Thursday, October 30, 2003

Chicago pediatrician accused of child pornography crimes

One of a parent's worst nightmares...Chicago pediatrician arrested on porn charges. Dr. H. Marc Watzman is accused of possession of child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Markus T. Funk, no stranger to sex related charges involving children, says that we will be advised of any new developments in this investigation.

In addition to the photos on computers, drugs were found including : morphine; two compounds used to induce unconsciousness; a substance used to induce temporary muscular paralysis; a sedative used by surgeons; Viagra; and marijuana.

Monday, October 27, 2003

Don't let red lights get you down

If you had a device on your dashboard that you could use to change red lights to green, would you use it?

It's interesting watching the law attempt to address technological advances. Should drivers have the power to change stoplights?

How will legislatures address this problem...

Tire Safety, and the misperceptions of youth

When I was a young car owner, I developed a theory regarding tire rotation. My theory was that it was a concept invented by the tire manufacturers to trick people into a situation where they had to buy all 5 tires at once, rather than one at a time. Long lasting are some aspects of our youth. But I am finally softening to the concept. Here is a link to some tire safety tips, to counterbalance my warped youthful perspective.

Saturday, October 25, 2003

Aetna Settles With Doctors for $470M

In a national class action suit U.S. judge approves $470M Aetna settlement with doctors . Now let us see if this helps us to get medical care without the interference of the insurance companies.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Common Good

Philip Howard writes an insightful article about the responsibility of the judiciary in keeping the rif raff out of courts. I very much like the article, but I stop short of jumping entirely on his soapbox. I think I will just have a seat on the edge of it. A well drafted and moderate set of "Loser Pay" laws by our legislature would greatly assist in the reform process which he advocates and give teeth to the judges' ability to accomplish it. I will climb entirely onto that one.

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Trademark Upheld in Seach Term Usage Suit

In what will (hopefully) become a solid trend, Google France was fined for trademark violation (story by: | CNET News.com) by selling trademarked search terms, to the competitors of the owners of the trademarks. ... Seems like a no-brainer when I put it that way, huh?

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Corp Law Blog: Why Delaware is a Corporation Magnet

Mike O'Sullivan wrote this scholarly and yet practical answer to a much asked question. And with a name like "O'Sullivan", I am not surprised.

While I agree 100%, there are a number of other lesser factors that contribute to Delaware's magnetism. One of these factors derives from Delaware having a small bar, a collegial bar (aside from the Deer Park). There is no room to hide and no room for petty politics. We all share the common goal of maintaining the high quality of the Delaware Corporate body of law. I couldn't tell you what political party another Delaware lawyer belongs to, because for the most part, we don't care. It just doesn't matter.

There is a Delaware Constitutional provision which requires that the bench of some courts be somewhat balanced as between the two major parties. But this is secondary to picking the right person for the right job. We have a Democrat for a Governor who has nominated a number of Republican attorneys to positions on courts. Do you see that in other States?

And yes, our judges are nominated by the Governor, and confirmed by our Legislature. They are not elected. There are no judicial campaigns.

Removing politics from the equation has freed us up to do a better job for our profession, our Corporations, and for the human citizens of Delaware. After all, what else matters?

2nd Blawgiversary

A few weeks ago we celebrated our 2nd Blawgiversary at Michael's. A good time was had by all. And this year we had a real cake!

Real Cake!

Blawgifamily

Conmigo

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

4 die in failed experiment with nature

Two brown bears and two humans are the immediate casualties from a naturalist's experiment in living with the bears as reported by Reuters. Timonthy Treadwell, Amie Huguenard, and two unnamed bears are now evidence for three laws of nature: survival of the fittest; natural selection; and don't mess around with mother nature. The humans, part of an organization called Grizzly People were intentionally camping in an Alaska area heavily populated by large brown bears. The remains of their bodies were found by the pilot who flew in to pick them up. Alaska State Troopers and Rangers were forced to shoot the two bears during the process of retrieving the human remains. This scenario was all but foretold by bear biologist, Tom Smith.

Timothy Treadwell

Sunday, October 05, 2003

Banking More Difficult under the USA PATRIOT Act

If you want to open a bank account or brokerage account or sign up for a mutual fund, you're going to have to prove that you're not a criminal or a terrorist first. That is, after Wednesday, when another part of the USA PATRIOT Act sets in.

Civil E-filing Steps Up in Delaware

Delaware's Superior Court and Chancery Court become a lot more wired tomorrow.

Delaware was one of the leaders in the country when it came to electronic filing of documents in civil cases. The State's Complex Litigation Automated Docket (CLAD) was the very first electronic filing and docketing system for civil cases in the U.S. The system was limited to a handful of complex civil cases, with large number of litigants.

CLAD used WordPerfect 5.1 as its file format of choice, and that remained the format until very recently. In the meantime, a number of other states have adopted electronic filing, and have leap frogged past Delaware's older system. The Wilmington News Journal takes a close look in their article, Court steps up e-filing.

Delaware's Superior Court starts accepting non-arbitration complaint filings tomorrow. Chancery Court will also be using this e-filing system. There are a couple of days left of the free online training scheduled for filing of electronic documents for Superior and Chancery Courts. Classes are free, online, and can be registered for online. They last approximately 90 minutes. More details here (pdf).

Saturday, October 04, 2003

looking at the Public Defender Dude

It's good to get the perspective of someone like the Public Defender Dude.

Live free or die

Somehow I didn't think that the members of The Free State Project would choose Delaware as their final destination. I guess the grass is greener in New Hampshire.

Vote Fort Delaware

Preservation of our past, conservation of our natural environment. Smithsonian Magazine is recognizing efforts towards both, and has selected nominees to be commended for their work towards sustaining both.

Amongst the nominees is Fort Delaware State Park, which has come a long way in the past few years, and has a bit of a way to go in becoming a traveler's destination.

Delaware's first female judge dies

Roxana C. Arsht was the fifth female member of the Delaware Bar, and the first woman to become a judicial officer in Delaware. The Wilmington News Journal takes a look at her career and accomplishments in an article entitled Delaware's first female judge dies. Her dedication to helping others will be missed.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Rush into Controversy

A fan of Rush's, I am not. And confused I am (as well as a Yoda fan), as is The Ben File. So Rush Limbaugh has now resigned from the CNN post. That doesn't bother me too much. But please help me out here... what words am I allowed to speak? what topics and opinions are now illegal? And when did this happen?