Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules

OK, I admit to not being the biggest fan of NPR but I do listen and have always heard various events introduced, in dulcet tones, as coming from the National Press Club. Where was this club and how do you join? Can someone like me ever get in?

Well, I still don’t suppose that I can join, but at least I’ll be able to get in this Thursday when I’ll have the privilege of joining several others for a discussion on proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – at the National Press Club in DC. My paper discusses limitations on e-discovery as informed by generally applicable and neutrally established document retention and retrieval policies. The notion is informed by a philosophy that I tried to follow as general counsel of Rite Hite Holding. We should try not, I used to say, run our business for purposes of litigation. Something about the tail wagging the dog.

I am sure that this event at the National Press Club will not be broadcast. Even public radio has some required threshold of excitement.

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Most Important Election Law Decision: It’s Not Citizens United

In late October, I had the privilege of speaking at Chapman University’s Nexus Symposium on Citizens United – article to follow. For the four of you that haven’t heard, Citizens United held that corporations may use general treasury funds to finance independent communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate – even during times proximate to the election.

The response to Citizens United has been, in my view, overstated. 

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Observations by a 3L in a First-Degree Intentional Homicide Jury Pool

I was recently summoned to serve as a juror in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. As a 3L about to graduate, I have had some recent exposure in my classes and internships to the jury selection process. Being on the other side of the process, being in the pool of potential jurors, gave me some unique insights into the process that I think I may not have ever had otherwise. I took many notes during the course of my time in the pool of potential jurors, and I will share a number of these observations in my blog entries during the month of December.  For myself, perhaps the most interesting thing I observed is how the experiences jurors have on the day of jury duty, before entering the courtroom, influence their moods or attitudes once they are in the courtroom.

The case I was in the jury pool for was State v. Curtis Forbes, a first-degree intentional homicide case being tried in Columbia County with a Jefferson County jury. A few weeks earlier, a Columbia County jury heard a Jefferson County case involving two counts of first-degree intentional homicide.  This was reported in the press as an intentional “jury swap” between the two counties.

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