In light of the current debate on Capitol Hill, the quotation of the day comes from the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in D.C. v. Heller: Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional [...]

I have been quiet about this year’s election, but not for lack of caring.  The last few months have been extremely busy for me; to my shame, my busy schedule has meant that I have been silent about what is likely the most important presidential election in more than 30 years, not to mention extremely [...]

The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers. ~ Dick, in Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2 I am always amused when I get campaign literature from various folks attempting to smear some candidate or another as “a trial lawyer.” Being a trial lawyer myself, I tend to have a [...]

As many of you already know, today was my last day as an associate at Baker Botts. I had many great opportunities there over the last three and one-half years and will miss my many wonderful friends, colleagues, and mentors. On June 18, I will be joining the litigation section of Baker Hostetler, here in [...]

Never assume that a logical connection exists between some instance of what is and some ideal of what could be. Some things cannot be redeemed, but are best destroyed or simply left alone. Indeed, many of history’s saddest chapters began with efforts to turn a present but dying evil into a lively engine for good.

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 [...]

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, [...]

I have not been posting much on here, lately, ironically because I am not super-busy, despite having a lot of opportunities for professional development and a lot of fun experiences. Life has remained at a good, non-frantic pace since the last entry, and we have been relishing the free time. That said, I plan to [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]