Rainy Day Miscellany

A miscellaneous roundup of stuff to keep one entertained on a rainy Tuesday:

• Edward Lazarus takes on the Moussaoui circus trial for Findlaw’s Writ.
• ABA’s Section of Public Contract Law and the National Association of State Procurement Officials have teamed up for the First (ever!) Annual State and Local Procurement Symposium scheduled for May 19, 2006 in San Diego. Oh man. Wish I could go, but …
• I’m headed for the ALI-ABA Civil Litigation in State and Federal Courts CLE (click on "Courses" from the ALI-ABA home page and follow through to May 2006′s listings). In Charleston, SC. During Spoleto. (I know. Rough life. But all I’ll say is – ALI-ABA has a wonderful program offering "tuition assistance" for government, public interest, and minority lawyers, for which I am exceedingly grateful.)
• I really love Grey’s Anatomy.

The itch to know

Expert
Originally uploaded by urban_data.

The authors at Creating Passionate Users have developed some awesome thoughts to share on how to become an expert. Turns out it’s not just practice – it’s how you practice, and for how long. Seems common sense, but there’s a twist – it’s also your level of intensity – what author Richard Restak calls a "rage to master."

ALI-ABA Is Your Friend

In the process of researching an upcoming CLE seminar on civil litigation techniques at ALI-ABA, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the organization makes available to registered folks certain valuable resources. Every month, it seems, a different "freebie" is posted in each of several practice areas – Employee Benefits, Employment Law, Business & Corporate, and IP. Today I downloaded and am reading (and hope to summarize for you later) a paper entitled "Selected Developments Under the FMLA" from last December’s Advanced Employment Law seminar sponsored by ALI-ABA. (I confess: I just like saying "ALI-ABA." Makes me feel like Aladdin, or something.) To access that article, click here, and then click the link that reads "This Month’s Free Web-Only Special." It should lead you through the registration process.

Bob Review #44 Now Served!

At the Health Care Law Bob … er, Blog,  you can now see Blawg Review #44. Love the nifty alpha-graphics!

KKR Publishes New Issue of Airport Law Alert

The good folk at Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell’s airport law practice group have published the latest iteration of the Airport Law Alert, the firm’s bulletin on airport legal matters. I plan some posts of my own on these topics, but in the meantime, AAs should hear from the wise minds at KKR on:

1. The recently-proposed rule from EPA exempting airport mobile refuelers from some – but not all – of the requirements in the SPCC rule;
2. The FAA’s recent decision that certain flight training restrictions at Pompano Beach Air Park were unreasonable, in a Part 16 proceeding;
3. The signing of the settlement agreement between Los Angeles and resident groups which resolves a long-running dispute between the parties over the LAX Master Plan; and
4. Lots more. Don’t want to give it all away.

Enjoy! Thanks to Peter Kirsch for giving me permission to publish the link here at TAL, even though he had the audacity to brag about recent Denver weather in the process. ("Warmer than Florida." Hmph.)

Blawg Review #39: Adam Smith, Esq.

Up here.

And, in case you’re wondering wherefore the lack of posts? Child’s got chicken pox.

At some point, you just have to laugh.

Merry Christmas from the D of L

What’s this? A newly-improved and highly-functional government website all about … egads … compliance?!? Aw. DOL, you shouldn’t have!

I am thrilled beyond repair. The Department of Labor has upgraded its offerings and from this page you will find USERRA’s newly final regs, an updated employment guide, compliance "e-tools" such as a "poster adviser," and more. Bookmark and visit often.

Link via InHouseBlog and beSpacific.

Blawg Review #37: The Wired GC

Everytime I see the name of this blog I get this mental image of some suit with frazzled hair and wild eyes slamming down a Venti latte from Starbucks in between Blackberry bouts.  This one, however, is a budding poet with something akin to the Christmas spirit (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).  He’s even thoughtfully provided background music.

Got an hour to kill?

Here’s the complete list of aviation-related topics at Wikipedia, TAL’s favorite website. Bookmark it, come back to it when you have a bit of free time, and broaden your knowledge! As the banner on this site used to sayread, "A little knowledge can be a terribly useful thing." Especially, I’d add, when it’s free. (The occasional misstep notwithstanding.)

The Driving Force

When I was fifteen, I took a 7AM driver’s ed class in the summer between my sophomore and junior year in high school. My dad would take me out sometimes on weekend afternoons to see how much I was learning from the vice-principal-cum-driving-teacher. You had to know my dad. One day, I recall, after a particularly inquisitive drive ("Dad, what’s the difference between 2nd and 3rd in an automatic? What happens to the brakes when you back up without releasing the emergency brake? If a Ford Explorer leaves Chicago at 2:15 pm EST, and a Pontiac LeMans leaves San Francisco at 3:15 Pacific …"), Dad looked at me, pleased as punch, and said "I know you. You won’t be satisfied until you can take the car apart and put it back together again."

Bless his heart, Dad was actually wrong on this one. I am woefully ignorant in the assembly of the engine of my Cadillac, and happily so, but this week’s Blawg Review has rekindled the driving fire. Visit #36 (wait … lemme … yep, 36) chez AutoMuse. My favorite entries, so far (reserving all rights to change my mind hourly, as I usually do):

1. Jerry Monaco’s take on legal formalism and jury nullification (which appears to have been written this past June), springing off from Clay Conrad’s jurygeek query: "Did Legal Formalism Mortally Wound the Independent Jury?"
2. The inaugural issue of Cato Unbound, in which tough questions get posed to bright minds, who respond. This time, it’s "If you could add any three amendments to the Constitution, what would they be?" and the answer comes from JamesM. Buchanan (1986 Nobel Laureate for economic sciences – yes, I had to look it up too).