Res Ipsa Blog

In response to my survey of starting salaries for entry level positions at district attorney's offices around Texas, one of my readers wrote in asking whether it was worth going through three years of law school to become a prosecutor. I'm posting my answer here so that others can add their thoughts and comments on the subject. First off, congratulations on getting into law school. You are in for the ride of your life! To answer your question on whether it's worth becoming a ... Read More

The Texas Supreme Court upheld the court of appeals decision, agreeing that the removal of the FLDS children was not warranted. The Court pointed out that there are numerous measures available to the district court to protect the children short of separating them from their parents, such as issuing temporary restraining orders, or removing the alleged perpetrators. The full opinion is available here.SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Supreme Court of Texas: FLDS children to be released", url: "http://resipsablog.com/2008/05/29/supreme-court-of-texas-flds-children-to-be-released/" }); Read More

The new iPhone is set to be unveiled in less than two weeks. Here are the top new features of the second generation iPhone: 1. Browse Westlaw and Lexis Faster: 3G Connectivity The new iPhone will run on a "3G" or third-generation network. While that translates to speeds of up to 42 Mbps, (think ten times faster than DSL or Cable), here in the United States, we likely see only a fraction of that. Initially, we will see speeds approaching the speed of your ... Read More

The ABA Journal has published a must-read excerpt from Justice Scalia's new book. The Brief: Use paragraphs intelligently; signpost your arguments. Use words that guide the reader Make it interesting The Argument Appreciate the importance of oral argument, and know your objectives. Have your opener down Be cautious about jokes Never tell prepared jokes. They almost invariably bomb. In Roe v. Wade, an assistant attorney general for the state of Texas, who was arguing against two women lawyers, led with what he probably considered courtly Southern humor: “Mr. Chief Justice, and may ... Read More

After promising to never release her tax records even if she became first lady, Cindy McCain released the first two pages of her tax returns today. Her gross income came in at over $6 million in 2006 and she paid over $1.7 million in taxes. While John McCain made less than 5% of that amount, Cindy McCain's fortune comes largely from her inheritance in the nation's third-largest beer distributor, Anheuser-Busch. She also controls the McCain family portfolio, which is estimated to be ... Read More

Yesterday, in In re Sara Steed, et al., the Texas Court of Appeals at Austin ruled that, in the case of the children of the thirty-eight mothers represented in the case, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services failed to show that there was an "immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the children." Prior to removing children from their homes, section 262.201 of the Texas Family Code requires a showing that (1) that there was a danger to the ... Read More

Sending a meeting request through Outlook is an easy way to coordinate schedules and pick meeting times. Have you ever wished there was a way to easily schedule meetings with individuals that don't use Outlook? Now there is: whenisgood.net allows you to highlight the dates and times you are available to meet, and then have your highlighted calender sent to you by email which you can then forward to any number of recipients. Each recipient can then remove the time slots they ... Read More

A little bit of shameless self-promotion: Res Ipsa got picked up on The Wall Street Journal today! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Res Ipsa Blog Article on Wall Street Journal", url: "http://resipsablog.com/2008/05/19/res-ipsa-blog-article-on-wall-street-journal/" }); Read More

Traditional law school wisdom dictates students who want the best prices should buy their books from half.com and then sell them back on amazon.com. There is an even better way to handle books purchases and sales: bigwords.com. Bigwords.com is a price aggregator that takes into account the condition of books you want to purchase, how quickly you need them, and then searches for the best way to purchase all of your books taking advantage of shipping discounts, coupon codes, and other promotions. It ... Read More

1    University of Houston Law Center     1.79% 2    SMU Dedman School of Law     1.81% 3    The University of Texas School of Law     2.13% 4    Texas Tech University School of Law     2.99% 5    South Texas College of Law     4.45% 6    St. Mary's University School of Law     4.99% 7    Texas Southern University—Thurgood Marshall School of Law     6.99% 8    Baylor University School of Law       7.23% 9    Texas Wesleyan University School of Law     10.15% Compare these to the best and worst law school attrition rates: The highest ... Read More