Trial back issues from December 1995:
Without access, there is no justice.(President's Page)
Dec 01, 1995; ... In 1963, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a passionate defense of the contingent fee. "If it were not for contingent fees," the court said, "indigent victims of tortious accidents would be subject to the unbridled, self-willed partisanship of their tortfeasors."The court ...
Workplace violence: can it be prevented?
Dec 01, 1995; ... The U.S. Department of Justice reports that nearly 1 million people each year become victims of violent crime on the job. "These numbers point to why employers have begun to look for ways to safeguard workers," said John Thompson, a Minneapolis attorney and an expert on workplace violence ....
Gay rights case prompts heated debate in high court.
Dec 01, 1995; ... The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in October heard arguments from lawyers--and argued among themselves--in the first gay rights case to reach the Court since 1986. The Court will decide whether to let stand a Colorado constitutional amendment that bans civil rights protections for gays ...
Failing to accommodate depressed workers can be costly.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Employers who fail to reasonably accommodate the needs of depressed employees may face severe financial penalties under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).A California-based company recently found this out the hard way when it decided to fire rather than agree to change the ...
Cap on damages is unconstitutional, Alabama high court says.(Brief Article)
Dec 01, 1995; ... The Supreme Court of Alabama recently ruled that a state statute capping wrongful death damages in medical negligence cases is unconstitutional. ( Smith v. Schulte, Nos. 1930362, 1930459, 1995 Ala. LEXIS 350 (Aug. 18,1995).)The court found that the $1 million cap on damages, ...
Free speech or religious freedom: revisiting the Establishment Clause.
Dec 01, 1995; ... In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, it appeared that the Supreme Court was poised to change the law of the Constitution's Establishment Clause. In both Allegheny County v. American Civil Liberties Union (492 U.S. 573 (1989)) and Lee v. Weisman (505 U.S. 577 (1992)), four justices called ...
Genetic fallout: new technologies are changing the legal landscape.
Dec 01, 1995; ... A woman asks her obstetrician if the kidney disorder that affects her mother is inheritable. He erroneously tells her no, and she gives birth to a child with a serious form of the disorder.Another woman seeks genetic testing for breast cancer. When she is identified as having a ...
And baby makes three ... or four ... or five: assisted reproduction.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Americans have grown used to media reports describing new ways for infertile couples to have biologically related children. Besides injecting advanced technology into what was previously a natural biological process, the new techniques dramatically expand the opportunities for dividing ...
Is cyberspace lawyer-friendly?
Dec 01, 1995; ... Lawyer No. 1: "The computer? It's just a new tool. Makes documents look pretty. Lets clients know we're high tech. We've invested a lot, and I wish I knew whether our investment is paying off."Lawyer No. 2: "I'm not even sure it is a good tool. We've also invested a lot of money ...
The maturing law of outer space.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Commercial development of near-Earth space has forced a rapid maturation of the laws and regulations governing travel and other activities in outer space. In the mid-1990s, domestic private revenues from space commerce have topped $6 billion annually, and the sector continues to expand at ...
Breast cancer litigation: when is the physician liable?
Dec 01, 1995; ... Family practitioners, obstetrician-gynecologists, and internists are gatekeeper physicians with the first professional opportunity to detect breast cancer. When they fail, the results can be fatal.The women most affected by delay in diagnosis tend to be young (under 40). ...
The Center Holds: The Power Struggle Inside the Rehnquist Court.
Dec 01, 1995; ... James F. Simon Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010. 384 pp., $245.Reviewed by Erwin ChemerinskyIn the 1980s and early 1990s, two Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, sought to move constitutional law in a conservative ...
A Nation Under Lawyers: How the Crisis in the Legal Profession Is Transforming American Society.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Mary Ann Glendon Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003. 331 pp., $24.Reviewed by Jeffrey WhiteAttorneys may laugh good-naturedly at lawyer jokes. But not far beneath the surface, according to Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon, is a great ...
Aaron J. Broder on Trial: Reflections of a Master Litigator.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Edited by George M. Gold Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, Aqueduct Building, Rochester, NY 14694. 413 pp., $40.Reviewed by John A. CallThis book is not scholarly, at least not in the sense that it presents the reader with an encyclopedic reference manual of trial ...
Simple Rules for a Complex World.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Richard A. Epstein Harvard University Press, 79 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138. 361 pp., $35.Reviewed by Charles W. ChesbroIf your interest in the law solely involves personal capital accumulation, you may not be interested in Simple Rules for a Complex World., by ...
Designer Crimes.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Lia Matera Simon & Schuster, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. 240 pp., $21. Reviewed by Laura Ariane Miller Designer Crirnes needs a better tailor. The author had a great idea several in fact-but seems to have rushed to put the ensemble together. Lia ...
ATLA NET: your link to the world.
Dec 01, 1995; ... This is the final column in the ATLA NET series, and, by now, I hope I have convinced you to subscribe to this exciting new online service for ATLA members.(1) If you are still hesitating, read on. Subscribing to ATLA NET is one of the best ways to get connected to the wealth of legal ...
'Vanishing premiums' haunt investors.
Dec 01, 1995; ... Now you see the premiums. And years later, you still see the premiums despite your insurance agent's daim to the contrary. That's the way it often worked with a type of life insurance that carried what, ironically, were known as "vanishing premiums." Consumers across the country who bought ...
Ninth Circuit upholds tenets of Brady Act.(Brief Article)
Dec 01, 1995; ... The Ninth Circuit has shot down Arizona and Montana sheriffs, arguments against gun-buyer background checks required under the federal handgun control law. Federal appellate rulings are pending in the Second and Fifth circuits. Before the Ninth Circuit ruling--the first at the federal ...
After O.J.: panel looks at race and the jury.
Dec 01, 1995; ... After a post-verdict uproar that echoed from coast to coast, the close of the O.J. Simpson case has led to a quiet wave of soul searching in the legal community on issues of race and the jury system. A panel of lawyers and scholars in Washington, D.C., recently weighed in on whether the case ...
Elder abuse cases hit home with jurors.
Dec 01, 1995; ... As a large proportion of the U.S. population grows older, awareness of elder abuse and neglect is coming of age, according to plaintiffs, attorneys handLing these cases. Jurors deciding civil cases against abusers are increasingly wiLling to place a higher monetary value on loss of life or ...
New regulation to prevent head injuries announced.(Brief Article)
Dec 01, 1995 ... Calling it the most significant new safety rule in a decade, Transportation Secretary Federico Peha recently ordered manufacturers of all cars and light trucks to provide better head protection for occupants. "People die and sustain serious injuries in crashes often because their heads ...