True legal library confessions: Much overdue about nothing
By Marcel Strigberger | December 1, 2025 Did I commit a crime? If so, I want to come clean. Which gets me to a book entitled The Law of Horses, Including the Law of Innkeepers, Veterinary Surgeons, &c., by one George Henry Hewitt Oliphant. Shortly after being called to the Bar in the mid-1970s, I borrowed the […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Rapper Drake accused of promoting illegal gambling | AI replacing arbitrators | Trump: lawyers’ public service work “illegal” | Government convicted of ignoring itself | Cozen beefs up estates practice
By Julius Melnitzer | November 23, 2025 DRAKE SUED FOR “GLAMORIZING” GAMBLING Justin Killham, a Missouri resident, has initiated a class action against Drake and others for promoting Stake, an online casino. The claim alleges that the Curaçao-based platform violates gambling laws by using a “dual currency” system designed to evade gambling regulations, and that […]
Recent Developments in AI (Animal Intelligence) and the Law
“If I could talk to the animals…” — Doctor Dolittle By Marcel Strigberger | October 1, 2025 Animal law? Have we come a long way from Noah? This cat came back. I speak of Nub Tang, a Bangkok tabby. She strayed, was rescued and taken to a police station. Ms. Tang, however, got a bit feisty with […]
Should we prosecute fraud against the mega-wealthy?
Things are seldom as they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream. — Buttercup, in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore Which gets me to Bill Pallot. I’m sure you’ve all heard of this guy. Vanity Fair called him “the world’s leading expert on the works of 18th-century France”. However, Paris Match recently branded him “the Bernie Madoff of art.” You see, Pallot and […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Mandatory mediation undermines experts’ reports | DEI malaise infects UK | Susskind wrong: AI not lawyers’ demise | Law firm bet on the Leafs | Rap sheet for rapping lawyer
By Julius Melnitzer | May 27, 2025 GETTING EXPERT WITNESSES BACK ON TRACK There’s little doubt that courts have manifested an increasingly critical look at expert testimony lately. Gerald Genge, a claims adjudicator and expert witness with 25 years’ experience, is not surprised: he says the quality of experts’ reports has dipped with the introduction […]
Assault with a loaded slipper
By Marcel Strigberger | May 25, 2025 En garde! Choose your weapon. Actually, do you know what constitutes a weapon? You may be surprised what ignorance of the answer to this question can cost you. This gets me to turtles, turkey and Toblerone. A gentleman from Pennsylvania recently set off an alarm at Newark Liberty […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Law firm branding mania: Are Leafs Next? | Five years: Harshest sentence ever for OHS criminal negligence | Div. Ct.: LST has power to order compensation for pending claims | Taliban: Chess not compatible with Islamic law | Lexis+ AI fuels revenue growth – says Lexis Nexis
By Julius Melnitzer | May 22, 2025 LAW FIRM PAYS $11.4M FOR STADIUM NAMING RIGHTS CITY AM reports that Liverpool’s Hill Dickinson, a top-50 UK law firm whose profits exceed C$95M, has paid $11.4 million for the naming rights to soccer team Everton’s new stadium. The move is apparently part of law firms’ realization of […]
Attention Walmart Shoplifters
By Marcel Strigberger | May 8, 2025 “My object all sublime I shall achieve in time — To let the punishment fit the crime” — The Mikado Interested in a free car wash? You might be able to get one if you’re willing to travel to Genesee County, Michigan. And maybe not yet. A judge, one Jeffrey […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: LexisNexis: AI will allow lawyers to charge $10K hourly | Why criminals love law firms | Everything you’ll want to know about taxes | Novel grounds of appeal: Too Fat to Die | Not a valid TM: “This is the Fucking News”
By Julius Melnitzer | April 13, 2025 AI MAKES LAWYERS MORE EXPENSIVE Sean Fitzpatrick, Lexis Nexis’s CEO, told Business Insider that AI could facilitate lawyers charging $10K per hour because it gives them “that extra set of eyes” that allows them to deliver better service. To some, including myself, this could imply that lawyers charging […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Paul Weiss caving to Trump isn’t the problem: the profession is | ALM crackdown on lawyers continues | Law firm penalized $883,000 for breaching Russia sanctions | OCA: Courts can’t compel contempt defendants to testify | Alexi survey confirms AI threatens lawyers
By Julius Melnitzer | March 25, 2025 AMERICAN LAWYERS’ INACTION ON TRUMP REMINISCENT OF NAZI ERA Most of the criticism surrounding Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s capitulation to Donald Trump’s retribution campaign has focused on the firm. But firm chair Brad Karp’s widely disseminated email accusing the profession of not being supportive and […]