sequel to Why You Should Never Talk to the Police, we bring you these interrogation tricks from HBO’s The Wire,
Blawg Review #228
If you’re just starting law school, law blawgs can be your best friend. In addition to this site, here are 99 other blog posts that you should read to help prepare for your adventure. It won’t help you though if you’re a judge about to be tested.
Most law students want to be in the top 10-15% of their class, and there are career opportunities that depend on that. Ken DeLeon of Top-law-schools.com provides some tips for success in law school, including a handy flowchart on how to prepare for your law school exams. But keep in mind that the end of the billable hour might result in some changes to your legal education, and law students have different learning styles than the rest of the population.
Still applying to law school? An undergraduate degree in physics or math might be your best option to get a solid LSAT score. Remember that these days a law career is considered a risky option, and there are lawyers in Jersey actually working for free. Where else is success defined by more work (even for less pay), and not more recreational or family time? Larry Ribstein still thinks law school is the cool choice. But is it really worth it?
On the other hand you could elect to skip your classes, get intoxicated regularly, sleep with all the members of the opposite sex, gain a reputation as being a total douche bag, and then score a book and movie deal.
Introducing Tucker Max – asshole extraordinaire – a graduate of Duke Law that claims assholes finish first.
An inspiring personality, certainly, and an approach that John Infante of Fearfully Optimistic would definitely disagree with. It does make you wonder how many Dukes are faking the Daisy to hazard “celebrity bias.” The Bitter Lawyer has an exclusive interview with Tucker that is, at the very least, amusing.
Then again, “skipping classes, playing basketball, doing cocaine and getting drunk” might help you become President of the United States – but eventually someone might start asking for your law school transcripts. None of this is likely to come up during the President’s special advice to students tomorrow (Sept. 8). An open and transparent government, perhaps, but not that open. Reality check: the last refuge of the persecuted crack smoker may not be in law school.
Hey, “Some people snort cocaine, others snort religion,” and the latter is not necessarily better. The Exit at My Legal Fiction suggests wearing lipstick as a law school study aid, for some very compelling reasons. If you’re a missionary in Kenya, please don’t vow to go to law school out of religious convictions, unless you’re going to a low-ranking religious-affiliated law school. Happy Belated Todd, but I won’t be paying $25,000 for dinner any time soon.
Still, your biggest youthful indiscretion might be going to law school itself (and graduating at the bottom of your class hardly precludes success). If your indiscretions precede law school and include a criminal record, there are some disclosure issues you should consider. Using stolen Social Security Numbers to steal student loans for partying, with Tucker, Todd, or otherwise, probably isn’t a great idea. Assistant Deans at law schools? Not a good idea either.
Robert J. Ambrogi also tells us about Branigan Robertson of Chapman University School of Law, who won $10,000 for this video in the My Inspiration video contest:
These law students are doing better than a lot of lawyers these days. When life gives you lemons (or a recession), you should just make lemonade. Dan Markel is asking, what kind of juice are you making?
On the other hand, if you’re looking to avoid personalities like Tucker Max at all costs, you might be interested in Above the Law’s Douchiest Law School Contest.
No surprise that Harvard and Duke are currently heading the pack as finalists. Also check out Paul Caron’s review of U.S. News Law School Rankings for Judicial Clerkships, which includes data from Brian Leiter’s rankings. If douchiness turns you off of Yale and clerkships are really important to you, the University of North Dakota might be a good alternative. However, great credentials don’t always make more satisfied lawyers, because these guys tend to be plagued by that green-eyed monster.
Charon QC’s musings might be useful in determining if a “douchy law school” is worse than a “McDonalds of law schools,” while Dan Slater of the NYTimes suggests just locking the doors to all law schools because there are too few hiring positions. Still having a hard time picking a law school? The iPhone app Law School 100 is free until midnight tonight (Sept. 7). Study aids are becoming more interactive, with West’s new Interactive Case Series now linking to directly to law review articles cited in the case series.
Keep in mind that law school is different than undergrad, and you should probably clean up those social networks you’re on. After all, you wouldn’t want your mom witnessing you pulling a Tucker Max, and some employers might require you to submit your social media for a background check. Social media is also being increasingly being used in the courtroom, and no, the judge doesn’t really want to be your “friend.” Don’t get rid of that social media entirely though, because “People don’t find lawyers in the phone book… They find them through TV ads or friends or by searching the Internet, including blogs and social networking tools.”
Apparently what clients really want from their lawyer is to “feel the love,” so if someone comes to your office complaining they hurt their “tushy bone,” try not to laugh too hard. Be forewarned though – that volenti non fit injuria doctrine you learn in Torts class also applies to contracting Herpes Simplex I from wrestling, also known as Herpes Gladiatorium.
That’s probably not what Lauren in Law School had in mind when she suggested gladiator games as an alternative to On Campus Interviews (OCIs). You can get a list of the guys in your university with herpes from the new Campus Gossip site just to be on the safe side.
Although the number of followers you have on Twitter is no sign of of expertise or influence, it might land you a job (or lose it) with a firm or get you published, even if Perz Hilton decides to sue you for defamation. No “love” (or wrestling) for him, sorry. Some people do take Twitter seriously, perhaps too seriously.
Eric Goldman’s interview with David Lat highlights the importance of students networking during a crisis. Dennis Jansen also thinks that networking with your peers might be useful, but consists of more than “beaming your peers with business cards or mass-adding people on Facebook and LinkedIn.” As popular as Wordpress may be for blogs, it just might not be for your law firm, and you even might be held liable for content on your site to a tune of $32.4 million.
The Law Society or State Bar is probably not going to like it if you steal other people’s Twitter content and pass it off as your own, like Melina Beninghoff did . Stealing content doesn’t take brilliance, and it barely takes effort. What is clever is coming up with this CraigsList listing from Los Angeles. But is stolen content any worse than fake content?
Today is also Labour (sic) Day in Canada and the U.S. That’s the Canadian spelling, because Labour Day did originate in Canada in 1872 with the Trade Unions Act, which legalized unions. The United States followed in 1882 with informal observance in New York City, and by 1894 it was observed by 23 states through legislation. Still, it was the American President Lincoln, not a Canadian, who said in December 1881,
It is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor…
Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not existed.
Although most Canadian law schools start the day after Labour Day, many Americans start a week or two earlier. According to Blawg Review 122 it seems that in Dublin they start as late as October, but it might just be that everyone (students and profs) are recovering from prolonged hang-overs.
Labour relations are highly relevant for this edition of Blawg Review, since law professors at the University of California are considering a walk-out despite having the “best public education in the world.” Perhaps they could use this list of 24 alternative mediation dispute resolution sites to read.
Maybe they should just settle this all over a beer. Then again, those Canadian brewers are at it again with their trade-mark litigation! Next time someone tells you “I Am Canadian,” you might want to do your due diligence.
The big thing up here in Canada right now is Copyright Consultation Reform. Although over-reaching legislation is great for the lawyers, it does little for end-users of copyright material. If you’re one of those folks with a keen attention for cyberspace cases, this new blog following the 10 most important U.S. cases will probably be of interest.
But the big thing about Canada in the U.S. right now seems to be our healthcare system, which we’re rather partial to, despite what they mights say (Ignore those pesky suits). Send us your gladiators with herpes, and your perdurable impetus. All that talk over at Volokh about a “lottery system” can only be described as nonsense.
(At 1:53 Glenn Beck repeats lottery libel, and at 3:21 yells at a caller to get off his phone, “you little pinhead,” for not listening to the “facts.” The remix is even funnier.)
Although she acknowledges that healthcare reform is needed, Althouse has 10 things she hates about it. Change is always hard due to “status quo bias.” Madeleine Begun Kane has a limerick she wrote just for the spats over healthcare in the U.S. (watch your pinkies!):
“Majority rule is just great,”
Said Gregg in the drilling debate.
“You’ve got 51 votes,
Then you win.” Check his quotes.
Yet 51 Dem votes don’t rate.
Seeking medical treatment is probably the first thing you should do after a car accident, irrespective of whether it occurs in Canada or the U.S. Passen Law provides 9 other things you should do, including, of course, getting an experienced personal injury lawyer.
Another thing we have in Canada absent in the U.S. is a prohibition against the death penalty. Perhaps the fact that 45% of wrongful convictions in capital cases are based on jailhouse snitches has something to do with it. Mark Bennett of Defending People points out the interesting observation that a Texan executioner appears to be committing murder by that state’s law,
…would you participate in a death penalty trial, knowing that, for the rest of your life, with the turn of a tide of public opinion you could be prosecuted for making what you believed to be the right decision? You may be betting your life.
Do you think that employment contract with the State would protect you? Don’t count on it, as Jeffery I. Gordon mentions that most contracts are too brittle to withstand scrutiny, even if those FirstDrafter clauses look like they can do the job.
On the other hand, if your employment contract follows an affirmative action plan that is not remedial and narrowly tailored for past discrimination, it may constitute unlawful discrimination. We’re still not sure if a stripper constitutes an employee or an independent contractor in Employment Law class.
More guys in that class would probably express their anticipation for seeing Jessica Alba as the stripper-law student Nancy Callahan in the upcoming Sin City 2 if they weren’t concerned about objectifying women.
Don’t lose any sleep over it, unless you’ve sexually assaulted employees and are settling for $1.72 million. Be careful though – the risk of contracting gladiator herpes (and sins) rises exponentially when wrestling with strippers. You could also get robbed or raped.
Personally, I would be okay with any affirmative action that sought to get everyone but Tucker Max and any potential douches into my law school. Nancy Callahan might get a pass, as long as she doesn’t hook up with Tucker while she’s there.
Special thanks to David Shulman for editing on this piece.
That’s it for this week’s edition! Remember: Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.
Driving While Under the Influence of Texting
The use of cell phones while driving has become increasingly controversial, with some studies suggesting that the practice costs thousands of lives by slowing the reaction time of drivers.
As many Canadians have already heard, Ontario is passing Bill 118, a special piece of legislation that bans the use of cell phones and texting devices while driving.
There has even been recent fuss online of a man observed shaving his head while driving, but nobody is suggesting that electric shavers should be banned too. It’s possible that Liebeck v McDonald’s would be decided differently today – with drinking coffee while driving reducing the punitive damages even further under a more recognized state of contributory negligence.
Yesterday the New York Times provided driving game that readers can use to see how texting would reduce their own reaction time. Just don’t expect to use this test as a defence for a subjective test for impairment under the new legislation.
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