Client Driven Technologies - Dennis Kennedy is saying some things that are music to my ears:
"Maybe I've gotten a little impatient with the snailish pace of adoption of cool technologies in the practice of law, but I know for sure that it irritates me to see how clients of law firms must pay a big price because their law firms do not use technologies that would streamline work, promote efficiency, improve communication and control costs."
He's planning on talking about the topic of "client driven technologies" at various fora, including the ABA Tech Show. He's got a list of resources over here. Check it out, and see if you have any additional input for him.
Appearance of Impropriety? Give me a break- the L.A. Times is reporting on the California AG's effort to disqualify highly respected federal appeals judge Alex Kozinski from sitting on death penalty cases. His transgression? Visiting and corresponding with a convicted murderer who is on death row. The AG's office takes the position that this sort of activity by a judge might give rise to an impermissible appearance of impropriety. Eugene Volokh, who clerked for Judge Kozinski, has a few quick thoughts. I have only one quick thought: are sanctions available against the California AG's office for asserting such a patently ridiculous claim?
Federal judges visit prisons all the time. Oh, I suppose that the AG's claim will be that because Judge Kozinski visited a particular prisoner on death row that he is somehow acting improperly. That is also ludicrous. If I were the California Attorney General I'd rethink this strategy. But then again when you do something this incredibly foolish, it's going to haunt you even if you retract it.
Talk Left has more here. What can we glean from this action by the AG? One this is that. regardless of what you think about whether the death penalty should be permitted, there are clearly some prosecutors out there who lack the judgment to enforce it properly.
For what it's worth, I don't think we should use the death penalty at all. But I don't get worked up about it much. Except when I see something asinine like the California AG's attack on Judge Kozinski. Then I become seriously concerned about it.
6:35:30 PM
Uh, did someone hear something about Google buying Blogger? - My News Aggregator physically came over and started tugging my shirt. I have read the various stories, starting with Dan Gillmor's, but this is one of those stories that defines the world that you live in. If this story interests you then you have already been assimilated; but if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you probably get most of your news from the mainstream sources and don't have enough of the story background to care. Bottom line: something big just happened, and the mainstream news sources will most assuredly continue to maintain radio silence.
