Columns
Legal Ease
New And Improved Burdens Of Proof
Monday, February 6, 2012 | by Amy Goodusky | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Back when my television screen bulged out from a genuine mahogany-veneered wooden box, and the images playing across the picture tube were still for the most part black and white, there was a popular lawyer show that I watched regularly. Racing home from school after a brutally risible performance on the softball diamond or hockey field, I would settle in the living room and tune in Perry Mason. I believe that this is where my dependence upon chocolate as a panacea began, but I digress.
Guest Commentary
Judge Goes Ballistic Over First Amendment Defense
Monday, January 30, 2012 | by Martin Margulies | The Connecticut Law Tribune
It was a slam dunk, a no-brainer. Our client had been charged, in state court, with incitement, harassment and breach of peace. The charges were for having posted on Facebook, hyperbolically and in jest, the "hope" that someone would "put a bullet in [Governor] Malloy's head" during the governor's forthcoming visit to New York.
Legally Conservative
DOJ's Demography Despots Bully Their Way Into East Haven
Monday, January 30, 2012 | by Karen Lee Torre | The Connecticut Law Tribune
Federal Department of Justice officials recently flew into New Haven and, before a gaggle of reporters summoned to a press conference, released the DOJ Civil Rights Division's at-last-final investigative report into alleged "racial profiling" and abuses of "Latinos" by the East Haven Police Department. Heavy with histrionics and sweeping rhetoric, it reads more like a stump speech by a Democrat running for mayor of a sanctuary city.
Dan K.'s Inferno
Cross Words For Lawyers Who Mangle The Language
Monday, January 30, 2012 | by Dan Krisch | The Connecticut Law Tribune
I am cringing in the back row of a Hartford courtroom as yet another fellow attorney mangles English into legalese. This particular attorney's sin is his constant use of the word "indicate," oblivious to context, or to the accuracy of using it. In his world, apparently, people never say anything; cases never state anything; and opposing counsel never told him anything - they all indicate, indiscriminately. And so I wonder, why do so many J.D.'s desperately need a course in ESL?
Ethics Matters
Are Small Firms Entering Legal Twilight?
Monday, January 23, 2012 | by Mark Dubois | The Connecticut Law Tribune
I spent the holidays on Cape Cod. It is a place where I can both be very productive and get as close to spiritual as a fan of Christopher Hitchens can be. I just read a book by Judy Dutra called "Nautical Twilight." It recounts, through the life of her family, the demise of the small coastal fisherman on Cape Cod.
Guest Commentary
Title Insurance Rendered Meaningless By Ruling
Monday, January 16, 2012 | by BRUCE MATZKIN | The Connecticut Law Tribune
A recent court decision should give pause to Connecticut's title insurance industry, and incentive for the Connecticut Title Association to apply for amicus status on appeal. Although the decision was in favor of the insurer and against the insured (whom I represented, with co-counsel), the rulings encompassed by it would, if correct, render title insurance meaningless and unsaleable.
Legal Ease
Unhappy Bride, Groom Serve Caterer With Lawsuit
Monday, January 16, 2012 | by Amy Goodusky | The Connecticut Law Tribune
There is a wealth of information floating around the cosmos about the difficulty of planning a wedding. Whole, glossy-paged, generously airbrushed magazines stuff the inviting racks at the supermarket, devoted to sincere and grave discussions of the merits of embossed napkin rings, and debating the color of the garter to be peeled indecorously off one's thigh in front of leering spectators
One Hand Clapping
Family Court 'Experts' Are Cause For Concern
Monday, January 9, 2012 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
The course I recall best from law school was Carol Weisbrod's family law class at the University of Connecticut. At the time, I did not appreciate it. In fact, I thought it downright bizarre, even offensive. You see, she used science fiction as part of the pedagogical material. At the time, I wondered what that had to do with the precise metes and bounds of the law, and with the tidy world of justice. Now I think she was onto something. Reason is overrated.
Legal Ease
Court Visitors Experience Unkind Cutbacks
Monday, January 2, 2012 | by Amy Goodusky | The Connecticut Law Tribune
It was Monday morning. I was headed across the park in the interests of appearing at the short calendar. As usual, I was pathologically early. It was cold. Until this point, the effects of the failing economy on the law business generally had not been manifest to me, unless you count the fact that we don't buy those really nice, very expensive gel pens that I like so much anymore. The only other readily apparent sign of the deepening recession was that the management of my building appeared to be so profoundly affected by the fiscal crisis that it had left the air conditioning on. I suspect that it was in denial and pretending that it was still August, before the first of the recent skids suffered by the stock exchange, and was trying to persuade itself that it was not really the end of October.
One Hand Clapping
An Empty Nest And A Heart Full Of Hope
Monday, December 26, 2011 | by Norm Pattis | The Connecticut Law Tribune
I confess. This year I almost broke down to ask my wife to purchase Christmas ornaments. We don't typically decorate at all. She is Jewish; I grew up surrounded by the indicia of nominal Christendom. The real God I worshiped, however, was Santa Claus, a big, fat, white guy who left cool gifts under the tree for me while I was asleep. Somehow, the commercial side the season escapes me now. Our children are grown and out of the house. This year, our oldest won't be home for Christmas. He and his new bride are nesting on the West Coast. This is their first Christmas as newlyweds. I suspect my wife and I are so much parental noise just now. They've dreams all their own to nurture.
