ABA Section of Business Law
May/June 2001 (Volume 10, Number 5)
Snap
judgments
Well, shine a light on me
What's going on with these kids today? You used to walk to law school
uphill, both ways, barefoot and in the snow and you were glad for
it. Now, today's law students are being coddled in a world of a
high-falutin' "interdisciplinary" legal education.
"There are major trends in law such as technology and the Internet that are raising new questions for the legal community," said Karen H. Rothenberg, dean of the University of Maryland Law School. "As a result, we are in the middle of a major curriculum revision in the law school, asking how we might change the areas we are teaching in order to be sensitive to the changing needs of the world around us."
As a result, Rothenberg told the Washington Business Journal, she is working to integrate technology into the university's legal curriculum. She also said that the rise in e-commerce and biotech industries has further prompted the university to put a greater focus on intellectual property law.
Next thing you know, students won't even be studying by candlelight anymore.
What is the world coming to?
Netting the news
Starting the day with a cup of coffee and a rain-soggy newspaper
is so 1990. A recent survey reveals that today's lawyers are leaving
the paper behind for the dog to chew and instead turning to the
Internet for the latest news.
In fact, The Affiliates legal staffing services found that 84 percent of lawyers polled surf for headlines several times during the week. Three out of five lawyers told The Affiliates that they're online daily to get their news.
"Having the latest information available, particularly if it relates to pending legislation or legal precedent, is critical both for client meetings and for document preparation," according to The Affiliates. Of course, having access to last night's basketball scores is also nice.
Getting it exactly right
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., may want to think twice before he
reintroduces his Business Method Patent Improvement Act this Congress.
At the close of the 106th Congress, the bill was left pending -
like many of the patents it would have affected - but it was already
under fire from many in the legal community, The National Law Journal
reported.
"I don't think Congress needs to stick its 2 cents in there," New York patent lawyer Jonathan Marshall told the Journal.
In particular, patent experts take exception to the bill's provision requiring that all patent and business method applications be published within 18 months. This practice, according to the Journal, has long been opposed by federal patent officials.
But not to worry. In showing that he may have the sole rights to political expediency, the Journal reported that Berman said in a statement that he is not "wed(ed) to the exact provisions of this exact bill."
On the prowl
Finding that perfect someone is never easy. Searching singles turn
to nightclubs and coffeehouses to find their match, and, according
to a recent study, corporate legal departments and law firms have
their own places to go when looking for the right outside counsel.
According to a recent Altman Weil survey, the overwhelming majority of corporate legal officers and firms turn to the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory when they're on the prowl.
When playing "The Law Connection," corporate searchers
also turn to conferences and law firm Web sites. The counsel courtship
for law firms, the survey found, added state and local bar directories
to the mix. Martindale-Hubbell, however, was the matchmaker of choice
in all cases.
So, lawyer No. 3, if you were Martindale-Hubbell, how would you
rate yourself?
Belly-up.com
Faltering e-businesses may have TV viewers cheering the reduction
of bizarre ads, but it's leaving customers and would-be entrepreneurs
in the lurch, The New York Times reported.
In fact, in one month last year, at least 17 e-companies went belly up, and hundreds more are expected to fold in the coming months.
The seemingly split-second decision to close the e-shop leaves little time to warn employees or customers, the Times reported. But perhaps most alarming to those in the industry is the impact that failing businesses are having on their counterparts who are eking it out.
"Bad companies have created a reputation in the market that forces great companies like us to wait," said Jonathan Kaplan, who started Family Wonder, an e-tailer specializing in music and videos for children.
Bringin' courts up to speed
OK, so there isn't a www.court.com virtual courtroom yet, but some
in the legal biz think courts that specialize in high-tech issues
may be the way to go as the know-how needed to understand some cases
becomes more technical.
Increasingly, companies like Napster and Microsoft have found their
futures determined by judicial decisions, CNN recently reported.
Not everyone in the courtroom, however, has Bill Gates' computer
knowledge and that may be affecting the outcome of the trials. As
a result, the state of Maryland, for one, established a task force
to figure out how best to help courts keep up with the times.
"Obviously, everybody would be more comfortable if the judge understood the technology, I would think," Maryland task force Chairman Wilbur Preston told CNN.
We're sure Gates would be happy to bring all concerned up to speed on high-tech issues - as long as they agree to use Microsoft Explorer.
- Heather Brewer
