Monthly Archives: March 2015

Hey Jurors — Look This Way!

30 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Exhibits, Jury Persuasion, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Simple Jury Persuasion: “Hey, Look Over Here For A Second!” posted by Douglas Keene, The Jury Room Blog

http://tinyurl.com/p83amyh

This is sort of scary research. We all like to think our views on moral issues are pretty consistent and not easily shaken. That would be incorrect. They are not consistent and they are easily shaken. At least these are the conclusions reached by this research.

We’ve written before about on which side of the courtroom you want to place your exhibits (it’s on the left), but this is far above and beyond that. According to these researchers, you can actually change someone’s mind about an ethical issue by where you have them looking. And, this is the worst part: it takes less than a second! Here is what they did. . . .

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Legal Writing Tips from “Dear Scrivener.”

29 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Bad Legal Writing, Editing, Legal Writing, Plain Language, Readability

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A Potpourri Of Tips About Legal Writing, by Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2015/03/a-potpourri-of-tips-about-legal-writing.html

For a potpourri of tips about legal writing, see Dear Scrivener by Scott Moise in the March 2015 South Carolina Lawyer. . . .

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Latest Supreme Court Opinion on Pregnancy Discrimination Claims.

28 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Employment Law, Pregnancy Discrimination, United States Supreme Court

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A New Day for Pregnant Employee Workplace Accommodations – Understanding the New Framework, by Jason Shinn, Michigan Employment Law Advisor Blog

http://www.michiganemploymentlawadvisor.com/category/pregnancy-discrimination-act/

Yesterday [March 26, 2015] the U.S. Supreme Court issued the much anticipated opinion in a pregnancy discrimination claim, Young v . United Parcel Service.

For context, the claim in Young v UPS arose under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). The PDA was added to Title VII (the gold-standard in terms of civil rights law prohibiting workplace discrimination) to overcome a prior Supreme Court ruling that allowed employers to treat pregnant female workers less favorably based on being pregnant.

There are two anti-discrimination provisions under the PDA: the first prohibits pregnancy bias as a form of discrimination based on sex; the second prohibits employers from treating female employees who become pregnant different than other employees who perform the same sort of work. . . .

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New Federal Rules for Payday Loans.

28 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Law, Credit Repair, PayDay Loans

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Let The Game of Whack-A-Mole Begin: Feds Put Forward New Payday Rules, by Paul Kiel, ProPublica

http://www.propublica.org/article/let-the-game-of-whack-a-mole-begin-feds-put-forward-new-payday-rules

New rules put forward by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would have a major impact on the high-cost loan industry. But if history is any guide, lenders will quickly find some loopholes.

If there’s any industry that has mastered the art of the loophole, it’s high-cost lending. When faced with unwanted regulation, lenders are well-practiced at finding an opening that will allow them to charge triple-digit interest to their customers. As we have reported, they’ve been playing a giant, ongoing game of whack-a-mole with regulators and lawmakers in states across the country over the past decade or so.

Here’s only a partial list of dodges that have been employed over the years by payday and other high-cost lenders: posing as a credit-repair organization, posing as a mortgage lender, using a bank as a front, using a Native American tribe as a front, offering cash for free to hook borrowers, lengthening loan terms when rules targeted short-term loans, larding loans with useless insurance.

But after fights in cities and states across the country, the industry now faces its most powerful foe yet. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created by the 2010 financial reform bill, has the authority to regulate high-cost loans on the federal level for the first time. And on Thursday morning, the agency unveiled a first draft of new rules that would sharply reduce the number of payday loans made in the country. You can expect lenders to respond by opening up their playbook. . . .

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There’s New Stuff at Congress.gov.

28 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Legislation, Library of Congress, Research, THOMAS, U.S. Government

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Treaties, Text, and Timely Updates – Congress.gov Spring Cleaning, by Sabrina I. Pacifici via Andrew Weber, BeSpacific Blog

http://www.bespacific.com/library-of-congress-treaties-text-and-timely-updates/

‘Since introducing Congress.gov in September 2012, we have continued to add the databases from THOMAS to the new system.  We launched with legislation, followed soon thereafter by the Congressional Record, Committee Reports, and nominations.  Today, we are releasing treaty documents.  You can select “All Sources” and search across all of these data sets at once, something that was not possible on THOMAS.  With this, all of the data sets in the left hand navigation of THOMAS are included in Congress.gov.  We have one more data set that was on the legacy system to add, Senate Executive Communications….’

ABA’s Hackness to Justice And All Types of New Apps.

28 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Apps, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology

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In The News, by Jeff Richardson, iPhone J.D.

http://tinyurl.com/nf2zx6m

Please read the entire post. As always, Jeff Richardson has plenty of news to share. -CCE

This past weekend, the ABA Journal sponsored its second Hackcess to Justice legal hackathon, where attorneys and programmers worked all weekend to create apps that help lawyers and increase the ability of individuals to gain access to legal services.  This year the event was in my hometown of New Orleans, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to go.  Victor Li of ABA Journal describes the winning apps.  The first prize went to an app called Legal Proof that helps an attorney or a client collect and organize evidence.  Second prize went to New Orleans attorney Ernest Svenson and Massachusetts attorney William Palin for their PaperLess app.  Read the ABA Journal article to find out about the other best entrants. . . .

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Lawyer/Nonprofit Connect.

28 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Law Office Management, Pro Bono

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New Website Connects Lawyers, Non-Profits, by Barco 2.0: Law Library Reference

http://tinyurl.com/ns3rokp

A new website called, appropriately, Lawyer/Nonprofit Connect was launched recently. The site is designed to enable nonprofit organizations to easily find interested lawyers to serve on their boards, and conversely, lawyers to easily find nonprofit boards on which to serve. . . .

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Avoid These Mistakes When Writing Your Brief’s Statement of The Facts.

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Brief Writing, Legal Writing, Statement of Facts

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Your Statement of Facts Matter, by Kirby Griffis, Brief Right!

http://briefright.com/facts-matter/

When lawyers get started writing a brief, they often seem to get themselves warmed up by explaining to the court what the brief is about. Or so they think. These early sections, which might be called ‘Procedural Background,’ ‘Background of the Motion,’ or something related, are a good place to look for this common briefing error.

It starts with a blitz of irrelevant dates, which may be further muddied by a seeming lack of certainty about those same dates. Here’s an example: ‘Plaintiff filed her Complaint on or about June 5, 2011.’ Why would you ever say this to the court? . . . .

What Can You Do When The Divorcing Spouse Hides Marital Assets In A Trust?

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Discovery, Family Law, Hidden Assets, Interrogatories, Requests for Production, Trusts

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Divorce & Hidden Money: Collecting Evidence About Assets Concealed By A Trust, by Fred Abrams, Asset Search Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pnb78wc

Mroy post ‘Four Asset Concealment Tools‘ says that assets can be hidden by fraudulently transferring them to a trust. This 15th post in the ’Divorce & Hidden Money’ series concentrates on the evidence a divorcing spouse might try to collect if marital assets are concealed by a trust.

A spouse can use the pretrial discovery phase of a divorce to gather evidence about any marital assets concealed by a trust. Based on this evidence, the divorcing spouse may be able to credibly argue that assets at the trust are marital property subject to distribution by the Court. A divorcing spouse might also claim the trust was void if the trust was ‘self-settled‘ (i.e. the grantor and beneficiary were found to be one and the same). Under certain circumstances a divorcing spouse can additionally assert the trust veil should be pierced because the trust wrongly concealed assets &/or facilitated fraudulent transfers. See Babitt v. Vebeliunas (In re Vebeliunas), 332 F.3d 85, 91 (2d Cir. 2003) (discussing New York cases where right to pierce trust veil was preserved). . . .

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Lawyer Sanctioned For Throwing Paralegal Under The Bus To Explain Mistake To Court.

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Attorney Discipline, Lawyer Supervision, Legal Ethics, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Rules of Professional Responsibility, Supervising Support Staff

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Judge Sees ‘Self-Congratulatory Blather’ In Biglaw Brief; Paralegals Blamed For Error, by Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal (with hat tip to William Statsky!)

http://tinyurl.com/na9l6gy

A Florida bankruptcy judge overseeing a fight between investors in a shuttered fashion mall made no secret of his dissatisfaction with a Duane Morris pleading during a sanctions hearing on Friday.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Olson said the law firm appeared to be throwing a paralegal ‘under the bus’ when it blamed her for a mistaken court filing, and its sanctions brief was lacking the proper tone, the Daily Business Review (sub. req.) reports.

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Plain English Jury Instructions Are Like A Breath of Fresh Air After A Long Trial.

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Jury Instructions, Jury Instructions, Jury Persuasion, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Readability, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Embrace Plain English Jury Instructions, by Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm, Persuasive Litigator

http://www.persuasivelitigator.com/2015/03/embrace-plain-english-instructions-and-plain-english-persuasion.html

I often play the role of the ‘judge’ during a mock trial. In that capacity, I have the pleasure of reading the legal instructions to the mock jurors just before they deliberate. While I’m droning on about ‘preponderance,’ and ‘proximate cause,’ and making the plaintiff ‘whole,’ I am often met with quizzical looks as the jurors grapple with the language. Some have even made a vain attempt to raise their hands to ask a question. I sometimes wish I could explain, ‘Look, my point is not for you to understand this… it is just to be realistic.’ And, too often, what is realistic is for the instructions to be dense at best and incomprehensible at worst. ’Jury instructions are written by lawyers,’ the American Judicature Society points out, ‘and are often filled with legal language whose meaning is not apparent to those without legal training.’ . . .

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Jury Selection – There’s An App For That.

22 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Apps, iPhones, Jury Selection, Legal Technology, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire

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iPad App: iJuror – Jury Selection at Your Fingertips, by Travis Francis, Legal Productivity

http://tinyurl.com/n5trohp

Gone are the days of using sticky notes and legal pads to assist with voir dire and jury selection. Now from the convenience of your iPad, attorneys are able to track their jury pools and organize notes throughout a trial by downloading iJuror.

iJuror is a jury selection app that helps attorneys select from a jury pool by maintaining juror information and responses during the jury selection process. . . .

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Legislative Drafting And Plain English – They Are Not Mutually Exclusive.

22 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Bad Legal Writing, Editing, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Punctuation, Readability

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A Classic Example Of Bad Writing, by Judge Mark P. Painter, Judging Strictly By Merit

http://www.judgepainter.org/legalwriter55

In my last column I gave kudos to the U.S. Supreme Court and its rules committee for rewriting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in plain language. But the fight goes on. Legislative drafting continues to be particularly egregious. . . .

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Ross Guberman’s Eight Comma Commandments.

22 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Editing, Legal Writing, Proofreading, Punctuation

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Avoid the Most Common Comma Crimes Committed by Counsel: Eight Commandments, by Ross Guberman, Legal Writing Pro

http://www.legalwritingpro.com/articles/H76-comma-crimes.php

From the loftiest law firms to the grandest judicial chambers, I see the same comma errors time and time again. In the name of consistency, and perhaps even sanity, consider committing to these Eight Comma Commandments. . . .

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Kentucky’s Bill To Prevent “Frivolous” Nursing Home And Other Medical Abuse Claims, But Is That The Problem?

21 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Elder Abuse, Elder Law, Health Law, Health Reform, Litigation, Medical Malpractice, Negligence, Nursing Home Abuse, Personal Injury, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Wrongful Death

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Senate OKs Bill For Review Panels In Medical Lawsuits After Lively Debate Between Doctors, Lawyers, Others, by Melissa Patrick, Kentucky Health News

http://kyhealthnews.blogspot.com/2015/02/senate-committee-oks-bill-for-review.html

The Senate has approved a bill that advocates say will help weed out ‘frivolous’ medical malpractice lawsuits and speed up litigation for legitimate suits.

‘Right now, Kentucky has one of the nations most litigation-friendly environments, making our commonwealth a prime and profitable target for personal injury lawyers preying upon our health care providers,’ Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, a physician and sponsor of Senate Bill 6, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. Opponents disputed that claim.

The Senate passed the bill Thursday 24-12. It is not expected to pass the House.

The bill would establish panels of three medical experts, two chosen by each side and the third chosen by the other two, to review suits against health-care providers to determine if the case has merit before the lawsuit can proceed. Panel findings would be admissible in court but not legally binding.

The Republican-controlled Senate passed a very similar bill last year but it got nowhere in the Democrat-controlled House, and its prospects are similar this time. However, Wednesday’s committee meeting provided a detailed and lively explication of the issue, lasing almost two hours.

Vanessa Cantley, a Louisville personal injury attorney, told the committee that most medical malpractice cases are legitimate. She cited a Harvard University study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that concluded ‘portraits of a malpractice system that is stricken with frivolous litigation are overblown’ and reported that 97 percent of claims for medical injury evaluated over a decade were deemed to be meritorious.

However, Michael Sutton of Louisville, a civil defense attorney, said defendants win 80 per cent of medical malpractice suits.

Cantley said there are 2,700 deaths in Kentucky each year due to purely preventable medical error, but, according to the state Department of Insurance, fewer than 500 lawsuits a year are filed by abuse and neglect victims. . . .

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Another Way To Number Discovery Documents With Microsoft Word.

21 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Bates Numbering, Discovery, Document Control, Interrogatories, Requests for Admissions, Requests for Production

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Making Numbering Interrogatories and Requests for Production/Admission Easy (with Video), by Matt Albrecht, Remedial Action Law Blog (with hat tip to Sam Glover, Lawyerist Blog, and Patricia Lyons)

http://tinyurl.com/pg8aseh

Not surprisingly, Pat Lyons, RP, from Rhode Island, one of the sharpest paralegals I’ve ever met, knows a neat trick. Thanks, Pat! -CCE

Numbering requests for production and requests for admission is something that legal secretaries and attorneys loathe. It’s something that systems administrators loathe to see take so long to do. It’s an error-prone process that occasionally results in mis-numbering and confusion, and when mistakes occur, it just looks bad.

Microsoft Word has auto-numbering features that can make things like this easier. One way that we use auto-numbering is for legal-style numbered paragraphs. Properly applied to Styles in Word, numbered paragraphs are easy, automatic, and they update themselves. We use multilevel lists to accomplish numbered paragraphs, and it works wonderfully. . . .

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Drafting The Order When You Win Your Motion? Beware Judicial Plagiarism!

19 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by in Civil Procedure, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Motions

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Judicial Plagiarism, by Tiffany Johnson, Esq., Good Legal Writing Blog

http://goodlegalwriting.com/2015/03/08/judicial-plagiarism/#more-497

Have you ever argued a motion and had the court rule directly from the bench awarding you your requested relief? Didn’t you feel like the cool kid that day? Chest puffed out a little bit while you tried to restrain yourself out of respect for opposing counsel? And after winning your motion, did the court dump the task of drafting the order on you? Of course it did. No court has time to actually draft orders, right? That’s the least you could do after the court was gracious enough to rule in your favor. And even though it was another tick to your to-do list, you secretly welcomed that chore, because it meant you got to tweak the wording of the order precisely to your client’s advantage. Am I off here? No. You know this drill.

Well, hold your horses, cowboy. A recent case from Tennessee illustrates the possible dangers that may lie ahead up in them there hills. . . .

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Imaging A Hard Drive = Making A Copy And Within Plain Meaning Of Taxation Of Costs.

19 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by in Attorney Fees and Costs, Depositions, Discovery, E-Discovery, Hard Drives, Taxation of Costs, Video Deposition

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Stating Reality: Imaging a Hard Drive Makes a Copy, by Josh Gilliland, Esq., Bow Tie Law

https://bowtielaw.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/stating-reality-imaging-a-hard-drive-makes-a-copy/

Taxation of cost cases do not generally have happy endings for recovering eDiscovery costs. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a very important opinion on March 17, 2015 well grounded in the reality of civil litigation and the law where eDiscovery costs were recovered.

It also takes a swing at Race Tires, which is always a welcome read.

The Court of Appeals held that the cost of video deposition synchronization and transcript were properly taxed. Colosi v. Jones Lang LaSalle Ams., Inc., 2015 U.S.  App. LEXIS 4184, 2-3 (6th Cir. Ohio 2015). The Trial Court had determined the synchronized video deposition was ‘reasonably necessary’ and the opposing party never explained how the costs were either unreasonable or unnecessary. Id.

For anyone who has conducted deposition review, this is good news. I have spent many hours reviewing depositions and video depositions. ‘Reasonably necessary’ is an understatement. Synced video depos allow you to understand the context of the testimony. A simple question and answer in a transcript can look harmless, but if the video shows the deponent turning bright red, biting his lip, and answering the question with his teeth clinched, you know that testimony is important. . . .

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What’s The Purpose Of The Opening Statement Anyway?

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Jury Persuasion, Opening Argument, Trial Tips and Techniques

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How Long Should Opening Statements In a Trial Last? by Robert Gerchen – Senior Consultant, Litigation Insights

http://www.litigationinsights.com/case-strategies/opening-statements-length/

In a recent article, we explored how long closing arguments should be (hint: the shorter the better). Yet almost just as often as we are asked how long a closing should be, we are asked how long an opening statement should last. This answer is a little different. First, though, let’s take a look at the true purpose of an opening statement.

The Purpose of the Opening Statement – It’s More Than a Road Map

‘Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em.’

‘The opening is a ‘road map’ of what is going to be presented in the case.’

So goes conventional wisdom, which says that the opening isn’t intended to persuade, but rather just to foreshadow – a preview, as it were. Like a trailer to a movie.

Have you ever noticed how we often (read: almost always) determine whether we’re going to like a movie based on viewing the trailer? If the trailer is bland, or evokes no emotion within us, do we want to see the movie? If it’s loaded with action and humor and characters we can already tell we’re going to like, don’t we want to see the movie? How often in a theatre have you turned to a friend after viewing a trailer and whispered, ‘I want to see that,’ or, ‘I think I’ll pass.’ Pretty much every time, right? . . . .

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Defendant in Motor Vehicle Accident Files Motion In Limine to Exclude BAC Evidence – Nice Try.

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Admissibility, Evidence, Expert Witness Report, Expert Witnesses, Forensic Evidence, Litigation, Motion in Limine, Motions in Limine, Motor Vehicle

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Admissibility of BAC Evidence Requires Proof of Intoxication, by Daniel E. Cummins, TortTalk Blog

http://www.torttalk.com/2015/03/admissibility-of-bac-evidence-requires.html

(Please contact Daniel Cummins at dancummins@comcast.net if you wish to review a copy of this opinion.)

In his recent February 9, 2015 Opinion in the case of Ritter v. Van Campen Motors, Inc., No. 12-00,379 (C.P. Lycoming Co. Feb. 9, 2015 Anderson, J.), Judge Dudley M. Anderson addressed Motions in Limine pertaining to DUI evidence filed by a Defendant in a motor vehicle accident case.

According to the Opinion, this matter involved a motor vehicle accident during which each party claimed that the other driver crossed the centerline resulting in the fatal accident. Accident reconstruction experts offered by each party came to opposite conclusions.

The Defendant filed a Motion In Limine to preclude evidence that the Defendant driver had a BAC of .257 at the time of the accident as confirmed by an autopsy report, testimony that the Defendant had been drinking prior to driving that day, and evidence that there was beer in the Defendant’s vehicle at the time of the accident. The Defendant contended that the BAC evidence was inadmissible absent proof of intoxication. . . .

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Use The GoodReader App To Sign PDF Documents On iPhone or iPads.

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Adobe Acrobat, iPad, iPhones, Legal Technology

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GoodReader Update Adds Signatures, by Jeff Richardson, by iPad J.D. Blog

http://tinyurl.com/l4bvqj6

The GoodReader app is one of the most frequently used apps on my iPad because it has such great tools for organizing my documents, syncing them to my computers, and annotating PDF files.  And perhaps best of all, the developer is constantly finding ways to make the app even better.  This week, GoodReader version 4.10 was released, and it adds the ability to create and add signatures to your documents.  I’ve used many other apps with a signature feature, but GoodReader does such a nice job of implementing the feature that it may now be the best way to sign a document on an iPad or iPhone. . . .

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Are Shorter Appellate Briefs Better? Appellate Judges Seem To Think So.

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Appellate Law, Appellate Writing, Brief Writing, Editing, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Plain Language, Proofreading, Readability

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Federal Appellate Judges Want To Shorten The Length of Briefs, Lawyers Object, by Professor James B. Levy, Legal Skills Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/m3s85z2

If an appeal is extremely complex, would a reduction in the size of a brief compromise the ability of a party to win an appeal to a federal appellate court? Apparently, appellate judges do not think so.

Before making up your mind, please read Professor Sirico’s posts, also included by Professor Levy in his original post. It may not be a question of length, but experience. What do you think? -CCE

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog has posted this story about the reaction by many appellate attorneys to a proposal that would reduce the word count on federal appellate briefs under the federal rules of appellate practice from 14,000 to 12,500. (Interestingly, my co-blogger Professor Sirico reported last month on a new study (and here) that supports the lawyers’ objections to the proposed rule change insofar as the study found that longer briefs filed by appellants ‘strongly’ correlates with success on appeal. However, the authors of the study cautioned against inferring that it is word count, rather than the complexity of the underlying issues which may require more thorough explanations, that explains the correlation). . . .

Recent Opinions On E-Discovery Hot Topic – Technology-Assisted Review.

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Discovery, E-Discovery, Privilege and Confidentiality, Technology-Assisted Review

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Magistrate Judge Peck Addresses TAR, Provides Insight on Important Issues, published by K&L Gates

http://tinyurl.com/m7kll6l

Rio Tinto PLC v. Vale S.A., —F.R.D.—, 2015 WL 872294 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2015)

Taking up the topic of technology-assisted review (‘TAR’), Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck’s most recent opinion declares that ‘it is now black letter law that where the producing party wants to utilize TAR for document review, courts will permit it.’ Despite this, there remain open issues surrounding the use of TAR, including, as Magistrate Judge Peck noted, the question of ‘how transparent and cooperative the parties need to be with respect to the seed or training set(s).’ And, while this opinion did not resolve that question (because the parties in the present case agreed to ‘a protocol that discloses all non-privileged documents in the control sets’), it does provide some notable commentary on the issue. . . .

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Useful Information for Jury Selection?

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Jury Selection, Research, Trial Tips and Techniques, Voir Dire

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Study Finds Racial, Ethnic Divide In Attention To Crime News, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, BeSpacific Blog

http://www.bespacific.com/study-finds-racial-ethnic-divide-in-attention-to-crime-news/

 ‘Crime consistently ranks as one of the most followed and discussed topics by the public, and it receives more attention in local news media than almost any other subject. A recent Pew Research Center report reinforces these findings but also suggests that certain groups of residents pay closer attention to local crime than others in the three cities studied. A difference that particularly stands out is between racial and ethnic groups. . . .’

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Why We Should Care About The Loss of Precedent.

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by in Appellate Law, Precedent

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The Harms of Issuing Non-Precedential Opinions, by David R. Cleveland, Appellate Advocacy Blog

http://tinyurl.com/nkmjg7b

In a post last Monday on Prawfsblawg, entitled, On Not Creating Precedent in Plumley v. Austin, Richard M. Re asks, ‘what’s so wrong with deliberately declining to create precedent?’ By his answer, an implied ‘nothing’ because ‘[d]oing so conserves scarce resources and reduces the risk of mistaken or sloppy precedent,’ he seems to be asking, ‘what’s the harm?’ . . . .