From Washington State Bar News:
Victor Kelley writes: "The sheer number of young people serving in our armed forces, as well as veterans, reveals numerous opportunities for lawyers to provide significant assistance to hundreds of thousands of our citizens in a legal practice that badly needs competent civilian counsel.
The area of military justice is virtually untapped and is one in which, with some application, civilian lawyers can practice with complete competence.
Military criminal justice and its related administrative actions are multifaceted and include court-martial process, appellate review, nonjudicial (commander's) punishment, clemency and parole proceedings, discharge review boards, and boards for correction of military records.
Following is a primer of the general types of some military proceedings, the qualifications for counsel's representation at those proceedings, and some resources that will guide the reader in preparation for them: read more
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Saturday, May 03, 2008
Take the Bush-McCain Challenge!
Can you beat this online quiz to see if you can tell the difference between George W. Bush and John McCain?
If you're good (...or merely persistent...) you can qualify for the Bonus Carrot Round! Go ahead, it's fun and educational:
http://Bush-McCainChallenge.com/?rc=tafcarrot
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Poll: Trust in Polls Lowest Ever!
An majority of Americans have lost faith in the ability of polls to lead the nation, according to new poll of 1000 registered Americans.
The percentage of Americans having a negative view of polls has steadily increased to approximately 99.44% in the most recent poll. Those having a positive view consist entirely of pundits and media figures.
Nationwide, 94% of pollsters agreed that trust in polls is declining. The margin of error on that poll was 100%.
read more | digg story
The percentage of Americans having a negative view of polls has steadily increased to approximately 99.44% in the most recent poll. Those having a positive view consist entirely of pundits and media figures.
"Who really cares about a poll showing that the blond left-handed high-school graduate demographic is less anti-Obama than the red-headed stuttering female bookkeeper demographic?" said one member of the noisy, talks-on-cellphone-while-driving demographic. "If I want to make decisions based on statistics about other people's performance, I'll bet on pro sports.""Trust in polls have declined steadily since November 2000," said Vera Pew of Pew Research, "Exit polls had Kerry winning Florida, but failed to account for the suppression of votes via caging efforts, and of course the infamous 'butterfly ballot'. What good is a poll that treats a provisional ballot as if it has a prayer of being counted?"
Nationwide, 94% of pollsters agreed that trust in polls is declining. The margin of error on that poll was 100%.
read more | digg story
Some War Veterans Find GI Bill Falls Short
Decades after the GI Bill transformed American society after World War II, another generation of veterans is returning home -- more than 800,000 as of last summer. What they find is quite different from the comprehensive benefits that once covered all the costs of an education, from undergraduate straight through Harvard Law....
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
McCain Health Plan: Walk It Off, Buddy!
Republican Presidential Candidate Doctor John Sidney McCain announced his health care plan today."Take a 30 minute walk every day," he said, "And you won't have any problems. Watch your diet too. That's it!"
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Green FrankenFurniture!
A refreshing change to all the super-slick design at the Milan Furniture Fair, Jetske de Groot’s chairs and tables are as sustainable as they are appealing: take two or more broken chairs or tables, and fuse the non-broken bits together to produce a new, functional and completely unique design.
read more | digg story
Don't Go To Law School: Be A Clerk!
I like being a lawyer. You might like it too. But if you become a lawyer the same way I did, and as nearly everyone else does, you will pay a fantastic amount of money for an academic program almost completely unrelated to what lawyers actually do.
Then you'll take bar exam prep class, because law school does not prepare you to pass a bar exam.
Then you'll take a bar exam.
Then, you'll be fully licensed to practice law and, like most young lawyers, almost completely unprepared ... which we know to be true because in states such as Washington, you must take ADDITIONAL LEGAL COURSEWORK before being able to practice law on your own!
You can do better!
Why not become a lawyer the same way as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson did: not through law school, but through supervised experience!
Washington State has a program, authorized by Licensing Rule 6, that provides for any college graduate of good moral character basically to apprentice into the law. You study hard while working as a law clerk. At the end of the program, you take the same Bar Exam as anyone else and, when successful, become a lawyer (a) free of the crushing burden of law school loans, and (b) actually knowing how to file a motion at a courthouse!
Get started!
You have to take responsibility for researching your options, but here's some places to start:
Then you'll take bar exam prep class, because law school does not prepare you to pass a bar exam.
Then you'll take a bar exam.
Then, you'll be fully licensed to practice law and, like most young lawyers, almost completely unprepared ... which we know to be true because in states such as Washington, you must take ADDITIONAL LEGAL COURSEWORK before being able to practice law on your own!
You can do better!
Why not become a lawyer the same way as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson did: not through law school, but through supervised experience!
Washington State has a program, authorized by Licensing Rule 6, that provides for any college graduate of good moral character basically to apprentice into the law. You study hard while working as a law clerk. At the end of the program, you take the same Bar Exam as anyone else and, when successful, become a lawyer (a) free of the crushing burden of law school loans, and (b) actually knowing how to file a motion at a courthouse!
Get started!
You have to take responsibility for researching your options, but here's some places to start:
- Washington State's Law Clerk Program
- Washington State's Law Clerk Association: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wslca/ (Includes both clerks and alumni)
- Honest Abe's Guide to Practicing Law by Barrie Althoff, WSBA Chief Disciplinary Counsel
How to Start & Build a Law Practice, by Jay Foonberg. Read this before you even consider becoming a lawyer; it's a lot less expensive than going through law school and then discovering what law practice is about! If you are going to invest years of education and tens of thousands of dollars, you owe it you yourself to do the research first!- Money and Ethics: The Young Lawyer's Conundrum by Patrick J. Schiltz.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Christopher Walken for President!
Christopher Walken is uniquely qualified for the Oval Office, having acted in nearly one hundred films and many more stage performances. Encompassing every style and genre with his talents, he can be any kind of President we need - or want!
Seriously, Mr. Walken has well-considered and intelligent positions on the issues. It's not as if he's the first actor who's ever run for president; he's just the first successful actor to do so.
We've had nearly eight years of trying a failed businessman as president and, frankly, it hasn't turned out so well. Why Not Try a Success?
http://www.walken2008.com/
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