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Rhyme and Reason
Joseph Story By Michael Goodwin Joseph Story might be best known for authoring the Supreme Court’s opinion in U.S. v. The Amistad, the subject of Steven Spielberg’s 1997 movie (law geeks might also...
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Baddest of the Bad
By Michael Goodwin Bad briefing loses cases and clients. Sometimes a brief is so bad that its badness, by itself, will be grounds for dismissal. For a New York lawyer, bad brief writing was among the...
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The NBA Playoffs, the Bar Exam, and You
For new law grads, early summer means bar exam preparation. For the NBA, it means playoffs. The bar exam and the playoffs have a few common keys to success: 1. Look ahead: Like the NBA regular season,...
View ArticleA Laughing Matter
It is hard enough to find the right joke for a particular occasion. It is almost impossible to find one that is appropriate for a courtroom. The United States Supreme Court’s Guide for Counsel...
View ArticleGetting started: choosing a law journal topic
If you made it onto the staff of a law review or journal, the next step is choosing a topic on which to write an article. In my experience, topic selection is the most important (and labor-intensive)...
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Reading like a lawyer
For a litigator, reading cases is part of everyday life. But for the uninitiated, legal texts can seem dense and impenetrable. Reading cases is a skill that gets better with practice, and it is a big...
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Nothing to LOL about: In writing as in life, style matters
Does your writing style differ depending on whether you are writing an email or a letter? A blog post or a brief? A less formal tone may be appropriate for some forms of communication, but that does...
View ArticleMaking the most of a law school practicum
It should come as no shock that traditional law school coursework is insufficient preparation for the practice of law. Participating in a law school practicum program (also called an internship or an...
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Law school exams loom: 5 tips for success
For better or for worse, academic success in law school means success on exams – especially first-year exams. With only a few weeks left before the end of the term, here are a few ways to avoid making...
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The (Super)Power of Law
Some lawyers blog for client development. Some blog to share their expertise. And some, like James Daily and Ryan Davidson, blog because they just have a great idea for a blog. Daily and Davidson write...
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Can I appeal this?
By Michael Goodwin Subject to some narrow exceptions, an appeal in a civil case may not be brought until after final judgment. In both federal court and Minnesota state court, a judgment is final when...
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The Proportionality Principle
By Michael Goodwin As most civil litigators in Minnesota are aware, a number of significant rule amendments went into effect on July 1, including new rules designed to change aspects of discovery,...
View ArticleSelecting issues for appeal
Deciding which issues to appeal is a difficult but important part of appellate practice. Picking too many dooms an appeal from the start because it undermines the persuasive value of the one or two...
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“A Superb Lawyer”
John Roberts is best known for being Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. But before he was a judge, Roberts was widely known as an excellent lawyer. A recent article in The American...
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