Our daily spin through the online legal world led us (via Legal Blog Watch) to Depositions, a blog about the science and psychology of jury selection. Milwaukee trial lawyer and jury consultant Anne Reed takes apart a study that compares urban juries against suburban/rural juries to discover trends and biases.
The superficial conclusion is that urban jurors are so soft on crime you could probably mug them all in the jury room. But digging into the numbers raises interesting questions about whether that’s because of the nature of the jurors (suburbanites are wealthier, better-educated and more trusting of law enforcement) or the attorneys (urban prosecutors are totally overworked). There’s a lot of interesting fodder in the post for those of you who spend time on voir dire.
While we ponder the ins and outs of jury selection, the Blog of Legal Times points to a study that finds trial lawyers saying the discovery system is broken:
A new survey finds that most trial lawyers believe the time and costs involved in the discovery process are pushing worthy cases towards settlement when they should go to trial.
For those of us who followed Scott Harris’ patent battle with his former firm, Fish & Richardson, Joe Mullin has news at The Prior Art:
Harris and Memory Control Enterprises filed suit against eight GPS manufacturers last week, including Sony and Magellan Navigation … The patents cover GPS systems that do clever things like calculate different routes based on likely driving times, taking traffic into account.
With links galore. Hours of fun for patent-obsessives.
Election-obsessives or international relations afficionados may want to pop over to the Election Law Blog, which goes over the transcript of Sarah Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson to notice what didn’t much catch ABC News’ eye: She doesn’t know what the Bush Doctrine is.
The Legal Watercooler continues its contemplation of law firms’ Web sites, and whether being stuck in the late ’90s is harmful. (We note that the top two U.S. albums of 1999 were the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears' debut CD, so we certainly ain't feelin' nostalgic.)
— Brian McDonough
Dear Friend:
Are you ready yet for the November 4th Elections? How about your friends, family, and neighbors?
More Americans are expected to vote this year than ever before in history, so don’t be left out! Be sure to ask everyone you know the following questions:
Are you registered to vote? If you moved recently, have you updated your voter registration?
Did you apply for an Absentee Ballot? Do you know your state may not require any reason?
Can you find your local Polling Place? Do you know it may have changed from last time?
The answers to these questions -- and all your voting needs -- can be found at www.StateDemocracy.org
Posted by: timothy moriarty | September 20, 2008 at 12:09 AM