I’m no hard-core tech expert, but I do handle tech appeals (three now pending).  So I’ve been following the recent developments in artificial intelligence.  Many advances, plus lots of fear. Fear of what?  Well, coincidentally, I’ve been pushing my 12-year old son Ari to elevate his tastes.  So the other night we watched The Terminator…

There must be something wrong with this title.  Editing is drudgery—necessary—but ugh!  How can there be any joy in it? I love editing.  It’s like taking a scuffed-up gold ring and polishing it to a smooth sheen.  I got to thinking about this a while back, when helping my then-ten-year-old with his homework.  Math and…

During my career handling civil appeals, I would guess that about half of them involved motions for summary judgment.  Why?  While the rules lean towards denial—to preserve the right to trial—in practice many Superior Court judges lean towards granting them, in order to cut down on time-consuming jury trials.  So I’ve learned a lot about…

You’ve just begun your oral argument to an appellate panel, and the Justices quickly go on the attack.  They launch a series of questions at you that strongly suggest one thing: they’ve read your briefs, and they aren’t buying your arguments.  They are about to rule against you.  What to do?  If you want to…

When you write a brief—to a trial judge or an appellate Justice—you are trying to persuade your target to rule in your favor.  So you’d like that person to like you.  How? When the judge gets home from work, he or she might well enjoy reading a good book.  Maybe a novel, or poetry—something that…

No, this is not another tome on why and how lawyers should meditate.  I’ve tried that off and on, with little success.  I guess I’m just not cut out for enlightenment.    But I do realize that practicing law can be quite stressful. And with the holidays coming up, it’s not going to get any easier. …