Arkansas Appellate Decisions

One idea I had for a blog was to do one about the decisions of the Arkansas appellate courts.  That would be the Arkansas Supreme Court and the Arkansas Court of Appeals.  I would also occasionally note an opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

I used to do a column for the Arkansas Trial Lawyers' Association magazine on appellate decisions.  Columns like that are fairly common in publications for lawyers.  Usually the goal is just to keep the reader up to date on what is going on in the appellate courts.  When I got too busy to do it any more, someone else took it over.  I don't remember whether it was Brian Brooks or Robert Tschiemer or someone else who took over.

My approach was to make my case reviews less like simple objective fact-based reviews and more like opinionated "movie reviews."  I did not mind throwing my own opinions into the mix.  It was my article.  It was mostly well received, in that I didn't get any death threats that I was aware of.

Robert went on to write reviews for the Arkansas Bar Association.  Unfortunately, his reviews are a benefit of membership, so they aren't open to the public.  That's too bad, because they're very good.  I highly recommend them to any Arkansas lawyer as a way to keep up on what's going on at the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

Lawyers have to keep up with developments in the law.  One way we do it is through continuing legal education.  I enjoy participating in CLE courses.  Another way we do it is by reading publications about the law.   Before the Internet, cases decided by the courts were publicized in periodicals called "advance sheets."  Now, of course, the courts publish their cases on their webpages on the day they are decided.  The Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals generally publish their decisions by noon on the days they announce their decisions.  The Court of Appeals usually announces decisions on Wednesday.  The Supreme Court on Thursday.  I'm a member of a group of lawyers that meets on Friday mornings to discuss new decisions.  We take turns reading through the decisions and selecting the important ones to discuss.

There were several interesting decisions last week.  It's a little late right now, but I'm going to try to put something up sometime next week.

I will be very selective on the cases on which I choose to comment.   This won't be as comprehensive as our advance sheets meeting.  I'll try to keep it interesting, not just to lawyers, but to laypeople as well.


 

Well, it's been over a month since my last real blog post. I tried to post a blog about Facebook games, and how I have to get my addiction to that habit under control, but it looks like I somehow failed to actually post the blog.  All there is is a title.  I swear there was an article that went with it.  I have no idea what happened to it, or whether there is a copy of it anywhere.

Helena and Benjamin are probably on their way back from a scouting activity.   At least they should be on their way back by now.  I'm surprised they haven't called to say they're on the road.  

I haven't decided what kind of blog I want this to be.  I have thought a little bit about writing a blog about the law.  I participate in an advance sheets meeting every Friday.  I'm active in preparing and presenting continuing legal education courses.  And, of course, I work in the legal field every day.  If we should write what we know, I probably know the law better than I know anything else.  

I've also considered writing some humor.  I can't seem to keep going on any projects, though.  I tend to think I'm best at simply responding to things I see online.

I really should do something to add to the content on the Internet.  There really isn't enough amateurish nonsense there already.  There aren't enough arrogant and egotistical people spouting baseless opinions on the Internet at this time.  I have an obligation to help fill that void.

This is a terrible start for a blog so far, but I'm going to keep trying, at least for however long it takes to see if I can publish this particular entry.  Then this blog may never get my attention again.  Who knows?