On the Record

By: Brendan Kearney

In nearly every social setting I found myself in this past holiday weekend, the latest in The Continuing Story of Alaska Sarah came up, and the theories of why she abruptly quit as governor were as various as they were numerous. Here’s one the legal community can understand: her legal bills forced her hand. (And speaking of, er, atypical Alaskans, I wonder what this judge has to say about Palin’s resignation.)

How bad have law firm layoffs been this year? Here’s the latest on the recent rash of retrenchments. (HT: Above The Law)

Have you heard about The Chicago Tribune’s series of stories examining the controversial admissions practices at the University of Illinois? Well there’s now controversy about the newspaper’s coverage, too, and a group of law professors at the University want everyone to know their school isn’t unique. (Hat tip: ABA Journal, et al.) Are they right?

Leah Ward Sears, the just-retired Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court — and a one-time candidate to become dean of the University of Maryland School of Law — sounded off last week on no-fault divorces. (Hat tip: Maryland Family Law Blog)

Finally, everybody has word-choice pet peeves, and one of mine is the use of ‘verbal‘. As that word comes from the Latin for ‘word,’ I think it should be used in contrast to ‘numerical’ or ‘gestural’ when manner of expression is the subject at issue. But instead, ‘verbal’ is often used in contrast to ‘written’, which while legitimate according to lower-listed dictionary definitions, I think should be subbed out for ‘vocal‘. (By the way, this mini tirade — wait, can you have a typed tirade? — was triggered by today’s “Say What?!“). What do you think?