John G. Browning News
Legally Speaking: Adventures in Jury Duty
As a trial lawyer, I get to regularly witness the importance of the jury to our system of justice. Even though most of the jurors I speak to after a trial tell me that, generally speaking, they enjoyed the experience more than they thought they would, I can still understand why so many people try to get out of jury duty.
Legally Speaking: Making sure justice doesn't get lost in translation
As a nation, we pride ourselves on a legal system that promises equal access to justice for everyone.
Legally Speaking: Getting Rid of the Lawyers
In Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 2, anarchist and mob leader Dick the Butcher uttered the famous line, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."
Legally Speaking: D'oh! What 'The Simpsons' teaches us about the law
Like most of America (or so it seemed) I recently went to see "The Simpsons" movie. As I laughed along with everybody else at the antics of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and the rest of Springfield, I couldn't help but reflect on the mirror that this popular animated show has held up to society over the years.
Legally Speaking: Perverted Journalism-Part Two
A controversial sting operation that ended with an assistant D.A.'s suicide, allegations of sexual solicitation, a high-profile lawsuit and a whistleblower's shocking revelations -- all the ingredients that one might expect of a Dateline NBC feature story.
Legally Speaking: Perverted Journalism - Part One
On Nov. 5, 2006, with police knocking on the door of his home and a camera crew from "Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator" waiting in the street, Rockwall County assistant prosecutor Louis "Bill" Conradt, Jr. shot himself rather than face accusations of soliciting sex online from a decoy posing as a 13 year-old boy.
Legally Speaking: From Ground Zero to the Courtroom -- For Heroes of 9/11, The Fight Has Only Changed Location
For James Zadroga, the late night errand to fetch his 4 year-old daughter a drink should have been a simple one. But on this January night, Zadroga's tortured, scarred lungs finally gave out, four years after the 34-year-old former New York City police detective initially developed respiratory problems while working in the rubble of the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, 2001.
Legally Speaking: What's Your Name Worth? Maybe Not As Much As You Think
In his play "Othello," Shakespeare wrote "Who steals my purse, steals trash - but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed."
Legally Speaking: Irish law -- Ahead of its time
As a proud American of Irish descent, I pause now and then to reflect on the many gifts given us by Irish culture: the words of literary giants like Joyce and Yeats, the lilting music of The Chieftains, the stirring spectacle of "Riverdance" and of course the liquid wonder that is Guinness.
Legally Speaking: Summertime � The Silly Lawsuit Season
Ah, summertime. For many of us, the very word conjures up images of fun and relaxation, a time of backyard barbecues and lazing by the pool, or enjoying the entertainment options provided by the local multiplex showing the latest and greatest in summer blockbusters and sequels galore.
Legally Speaking: Justice - Not Just Blind, But Color Blind
A Fort Worth judge is under fire for comments he allegedly made in court suggesting that African-Americans are superior athletes because of a genetic legacy dating back to the slave trade.
Legally Speaking: Lawyers Without Borders � A Look Inside the Japanese Legal System
I recently had the opportunity to host a visiting judge from Japan, to help him learn more about the American civil justice system. In the process, I not only gained some insight into the Japanese legal system, but I made a new friend as well.
Legally Speaking: "Tonight's Special: A Lawsuit"
My mother taught me that if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all. Clearly, she wasn't grooming me for a career as a restaurant critic.
Legally Speaking: "Do As I Say, Not As I Do"
On a daily basis, people invest a great deal of trust in the judgment of lawyers and doctors. But, what happens when the judgment those same professionals exercise in their own turns out to be, well, not so good?
Legally Speaking: A Swing and a Miss on Personal Responsibility
Everyone copes with the grief of losing a loved one in different ways. On the road to what will hopefully be acceptance and hope, we go through stages of shock, denial, guilt, anger, and sadness over such loss. Some people, however, add another stage that Elisabeth Kubler-Ross would never have imagined: frivolous litigation.
Legally Speaking: Justice gets taken to the cleaners
John Browning