MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.

1. Learn the tendencies and practices of the judge in front of whom you are arguing, and focus your argument accordingly. Will it be a hot bench or will the judge be learning about the case for the first time ...

The 183-page PDF file that constitutes the U.S. Supreme Court case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission can be reduced to three words and a simple admonition. The three-words: Money equals speech. The simple admonition: Political speech is political ...

Although the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission could affect elections in every state and at all levels of government, one very important group of elected state officials will be unaffected – judges who run ...

I think I need a refresher course in Westlaw. Or maybe I just rely too much on hyperlinks to get my legal research. Is that a bad thing? My office has a bizarre case based on allegations stemming from 1987, ...

If you repeat something often enough, it becomes conventional wisdom. Republicans insist they are not simply the Party of No. They are the Party of Plans, which they press with gusto upon anyone who will pay attention. Walk slowly through ...

The Deficit. The Debt. Americans are strangling themselves economically. So: 1) Restore all income taxes to the pre-President George W. Bush level, not just those for people earning $250,000 or more. 2) Tax the banks $90 billion as proposed by ...

The legal profession deals with internally inconsistent arguments every day. As the old joke goes, we can file a pleading simultaneously contending that our client never had a dog, her dog did not bite the plaintiff and the bite was ...

I don’t intend for this to be another screed on legalese or how illogical and inconsistent the English language is. If you’re interested in the latter, Richard Lederer and Bill Bryson have penned some delightful books about our twisted mother ...

“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.” – Ronald Reagan As a general rule I don’t use this column for political commentary, but ...

Whether you think it outrageous or terrific that the U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled corporate funds can pay for political ads, or if you don’t much care, there is humor to be mined in a flap the decision created ...

A week in St. Louis in January isn’t everyone’s idea of a vacation, but for me last week it became one – a learning vacation. As a new member of the Missouri Public Defender System, I was required to attend ...