Moritz Legal Information Blog

Those of you still exploring either a paper topic or a focus area for your legal careers might consider this entertainment law niche: Prank Law. Ruth Carter was recently profiled in the ABA Journal as a Legal Rebel . After participating in a flash mob and starting up an improv group in Arizona, Ruth's practice has evolved to helping pranksters in need of legal assistance. Not quite sure where to get started? Consider taking courses in First Amendment, intellectual property, zoning, and criminal law. For another inspiring story of an attorney advancing the prankster cause, listen to this recording of a conversation Sascha Baron Cohen had with Terry Gross on Fresh Air .

If the thought of " networking " makes you queasy, but job postings just don't seem to have anything you're interested in, try simply hanging out with attorneys who share your interests. The Columbus Bar Association has several committees  whose meetings are open to law students. According to the Columbus Bar Association  law student page , "Students should attend Substantive Law Committee meetings of interest to them and are also invited to most New Lawyers events." Similarly, the Ohio State Bar Association has sections and committees you can join. According to the OSBA online hub for law students , "Committee membership is free to all interested OSBA members. Student associate members can join any section by paying the special student rate of $3 per year. Membership in the Young Lawyers Section is free for law student members." Volunteering to research, edit, or co-author articles or other publications for committees and sections can be o

The Golden Nugget in Atlantic City has sued 14 players and a playing card company, after unshuffled decks of cards led to the players winning over $1.5 million. Although the decks of cards were supposed to be preshuffled, the decks used in the mini-baccarat games on April 30 of this year were unshuffled, leading to the same sequence of cards being dealt 41 consecutive times.  When the players noticed this, they began increasing their bets. Now, the Golden Nugget seeks the return of both the cash they paid out, and the Golden Nugget chips which they refused to cash.  The players' lawyer contends that the players did nothing illegal. Several of the players have countersued, alleging discrimination based on their Chinese heritage.  One player also claims that casino security assaulted him and searched his belongings for hours, looking for evidence of cheating.  The casino denies these claims. Washington Post ABC News h/t: Legal Blog Watch

If you can name two, you are doing much better than two-thirds of Americans, who cannot name a single justice. According to a recent FindLaw.com survey , only 34% of Americans can name even one of the nine justices.  Chief Justice Roberts tops the list as the most popular (or at least memorable) justice, followed by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor. Complete results of the survey can be found here . ABA Journal

The Green Bag article noted in a previous post regarding the Supreme Court pronouncing dictionary has a footnote all law firm job applicants might find helpful: Georgetown Law's Law Firm Pronunciation Guide. Don't forget another key point when applying for jobs: make sure you pronounce the hiring attorney's name correctly. If you're not sure, ask a friend, career services, or someone you may know at the firm. Folks might not notice when you pronounce their names correctly, but they'll certainly notice if you pronounce their names incorrectly.

Yale Law School's Eugene Fidell and a number of law and linguistics students have created a pronouncing dictionary for U.S. Supreme Court case names. The purpose of the dictionary is to "help conscientious lawyers, judges, teachers, students, and journalists correctly pronounce often-perplexing case names." The dictionary is based on textbooks, recordings, accounts by litigants or counsel, pronunciation guides, journalism, and surveys. See also the accompanying  article in Green Bag.

Judge Beth Myers of Cincinnati has ruled that the video of a dying man, who was instructed to blink his eyes to identify the person who shot him, may be used in an upcoming murder trial. The victim, David Chandler, was shot in the neck and unable to communicate other than by blinking.  Police questioned him concerning the circumstances of the shooting, instructing him to blink a certain number of times to answer their questions.  Ricardo Woods' picture was shown to Chandler, and Woods is now on trial for the murder. The parties are due in court in two weeks for a pre-trial hearing. Columbus Dispatch ABC News