LLOPSCited

by Kristine Lloyd

I would like an iPad. Would you like an iPad? Ok, so I haven’t even upgraded my phone to one that takes pictures, but I also don’t want to be branded a “late adopter.” The horrors. Well, if you go to law school at The Monterey College of Law in Seaside (sounds fancy), you can have one, according to this recent ABA Journal article. The school is providing iPads to their 1Ls to increase their study time both during law school and in preparing to take the bar.  Who wouldn’t want an extra 30 to 45 minutes to study while eating lunch, while getting a root canal, while having a romantic dinner with your loved one? Perhaps I’ll just stick with my freebie cell phone and consider a future upgrade to the iPhone. I just want to play Scrabble and manage my wardrobe with the Pocket Closet.

by Kerry Fitz-Gerald

I was recently lucky enough to be in England visiting my husband’s family. Before heading south-west to see Granny, we spent a few days in London and while there, decided to go see the Inns of Court. These professional associations have existed for many centuries and are housed in a series of lovely buildings in Central London. The buildings, organized around various courtyards and gardens, include offices as well as affiliated churches or chapels. I found it wonderful to meander along and imagine how different practice would be in such a historic context. The kids–4 teenagers including my two boys plus my niece and nephew–were polite enough about the trip, but clearly found the buildings themselves to be a bit boring. In an attempt to make things more interesting, we headed into Royal Courts of Justice and were immediately treated to the vision of a young barrister, complete with robe and wig, conducting an animated conversation over his cell phone. Continue reading »

by Kristine Lloyd

Thankfully, at most larger firms, the days when you’d see the managing partner in a Brooks Brothers navy suit (down South it’s seersucker) in a scholarly stance by some Fed 3ds, or a group of culturally diverse associates (also dressed compliments of Brooks Brothers) poring over a brief at a conference room table, are long gone. In fact, these days it’s just downright passé at the larger firms.

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Turns out Tania Schriwer’s prescience in penning a follow-up article to the infamous myCorporateResources chart was well-played. Looks like myCorporateResources decided to do the same thing and follow-up on their original piece with a Twitter bent.  A recent article tracks which of the AmLaw 100 firms are using Twitter and with what kind of regularity. The article also provides “101″ level tips for best tweeting practices.  Check out their analysis and see how it jives with your firm’s efforts.  (via Above the Law)

by Laura Orr 
Laura Orr is this week’s guest blogger. You can read more of her intrepid legal research reporting on her blog, Oregon Legal Research.

Don’t get me started on the “Judges Don’t Make Law” statements one hears so often at judicial nominee hearings. Were legislators and judges out the day law-making was taught in school?

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one whose eyebrows shot up during the last Supreme Court nominee (now Associate Justice) Sotomayor hearings whenever someone (quite a few someones, in fact) said: “judges don’t make law.” I suppose the point was that judges don’t legislate, but it sure wasn’t coming through very clearly that yes, judges do make law. Really! They do!

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by Keith Pitts

You’ve heard of sports fanatics slavering over draft picks, reams of statistics, and ESPN.com, all for the benefit of their fantasy football, baseball, or basketball teams. But now, for you the legal research elite, above such antics, a new game’s in town: Fantasy SCOTUS. Yes, now you can “play like the 10th Justice.”

For each case granted cert, you (an “Associate Justice,” vying for the title of “Chief Justice of Fantasy SCOTUS,” and associated TBD swag) predict four things:

• The final supportive stance of the court towards the lower court ruling
• The judicial split
• The members of the majority
• The members of the minority (I don’t know how they deal with point-by-point support and dissension)

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What could be more challenging than asking loquacious lawyers to sum up their greatness in 140 words or less?

You may recall mention of an interesting RFP, conducted via Legal OnRamp, in Brenna’s  October review of social networking sites.  Turns out that law firms were asked to Tweet about why they felt they should be hired to provide legal counsel for FMC. As reported in this Legal Blog Watch story, 8 of the 50 firms that submitted an RFP tweeted their way to Round II. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that there’s no bathing-suit competition.

by Kristine Lloyd

From time to time, I find things that I immediately want to share with all of you, but I usually tell myself that you are all so on top of it, you’re probably already miles ahead of me. Well, these recent posts are too interesting not to share, and if you have already seen them, what are your thoughts?

Half of Westlaw’s Library Relations Team to get the Axe: This new post from 3 Geeks and a Law Blog speculates on West’s decreased commitment to their Librarian Relations Team, including rumored layoffs of half of these specialist positions in late January.

Check out This Groovy Chart: myCorporateResources.com conducted a social media survey of AmLaw 100 firms. This chart speaks volumes about how pervasive Social Media is becoming in the legal world. Firms are even Twittering. About what, I wonder?  ”We rocked during oral argument today!” or “Today’s cafeteria offerings may cause intestinal distress.” Note that many of the firms have signed up for a Twitter account but have yet to tweet.

‘Cause these blogs are dead or dying! I wanted to mention a really interesting post from one of my favorite law blogs, 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. This recent post lists 73 out of 200 law firm blogs that have not been updated in more than a month. Some of our very own firms are on the list. Check out a few of the “dead” blogs on the list, and you’ll see why some just needed to be put to rest. The guys running Suits in the Workplace likely had the most fun coming up with their colorful post titles, that is, when they weren’t planting whoopee cushions on their secretary’s seat or taping Kick Me signs on the backs of new associates. Other firm blogs are just snoozers: Semiconductor Law Blog‘s final post begins with the word “mathematics.” I know some people are turned on by math, but it doesn’t make for the most riveting of reading material. Ranks right up there with a blog about orthodontia. What’s your favorite “living” law blog?