John G. Browning News
Best of Legally Speaking: Going Nuts Over Nuts and Other Legal Silliness
Virginia Tice seems like your average, sweet little 65-year-old lady in Bonneau, S.C.-hardly the sort of person who would spark a First Amendment controversy. But that's exactly what's happened after she pulled her pickup truck into a gas station on July 5 and got a $445 ticket from a local policeman.
Legally Speaking: Wacky warning labels, and more legal oddities
As "Legally Speaking" readers know, I always try to keep you updated on the internationally-recognized annual Wacky Warning Labels contest.
Legally Speaking: Texting a lawsuit?
No one will argue that texting while driving can be a major source of driver distraction, leading to an increasing number of accidents every year.
Legally Speaking: The civil injustice system
In many states, including Texas, there are two aspects to our civil justice system that guard against wildly disproportionate blame for the tortious conduct of others.
Legally Speaking: More law and disorder
If you thought last week's assemblage of the bizarre and ridiculous from the legal system was as strange as it gets, then as Al Jolson would say "You ain't seen nothing yet."
Legally Speaking: Law and Disorder
During any given week, the legal system gets more than its fair share of strange filings, odd litigants or unusual results.
Legally Speaking: That which we call a company, by any other name
With all apologies to Shakespeare, just as a rose would smell as sweet if we called it by another name, one would think that it shouldn't matter what business owners name their companies.
Legally Speaking: Where legal phrases come from
Even if you are not a lawyer, you've no doubt heard plenty of words and phrases related to the law and the legal profession, such as "shyster," "third degree," "hearsay," "rap sheet," or "boilerplate." But did you ever wonder where they came from?
Legally Speaking: Still more disorder in the court
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the courthouse, here comes another assortment of the latest and wackiest stories from our legal system.
Legally Speaking: President Obama, time for a refresher course on Constitutional Law"
Browning At a March 30, 2007, campaign fundraiser, then-candidate Barack Obama stated "I was a constitutional law professor, which means unlike the current president, I actually respect the Constitution."
Legally Speaking: Through my brother's eyes
In the time it takes you to read this column, 18 of the over 100,000 individuals nationwide awaiting organ transplants will die. I know, because my brother Walter was one of them.
Legally Speaking: Even more disorder in the court
As I survey the more unusual moments happening lately in the legal system, I think I'm going to have to revise some of my "best" and "worst" lists.
Legally Speaking: No brown M&Ms and other adventures in contract riders
It is springtime, and a young man's thoughts turn to . . . summer concert tours, of course.
Legally Speaking: More strange moments at the courthouse
As regular readers of "Legally Speaking" know, the courthouse is not always a solemn place where matters of great import are considered by Solomonic judges and argued by zealous advocates.
Legally Speaking: From innocent to guilty--in the blink of an eye?
The average length of the blink of an eye lasts no more than 300 to 400 milliseconds. The typical individual blinks around 10 times in a minute's span, depending on external stimuli.
Legally Speaking: Book 'em, Dano
I recently moved offices, and as I was lugging boxes of old law books, the thought struck me�why? Why was I holding onto these dusty tomes and treatises when, like most of the lawyers currently practicing, 99 percent of the legal research I do is done on the computer?
Legally Speaking: Lawyers and some unusual moonlighting
I have a confession to make. I don't eat, sleep, and breathe the practice of law. In what passes for spare time, I teach, I write articles and books, and I lecture.
Legally Speaking: It's hard out here for a judge, or is it?
In a recent survey performed by AOL Jobs using statistics provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job of judge was rated one of the best "lifestyle jobs" (those that pay above average but which require fewer hours than average).
Legally Speaking: As weird as they wanna be
Sometimes, the bizarre aspects of the legal world stand out.
Legally Speaking: President Obama's judicial nominees-A question of qualifications
One of the many advantages that being president confers is the opportunity to shape the judiciary�potentially for decades to come�through lifetime appointments to the federal bench.