The Death of “I Don’t Know.”

It’s rather amazing. In this age of Coronavirus, we are grappling with hyper-complex problems involving epidemiology, efficaciousness of pharmaceuticals, economic projections and social stability. We are each part of an enormous complex adaptive system, yet it’s difficult to find anyone who lacks a complete understanding of the situation or who lacks detailed opinions about what should be done.

Apparently, it’s not good manners to say “I don’t know” in public any more.

Continue ReadingThe Death of “I Don’t Know.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Target on the Back of Roe v Wade

In the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Ramos v. Louisiana (decided April 20, 2020), Justice Kavanaugh looks like he's putting a target squarely on the back of Roe v Wade.  The decision focuses on the legal doctrine of stare decisis, a doctrine with a troubled legal history and a fascinating concept for those willing to view it through the lens of cognitive science (as I recently did in this article for the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis). The Kavanaugh Concurrence is getting lots of attention for his treatment of stare decisis.

It goes with out saying that the official Roman Catholic position is that abortion is a form of murder.  This view is embraced even by the current leader of the Catholic Church, Pop Francis.  See here.  Kavanaugh is one of five men on the Supreme Court who are practicing Roman Catholics (Kavanaugh, Roberts, Thomas and Alito) or who were (in the case of Justice Neil Gorsuch) were raised Roman Catholic. Justice Sotomayor is also Roman Catholic.

Here are a couple excerpts from the Kavanaugh concurrence:

The doctrine of stare decisis does not mean, of course, that the Court should never overrule erroneous precedents. All Justices now on this Court agree that it is sometimes appropriate for the Court to overrule erroneous decisions. Indeed, in just the last few Terms, every current Member of this Court has voted to overrule multiple constitutional precedents.

Continue ReadingJustice Brett Kavanaugh’s Target on the Back of Roe v Wade

New Podcast for Trial Lawyers: “The Jury is Out” Featuring John Simon and Erich Vieth

For ten years I had the privilege of working as a trial attorney with John Simon. I learned firsthand why John and his team so often won substantial verdicts for their clients on high profile cases. The “secrets” turned out to be nonstop hard work and a recognition that law school is only the beginning of one’s legal education.

About five years ago, I branched off into my own law practice, but I continued working with John on a variety of projects. A few months ago, John invited me to be his co-host on a podcast to teach trial law skills to lawyers and law students. Both John and I teach law students at Saint Louis University School of Law and we both present at legal seminars. Offering a podcast was thus a natural extension of our interests in legal education. We named our new podcast “The Jury is Out” and we released the first five episodes to the public a few days ago. We record our podcasts at a dedicated recording studio at the Simon Law Firm in downtown St. Louis.

John and I will be passing on what we've learned over the years, including lessons we’ve learned from hard experience. Our trial law episodes are geared to particular skills, including multiple episodes on the topics of “Opening Statement,” “Voir Dire” and “Expert Witnesses.” We will also offer interviews with prominent attorneys from St. Louis and beyond. Our guests on upcoming episodes include Hon. Mike Wolff (persuasion), Yvette Liebesman (intellectual property issues of concern to artists), Amy Gunn (efficiencies in the practice of law) and Hon. Glenn Norton (mediation).

You’ll quickly see that our approach for each episode is to roll up our sleeves and get right to it. After you listen to a podcast or two, we would appreciate if you would take a moment to rate this new podcast. And feel free to send us an email with suggestions you might have for future episodes.

You can find “The Jury is Out” wherever you get your podcasts. We’d be honored to have you join us.

Continue ReadingNew Podcast for Trial Lawyers: “The Jury is Out” Featuring John Simon and Erich Vieth

Bill Maher: The News Media Needs to Calm Down. “Don’t Make Trump Be Right.”

Bill Maher points to sensationalistic headlines to make his point.

>p>

Now that we’re starting to see some hope in all this, don’t hope-shame me. The problem with nonstop gloom and doom is it gives Trump the chance to play the optimist, and optimists tend to win American elections. FDR said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ You know, as full of s–t as he is, I could see Trump riding that into a second term.

Continue ReadingBill Maher: The News Media Needs to Calm Down. “Don’t Make Trump Be Right.”

What did NASA’s Hubble Telescope See on Your Birthday?

Here's a great way to feel humbled by the fact that you are a tiny speck within an immense universe. It's also a chance to to have a brain orgasm tied to your own birthday: You are invited to receive a high-res Hubble photo from NASA accompanied by a detailed scientific explanation of something incredible that existed eons ago and farther away than you can imagine without serious effort. Go ahead and enter your birthday so that you can become a time traveler to deep space, courtesy of NASA.

Continue ReadingWhat did NASA’s Hubble Telescope See on Your Birthday?