When I was a kid, my buddies and I occasionally did stupid things. My friend, Brad, and I once sled down a hill in the woods with a blanket over our heads. My pal, Greg, once wanted to see how far he could ride his bike with his eyes closed. Both feats ended abruptly with […]
A while back, my son and I watched ‘The Raven,’ a thriller starring John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe. In the film, people are murdered in the same fashion as depicted in Poe’s writings. While he’s initially a suspect, Poe is ultimately cleared and then cooperates with the police to find the real killer. Like […]
About 50 years ago, a landmark event occurred that would alter history. Today, a possible law change may have a gigantic impact on that occurrence. Of course, I’m talking about the moon landing. Last month, Canada introduced an amendment to its criminal code to allow for the prosecution of crimes committed by Canadian astronauts “on, […]
I’ve probably been to about 100 weddings. All of them were fun – some way more than others – but it’s always enjoyable to see two people you care about on the happiest day of their lives. I would guess that at 80% of the receptions, they served chicken for dinner. Everyone loves chicken, so […]
When I was a kid, my parents were strict, but definitely fair. But one thing my mom would absolutely not tolerate was lying. If my sister or I ever got caught lying, we would get in huge trouble. We learned that early on, so we just didn’t do it (that, and the fact that my […]
A few nights ago, I watched the movie ‘That’s My Boy.’ The movie stars Adam Sandler as Donny Berger. In a flashback to 1984, a 7th-grade Donny hits on the hottest teacher in school, Ms. McGarricle, played by Eva Amurri (Amurri is Susan Sarandon’s daughter, which is cool because Sarandon plays present-day Ms. McGarricle). While […]
A couple of weeks ago I caught ‘The Terminal’ on cable. The movie stars Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski, a man visiting the U.S. from Krakozhia. When he arrives at JFK International Airport, Viktor learns that a revolution broke out in his home nation. Due to the civil war, the U.S. no longer recognized Krakozhia […]
In many of my articles, I tie the topic to something in pop culture, most often a movie from the ‘80s. In my mind, legal concepts are more understandable if we can relate them to a reference point we all have in common. While it may work in newspaper columns, apparently it can backfire in […]
If you aren’t a lawyer, you probably haven’t read judicial opinions. Understanding the law requires reading and analyzing cases. To the non-lawyers out there, opinions may seem dry and complicated. Admittedly, there are times they are. But many opinions are fun to read. There are great examples of wit and wisdom. Even as a non-lawyer, […]
Earlier this year I wrote about the “Eddie Murphy Rule,” a part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which, for the first time, banned insider trading using nonpublic information misappropriated from a government source. The nod came from the classic ‘80s movie, ‘Trading Places,’ which stars Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd […]