A Brooklyn hero

A judge who makes foreclosure plaintiffs (the mortgage holders who want to foreclose) actually prove their cases: see today's New York Times story (front page, slightly above the fold) here.

Note to the lawyers drafting the complaints--shouldn't you make sure that you have the prima facie case correct before you file?

Hat tip to my buddy Seymour, who also saw the story.

Seriously, you've heard it here before -- billable hours are on their way out

See this morning's Wall Street Journal (front page, below the fold): here. See also here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. I know I'm becoming a broken record, but there's no way that clients are going to continue to help law firms meet their budgets (and keep associate salaries high--for those associates who still have jobs) on a piecemeal approach when they can simply shop around for equally talented lawyers who are willing to try alternative billing methods.

And while I'm on the subject of shopping around for professionals who are willing to do good work for lower fees, don't forget to read the Energy Partners case discussed in this Wall Street Journal blog post (here).

The future of ballroom dance

Watch Martin Rivas dance quickstep (with Sergei Shapoval and Liza Smith) at this year's Nevada Star Ball): here. BRAVO, Martin!

A nice way to learn about public service: Rachel's Rave.

Rachel Diehl, one of the student workers at Boyd, has started her own blog, which describes different ways to do public service in and around Las Vegas (and, ultimately, beyond). See here. Brava, Rachel!

Mazel tov to our friends Martha & Karen!

Who were married yesterday! See here. (And, yes, Jeff & I think that it's way cool that Martha & Karen's announcement made it into the New York Times!)

If you talk with Martha and Karen, ask them about their wedding cha-cha....

Two reasons that I think Steve Bradford's funny.

See here and here.

The Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn, 3550 South Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach, FL--my review

Is here. Other similar reviews are here.

A shout-out to Jason Solomon for letting me do some op-eds with him

Jason Solomon, a buddy of mine at U Ga. and one of the co-founders of the Race to the Top blog (here), has kindly let me hang out with him in a couple of op-eds talking about turning the USNWR rankings into something resembling a measure of actual quality, rather than a mere beauty contest. We published op-eds at The Daily Report (subscriptions-only access, though--sorry!) and in Inside Higher Ed (here).

Law school beauty contests, though, are intriguing. Can't get the image of all of us in swimsuits and talent contests out of my mind. Going to have to try, though. I don't want USNWR to think that such an idea would make for a marketable survey.