(Guest post by Dr. D. Ball) There is an old saying: He who enters the conclave “papabile” comes out “cardinale.” Predictions mean almost nothing. When Ratzinger was elected, it is rumored that the one he almost lost to was Bergoglio, but there is really no proof as the ballots are burned after each ballot. In any event, Bergoglio’s name was never mentioned as being a serious candidate. When Bergoglio assumed the throne, he announced that his would be a short pontificate.

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Copy machines were always busy at the law office. Whatever you wrote, you needed one copy for opposing counsel, one copy for chambers, and one—if you were feeling reckless—or two for your own files. If you ran out of plastic toner, you were lost. Without copies to take to the Clerk’s office for filing, it was as if your work had not been done. Nowadays, the copiers are mostly silent. Filing at the clerk’s office is electronic only.

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You can’t just start representing clients that fall into your lap without reading Jay Foonberg’s How to Start and Build a Law Practice. You really need to buy a copy. Do so ASAP. If you can’t afford to buy the book, read it at the library. It will probably be checked out, so expect a long waiting list. Don’t bother trying to find the book in a law library. Their copy was stolen and they’ve had to order another.

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Let’s say that ChatGPT isn’t very good when it comes to the law. Hallucinations are an expected hazard of its use. The lawyer knows the law, but that’s not enough. A lawyer has to know how to close a real estate transaction, zoning, emergency room medicine, mechanical engineering, fire prevention, supply chain, distribution rules for the promotion of medical devices, IVF, electrical construction load best practices, what a lineman calls a “pot,” CRISPR, decennial liability and how to read a financial statement.

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A&O Shearman Andersen Global Ashurst Baker Botts Baker McKenzie Bracewell Clifford Chance Clyde & Co Curtis Dentons DLA Piper Evershed Sutherland Freshfields/Hejailan Herbert Smith HFW Hogan Lovells Holman Fenwick Jones Day Tony Khoury King & Spalding Kirkland & Ellis Latham & Watkins Linklaters Mayer Brown Norton Rose PWC Legal Quinn Emanuel Reed Smith Simmons & Simmons Squire Patton Boggs Tamimi 1 Vinson Elkins White and Case Hassan Mahasni1 Selected Local Firms A&M Law Firm ELaw Boutique Law Firm Al Ghazzawi Ayed Harbi (Khobar) Hamad Mehdar Hani Quereshi (Jeddah) Eyad Reda Law Firm Tamimi 2 Left KSA Gide Blakes Who’s Not Here?

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Emails today are like automobiles from say, 1915 to 1920 or so. The design hearkened back to the shape of a carriage made to be pulled by horses. Except for the subject line, an email is still shaped like a physical letter. If the “sender” field contains your name, why add a letter-like closing? If the email is delivered to an addressee, why is there a need for a salutation? In the 12th century, salutations were long and complicated, but by the 19th they had become formulaic and meaningless–unless a variation from the norm was a specific effort to convey a special meaning.

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Few companies—especially those surprised by litigation—have a litigation budget. They don’t realize how expensive the judicial system can be. Company execs believe that litigation is but an annoyance until their defender passes a proposed budget for a quarter million dollars across the conference table at the initial consultation. Even a sophisticated client has never taken CivPro1 so much of what you say is gibberish. It’s like a physician presenting treatment alternatives where you haven’t even read the Wikipedia page.

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It is a lot easier to steal chicken if there’s no chicken to steal.

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21 January 2025 Trump just issued an executive order stripping the security clearances of the 50 or so who signed the letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation. I assume that includes (text redacted). I don’t know what the rules are with respect to a clearance when you’ve left a granting agency. In Panama, I had a blue (Confidential) clearance. I don’t believe I ever had a red (Secret) clearance.

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