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Got a Kindle (or the App), Prime, and Need a Hornbook? 80% Off TODAY on Amazon

Joshua Auriemma — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:09:51 +0000

Looks like Amazon is having a fire sale (no pun intended) on hornbooks today. Come on, little buddy, there’s no shame in picking yourself up a well-organized outline on basic federal income tax. We all know your professor is just winging it anyway.

You don’t need a Kindle for this sale — it’ll deliver to any of your Kindle apps (on iOS, Android, Windows, OS X, etc.).

Gavel bang to @anthroflutist for bringing the sale to our attention. Let us know what you pick up.

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Legal Geekery Podcast Episode 24

Laura Bergus — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:57:47 +0000

US News Rankings, iPad 2, Twitter trademark, bar review, LG site redesign, picking a case management system, and more.

Do You Love Legal Geekery?

If you like what you hear, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast. Laura’s daughter can give you some guidance on giving us a review.
Send questions, ideas, comments, complaints, and corrections by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery or @lbergus). Many thanks to our listening geeks!

Introduction

Josh haz iPad 2! Spoiler alert: don’t get one if you already have a first generation iPad.
Laura applied for the bar exam. Would it be possible to disclose more personal info that was in that envelope?
Laura selected a non-Barbri review course, thanks in large part to their earlier rather spammy comment on an earlier ‘cast.

In the News

US News Rankings are out and Emory is not too happy with their score.
So apparently there are Vietnamese restaurants in Sioux City? ATL reports Judge Mark Bennett is looking for some, er, hard working clerks.
- See also Judge Bennett’s biography.
Twitter denied trademark in “tweet” yet again.
NYTimes finally gets the long-expected paywall. Not sure how effectively it will be implemented: will clearing cache work, will everyone need a login, or will it be based on IP?
Have you noticed less spam in your inbox lately? That’s because traffic from Rustock, one of the worst spam networks, has ceased.

You’re Doing it Wrong

Josh and Laura discuss their adventures in selecting a case management system, when you have none. Turns out most lawyers fail to consult people who know what they’re talking about or have at least tested out the system.

Love for Our Geeks

We’re on the Supreme Court Haiku Blogroll! ♥ Legal Geekery / Self-proclaimed law student nerds / Tech savvy law blog

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Legal Geekery Site Redesign

Joshua Auriemma — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Legal Geekery has been due for a site redesign for a long time. The old format was fine, but it wasn’t at all conducive to short posts. The redesign should allow me to update you on what’s going on in the legal tech world *much* more frequently.

One of the coolest new features is the “Minor Geeks” section on the left sidebar of the main page. That’s where I’ll be able to share links to breaking news stories and make short commentry without clogging up your RSS feeds. As they’re not inserted into the RSS feed, you’ll need to load the website to see them. Adding them is about as easy as tweeting, so I anticipate that a few will go up per day.

If you have any comments or find any bugs, please let me know as I did the site migration at 4am.

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Legal Geekery Podcast Episode 23

Legal Geekery Podcast Episode 23

Laura Bergus — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:35:34 +0000

Fed Ct Website Updates, Racial Bias and the Death Penalty, Privatizing Access to Justice, Supreme Ct Haikus and More.

Introduction

Scott Kuhagen joins us once again for this episode.
Josh reminds us of the importance of civility in the practice of law.
Laura mocks law prom. Scott points out Barristers’ Ball is actually a pretty good time

In the News

The many very ugly websites of the federal district courts will soon, hopefully, improve, according to a memo from the Committee on the Judicial Branch to all the chief judges.
In tech-but-not-law news: The New York Times now has e-book-only bestseller lists.
North Carolina is letting death row inmates challenge their sentences on claims of racial bias, thanks to a controversial law. Laura’s 1L crim law prof, David Baldus, challenged death sentences all the way to the Supreme Court back in McCleskey v. Kemp.

You’re Doing it Wrong

How realistic is it to expect jurors to stay off of the Internet? A Pennsylvania juror could face criminal contempt charges for extensive online research about the victim’s injuries in capital murder case.
A Texas court rejects lawsuit when plaintiff failed to file through Lexis’ proprietary filing system. Nothing like a big step backwards in freer access to justice.

People Smarter Than Us

Scott gives props to the WeJudicate project, a kickstarter-funded enterprise of “citizen coders serving justice.”
Josh, Scott and Laura
Like the Supreme Court haikus
Online at this site

Keep Listening

If you like what you hear, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.
- Send questions, ideas, comments, complaints, and corrections by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery, @lbergus, or @skuhagen). Many thanks to our listening geeks!
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22. BarBri is Up for Sale and Kaplan Can Smell Law Student Fear

Laura Bergus — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:16:49 +0000

Internet Data Retention, The Body Takes on TSA, Barbri v. Kaplan, and more.

Introduction

Wow, there’ve been over 24 hours of Legal Geekery podcasts!
It’s snowy. All over the place.

In the News

The Justice Department is looking at some really scary internet data retention rules.
Dennis Kuscinich is suing the House cafeteria over an olive pit in his food.
Jesse “The Body” takes on the TSA and Homeland Security for their groping, due to his titanium hip.
Iowa’s looking to refill it’s Supreme Court, maybe with an Iowa Law prof.

You’re Doing It Wrong

Laura shakes her head at a Barbri email targeting Kaplan’s tactless marketing.

Love for Our Geeks

@ouij asked us to check out Judge Posner’s latest Yale Law Journal piece, The Bluebook Blues.
@runagaterampant suggested we talk about old school detective novels, or legal tv shows.
@benbalter sought job-hunting tips for geeky lawyer types.

Keep Listening!

If you like what you hear, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.
Send questions, ideas, comments, complaints, and corrections by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery or @lbergus). Many thanks to our listening geeks!

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Typography for Lawyers: Interview with Matthew Butterick

Laura Bergus — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:22:30 +0000

Episode 21: Typography for Lawyers, CES, Searching Cell Phones, and More.

Special Feature: Typography for Lawyers

(Click here to read the transcript of this podcast.)

Interview with Matthew Butterick, a.k.a. @typogforlawyers
Order the book online.
While we were discussing typography for the web, Matthew referred to TypeKit. Also check out Google’s web fonts.
In discussing typography for presentations, Matthew recommended Edward Tufte’s The Cognative Style of PowerPoint.
Matthew answers these questions from listeners:
- “Fonts for outlining! We need something compact, fast, and we can’t afford some of the fonts on his site” – @jamiegorton
- “Signature lines—yea or nay?” – @justinmcshane
- “What percentage of lawyers in practice actually do typography well?” – @attyatlarge
- Comic Sans. Great font, or the best font?
- The best monospaced font?

In the News

CES: Tablets, tablets, tablets.
iPhone 4 clone launching on Verizon, Feb 10, 2011.
Supreme Court of CA rules searching text messages without warrant valid as search incident to lawful arrest (pdf).
Looking back to 2010: top advancements in tech law for the year?

Keep Listening!

If you like what you hear, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.
Send questions, ideas, comments, complaints, and corrections by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery or @lbergus). Many thanks to our listening geeks!

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They Should Call Them the Creepy Scanners

Laura Bergus — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:25:08 +0000

Episode 20: Special TSA Security Edition: Body Scanners, Admin Law, and the 4th Amendment.

Introduction

Welcome back, Scott!
Scott’s twin brother, Brian Kuhagen, is semi-famous, and has a great goatee.

In the News

Twitter‘s real-time feeds: we like them.
TSA’s security measures: full-body scanners and pat-downs
- 4th Amendment Implications and Privacy Concerns
  - Sarah Kornblatt 2007(pdf) law review article on new technology and airport security.
  - US v. Aukai (9th Cir. 2007)
  - Draft scholarly article on airport security, generally (2004 pdf).
  - Show me your boobies — it’s totally legal, guys! And other similarly-humiliating stories.
  - Children under 12 get “modified” pat-down, or can have their naked picture taken by the government.
  - Reasonableness is relative, but let’s look at how Israel handles real threats.
- Backscatter Physics = Safety Concerns
  - Letter of concern from UCSF scientists, quoted extensively on 17 Nov 2010 edition of Le Show with Harry Shearer
  - The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg on The Colbert Report on full-body scanners.
  - Congress is concerned about radiation, too.
- Administrative Law Considerations
  - EPIC challenges DHS based on lack of notice and comment rulemaking, among other allegations. EPIC says “No Federal Register citations exist concerning the three agency actions.” Yoiks!
  - Quick, dramatic changes in the rules are suspicious:
    - Pilots are suddenly exempt from scans and pat-downs
    - TSA Blog still says “no one is exempt.”
    - We’re also wondering about accountability of TSA for its blog, which asserts the backscatter machines “cannot store, transmit or print images and operators at airports do not have the capability to activate any such function.” Interesting since materials received by EPIC under a FOIA request show the machines have ethernet, USB ports, and hard drives.
  - What rule is TSA construing? 49 CFR ????
    - 49 CFR Section 1542.105(c): has the procedure for TSA changing the security program, which provides truncated notice and comment for the *airport operator,* except in cases of emergency.
    - 49 CFR Section 1540.107(a) Submission to screening and inspection“No individual may enter a sterile area or board an aircraft without submitting to the screening and inspection of his or her person and accessible property in accordance with the procedures being applied to control access to that area or aircraft under this subchapter.”

People Smarter than Us

Revisiting Spindle Law: really good tool for outlining Evidence — in fact, Evidence is pretty much outlined for you, citations and all… [disclosure: Laura's officially helping promote Spindle Law now, but that shouldn't detract from it's awesomeness]
Writ of possible simcha: a federal judge in the SDNY has agreed to take a day off from an upcoming trial so that counsel can attend the bris of his potential grandson. And if it’s a girl…?
Public.Resource.org wants you to adopt a volume of the Federal Reporter for scanning purposes.

You’re Doing It Wrong

Oh, Philadelphia: The PA Supreme Court has ruled that it was unlawful for the Phila City Council to ban public comment periods during its meetings.
Cooks Souce, LOL: perhaps the most glorious misunderstanding of copyright infringement and “public domain” evar.

Keep Listening!

If you like what you hear, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.
Send questions, ideas, comments, complaints, and corrections by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery, @lbergus, or @skuhagen). Many thanks to our listening geeks!

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Some of the Clients Weren’t Even Ready for It

Laura Bergus — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 19:38:37 +0000

Episode 19: WaPo’s Hashtag Purchase, Firesheep/Blacksheep, Inferential Ads, and More.

Introduction

Josh comes to us from a hotel in Georgia, Laura’s stuck at school for clinic work.
Both Josh and Laura have been traveling and presenting. Woo!

In the News

Washington Post buys #election hashtag. Was this obvious to users? Some Twitter clients were more prepared than others to make it clear the results, of the hashtag search, that is, had been bought.
FireSheep: boo.
- Blacksheep: yay!
Facebook applies for patent on inferential ad targeting. Josh explains how this is different than the creep ad targeting Facebook currently employs. Inferential ad targeting will make Facebook’s outing of gay users even easier.

People Smarter than Us

More on Typography for Lawyers: legal research and writing profs can get a free copy of the book!

Keep Listening!

If you <3 us as much as we ♥ you, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.
Send questions, ideas, comments, complaints, and turducken recipes by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery and/or @lbergus). Many thanks to our listening geeks!

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Why Would You Ever Actually Sell Anything?

Laura Bergus — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:42:04 +0000

Episode 18: No First-Sale for Digital Works, Typography for Lawyers, Facebook Non-Privacy, and more.

Introduction

Welcome back, Scott (@skuhagen)! He’s learning how 2Ls must minimize work to maximize sanity.
Josh’s job updates: he had a rough start with his new Droid X. Josh went to Florida and learned how to talk.
Laura got to file a real brief in a real court for a real client for legal clinic. Woot!

In the News

9th Circuit Autodesk case: licensing away our property rights. Should there be a digital first-sale doctrine?
Stem cells temporarily re-banned?
- US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit stayed the district judge’s injunction.
Intel is planning on crippling some verions of their chips, and you need to purchase an unlock card to make it faster.
Facebook change — no immediate option to ignore new friend requests!
- Some additional context on the no-ignore privacy change from Lifehacker.

People Smarter Than Us

Typography for Lawyers
- In agreement: don’t use Microsoft default fonts. Please, really, don’t.
- On Twitter: http://twitter.com/typogforlawyers
- The book: http://www.typographyforlawyers.com/?p=1195

You’re Doing It Wrong

Using $.10 CD-Rs to archive national treasures might have been a bad idea.
Congress to exec. branch agencies: come on guys, what did you say? “Plain Writing Act of 2010” passes both houses, sent to Presdt Obama for signature.

If you like the podcast, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.
Please send questions, ideas, comments, and complaints by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery and/or @lbergus, or @skuhagen to respond to Scott). Thanks for listening!

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Hooray for Every Movie with a Cat in It

Laura Bergus — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:45:11 +0000

Episode 16: Arizona’s SB1070, UK’s asbos, Iowa’s GOP, & More; With Guest Host Scott Kuhagen

Introduction

Special guest host: Scott Kuhagen, our fave listener. Follow him already: @skuhagen
Josh will return from the beaches of Mexico after he recovers from the barzam.
On buying books, remember students can get free Amazon Prime membership for a year.

In the News

Scott, a constitutional law geek, explains the controversial (read: ridiculous) Arizona immigration law, SB 1070.
Laura points out the new DMCA exemptions, which appear to open the door to legit kitten mashups, at least for cinema critique purposes.
Scott’s attention turns to “Knifecrime Island,” explaining a United Kingdom plan to scrap “anti-social behavior orders.” See also The Awl’s take on the issue.
Is this a big deal or not? White House proposal would ease FBI access to records of Internet activity.

People Smarter Than Us

Looking into Law Clerk Connection: see the site’s terms of service here.
Researchers suggest grades matter more than “eliteness” of a student’s law school:

Yet whenever it is possible to link law school grade data to either short‐ or long‐term outcomes among lawyers, the evidence is indisputable that grades matter. The After the JD study reveals a sharp tradeoff between law school grades and tier. For all but the most elite schools, the salary premiums for achieving high grades more than make up for the salary depreciation associated with attending a lower‐ranked law school. – pg. 20 of http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/072910sanderyakowitz.pdf
Use Google Scholar email alerts for search terms.

You’re Doing It Wrong

Oh, Iowa Republicans. Scott points out that they seek to replace the 13th Amendment (you know, the marginally-important one that…abolished slavery) with the “real” 13th Amendment that would take away Obama’s citizenship for receiving the Nobel Prize for…peace. After Laura recovers from the irony, she notes Section 12.12 of the Iowa GOP platform, wherein the Iowa GOP calls the UN “diabolical” for advancing sustainability on our planet.
Philadelphia Family Court needs a new building, but a blatant conflict of interest, overseen by the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, has put the brakes on a usable domestic justice system for just a while longer in the City of Brotherly Love.

Love for Our Geeks

Congrats to Josh Auriemma, and all the other bar-takers out there. We’ve lived vicariously through your pain and can’t wait to waste a summer just like you did!

If you like the podcast, please give us a positive review on iTunes, leave your comments and, of course, subscribe to the podcast.

Please send questions, ideas, comments, and complaints by email to podcast /at/ legalgeekery /dot/ com or via Twitter (@legalgeekery and/or @lbergus, or @skuhagen to respond to Scott). Thanks for listening!

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