Crane on Law by James Crane

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I always enjoy when a judge provides entertainment in his opinion, either in the way of comedy, emotion, or just plain wit.  In a recent case in the U.S. District Court of Washington, Judge Ronald Leighton granted a Motion for a More Definite Statement in a complaint alleging racketeering against GMAC Mortgage. 

Judge Leighton was not impressed with the 465

I have bragged about the high quality professionals that are members of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations in this blog before.  I am happy to report that I will be presenting a program at this year's Tech Show in Denver later this month.   

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Most attorneys have at least casually followed the Milberg Weiss scandal that has been playing out for the last couple of years.  The felony settlement by one of the class-action leaders included some troubling details that many people suspected, but hoped were not true.  The partners at Milberg, Bill Lerach and Melvyn Weiss, admitted to felonies and settled for $75 million. 

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 The "Committee of Five" (John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman) worked together for three weeks to draft the United States Declaration of Independence.  Two hundred and thirty-two years ago today, the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress and sent off for publication.  It was subsequently signed on August 2, 1776.

If you only read it

The June issue of the ABA Journal featured an article about how divorces are as ugly as ever despite the legal profession’s efforts to provide nuanced and sophisticated solutions like the “collaborative approach.” Because my practice focus is the defense of corporations, I was reminded how easily a company and its electronic data can get dragged into disputes despite no wrongdoing on its part. With so many company employees using portable technology belonging to the corporation, it only stands to reason that those devices and the data stored on them will be the routine subject of inquiry in a divorce. In my discussions with my friends who practice family law, they confirmed that attorneys are quick to go after the devices to try to uncover any embarrassing or damning information that may be stored within. The devices also have an activity log that can shed light on what spouses were doing, who they were communicating with, and when the communications took place. Many companies have Acceptable Use policies in place to govern how company devices are to be used. That’s a good start, but there must still be effective education and enforcement of the policy. As part of our corporate consulting services, we offer training programs and seminars to address the dangers of misuse of company devices and careless email communications.

As a Denver-based attorney, I was proud to see that Qwest and their General Counsel Rich Baer were given the honor of Top Corporate Legal Department in Corporate Counsel. In the Denver legal community, Mr. Baer is known as hard working attorney, and an all-around great guy. I’ve always been impressed that Qwest was able not only to withstand all of the lawsuits and inquiries that swirled around telecom earlier in the decade, but that they came out if it that much stronger. Kudos to Baer and the entire Qwest legal team!!