Excited Utterances

Let's say you are in the liquor store, looking for a bottle of wine to kick off the weekend. Among the labels reading "dry, crisp" and "robust, full-bodied" is a bottle of Pinot Grigio that catches your eye: " easily digestible ." Based on the label, you buy it, thinking that you might be spared a hangover. But the next day, you wake up in a scene reminiscent of the movie The Hangover. This potential scenario is why I think the European Court of Justice did German wine cooperative  Deutsches Weintor  a favour when it ordered them to change their labels a few weeks ago. The labels described the wine as  bekömmlich,  which translates as "easily digestible" or "wholesome." But EU law prohibits companies from making health claims about alcoholic products. The company argued unsuccessfully in its defense that the word was not a health claim but instead referred to general well-being, and was easier to digest because it contained r...

What is going on with lawyers and inappropriate uses of Facebook lately? A couple of articles in the news recently cannot go unmentioned: First, in the Miami Herald yesterday: a state defense attorney snaps a photo of her client's underwear, and posts it on Facebook. The accused's family had brought him the leopard-print underwear along with fresh clothes to wear during his trial. The lawyer apparently posted the photo and a smart-ass caption about the family thinking this was appropriate attire for court. She was fired and a mistrial was declared. It was the murder trial of a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2012. Second, Daily Business Review reported that two defense lawyers are facing ethics charges for having their paralegal add the plaintiff as a Facebook friend in order to gain access to non-public information. The 18-year old plaintiff sustained a fractured femur when he was struck by a police car in a driveway. His Facebook photos showed him w...

Just finished reading the true story of Shon Hopwood’s journey from bank robber to law student. Very good read.  As a young man, Shon is a college dropout, disillusioned by his failure at college basketball, bored and generally lacking motivation and direction. This leads him to rob 5 banks in rural Nebraska between 1997 and 1998. His amateur (but armed) robberies ultimately end with his arrest and earn him a 13-year sentence in a federal prison. Shon’s prison stories are engaging: he matures while behind bars, grows from a stoner to a peacekeeper (but knowing that when tested you cannot show weakness), and his book provides a fascinating first-hand glimpse into the racism and mental illness that permeates the prison system.    While in prison, Shon begins working at the law library. He reads legal books, and begins writing briefs for his fellow inmates, to help reduce their sentences. He develops a love – and a talent – for criminal procedure. The Supreme...

If you are a Florida lawyer, like everyone else in the game you are probably eager to expand your online professional network by adding as many connections as possible to your LinkedIn profile. Should you add the judge who heard your last matter? You won the case, and you might have the opportunity to appear before him in future trials. The answer is NO. According to a May 9 opinion by Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee (JEAC), it is not permissible for a judge to approve a lawyer who may appear before him as a LinkedIn connection. This is considered a violation of Canon 2B of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits a judge from conveying or permitting others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge. A 2009 opinion by the JEAC had already deemed it impermissible for a Judge to add a lawyer who may appear before him as a friend on Facebook or MySpace. (Does anybody sti...