The 10th installment of R.K. Collins series at Concurring Opinions on Judge Richard Posner: Posner on Case Workloads and Making Judges Work Harder.
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December 2014
December 26, 2014
December 23, 2014
Judge Posner, part 8 - Questions about Judicial Reputation
The 8th installment of Ronald K. Collins' series on Judge Richard Posner at Concurring Opinions: On Judicial Reputation: More Questions for Judge Posner.
A tidbit:
As I said earlier, forget greatness. The judges who adopt the pretense will be respected by many other judges and applauded by legislators, who don’t like the idea of judges making law, though judges to make a great deal of law.
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December 18, 2014
Law School Enrollments Continue to Drop
The number of new law school students in this academic year continues to drop: 37,924 new law students enrolled this year, the least since 1973 and a 30% decline from the high in 2010. The New York Times DealBook reports: A Steep Slide in Law School Enrollment Accelerates.
There has never been enough good lawyers, although there definitely are too many not so good lawyers. The legal job market these last few years has not been good, expenses and tuition have continued to climb and many are concluding – quite reasonably in my estimation – that other fields on the whole offer better opportunities.
My own law school, Tulane, reports that it has reduced its incoming class size to the smallest since the early 70's while also substantially increasing the group's overall qualifications, i.e., higher GPA's and LSAT scores. Good.
And I want to plug a book by one of my favorite professors at Tulane, Oliver Houck, Downstream Toward Home: A Book of Rivers.
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December 15, 2014
Judge Posner, part 7 - On Privacy, Free Speech and Related Matters
The seventh installment on the series at Concurring Opinions on Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner: On Privacy, Free Speech and Related Matters.
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December 12, 2014
Talking About Racism: A Teacher and her Students
My daughter, Annalee Abell, who teaches math at a middle school in New Orleans, published this essay in the Lexington Herald-Leader on the issues she faces talking about racism to nearly all-minority students: How Do I Talk to My Students About Racism?
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December 11, 2014
Are FDA Experts Compromised? Money Doesn't Talk It Swears
The Wall Street Journal blog Pharmalot reports that 1/3 of the physicians and other experts sitting on FDA advisory panels reviewing medical devices from 2012 to 2014 have financial ties to the companies whose devices they are reviewing, see What Money? Financial Ties of FDA Device Advisers are Often Undisclosed. Nearly 10% of these experts were directly compensated by the specific companies whose products they were directly reviewing. Interestingly, the FDA disclosed only 1% of these financial ties.
One of the hardest things in the world is getting someone to understand whose paycheck is dependent upon them not understanding.
Here's the game: medical device companies capture the FDA by buying influence with these experts and secure FDA approval for their devices, which in turn serves as a defense to defective product lawsuits, often a complete defense. So at the front end it is possible for medical device manufacturers to buy their way out of any accountability or liability to individuals and families hurt be defective medical devices.
And so it goes. Remember money doesn't talk it swears.
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December 10, 2014
"Very nice for fat cats and enemies of abortion"; Judge Posner on the Roberts Court's First Amendment rulings
Part 6 of the series on Judge Richard Posner this one dealing with First Amendment issues and cases is up at Concurring Opinions: On Free Expresssion & the First Amendment: More Questions for Judge Posner.
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December 09, 2014
Judge Posner, part 5
Part 5 of this most interesting series: On legal education & legal scholarship — More questions for Judge Posner.
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December 04, 2014
Judge Richard Posner, part 4
Here's the link to the latest posting in this compelling series: The Judge & Company -- Questions for Judge Posner from Judges, Law Professors and a Journalist.
Robert L. Abell
www.RobertAbellLaw.com
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December 01, 2014
Judge Richard Posner, part 3
The third post of the series on Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit: The Man Behind the Robes - A Q & A with Richard Posner. Highly, highly recommended.
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