The Benefits of a Simple Car Loan

The loan may be simple; the process is not.  But read on to find out how one dedicated team of people turned life around with a new car for this divorced mom.

Patent Wars

We don't do patent work, but there was a fascinating episode of This American Life a couple of weeks ago called "When Patents Attack."  It's all about how the patent program, which was designed to spur innovation, has been subverted since its inception, and now hinders it.  Patents are being used as both offensive and defensive weapons in a litigation war of mutually assured destruction.

Our Youngest Client!

Universitas

Check out the Summer 2011 issue of Universitas -- page 14 of the .pdf, on the right-hand side (which is page 25 of the magazine)!  There we are!

LawyerUp

The New York Times published an article last month about a company called LawyerUp.  The company promises an attorney will begin work within 15 minutes of your emergency call to the company's operator.

I have to say, I'm a little surprised that someone didn't think of this sooner.  Whether it's a good idea or not, I'm not sure, but it appears to be a money-maker, and that seems to trump quality of the idea in all cases.

Having said that, this seems rife with ethical problems.  As one example, the system works like this: you can either pay a monthly rate to have the one hour of service available as soon as you call, or you can "pay in a pinch," which is $100 for the dispatcher and the full $250 for one hour of legal services.  But that's all you get: one hour.

I admit, I'm not sure what the rules are in New York, but I'd be hesitant to take on a client, especially one who had just been arrested or needed assistance immediately, if I knew I was going to cut them off at 60 minutes.  Once you take someone on as a client, you owe them certain obligations, and sometimes those exist whether or not you're being paid; sometimes you can't just stop working, and it seems like that's what the business model is at LawyerUp.

And that's just the first one that comes to mind.  What about pesky little things like conflicts?  Do you have time to think about that if you're only doing an hour of work?

I'll be interested to hear how this turns out.

The Collision Over Traffic Cameras

As the City of St. Louis and surrounding municipalities are installing red light cameras, debate on whether they should be used continues to intensify locally.  Check out one example of the opposition.

But apparently it's not just us.  An article in last week's New York Times by the same name as this post looks - briefly - with a wider lens at the different opinions.  Bottom line: they can be good and work well, but that happens all too rarely.

What do you think?

A Glut of Attorneys

EMSI, a company that does employment and economic data analysis, recently crunched the numbers on demand for (and wages of) attorneys in the 50 states and District of Columbia. The story was reported by the New York Times, and is available here.  Turns out that only two states (Nebraska and Wisconsin) as well as D.C. are experiencing a shortage of attorneys.

Too bad for the rest of us.  New York tops the list, but Missouri comes in at a not-too-shabby (or perhaps all-too-shabby) 10th place.