Winter 2018, The Supremes

Final Grades on Point Headings for the 2016 Term

Bryan A. Garner

Good point headings are essential to a good brief. Here’s a look at what makes them work—and not work.

“It’s a Calling, Not a Job”: A Profile of General William K. Suter, 19th Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court

Erin E. Rhinehart

Insights about the Court and the man who helped lead it for 20 years.

Litigation & Trials

May It Displease the Court

Hon. Bridget Mary McCormack and Len Niehoff

Lessons from Supreme Court arguments that didn’t go well.

Tips for Representing Consumers and Investors in the Supreme Court

David C. Frederick and Brendan J. Crimmins

Some of the strategic themes and tactics from cases in which consumers and investors have prevailed in the Supreme Court.

Effective Strategies in Drafting and Enforcing Non-Competes

Edward H. Pappas and Daniel D. Quick

Societal skepticism is growing about non-competes, but they are important tools when used with care.

Rule Of Law

Judicial Review and Democracy

Hon. Tassaduq Hussain Jillani

A former chief justice of Pakistan discusses the country’s constitution and the role the courts played when the military seized power.

In Memoriam: Jim McElhaney, 1937–2017

Steven J. Miller

Law schools pride themselves in teaching us to think like lawyers, but Jim always reminded us to talk like humans. He knew that trial advocacy is grounded in being heard and understood, and that law school educations lead us to speak in legal jargon rather than in simple English.”

Lawyer Wellness

Opening Statement: Let’s Help Lawyers Get on the Path to Well-Being

Koji F. Fukumura

Within the span of a few days in June 2017, two prominent lawyers took their own lives; they were not the first to have done so by that time last year. This caused me, in thinking about priorities for my year as chair of the Litigation Section, to focus on mental health and wellness in the profession. A colleague suggested that I look at the CoLAP website for ideas

Court Administration

From the Bench: State Supreme Court: Like SCOTUS, at Least in Part

Hon. David Viviano

The parallels between the work of the Michigan Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, or SCOTUS, are many. Like SCOTUS, the Michigan Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the law in Michigan. Like SCOTUS, the Michigan Supreme Court has broad discretion to decide in what cases we will hear argument and issue opinions. Like SCOTUS, the Michigan Supreme Court oversees the promulgation of the rules of procedure that govern our courts (although, unlike SCOTUS, we have the final word).

Patents

iWitness: Where Will All the Patent Cases Go? The Aftermath of TC Heartland

Charles B. Walker and Dino Arslanagic

The Eastern District of Texas has been ranked in the top 10 of the most popular venues for patent cases since 2000. In fact, since 2005, the Eastern District has enjoyed the number one rank. Its top ranking in patent venue may be in jeopardy, though, as the Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, 137 S. Ct. 1514 (2017), attempts to limit the venues available in patent cases. The Supreme Court’s decision triggers many questions: Where will future patent cases go? Will the decision in TC Heartland trigger a shift in the landscape of patent venues? How do e-commerce businesses fit into the current patent venue framework?

Courts & Judiciary

Advance Sheet: The Morality of Dissent

Robert E. Shapiro

The recent news that Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner had decided to retire, effective immediately, sparked a fulsome round of encomiums regarding both Judge Posner’s service during the more than three decades he served on the Seventh Circuit bench and, a bit more tentatively, his impact on the law itself. There could be as little doubt about the latter as the former.

Europe

Global Litigator: A Litigator’s Primer on European Union and American Privacy Laws and Regulations

Zachary S. Heck

The differences between information sharing in the United States and information sharing in the European Union (EU) are rooted both in the law and in cultural attitude.

Career

Sidebar: Regrets, I’ve Had a Few…

Kenneth P. Nolan

I never planned my life. It just happened. Even my college decision was made for me. “You can go to any college you want, as long as you can pay for it,” my mother said sweetly. So I commuted to Brooklyn College for 50 bucks a semester, which was when New York City actually helped its citizens.

Ethics

Scruples: Responsibility for Stolen Settlement Funds

Michael Downey

“We were supposed to receive a settlement payment from Nemesis’s client. We never got the payment,” Paradox said. “Now Nemesis is saying we should be responsible.”

Making Peace, Restoring Trust

Hon. Darlene A. O’Brien

The highly structured adversarial system of criminal justice in the United States inevitably creates winners and losers in a litigation contest. The process is often stressful and isolating.

A Framework for Mutual Compliance with Amended Rule 34

Paul Weiner

In a recent ruling over a discovery dispute, a New York federal judge, the Honorable Andrew J. Peck, admonished lawyers representing responding parties to pay closer heed to their obligations under the amendments to Rule 34 of the Federal Rules implemented more than a year ago: