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Re-Examining Dick Donovan’s Rant

Over at Fault Lines, Andrew Fleischman has an article on Paulding DA Dick Donovan’s Facebook post. Jim Galloway at the Atlanta Journal noticed it, too. The post was a “eulogy for white Judeo-Christian men.” It was really quite jarring to read, particularly by a person who has extraordinary power to prosecute people and even seek…
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I Quit Social Media

When you go on a family vacation, the people you live with have the opportunity to learn more about you and how you are feeling. And so it was in Oregon a few weeks ago, that my wife noticed my anxiety level. And when she noticed it, I began to notice it, also. And after…
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The State Bar of GA is the Paul Ryan of the JQC Amendment

In the most recent episode of This American Life, the show includes a discussion of the amendment on the ballot to reconstitute the JQC as a creature of the legislature and with the State Bar of Georgia taken out of the appointment process altogether. If you are undecided on this amendment, the segment is worth your…
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A Helpful Guide for Argument: Rapoport’s Rules

Recently, while listening to Sam Harris’s podcast, Waking Up, I happened upon a guide to engaging another person in debate. It comes up when he introduces his interview with philosopher Daniel Dennett. Whether you are a lawyer preparing a brief or courtroom argument or a layperson engaged in a political discussion with a friend, it…
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In a Difficult Political Year, Raise the Bar

The lawyer’s job gets more difficult in proportion to the political climate in which we practice. And I cannot imagine a more difficult one than the spectacle of an election that we are all enduring. I have been saddened, anxious, and have been tempted to grow even more cynical. I have had my intelligence insulted…
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Breaking into Appellate Law

A few days ago, a newly-minted attorney asked me about what it takes to become an appellate attorney. I was initially at a loss for an answer. I never exactly set out to do this for a living. In law school, I was quite sure that I would be a trial lawyer. Only now am…
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A Big Lesson From a Short Failed Race

On Monday, I stood at the start line of a hot, humid, and crowded 10k. Before then, I had done longer races, including a couple of half marathons and a full about seven months ago. And over the last three months I had been working with a coach to up my game. I had even begun…
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We are Having the Wrong Debate

A good number of people in my Facebook feed are passionate about gun control right now. And it appears that I have friends or “friends” on both sides of the debate. It would be nice if this passion would transfer to other amendments such as the Fourth or the First. Alas, much of it is…
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Why Can’t the Bar Create an Internal JQC to Discipline Lawyers who are Judges?

It appears that the big news from the State Bar’s annual meeting is that the Bar will do nothing to encourage voters to oppose the referendum that will gut the Judicial Qualifications Commission. In the wake of the last-minute vote to gut the JQC, its chair, Lester Tate, resigned. Mr. Tate called upon the Bar…
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A Radical Fundamentalist By Any Other Name is Still a Radical Fundamentalist

Since the Orlando Night Club shooting, Trump and others have criticized the President for not using the magic words “Radical Islam” in discussion of the news. According to NBC News: When Donald Trump blasted President Obama for failing to make reference to Islam in connection with the Orlando nightclub massacre, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee…