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"The 'Trial Warrior': Applying Sun Tzu's The Art of War to Trial Advocacy"

Abstract:

The author uses Sun Tzu's The Art of War to determine whether the theory of strategic functionalism can integrate the client-centric, justice-centric, and science-centric conceptual models into a coherent, unified trial advocacy paradigm. The author finds that the Taoist philosophy, military strategy, and tactics explained in The Art of War applied to trial advocacy is an example of strategic functionalism at work.

Click to download "The 'Trial Warrior': Applying Sun Tzu's The Art of War to Trial Advocacy" (Alberta Law Review - SSRN).

Related post: "Trial lawyers should study military strategy."

My great-uncle was a cowboy artist: My attempts to fill his boots were not so good

Click to see several of the paintings of my great-uncle Virgil West. Some of them are hanging at the McHenry Museum in Modesto, California.

And here's one of my cow paintings, this one completed in 7th grade at La Loma Junior High in Modesto. Sure wish I had the talent to be an artist, but, as you can see, painting is not one of my strengths. (Nor is uploading paintings to this blog; not sure why this is a screenshot rather than the painting?)

 

 

 

 

Interested in storytelling? Then here's a great list of resources for you

Whether your interest in storytelling is for personal or professional purposes, Katharine Hansen has prepared a valuable year-end gift for you. Click to benefit from—to immerse yourself in!—this fine compilation: Favorite 2011 Story Finds -- From A to Z.

Note: Here's another resource: iPad APPS for Storytelling, plus several other links compiled by digital storytelling guru Bernajean Porter.

A news release about an idea I don't like: "Time for a Change? Johns Hopkins Scholars Say Calendar Needs Serious Overhaul"

Maybe it's just that I'm an old dog not taking well to new tricks?

December 27, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:  Lisa De Nike
(443)-287-9960 (office)
(443) 845-3148 (cell)
[email protected]

(Note: See bottom of release for researchers’ contact information.)
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered a way to make time stand still — at least when it comes to the yearly calendar.

Using computer programs and mathematical formulas, Richard Conn Henry, an astrophysicist in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, and Steve H. Hanke, an applied economist in the Whiting School of Engineering, have created a new calendar in which each new 12-month period is identical to the one which came before, and remains that way from one year to the next in perpetuity.

Under the Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar, for instance, if  Christmas fell on a Sunday in 2012 (and it would), it will also fall on a Sunday in 2013, 2014 and beyond. In addition, under the new calendar, the rhyme “30 days hath September, April, June and November,” would no longer apply, because September would have 31 days, as would June, March and December. All the rest have 30 (Try creating a rhyme using that.)
 
“Our plan offers a stable calendar that is absolutely identical from year to year and which allows the permanent, rational planning of annual activities, from school to work holidays,” says Henry, who is also director of the Maryland Space Grant Consortium. “Think about how much time and effort are expended each year in redesigning the calendar of every single organization in the world and it becomes obvious that our calendar would make life much simpler and would have noteworthy benefits.”

Among the practical advantages would be the convenience afforded by birthdays and holidays (as well as work holidays) falling on the same day of the week every year. But the economic benefits are even more profound, according to Hanke, an expert in international economics, including monetary policy.

“Our calendar would simplify financial calculations and eliminate what we call the ‘rip off’ factor,” explains Hanke. “Determining how much interest accrues on mortgages, bonds, forward rate agreements, swaps and others, day counts are required. Our current calendar is full of anomalies that have led to the establishment of a wide range of conventions that attempt to

Law firm provides resources to help couples stay happily married: New podcast is about how meditation can enhance relationships

The Rosen Law Firm located in North Carolina provides a number of resources related to marriage and divorce, including StayHappilyMarried.com. StayHappilyMarried is described:

Is there still hope for working things out? Listen to our weekly podcast with marriage professionals on how to repair and strengthen your marriage, or search our database for a marriage counselor in your area.

The Web site also includes book recommendations and links to other organizations and sites. Their most recent podcast is "The Simple Truth" about how meditation can help a relationship.

Swing dancing in Denver: Enjoy all the physical and mental benefits—and have fun

Did you know Denver has a swing dancing scene? If you are an accomplished swinger, a middling dancer of the jitterbug, or someone wanting to learn a new, pleasurable way to get in your aerobic exercise for the week, come to the Mercury Cafe. Colorado Jazz Workshop big bands will be swinging there on the following dates:

• Feb 5-Monday Big Band
• April 8-Saturday Big Band
• May 20-Wednesday Big Band

Swing lessons will be available on each date; cost is $9; time is 8 to 11 PM.

And just in time for the gigs, a terrific article by Brad Weissman about the history of swing, and about swing dancing in Denver. From "Swing it!" (EnCompass):

Denver is an ironic place in which a new swing boom might take place, as it almost killed “King of Swing” Benny Goodman’s career right before his big national breakthrough at Los Angeles’ Palomar Ballroom on August 21, 1935. Former Elitch Gardens proprietor Jack Gurtler told Denver historian Corrine Hunt, “Benny Goodman bombed in Denver!”

In the early 1930s, there were two basic kinds of jazz, broken down along racial lines. For black audiences, there were the adventurous, virtuoso sounds of artists typified by the brilliant inventions

Making a map, checking it twice: Making 2012 directed and nice

A map directs you to where you are going. But you have to know your destination, and where you are currently located, for maps to be of any use at all. While I was researching another topic, I learned that people use maps for more than just navigating mountains and deserts, bridges and highways. People use them to navigate life—to pinpoint location, foresee destination, and plan the route between.

Being intrigued by such a use of maps, I, of course, immediately looked for a book on how to map the past, present, and future.

I was surprised that several books have been written on exploring and navigating your life with maps. Drawn to this twist on cartography, I plan to read a couple. My public library even carries some of these books, so this use of maps is evidently not obscure. Others have been using life mapping for years.

Here are three titles:

• Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed-Media Mapmaking
• You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination [click to read an excerpt from this book (Duke Magazine)]
  
• Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer [click to read some quotes from this book]
  

Have you read any of these books? Crafted any maps for yourself or your firm? Helped your clients to craft maps? Followed your own maps, personal or professional? Gotten lost?

Orlando Magic coach consulted with Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck: How much is TOO much criticism?

Maybe there are a couple of niches for Dr. Dweck in the legal profession. See my suggestions below.

From "Denton: A Calmer Stan in the Works" (NBA.COM):

Stan Van Gundy’s relentless pursuit of self-improvement led him this past offseason to engage in conversation and undergo skull sessions with noted psychologists in Florida and California. And the person who emerged is a somewhat kinder, gentler and more patient coach of the Orlando Magic.

Well, at least until the games begin.

...

Maybe it’s a Christmas miracle of sorts.

...

Van Gundy ... sought the opinion of Anders Eriksson, a Florida State professor who studies behavior patterns of elite performers in several fields. And he also dined and philosophized with Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck, author of the book ``Mindset.’’

Van Gundy asked what qualified as too much criticism, and Dweck said the amount of criticism didn’t matter nearly as much as the subject matters that the coach chose to be critical about at times. ...

I believe that Dweck could develop a couple of new consulting niches: Attorneys with mentoring responsibilities, as well as instructors in law school clinics. Maybe even a law prof or two teaching first-year classes, too. Maybe not . . .

From The Paper Chase (1973)

Kingsfield: Mister Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer.

And...

Hart: You... are a SON OF A BITCH, Kingsfield.
Kingsfield: Mr. Hart! That is the most intelligent thing you've said all day. You may take your seat.

Image credit: The Daily Record.

Law school holding symposium on aging: We all can attend online

Excerpt from "UI College of Law to hold colloquium on aging population" (press-citizen.com):

A new colloquium starting next month at the University of Iowa College of Law seeks to solve challenges posed by the nation’s rapidly aging population.

The 13 weekly sessions start Jan. 12 and will be available online to the public through live-streaming and podcasts, law professor and organizer Josephine Gittler said. Nationally-recognized experts in the field of public policy and aging, including Charles Sabatino, director of the American Bar Association’s Commission

Legal education: "Performance Isn’t Everything"

Abstract of "Performance Isn’t Everything: The Importance of Conceptual Competence in Outcome Assessment of Experiential Learning" (SSRN):

The ABA is on the brink of a seismic shift in its law school accreditation standards. The new standards would require law schools to identify, pursue and assess goals for student learning outcomes. This change in focus has been heavily influenced by the Carnegie Report’s recommendations for reform of American legal education. This report has been hailed in numerous law review articles but has been subject to little critical analysis.

This article scrutinizes — and ultimately rejects — the recommendations of the Carnegie Report for outcomes and assessment in the area of experiential education. The Carnegie Report argues that practical education should focus on teaching students to follow expert protocols, procedures, rules and checklists to deal effectively with lawyering situations — to mimic the actions of expert lawyers as they face a lawyering task. An extensive body of cognitive science and neuroscience research on the development of expertise, however, questions the theoretical underpinnings of the Report and suggests that educators should not focus on what experts are doing but what they are thinking as they deal with a lawyering problem. Therefore, the authors assert that outcome assessments in experiential legal education should be focused primarily on students learning to reason in practice, rather than to mimic the techniques of expert lawyers. Ultimately, this critique has significant implications for the drafting of the final ABA standards on outcome assessments which are likely to be adopted in late 2012 or early 2013 .

This article concludes by presenting an experimental assessment technique designed to evaluate student reasoning in practice.