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Representative Christopher Lee (R-NY) introduced a bill in the 112th Congress, H.R. 292, known as The Stop the OverPrinting (STOP) Act, that would require the Public Printer to “make bills and resolutions available for the use of the House of Representatives and Senate only in an electronic format which is accessible through the Internet.” There is an option to provide some print copies of bills, but print would be the exception rather than the rule going forward. The snippet of the bill text quoted above comes from OpenCongress, which also provides a summary of the bill and other information about it. The bill passed the House unanimously (399-0) yesterday, and must go to the Senate. Supporters claim that in addition to creating greater access to bills for members of the public, the measure would also save the government considerable money–approximately $35,000,000 over ten years in printing costs. This is not the first time that Representative Lee has introduced similar legislation, and this time it seems to have a good chance of becoming law. Read the rest of this entry »

State bar associations are reacting to the wave of unemployed law graduates hanging out their own shingles by instituting required mentorship programs. The National Law Journal (subscription required), ABA Journal, and Above the Law all report on Oregon as the latest state to jump on the bandwagon. From the National Law Journal article, by Karen Sloan: Read the rest of this entry »

A challenge to Massachusetts Universal Health Care law may reveal some insight into what may lie ahead for the Federal Health Care law. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome Michael Merlina, a resident of Massachusetts who is representing himself in court after being fined $2,000 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for not having health insurance and Attorney David Harlow, a seasoned Health Care attorney, consultant and blogger, to talk about this case and the questions this case raises in our nationwide debate.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed offers a small list of odd-ball scholarships, niche offerings for a small population. They include such amazing items as Loyola University’s (of Chicago) scholarship for Roman Catholics with the surname Zolp. The amount available each year depends on the number of eligible Zolps presenting themselves. There is a scholarship for students graduating from any K-12 school on 13th Street in Reading, Pennsylvania at the Albright College, presumably because that’s where the college is located, called the “13th Street Gang Scholarships.” One supposes the name predates the rise of heavy gang activity. The amount available, though is $15,000, renewable annually. The deadline to apply to Albright College is March 1. The article is in print Jan. 14, 2011, at page A6, in the Tweed Column, if that makes it easier to locate, titled, “Dollars for Scholars, from Albright to Zolp.” There are more than I list here.

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So youre hanging a shingle, now what? In this debut edition of New Solo, host Attorney Kyle R. Guelcher, a solo practitioner out of Springfield, MA and chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, welcomes Attorney Gabriel Cheong, the principal attorney of Infinity Law Group LLC, to talk about some of the things to do after you have started your law firm - networking, rainmaking and generating revenue and how to keep track of all those small business issues.

Reverse discrimination is an interesting phenomenon. I am sure there are a lot of ways to express reverse discrimination. But I am thinking of plain people being snooty towards beauty. I hate to admit it, but I am quite guilty of this. I am periodically reminded of the fact. The first time I was forced into awareness was when I was a college student. My dorm had two very beautiful and somewhat glamorous women. One had been the winner of a beauty contest. They really were isolated by the other women. This was the early 70’s when applying make-up and doing your hair was just not in fashion among college women. We were nature girls and learning to be liberated.

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Reading “Wikipedia Comes of Age” in The Chronicle of Higher Education coincided with my turning in the grades for last semester’s Advanced Legal Research course. The author, Casper Grathwohl, vice president and publisher of digital and reference content for Oxford University Press, points out that Wikipedia, which is ten years old this month, has created an “an enormous paradigm shift” in how people conduct research. Grathwohl used to dismiss Wikipedia in favor of more traditional, vetted reference works like the ones published by Oxford. Now, however, Grathwohl sees it as a “necessary layer in the Internet knowledge system, a layer that was not needed in the analog age.” Contrary to what some professors think, students do not do research on Wikipedia; rather they do “pre-research,” “to gain context on a topic, [and] to orient themselves … ” Thus, it functions “as an ideal bridge between the validated and unvalidated Web.” Students are well aware that at most Wikipedia should be considered a filter and not an unimpeachable source, according to Grathwohl.

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On this edition of Ringler Radio, host Larry Cohen welcomes co-host and Ringler colleague Randy Dyer and guest Michael P. Kelly, the current president of the board of directors of NSSTA, to talk about the challenges facing the structured settlement industry in 2011. Larry, Randy and Mike take a look at NSSTAs strategy, the most important initiative for the structured settlement industry on Capitol Hill and using technology to connect with new members and push new initiatives.

We are pleased to welcome Joshua M. Dalton of Bingham McCutchen LLP to discuss patent false marking. To learn more about our Intellectual Property concentration please visit www.law.suffolk.edu/academic/ip.

If 2011 is as busy as last year, well have plenty of legal stories to discuss. Attorneys and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams welcome returning guest, Stephen L. Kaplan from the firm Hicks, Mims, Kaplan & Burns out of Orange County, California, to review his 2010 predictions and look ahead to a brand new year- 2011!