Ed Cottrell » Law

PSA: Houston is turning the red-light cameras back on

Ed — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:53:26 +0000

Houston is turning its red-light cameras back on today, but it isn’t happy about it.

h/t Swamplot, via Sarah

Article on Cultural Property

Ed — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:59:40 +0000

HistoryNet has an article on the topic of cultural property and who owns it. The article, The War Over Plunder: Who Owns Art Stolen in War?, addresses some of the same topics I addressed in my comment for the Chicago Journal of International Law at the Law School of the University of Chicago, Keeping the Barbarians Outside the Gate: Toward a Comprehensive Agreement Protecting Cultural Property Internationally, 9 Chi. J. Intâ€™l L. 627 (2009), so I thought I would mention it here.

From The Shack to the Courthouse

Ed — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:07:31 +0000

Since I’ve mentioned the popular novel The Shack in a number of posts, it seems worthwhile to mention the latest real-life twist in the novel’s story. According to the LA Times, The Shack‘s author, William Paul Young, has sued pastors Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings; the start-up the three created to publish the book initially, Windblown Media; and the book’s current publisher, Hachette. Young alleges that he is owed $8 million in royalties through December 2008, as well as other relief. Windblown has counterclaimed for $5 million. Meanwhile, Jacobsen and Cummings have filed an amended copyright filing with the Library of Congress.

I will refrain from commenting on the legal issues (or the legal posture of these cases, which is more than a little muddled in the article), but am posting this merely for general interest.

h/t: Tim Challies

Craziness Halted

Ed — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:16:38 +0000

For the first time in several months, we’ve both been able to leave the office at pretty normal hours, without taking work home, more than once in a week. Finally, our respective cases have calmed down enough that we’re running near a normal work week again. It’s nice.

Also, big congratulations to my buddies Phil and Kathleen on becoming parents to a healthy, beautiful baby boy!

House, Work, etc.

Ed — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:41:15 +0000

Things are still very crazy, but going well. We close on our first home Tuesday, which is very exciting. Of course, Sarah has to be out of town for a trial – she’ll come back for the actual closing. As if that weren’t enough, my main case has kicked back into hyperdrive; my two-item to-do list when I arrived at work expanded to a dozen-plus items by the end of the day. I did manage to get most of them done; the remaining items are quick and can be handled in the morning. It is good to be busy, though, and to be developing as a professional. Meanwhile, off to sleep!

Workin’ for a Livin’

Ed — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:33:44 +0000

In order to catch up from the disastrous start to my week, I had to find another gear if I was going to get my latest project partner-ready in time for said partner, in turn, to get it client-ready in time for delivery to the client today. It was a good project on a great case, with great people, for a fascinating client, but it was a very big task.

What did that mean in practical terms?

In practical terms, I billed 26.6 hours between 8:32 AM Thursday and 4:00 PM Friday.

Ouch.

Self-Immolation, 9th Circuit Style

Ed — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:39:32 +0000

Today featured a classic effort at self-pwnage, presented by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The case is United States v. Beltran-Moreno.

Best quote:

In short, if the Beltransâ€™ sentences were to be altered, there appears to be only one direction in which they could go, and that is up â€” by at least five years. Fortunately for the defendants, in a decision issued one year after they filed their notices of appeal, the Supreme Court held in a case with similar facts to this one that an appellate court cannot raise a defendantâ€™s sentence if the government has not appealed, even to raise the sentence to the statutorily required minimum. See Greenlaw v. United States, 128 S. Ct. 2559, 2562 (2008). Here, the government has for some reason â€” we would like to think out of a sense of justice or mercy â€” exercised its discretion not to seek on appeal the additional years of incarceration for which the statute provides. This decision alone has saved one of the Beltrans, Abraham, from a higher sentence, despite his counselâ€™s efforts to the contrary.

The other appeal, Joseâ€™s, is more brazen, and accordingly holds more potential for self-immolation.

Page 7 of the PDF.

Crazy Busy

Ed — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:42:31 +0000

Sarah and I were laughing just yesterday at how recently, as very new associates, we were waiting to get staffed on enough cases to stay busy. We both have all we can handle, now, and it’s not busy work. Some of it is less than glamorous, but it’s all real legal work that has to get done and is useful to our clients. I, for example, have reviewed more than 30,000 documents from a single source for just one case; I have 41,000 to go. It’s tedious, yet it’s great; I have a good command over what is in those documents, which knowledge will be increasingly helpful to the case team as things progress. On the other hand, I am helping research key strategic elements of a case in its infancy. Fascinating stuff. Sarah has similarly huge and interesting workloads, and is thriving. But, wow, is this week busy.

I have a handful of mini-posts I hope to make later; work permitting, I will. Now to get some sleep…

88 More Reasons…

Ed — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:58:40 +0000

I am glad to live in Texas, and glad I do not live in New York.

Good-bye, asterisk

Ed — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:46:54 +0000

I finally have a bar number! I don’t have a printed law license, yet – it is apparently on its way. I do, however, have a bar number, a licensed date, and the glorious “Eligible To Practice In Texas” status on the website of the State Bar of Texas.

No more “attorney-to-be” and “not yet licensed in any state” stuff. Finally.