John G. Browning News
Legally Speaking: Not-So-Great Courtroom Moments
Most lawyers, whether we admit it or not, secretly hope for the chance at a true "Perry Mason" moment in the courtroom: that lightning in a bottle instant when you make the other side's star witness break down or confess.
Legally Speaking: Poetic Justice, and Other Bizarre Tales from the Criminal Courts
I may not practice criminal law, but that doesn't mean that I can't be a fascinated voyeur watching the bizarre goings-on in the criminal justice system.
Legally Speaking: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The civil cases that get the most media attention, it would seem, are those that reside at the opposite ends of the spectrum: the very good ones, where liability is obvious (think of the doctor amputating the wrong leg sort of situation); and the highly questionable ones that give the legal system a bad name and make you wonder if the concept of personal responsibility has completely eroded.
Legally Speaking: A Class (Action) Act
It's all over but the shouting � and, of course, the prison visits.
Legally Speaking: Lawyers Behaving Badly -- Once More, With Feeling
As "Legally Speaking" readers know, I've delved into the issue of lawyers on their worst behavior before, in a series of columns entitled "Lawyers Behaving Badly."
Legally Speaking: Saying It With Style
Titles, it has been observed, say a lot, whether you're talking about books, movies, songs, or television shows. If you go to see a Bruce Willis movie like "Die Hard," "Die Hard With a Vengeance," or "Live Free and Die Hard," chances are that you know you won't be viewing a weepy, touchy-feely, relationship movie.
Legally Speaking: A Tribute to Judge Barefoot Sanders
Columnist John G. Browning U.S. District Judge Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. died Sept. 21 at his Dallas home at the age of 83. Friends and colleagues remember Judge Sanders as a "larger than life" figure who helped make history by desegregating Dallas schools, among other accomplishments.
Legally Speaking: What's In A Name? As It Turns Out, A Lot
During a recent appearance on Dallas' local ABC affiliate, WFAA-TV, I took some calls live from viewers seeking legal advice.
Legally Speaking: There's No Cure for Stupid
I marvel sometimes at the human capacity for stupidity, or perhaps more accurately, to put one's stupidity on display for all to see by invoking the protection of the legal system.
Legally Speaking: "The Legal System Doesn't Get Much Weirder Than This"
As regular readers of Legally Speaking know, I periodically point out some of the stranger goings-on in the legal system.
Legally Speaking: When Judges Get Cute
In authoring a 1967 guide for new judges, Judge George Rose Smith of Arkansas admonished against displaying judicial humor, calling it "neither judicial nor humorous."
Legally Speaking: Lawyers Behaving Badly ... Again
After writing a three-part series on some of the lowlights of the legal profession earlier this year, you might think that I've run out of material. Evidently, you don't know lawyers very well.
Legally Speaking: Lyrical Law
Judge Learned Hand, one of the greatest figures in American jurisprudence, once lamented, "A judge's life, like every other, has in it much of drudgery, senseless bickerings, stupid obstinacies, captious pettifogging, all disguising and obstructing the only sane purpose which can justify the whole endeavor."
Legally Speaking: It's My Party, and I'll Sue If I Want To
It's your child's birthday party, and after all that preparation and planning, you're all set.
Legally Speaking: If At First You Don't Succeed
As you read this column, thousands of recent law school graduates across the country will be recovering from taking the legal profession's rite of passage, the bar exam.
Legally Speaking: "They Dropped Their Briefs, But They Didn't Lose Their Appeal � Lawyers Posing Nude"
John G. Browning Lawyers, particularly those who regularly ply their trade in the courtroom, are rarely accused of shying away from attention. But there's a difference between not being shy and being downright exhibitionist.
Legally Speaking: The Power of the Pen
Thomas Jefferson once said that he would rather have newspapers without a government than government without newspapers.
Legally Speaking: The Justies � Part II
In last week's column, we brought you the first installment of the Justies, our own attempt to recognize some of the most bizarre and/or amusing stories coming out of the legal system.
Legally Speaking: The Justies � Part I
As regular readers of this column know, it's been an especially rewarding month for "Legally Speaking," as honors have poured in from organizations like the Houston Press Club, the Press Club of Southeast Texas, and the Texas Press Association.
Legally Speaking: Must Sue TV
Whenever I'm at a social or civic function, negative comments from people about the legal profession often appear to have a common source � television.