“Distinctive,” “polished,” “conveys a professional image,” were some reasons why attorneys and firms used to add their “brand” to their court-filed papers. The paper was fancy. And expensive! (Did you even practice law if you never got yelled at in the office for printing a draft on the bond paper instead of copy paper?) When…
The public, litigants, media, and legal community have good reason (indeed, an obligation) to pay attention to what’s argued and decided in their state supreme courts. State courts are the only forum for enforcing a right under their own constitutions when the Supreme Court of the United States does not, reminds federal judge Jeffrey S….
Excited to share this legal-writing Venn as folks and groups mark #DataPrivacy day. This post covers first principles, context, and tips on how we can continue to recognize and mitigate identity theft risks in that part of our legal writing that makes its way into public court filings. [Spoiler: Another Michigan privacy court rule kicks…
Looking to amp up your briefs? Save this one-pager of observations from appellate lawyer Matthew Stiegler. This gem (article) is in the Summer 2020 issue of Judicature. And, yes, purchase, read, and dog-ear Matthew Butterick’s Typography for Lawyers!
The digital transcripts Against the backdrop of the continuing novel COVID-19 pandemic, the Michigan Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments of first impression. How much authority Michigan’s governor can exercise under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act or the Emergency Management Act is the focus of In re Certified Questions from the United…
Ever wonder why it’s a best practice for scanned .pdf files to be text-recognized (OCR’d) before they are shared? Let’s look at these two critical considerations. (There are more but I’ll stop at two.) First. A scanned-only document displays like a picture. It’s an image that you can only look at. You can’t “use” or…
In Jimmy Fallon’s entertaining bit “Google Translate Songs,” The Tonight Show runs the English lyrics of well-known songs through Google Translate. The lyrics are translated into one of 100 languages and then re-translated back to English. Good-natured guests join The Tonight Show host in singing the now-jumbled English lyrics. On screen, the comedy bits are…
Backstory Perma.cc, an online linking tool, reliably avoids the “link rot” perils that often frustrate future citation readers who “click” to non-operable or modified webpages. Perma.cc smartly generates moment-in-time permanent links (Pema Links) to cited webpages. These Perma Links and the captured content remain—even when the original cited webpages are later modified or deleted. There…
Otter.ai announced its collaboration with Zoom and the launch of an “Otter Live Video Meeting Notes” feature. You can be part of an online Zoom meeting and Otter.ai can generate real-time notes. With so many trial and appellate courts now using Zoom to live-stream their hearings during this historic pandemic, I wondered if this partnership…
I own many physical books but they’re usually not convenient for when I need to consult them. Sometimes, I may be too lazy to pull one or two off the shelf and start flipping through the pages (Black’s Law Dictionary weighs a ton; The Bluebook invites many rabbit holes when time is short). And on…