By: Caryn Tamber
Happy Monday!
- Collaborative divorce isn’t so great, Dawn Bowie says.
- Is this gender-stereotyping discrimination, or is it sexual-orientation discrimination? “Prowel says he was harassed because he talked in a high voice, walked effeminately, was very well-groomed, liked to talk about art and interior design, and pushed the buttons on a work machine ‘with pizzazz.’”
- The woman whose online harassment of a 13-year-old girl arguably led the girl to commit suicide has had her misdemeanor conviction officially overturned.
- Anti-abortion groups can’t challenge over-the-counter emergency contraception.
- “Your Honor, Megan’s Law made me drive drunk.”
By: Brendan Kearney
In nearly every social setting I found myself in this past holiday weekend, the latest in The Continuing Story of Alaska Sarah came up, and the theories of why she abruptly quit as governor were as various as they were numerous. Here’s one the legal community can understand: her legal bills forced her hand. (And speaking of, er, atypical Alaskans, I wonder what this judge has to say about Palin’s resignation.)
How bad have law firm layoffs been this year? Here’s the latest on the recent rash of retrenchments. (HT: Above The Law)
Have you heard about The Chicago Tribune’s series of stories examining the controversial admissions practices at the University of Illinois? Well there’s now controversy about the newspaper’s coverage, too, and a group of law professors at the University want everyone to know their school isn’t unique. (Hat tip: ABA Journal, et al.) Are they right?
Leah Ward Sears, the just-retired Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court — and a one-time candidate to become dean of the University of Maryland School of Law — sounded off last week on no-fault divorces. (Hat tip: Maryland Family Law Blog)
Finally, everybody has word-choice pet peeves, and one of mine is the use of ‘verbal‘. As that word comes from the Latin for ‘word,’ I think it should be used in contrast to ‘numerical’ or ‘gestural’ when manner of expression is the subject at issue. But instead, ‘verbal’ is often used in contrast to ‘written’, which while legitimate according to lower-listed dictionary definitions, I think should be subbed out for ‘vocal‘. (By the way, this mini tirade — wait, can you have a typed tirade? — was triggered by today’s “Say What?!“). What do you think?
By: Christina Doran
For homebuyers who just can’t bear the thought of driving around a free-but-gas-guzzling SUV, realtors in Spain are offering the next big incentive: a free divorce.
Spanish real estate company Geimsa is throwing in a divorce lawyer with the purhcase of a three-bedroom house (minimum $89,000) in the Andalucian province of Huelva, Spain, according to a recent UPI article.
Officials with Geimsa realtors said the deal is aimed at couples who have been postponing divorce because they can’t afford new homes, Britain’s The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.
“A divorce is very expensive,” said Vanesa Contioso of Geimsa. “So we are offering new clients the free use of our lawyers to handle the process.”
That sure beats a free lunch.
Hat tip: Maryland Divorce Legal Crier.
By: Caryn Tamber
Happy blustery Monday! Here’s what’s new around the Web:
- After hearing from a dance scholar from the University of Maryland and watching videos of strippers performing, a New York judge held that pole-dancing is an art form, meaning it qualifies for a sales tax exemption. OK, there’s a lot I could say about this, but I’m going to limit myself to observing that this is probably the first time ever that someone has written the following sentence: “He told the New York Law Journal he sees similarities between objections to strip clubs and new Mormon temples.”
- The Post’s Sunday piece about the Baltimore cult-related death of a 16-month-old contains this terribly sad sentence about the child’s mother’s guilty plea: “Ramkissoon, 22, has agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge on one condition: The charges against her must be dropped if her son, Javon Thompson, is resurrected.”
- This blog on Maryland gangs appears to be new and worth checking out.
- A mathematician has developed a formula to predict whether newlyweds will stay married. I could see someone making a bunch of money off this–or maybe not. Some people may not want to know. HT: Maryland Divorce Legal Crier.
- “Could I get away with performing magic in the courtroom, or would that backfire on my client’s cause?” Jon Katz wonders. (He also holds forth on a gross-out stunt he performed at his son’s recent birthday party.)
By: Christina Doran
A new divorce Web site launched last week has that certain something-extra: its own community forum, “I Got Screwed By…”.
The forum at Divorce Network is not just where disgruntled ex-spouses go to air grievances about their former partners. It’s also a place where they can discuss how they “got screwed” by lawyers or judges.
“John” writes about his experience with three different lawyers, the last of which told him that:
lawyers had a “license to f–k me” and there was nothing I could do about it (except pay the bill for that “advice”). I talk about that in this post. Yep he said that and I can send you a .wav file to prove it since I started taping all my conversations related to the divorce. I have some doosie’s, like when he called the opposition lawyer a “f–king c-nt”. Even I didn’t stoop so low to using body part innuendo. I talk about that one here. I finally questioned his manhood. He finally quit when he got a large amount seized from me and I had no more money.
And “Barbara” said that her lawyer was so bad that she was still married. With emotions running high during divorce, I imagine this site won’t lose its appeal any time soon.
HAT TIP: Legal Blog Watch
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