Three Words (and a funeral)

A good friend has succumbed to cancer, and I'm accordingly going to be offline for a couple of days. However, I wanted to leave you with some three-worded links I believe to have broad -- and in some instances interrelated -- significance.

Interviews With Judges: I know I just blogged this yesterday, but I didn't mention that, or why, I thought it particularly interesting or important. I do, because I think through his weblog Howard has created a previously unheard of inside channel to the nation's appellate judiciary. I believe judges may share thoughts with Howard (and thus, uh, The World) they never would share with a professional journalist. Why? They know -- or can come to know -- enough about Howard through his daily writing to know they can trust him, to know they will not be misrepresented, to know whatever it is they wish to say will be said. Through a jurist's eyes, Howard is not one of "them," he's one of "us." The medium of the weblog has allowed all the delicate conditions necessary for this -- voice, audience, editorial and technological control -- to converge. Ah, I hear someone saying, that's not Journalism, it's not objective or critical enough. Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear what these people have to say. Do you?

Po Bronson's Article: (Adapted from Po Bronson's book.) Fast Company's insightful January cover story is by Po Bronson:

I'm convinced that business success in the future starts with the question, What should I do with my life? Yes, that's right. The most obvious and universal question on our plates as human beings is the most urgent and pragmatic approach to sustainable success in our organizations. People don't succeed by migrating to a "hot" industry (one word: dotcom) or by adopting a particular career-guiding mantra (remember "horizontal careers"?). They thrive by focusing on the question of who they really are -- and connecting that to work that they truly love (and, in so doing, unleashing a productive and creative power that they never imagined). Companies don't grow because they represent a particular sector or adopt the latest management approach. They win because they engage the hearts and minds of individuals who are dedicated to answering that life question. [para.] This is not a new idea. But it may be the most powerfully pressing one ever to be disrespected by the corporate world.

Judge Alex Kozinski: Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit certified an interesting question to the California Supreme Court in the ever-popular "sex.com" domain name dispute. The question concerns whether, under California law, Internet domain names are "property" for purposes of the tort of conversion (essentially, civil law's version of theft). It includes an exceptionally well written, entertaining and persuasive dissent by Judge Kozinski, and the entire order is highly instructive on the process of certifying questions from the Ninth Circuit to the California Supreme Court. You can read it here (PDF). As interesting as all this is to me, it is less interesting than the fact -- evident in the three-worded link above, pointing to pertinent How Appealing posts from yesterday -- that within three hours Howard's initial post had resulted in email from Court of Appeals law clerks, California appellate practitioners and Harvard law students (among others, I'm sure) answering questions and offering opinion about issues raised by the certification order. Again, I think the weblog format is utterly unique in its ability to engender discussions like this in the legal field, discussions unhindered by geography or the particular professional, governmental or academic institution the participants call "home." Of course, the credit is not simply the technology's. Howard's knowledgeable, open and droll writing encourages dialogue. Note too that conversation is not hampered by the fact there are no comments at How Appealing. Given the judicial status or affiliation of many of Howard's readers, the ability to comment through email, with anonymity if desired, actually must encourage colloquy.

Diet Vanilla Coke: Last but not least. Needs no further explanation. Simply bliss.

See you in a few.

Jurists Speak

It's official! In February How Appealing will begin a monthly feature called Twenty Questions For The Appellate Judge. (More here.) Since I will have the great pleasure of dining in Justice Rylaarsdam's chambers (PDF) early next month, I definitely will suggest that he and his colleagues -- who include Justice Bedsworth, author of the consistently delightful A Criminal Waste Of Space -- take Howard up on this.

Now You Stay It, Now You Don't

The U.S. Supreme Court's stay in Pavlovich now has been rescinded:

"Upon further considerationof the application of counsel for the applicant, and the response filed thereto, It is ordered that the stay of the execution and enforcement of the judgment heretofore issued by the undersigned on Dec. 26, 2002, is hereby vacated. The application for stay is, in all respects, denied. signed Sandra D. O'Connor, Assoc. J. 1-3-03."

[via the California Supreme Court] Remittitur issued today. Good coverage at InfoWorld, and the AP report at ABC.

Supremes (U.S.) To Supremes (CA), in Pavlovich: Not So Fast

The California Supreme Court's docket in Pavlovich reflects that on December 26 it received faxed notice from the U.S. Supreme Court that a stay of the opinion (PDF) reported at 29 Cal. 4th 262 (discussed previously here) would be granted. On December 31, the Court further was notified of additional briefing due to the U.S. Supreme Court by today's date. This case may supply the vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to provide guidance on thorny Web jurisdiction issues. (One should not assume that the U.S. Supreme Court's intervention means the CA Pavlovich decision will not stand.) For further reading, see:

MSNBC News ("High Court Steps Into DVD Fight")
internetnews.com ("High Court Grants Hollywood's Christmas List") [via Howard]
Globe and Mail-AP ("High Court Urged To Settle DVD Dispute" -- eek, unfortunate headline. As though some sort of mediation program were involved; it ain't.)
Washington Post ("Supreme Court Intervenes In DVD Dispute") [via Howard]

Big tip o' the hat to Howard Bashman for the alert on the federal develpments.

[Update] An additional article at The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the standard for granting a longer stay pending the U.S. Supreme Court's decision whether to grant cert: "To grant that stay, Justice O'Connor would have to find both that the full court probably would overturn the California decision and that the DVD industry would suffer irreparable harm without the stay." [via Donna]

Blawgy New Year

So. I've been wondering just how Ernie managed to bag the prime spot on RB's (not to be confused with Arby's...) new Ad Hominem blog, nestled snug between Moxie and Dawn. I'm guessing some of that N'Awlins Voodoo was involved, but maybe one of these newly-spotted blawgers will offer up a better theory.

Shelly Waxman is a lawyer with a blog, a book and strong opinions about politics and work.

James Harlan practices intellectual property, municipal and real estate law in Michigan.

Rita, a self-described "Cherokee squaw hillbilly attorney" writes Res Ipsa Loquitur when she's not co-writing The Church Of The Blinding White Light Of Stupidity. Both are good reads. Says Rita,

I'm a middle-aged slightly right-wing conservative living in the People's Republic of Fayetteville, Arkansas, with my husband, two dogs, and a cat. I work as a court-appointed children's attorney for abused/neglected kids over in beautiful downtown Jay, Oklahoma. I'll be talking about politicians (that B.A. in PolySci's gotta be good for something right?) and other idiots, my grandson and what ever else strikes my fancy...

And these are via the Blawg Ring:

I've been enjoying The Greedy Clerks Board for awhile through mentions at Howard's. Both erudite and gossipy, it's a window into a part of our judicial system unique unto itself.

eardrumbuzz appears to be a blog associated with this digital media company of the same name, and includes an IP law category.

legalistic is by English solicitor Charles Ranson.

Larry Kestenbaum writes Polygon, The Dancing Bear, maintains this interesting site that "tells where the dead politicians are buried," and has an impressive Nigerian spam collection.

As mentioned here earlier, xrlq has been following the John Dwyer story and recently got written up in the California legal press on the subject. He also points out an interesting disparity between the headlines chosen for the article in northern vs. southern California.

Handakte WebLAWg is a german legal blog.

Pasadena lawyer and mediator Justene started Calblog just a few days ago, and already it's full of useful news, links and comment.

Some 2003 Day 1 Blawg Statistics: The Blawg Ring is up to 72 members. I count about 130 in Ernie's Law Blogs Outline, and I'm listing over 160 here. ChessLaw is blawg-stalking at this link, the J-Files Blog Authority experiment has a law blogs emphasis, and Eatonweb's law category is getting, well, really long. I remember finding about five such pages this time last year. What will January '04 look like? I'm not sure, but suspect being a computer program could be important in keeping up. [via Justene]