Yale Law Library - Reference Blog : Practice

Were patent appeals judges unconstitutionally appointed?

ct286 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:42:00 GMT

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may have a major problem on its hands -- the possibly unconstitutional appointment of nearly two-thirds of its patent appeals judges. Read more about this case here.

Translogic Technology, a company whose patent was rejected, is raising this issue in a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. A copy of the petition is available for viewing at the Law Library Reference Desk.

Lawyers Open Their File Cabinets for a Web Resource

ct286 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:24:00 GMT

By ANNE EISENBERG, New York Times

Published: April 27, 2008.

Services are appearing on the Web that may make it easier for consumers to do their own preliminary homework on legal issues before seeking professional help. Read more here.

Lawyer and Client Sanctioned $29K for Conduct During a Deposition

Tom Boone — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:32:00 GMT

U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno of Philadelphia has tallied the number of times Aaron Wider, the CEO of HTFC, dropped the F-word or a variant of it in a deposition — it was 73 times — and calculated the more than $29,000 sanction he and his lawyer Joseph R. Ziccardi should pay. In his 44-page opinion in GMAC Bank v. HTFC Corp., U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno found that Ziccardi was also to blame for his client's hostile conduct because he failed to stop his client's tirades and persuade him to answer questions.

(via The Legal Intelligencer)