March 2012

One Hearing, Nine Important Tips

As usual, these tips concern things you should not do. The following excerpts are from R. v. Covey (2001), in which the court held Covey was a "vexatious litigant," meaning he can't file further cases without court approval because he has filed…


Emergence of an Artist (from a Lawyer)

I recently learned about the work of Nathan Sawaya, a former corporate lawyer in Manhattan who left the practice of law to — no kidding — become a full time LEGO® artist, as he explained here: To ease the stress…


Man Ticketed After Cat Won’t Jog

One reason dogs are (arguably) better than cats: you can take them out jogging. According to the Boulder Daily Camera, a 19-year-old man was ticketed in nearby Lafayette, Colorado, last week "on suspicion of tethering his cat to a rock after…



March Madness Kicks Off With Ear-Biting Incident

I'm sure this is only the first of many such incidents now that the tournament is underway. In fact, this happened last week after a game involving sixth-graders, so the really high-stakes stuff hadn't even started yet. If Missouri and…


An Interview With That One Guy in My Cousin Vinny

Today in its My Cousin Vinny coverage, Abnormal Use interviews actor James Rebhorn, who plays the prosecution's expert witness. Rebhorn is somebody whose name you probably don't know but whose picture will likely cause you to shout out, "Oh, that guy,…



Hello! You’ve Been Targeted for Assassination!

Great work by Ruben Bolling on this week's Tom the Dancing Bug cartoon. No, that's not the whole thing. Click here or on the image to see the full cartoon at Boing Boing. It's worth it. Because what's funnier than the death…


Amish on the Loose

Is it just me, or is there a rising tide of reports about Amish-related mayhem? The Associated Press reported yesterday (via WSJ) that a number of young Amish adults in western New York had been charged with illegal possession of…


It’s My Cousin Vinny Week at Abnormal Use

It's the 20th anniversary of the release of My Cousin Vinny, and the Abnormal Use blog is celebrating with an entire week of stuff devoted to the courtroom classic. Today, Nick Farr writes about how the world's shortest opening argument by Vincent Gambini…