Disclaimer

THIS BLOG IS NOT GIVING LEGAL ADVICE, JUST COMMENTARY AND OPINION, COUNSEL SHOULD ALWAYS BE CONSULTED FOR ADVICE FOR A SPECIFIC LEGAL PROBLEM



Friday, October 8, 2010

Batman May Have Been a Yale Law Grad

Batman fights good and evil every day. He is in the middle of major controversy in Gotham City. He has a civic heart and loves a good debate.
Batman May Have Been a Yale Grad- News- ABAJournal.
http;//www.abajournal.com/weekly/articles

Was Batman a Yale Law Grad?
In 1974 he was displaying a law diploma from Yale University at Gotham City.
The diploma appears on Bruce Wayne's study wall on page 16 of Detective Comics from March 1974.The comic is in on display at Yale Library, as a part of the "Superheros in Court:Laywers, Law and Comics Books.The diploma tip was credited to Judge Mark Dwyer of the New York Court of Claims and a 1975 Yale law grad.

And I speak of him in the present tense. Batman is inside each of us. The battle of good and evil is inside of each of us. Most have the battle under control. Unfortunately, several bar members, the list includes myself get lost in the varying shades of grey. Once you cross to the dark side, it is very arduous to return to normalcy. For most once the line has been crossed, it is hard to return. Most may not know the exact time the line was crossed.
My prior blogs discuss steps to take back you life.
I look forward to any and all comments .Please leave your comment below or email them to me at kkellogg123@hotmail.com

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Twenty Two Steps to Save Your Practice or Relationships

Twenty Two steps to save your practice
1. Admit there is a problem, whatever the source is long as it points to YOU.
2. Stressed out individuals don’t make good decisions. Use a legal sleep aid.
3. Eat healthy foods. Get rid of fast foods, soda, sugar, salts, alcohol and additives you can’t pronounce.
4. Cherish your body and mind.
5. Exercise – you eat every day, you brush your teeth twice a day and you should exercise every day. YOGA
6. Set boundaries.
7. Make your weaknesses your strength.
8. Remember with power comes responsibility-You are the advocate for your client. Without your client, you aren’t an advocate.
9. Love deeply.
10. Remember G-d and the Ten Commandments.
11. Laugh!!!!
12. You don’t have to save the world.
13. Life is too short, enjoy each second.
14. Ask for help.
15. Have good relationships.
16. Schedule time for your family and yourself.
17. Be true to yourself.
18. Love what you do, do what you love.
19. Do good deeds.
20. Take a deep breath.
21. Learn to tell when you are about to hit your stress level and back off.
22. Schedule Worry/Problem Time.
Kimberley Kellogg ;913-940-2646; kkellogg123@hotmail.com

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Twenty Two Signs Your Law Practice Is In Trouble

Twenty Two Signs your practice is in trouble
1. You have missed a Court hearing more than once.
2. Your clients are complaining you aren’t promptly returning their calls.
3. You begin to avoid the office, mail, e-mail, or telephone calls.
4. Your clients appear at your office without an appointment just to talk with you.
5. You feel totally overwhelmed at work.
6. You feel if you could just work without interruptions everything would be fine.
7. You hate your job.
8. You are spending more time correcting mistakes than when you were a newbie attorney.
9. You can’t turn off the work. You don’t have any down time.
10. It's not really coffee in your coffee cup.
11. Your amount of certificated mail has increased.
12. You can’t find anything in your office, especially files-what happened to your filing system?
13. The Office of Disciplinary Administrator or Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel is sending you mail and you are afraid to open it.
14. A client or co-counsel is complaining and you don’t have the patience to listen.
15. You wake up at three am because you didn’t file a required pleading.
16. You are isolated from the real world.
17. You don’t remember the last non-legal book you read.
18. You can’t go to the Chief’s game without talking to opposing counsel.
19. Exercise is walking to the courthouse or office from the handicap space.
20. Your time management skills are so great, only on a perfect day do you make all your appointments.
21. You grind your teeth.
22. You are paranoid.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Fairness Hearing for Google Books Settlement

Fairness Hearing for Google Books Settlement



The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers filed a consolidated class action in 2005 after Google announced agreements with libraries to digitize books in the libraries’ collections. Google didn’t obtain copyright permissions before scanning the books.

The agreement is 179 pages with 16 attachments. Under the agreement Google Library Project is allowed to scan up to 20% of a book online. Google claim’s this with increase sales. The right’s holder’s permission is required for commercially available books. However, out-of –print books could be displayed without permission unless the rights holder requested removal from the data base.”Orphan works”, will be sold without permission or compensation. Google would pay 63 percent of all revenue from the commercial uses of the digitized book sales, online advertising, and institutional subscriptions to the online database. Google will pay to authors whose work has been scanned without permission at least $60.00 per book or $15.00 per insert. Google must create a not-for-profit Book Rights Registry that would compile a public database of rights holders and help locate those who are owed income.

Google will have an edge in the publishing industry. Google would receive significant and possible anticompetitive advantages. Google currently has 0% share in the book market. Microsoft, Amazon and the nonprofit Internet Archive have filed objections. The Justice Department had concerns on copyright infringement and antitrust issues. Many other persons have expressed concern over Google monopolistic control in the areas of out-of-print book sales, “orphan works”, and digitized book sales.

Marybeth Peters Register of Copyrights stated, “the settlement would encroach on the responsibility for copyright policy that traditionally been the domain of Congress.” Further, “it could affect the exclusive rights of millions of copyright owners with respect to their abilities to control new products and new markets.” Both of these arguments seem very weak, given all the issues involved in the proposed settlement.

The increase of availability of books has attracted library organizations, universities and the National Federation of the Blind.

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Art of Forgiveness

Ethics: The Art of Forgiveness


In this day and age of over-litigation, people are afraid to say, “ I am sorry” However, the act of taking responsibility and being sympathetic with another should be the norm, not the rare event. After experiencing a bad or sad event people need human compassion. I believe many lawsuits would be avoided if this practice was followed more often. Several states have enacted, “I’m sorry” laws covering areas such as medical malpractice situations, and in other states they apply such laws to al civil actions.
A universal standard apology will not get to the heart of the matter. For example, “Dear John, I am sorry my actions “MAY” have hurt you.” Even if the “may have hurt you” is replaced with , “. . . did hurt you”. Such an “apology” turns the matter back against the recipient, suggesting that the recipient is overly sensitive to the hurtful actions of the apologizer, and is, in effect, not an apology at all. A bad apology may be worst than none. The most effective apology is to simply and directly say, “I am sorry for (my actions that caused the hurt, pain or damages) that resulted in (your injury, hurt, pain or damage).” The next statement should set out what steps have been taken to prevent this type of action from reoccurrence. The closing statement should be a statement that unites the forgiver and the forgiven.
In spite of today’s multi-media options, don’t forward your apology by fax, e-mail or phone text. Therefore, use stationery to handwrite your note, or make a phone call to the person, not his voicemail, or better yet, tell him in person.