John G. Browning News
Legally Speaking: Sounds Like � A Trademark
As someone who has helped individuals and companies with obtaining and protecting trademarks (everything from event slogans to artful renderings of a restaurant chain's logos), I have a healthy appreciation for the legal importance of protecting the things that consumers see and associate with someone's business.
Legally Speaking: Doogie Houser, J.D.
Television viewers fond of the "Doogie Howser" sitcom that launched the career of actor Neil Patrick Harris may never have gotten to meet a young medical prodigy in real life, but they just might encounter a legal wunderkind.
Legally Speaking: More Silliness in the Courts
The parade of bizarre comings and goings in the legal system never seems to end, from strange claims and lawsuits to outcomes one would never have predicted.
Legally Speaking: Low Points in Lawyer Advertising
As anyone who's ever watched daytime or late night television can attest, "classy" is not a word one would associate with most lawyer advertising.
Legally Speaking: You're In Contempt
It's a phrase you're bound to hear at one point or another in any legal drama or courtroom thriller: "You're in contempt!" But what does being held in contempt of court really mean, and just what are the lengths to which it can be taken?
Legally Speaking: When All That Twitters Is Not Told -- Dangers of the Online Juror (Part 3)
In previous installments of this series, we've examined how technology in the form of electronic communications by jurors has entered the jury box.
Legally Speaking: Summertime Silliness in the Courts
I'm not sure what it is about summertime � maybe it's the relaxed pace with people enjoying vacations, or perhaps the heat driving people a little batty � but there always seems to be an upsurge in silly lawsuits, oddball motions, and just plain wackiness in the courts during this time of year.
Legally Speaking: Catching Up with Columns Past
Just as Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by the ghost of Christmas past in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," so I too sometimes receive reminders of my past columns.
Legally Speaking: You're Not Going to Wear That in Court, Are You?
Legally Speaking
Legally Speaking: A Poor Excuse for a Column
Ever wonder what became of that kid in class, the one who would always turn in his assignments with the latest in an ever-changing lineup of excuses for being tardy, stories that put the old "dog ate my homework" reason to shame?
Legally Speaking: When All That Twitters Is Not Told -- Dangers of the Online Juror (Part 2)
In the previous installment in this series, we examined the current rash of cases in which the online activities of jurors � blogging or "tweeting" from the jury box, as well as consulting Internet resources or social networking sites for additional information on the case � have threatened the integrity of the judicial process.
Legally Speaking: The Good, the Bad and the Funny
I spoke recently to a lawyers' organization, and an audience member asked me if I ever found it difficult to incorporate humor into my presentations.
(Best of) 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: And the Winner Is ...
As "Legally Speaking" readers know, I periodically recognize some of the legal system's oddities with our very own version of the Oscars or Emmys of the entertainment world � the Justie. Awards.
Legally Speaking: But He Loves Me ...
For "Susan" (not her real name) it is a relationship that could superficially be reduced to stark numbers.
Legally Speaking: When All That Twitters Is Not Told -- The Dangers of the Online Juror (Part 1)
I was called for jury duty recently, and as I waited patiently with my fellow panelists for the selection process to begin, I couldn't help but marvel at the number of people pounding away at Blackberrys, iPhones and other web-enabled wireless devices.
Legally Speaking: Don't Say I Didn't Warn You
Every year, an organization called the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice attracts international media attention with its Wacky Warning Label Contest.
Legally Speaking: Lawyers Behaving Badly Again
As regular "Legally Speaking" readers know, the subject of ethical lapses by lawyers and judges is a recurring one.
Legally Speaking: Angel On My Shoulder
Recently, a New Jersey appellate court made headlines with its ruling that pets have "special subjective value" that judges should consider when deciding custody of a companion animal.
Legally Speaking: Brother, Can You Spare A Lawyer?
Times are tough all over during this recession.