LAWYERSCHILE EL MUNDO INTERNACIONAL DEL ABOGADO

Rodrigo González Fernández y un grupo de egresados de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad la Republica en Chile ha decidido poner al alcance de todo el mundo de la profesion legal importantes materias en Ingles para ir practicando el trabajo en materia de Tratados internacionales y que nuestra profesión estará en primera linea. Invitamos a todos a opinar, debatir, participar activamente.Es el primer blog legal en inglés de latinoamerica.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

lawyerschile: In Praise of Self-Laudatory Lawyer Ads

In Praise of Self-Laudatory Lawyer Ads

Bans on self-laudatory lawyer ads are paternalistic, overly broad and elitist -- not to mention unconstitutional. That is the argument made by Nat S. Stern, a professor at Florida State University College of Law, in a newly published research paper, "Commercial Speech, 'Irrational' Clients, and the Persistence of Bans on Subjective Lawyer Advertising."

It is an area in which lawyers tread carefully in their advertising and marketing materials. We avoid being subjectively boastful about ourselves or comparing ourselves to our competitors. "Just the facts, ma'am," is the mantra of lawyer advertising. Many lawyers exercise this discretion willingly, while others feel compelled by state ethics rules, both express and implied.

But to the extent states place categorical bans on self-laudatory lawyer ads, they are probably at odds with Supreme Court doctrine regarding the permissible limits on commercial speech, Stern says.

A categorical ban on such claims rests on premises at odds with the Court's commercial speech jurisprudence. In particular, the prohibition clashes with the Court's disapproval of sweeping restrictions rooted in paternalistic assumptions about the public's capacity to assess commercial advertising. Admittedly, the Court has indicated some latitude for states to curb representations about legal services that are not susceptible to objective verification. Given the broader foundations of commercial speech doctrine, however, these pronouncements cannot be taken to support wholesale suppression of attorney advertising that exceeds the narrow presentation of data.

A key flaw in such bans is the belief that consumers are too gullible and naive to sort through lawyers' claims of excellence, Stern argues. Such paternalistic policies rest on shaky ground, he contends. "It seems doubtful that the public cannot place in proper perspective attorneys' claims of excellence or expertise." More to the point, such policies conflict with Supreme Court jurisprudence involving commercial speech. "In other contexts, the Court has resisted state attempts to decide which communications in the realm of opinion are worthy of expression."

State rules against subjective claims "remain one of the last bastions of restrictions on attorneys' advertising," Stern asserts. It is not, however, a bastion likely to tumble in one fell swoop. Instead, he believes such restrictions will be whittled away piece by piece. Even that, he says, "would advance the salutary notion that the profession responsible for defending First Amendment principles also enjoys their protection.

[Hat tip to Media Law Prof Blog.]

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 28, 2009

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Rodrigo González Fernández
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lawyerschile: A Titillating Tell-All Book for Small-Firm Lawyers

A Titillating Tell-All Book for Small-Firm Lawyers

So there's another BigLaw tell-all making the circuit. First there was lawyer-turned-sex-novelist Deidre Dare, whose erotic stories about a fictional BigLaw lawyer's party life in Moscow were said to be based on her real-life experiences there as a lawyer with Allen & Overy. Now comes the former Sidley Austin associate known only as ZZ and his memoir about sex, drugs and fast-living while working in Sidley's office in Beijing.

As scandalously delicious as these books may be, they leave the literary and legal worlds with the distinct misimpression that only BigLaw lawyers have libidinous tales to tell. The truth is, life is no less lascivious for lawyers in solo and small firms. Even though discretion keeps us from blasting our bawdy behavior to the world at large, do not for a nanosecond believe it's all billable time behind our closed office doors.

Hoping to help set the record straight on behalf of solo and small-firm lawyers everywhere, I've decided it's time to write a tell-all of my own. I've just started to outline all the tawdry details, but to whet readers' appetites -- and, one might hope, set the stage for phenomenal book sales -- allow me to tease you with a few tantalizing tidbits I intend to reveal in all their salacious detail:

How I PARTIED ON A SIX-FIGURE INCOME. (If you count the cents column.)
The time I SPENT A WEEKEND with my office manager. (Granted, she was my wife.)
My WILD RIDE IN A FAST CAR. (At least my son enjoyed Space Mountain.)
The time I ATE 'SHROOMS at a judicial reception. (How those caterers stuff in so many breadcrumbs, I'll never know.)
The object of MY SECRET LUST. (I'll get that new scanner one of these days.)
My SIX HOURS IN A HOTEL ROOM with opposing counsel. (I thought the deposition would never end.)
How I SQUANDERED MY EXPENSE ACCOUNT on a business associate. (Who knew Applebee's would cost more than $20?)
Why I once had a STRIPPER IN THE OFFICE. (The place looked much better once the old wallpaper was gone.)
The time I TOOK MONEY FROM MY TRUST ACCOUNT. (It was right after I billed the client and earned the fee.)
How I SECRETLY ADMIRE MY EMPLOYER. (Wait, that's weird, I am my employer.)
Why I decided to COME OUT OF THE CLOSET. (Once I put the broom away, what else would I do in there?)
The time I offered to PLEASE THE COURT. (My opponent in the appellate argument had already made the same offer.)
My ALL-NIGHTER ON COKE. (Diet Coke, actually, but at least I made the filing deadline.)

Not wanting to give it all away, let me stop there. No doubt, I've already revealed enough to make my point. The life of a small-firm lawyer is no less glamorous, no less scandalous, no less titillating than that of any BigLaw lawyer working in some exotic overseas city. The one place I'm stuck is on a title. Dare called her book Expat. ZZ named his China High. I'm thinking something like Solo Survivor.

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 28, 2009

lawyerschile: And Now, Our Report From Cannes

And Now, Our Report From Cannes

What with blogging and twittering and all, we weren't able to make it to Cannes this year for the annual gathering of the film world's glitterati. One Texas lawyer did find the time to attend, and where Texas lawyers go, so goes Tex Parte Blog, in spirit if not in fact.

Jenny B. Davis posts there about Sally Helppie, a practicing lawyer in Dallas who more than moonlights as a movie producer. Of counsel to the firm Tipton Jones, where she practices entertainment law and commercial litigation, Helppie is just back from Cannes after screening her latest film, "The Beacon," at the Marché Du Film, an industry gathering that runs alongside the higher-profile Festival de Cannes. This year, Helppie tells Davis, she was selected as a member of the Producers Network, which gave her access to special conferences and cocktail parties.

In March, Texas Lawyer had a more in-depth profile of Helppie, who was a working actor in Hollywood before attending law school at UCLA. After graduating in 1985 and moving to Texas, she kept one foot in the entertainment world by representing writers, producers and others in the field. In 2006, one client approached her about starting a production company in Dallas, and her producing career was launched.

Described as a supernatural thriller, "The Beacon" is the second film her company, Sabbatical Pictures, has produced. The first, "Exit Speed," was an action film that had a limited theatrical release and is now out on DVD. The screenwriter for "Exit Speed," as it happens, is Helppie's husband, Michael Stokes, an award-winning professional writer.

And Helppie has no qualms about casting friends and family in her films. "Extras are not covered by SAG contracts, so you can let friends and relatives have walk-on parts without dealing with union contracts," she says. Not surprisingly, some of those friends also happen to be lawyers. In fact, one former colleague, Paul E. Coggins, a principal in the Dallas office of Fish & Richardson and the former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, has had plum walk-on roles in both of Helppie's films -- as a doctor, not a lawyer.

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 28, 2009

lawyerschile: Sotomayor: The Second 24 Hours

Sotomayor: The Second 24 Hours

My partner-in-blog Carolyn Elefant did a great job yesterday rounding up the first 24 hours' reaction among bloggers and pundits to President Obama's nomination of 2nd Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Needless to say, the tsunami of commentary continues -- from bloggers, tweeters, columnists and YouTubers -- in what The Boston Globe today describes as a cyberspace blitzkrieg. So let us check in on what the second 24 hours has brought.

No clear pattern on First Amendment. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the First Amendment Center say Sotomayor has attracted both praise and criticism for her rulings involving free speech and the news media. "It is surprising to see that no clear standard on First Amendment issues has emerged from her many cases," the RCFP says.

No set bias on business cases. Just as Sotomayor's rulings on First Amendment cases have varied, so her rulings in business cases have failed to define her as either pro- or anti-business, John Schwartz writes in The New York Times. "It's impossible to look at these decisions and say, oh, all of these results clearly reflect a pre-existing, across the board bias one way or another," Supreme Court litigator Andrew J. Pincus tells Schwartz.

The nominee as legal realist. Jess Bravin writes in the Wall Street Journal that Sotomayor's 1996 talk at Suffolk University Law School in Boston may provide clues to her judicial philosophy. Citing the teachings of Judge Jerome Frank, who promoted legal realism, Sotomayor said, "The law that lawyers practice and judges declare is not a definitive, capital 'L' law that many would like to think exists."

A closet sovereigntist? At Opinio Juris, Julian Ku looks at Sotomayor's opinions involving the application of international law. "My very quick scan suggests that, whatever else her critics can say, her judicial record does not suggest she will be a particularly 'transnationalist' justice," Ku concludes.

A take-no-guff temperament. McClatchy Newspapers says Sotomayor's style could well alter the dynamics of the Supreme Court. "White House officials consider Sotomayor's take-no-guff temperament a sign that she can hold her own among the Supreme Court's aggressively conservative justices, starting with Antonin Scalia," the article reports.

Hints of her abortion stance. Charlie Savage writes in The New York Times that some abortion rights advocates fear that Sotomayor might not be a sure bet to uphold Roe v. Wade. She has never directly ruled on the issue, but some opinions that touched on it tangentially reached outcomes that were favorable to abortion opponents, Savage reports.

And so it continues and will continue still. Stay tuned for further developments.

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Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on May 28, 2009