Reflections on the CALL/ACBD Conference

Classic sweaty soda can in Key WestInternational brand protection is no longer a luxury for globally-minded businesses – it’s a necessity.  If you’re a trademark owner outside the United States, the Madrid Protocol offers a streamlined way to seek protection in multiple countries using a single application. In the U.S., such an international application is known as a Section 66(a) application under the U.S. Trademark Act, or Lanham Act. This guide explores what Section 66(a) is, when and how to use it, the benefits and limitations, and how to respond to Office Actions or convert a Madrid Protocol filing into a direct U.S. application if necessary. 1. What Is a Section 66(a) Trademark Application? Section 66(a) refers to the provision of the Lanham Act that allows foreign applicants to extend protection to the United States via the Madrid Protocol, an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). To file a…

Our healthcare law firm works with many providers who prescribe medications, including controlled substances. A question that comes up is what a provider’s reporting obligations to the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) are when they discover that controlled substances have been stolen from their office or that prescriptions for controlled substances have been fraudulently submitted to patients under their names. This blog covers two considerations that providers should account for when they are notified of theft or fraudulent prescriptions. Please note that this blog post covers reporting obligations to the DEA, not any reporting obligations to state agencies. If you need assistance reporting theft or fraudulent prescriptions to the appropriate sources or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@littlehealthlaw.com. You may also learn more…

Michael Conklin (Texas A&M University School of Law) has posted Peak Wokeness in Judicial Opinions: An Empirical Analysis of Recent Trends in Progressive Topics on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article presents an empirical study of “wokeness” in judicial opinions, testing whether the recent societal retreat from progressive rhetoric is mirrored in the courts. While prior research suggests that American corporations, media, and academia have passed a point of peak wokeness, this study finds the opposite trend within the judiciary. Analyzing over 123,000 data points from 2018–2024, this Article reveals that references to woke terms in judicial opinions have steadily increased. This surprising divergence raises critical questions about the judiciary’s cultural insulation, independence, and the proper relationship between legal scholarship, public discourse, and the courts. By juxtaposing empirical results with broader cultural shifts, this…

Most of the time, when a lawyer unwittingly cites a bunch of fake cases spit out by artificial intelligence, it’s because they never bothered to figure out how the product worked or even superficially consider the ethical implications. They plead with the judge that they’re just a humble scribe of Ashurbanipal who couldn’t possibly grasp the powerful forces involved in asking a mansplaining-as-a-service bot to magic up some cases. As an excuse it doesn’t always work, but tales of ignorance have, thus far, stayed many a judge’s hand. But when the hallucinations come from a lawyer who once published the article “Artifical Intelligence in the Legal Profession: Ethical Considerations,” there’s not a ton of wiggle room. Goldberg Segalla’s Danielle Malaty, who authored the article about ethics, is now out after taking responsibility for a fake cite in a Chicago Housing Authority filing asking the judge to reconsider a…

Last evening, Catherine Montiel, partner at our personal injury law firm, presented an eye-opening seminar titled “What Your Insurance Company Isn’t Telling You” at the Elwood Public Library in East Northport. The response was overwhelming—registration had to be closed due to the high volume of attendees, making the event one of the library’s most successful seminars to date. Empowering the Community Through Education During the seminar, Catherine delivered practical, easy-to-understand advice on insurance policies and how they impact individuals after an accident. The presentation helped attendees learn: What types of coverage are essential (like underinsured motorist protection) What coverage people may be paying for but don’t actually need Why minimum insurance requirements often fall short after serious accidents How better policy choices can lead to long-term savings As a seasoned personal injury attorney, Catherine…

With mental health incidents rising and support systems stretched thin, school districts are pursuing a legal strategy rooted in public nuisance law.

Were you one of the attorneys barred in Wisconsin losing sleep because pennies on the dollar of your bar dues went to diversifying the profession? Fret no longer! After devoting hours upon hours to this most precious cause, the Wisconsin Institutite for Law and Liberty has come to an agreement with the Wisconsin Bar. ABA Journal has coverage: A final settlement has been reached in a December 2023 lawsuit challenging diversity efforts in State Bar of Wisconsin programs.…The bar previously agreed in April 2024 to redefine “diversity” as it applies to its Diversity Clerkship Program, which offers paid Wisconsin summer internships at private law firms, corporate legal departments and governmental agencies. The new definition says diversity “means including people with differing characteristics, beliefs, experiences, interests and viewpoints.” For what its worth, this definition of diversity would probably still manage to piss off whatever pool…

By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Last week, a federal judge in New York dismissed a lawsuit filed two-and-a-half years ago by then-former President Donald Trump against journalist Bob Woodward and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, over publication of The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump.  Trump v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., Case No. 1:23-cv-06883, 2025 WL 2017888 (S.D.N.Y. July 18, 2025). The lawsuit involves sound recordings of 19 interviews that President Trump voluntarily gave to Woodward between December 2019 and August 2020, plus one interview from 2016 (when Trump was still a candidate). More than eight hours of excerpts from those recorded interviews were published by Simon & Schuster in October 2022 as an audiobook, and transcripts were published in paperback and ebook formats. The Second Amended Complaint sought a declaratory judgment that Trump was a joint author and copyright owner of the recordings, or in the…

Richard M. Re, Harvard Law School, has posted To a Conservative Warren Court, a draft of his Foreword to the HLR issue on the Supreme Court:Ideological conflict has masked an underlying continuity in the American legal system. In recent years, the Supreme Court -- while obviously subject to fierce criticism -- has been doing its part to preserve the rule of law, as distinct from partisan politics. That was true in the Warren Court era and remains true today. --Dan Ernst 

UN humanitarian officials reported Tuesday that United Nations staff in the Gaza Strip have been collapsing from hunger and extreme exhaustion, underscoring the deepening humanitarian crisis. The increasing physical toll on aid workers has intensified global concerns over the survival of the civilian population in the war-torn enclave, where access to food, water, and medical supplies remains critically limited. Juliette Touma, Director of Communications for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), stated that medical personnel, journalists, and humanitarian workers, including UN staff, were fainting while performing their duties, emphasizing that “seeking food has become as deadly as the bombardments.” The severity of the situation in the Gaza Strip is further evidenced by new data published in a statement from the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), which documented over 1,000 Palestinian…

Taylor Garrett, Byron Garrett Shooting Kansas City: Legal Claims for Families? We have over 25 years of experience representing victims of security failures across the United States, and we have recovered nearly $250 million dollars for our Clients.  Read Our Legal Take below to find out what legal options are available to the families of Taylor Garrett and Byron Garrett. Jordan Spencer Killed in Memphis, TN Convenience Store Shooting. (Stock Photo: MurrayLegal.com) Kansas City, MO – Gunfire rang out at a convenience store Sunday afternoon, July 20, 2025, leaving two men dead. As reported by Fox4KC.com, “[o]fficers were called to a convenience store at the intersection of Truman Ave. and Brooklyn St. around 1:15 p.m., according to reports. Inside the store, they found two unresponsive adult men suffering from gunshot wounds.” According to the report, “[t]hose officers then began to render aid to the victims until EMS could respond. However,…

Keyunte Lewis Shooting Dallas: Legal Claim for Family? We have over 25 years of experience representing victims of security failures across the United States, and we have recovered nearly $250 million dollars for our Clients.  Read Our Legal Take below to find out what legal options are available to the family of Keyunte Lewis. Keyunte Lewis Shot, Killed at Apartment Complex on Bahama Drive in Dallas, TX. (Fox4News.com) Dallas, TX NEWS – Gunfire rang out at an apartment complex Monday morning, July 21, 2025, leaving one man dead. As reported by Fox4News.com, “Dallas police said the shooting happened around 8:20 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Bahama Drive in West Oak Cliff.” MyTexasDaily.com is reporting, “[o]fficers responded to the scene around 8:10 a.m. and discovered Keyunte Lewis with gunshot wounds. Dallas Fire-Rescue transported Lewis to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.” The investigation is…

Developing Anti-‘Debanking’ Trend in Red States? A new front appears to have opened in the ongoing battle over environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. In March Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed the Transparency in Financial Services Act ( SB 1027 ), prohibiting financial institutions with over $100 billion in assets from denying services for ideological reasons, a practice known as “debanking.” Florida and Tennessee have enacted similar measures. All three laws are based on model legislation drafted by the conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom. The model bill has been introduced in 17 states since last year. ( PLURIBUS NEWS , ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM , LEXISNEXIS STATE NET) CA Issues First Fine Under Crypto Law California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation fined Coinme, a national cryptocurrency ATM operator based in Seattle, $300,000 for regulatory violations. The fine was the first issued under the…

Justice for Family? Cecil Barrera Accident.  We have over 25 years of experience representing victims of motor vehicle accident across the United States, and we have recovered nearly $250 million dollars for our Clients.  Read Our Legal Take below to find out what legal options are available to the family of Cecil Barrera. Cecil Barrera Motor Vehicle Accident on I-40 in Albuquerque, NM. (Stock Photo: MurrayLegal.com) Albuquerque, NM –A motor vehicle accident involving two vehicles and a semi-truck Sunday morning, July 20, 2025, tragically claimed the life of one man. As reported by KRQE.com, “[j]ust before 8:00 a.m. Sunday, Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR) responded to a call of a commercial vehicle fire on westbound I-40 by Rio Grande. When firefighters arrived, they say they found a person trapped in a burning car pinned underneath the semi-truck.” KOAT.com is reporting, “[t]he family of Cecil Barrera is mourning after he was killed…

Ronald J. Allen (Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law) & Paul Piazza (Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; Northwestern University, Pritzker School of Law) have posted The Common Law is a Complex Adaptive System on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Traditional accounts of the common law from Blackstone to Dworkin focus on the role of precedent in judicial decision-making, the metaphysical nature of law, and the heroic judge. As important as these perspectives are, they miss the essence of the common law, which is that it is a complex adaptive system with the capacity to process vast amounts of information and broadly impact individuals and society in unexpected ways. Complexity theory—the study of decentralized, yet self-organizing systems and the emergent phenomena they produce—has been applied to study real-world systems as wide-ranging as the immune system, insect colonies, the global economy, and evolving ecosystems. It helps explain how such…

If you’ve been injured in an accident — whether it was a car crash, a fall on unsafe property, or a serious injury caused by someone else’s negligence — you’re probably asking one important question: Is It Worth It To Hire An Injury Lawyer? In a word? Yes. And if you’re in St. Louis, there’s one name you need to know: Sansone & Lauber. We’re aggressive, experienced, and results-driven — and we’ve recovered millions for injured clients throughout Missouri. This blog will show you exactly why hiring a personal injury lawyer could be the smartest move you make after an accident. More than that — it may be your only chance to recover the full compensation you deserve. Table of Contents What Does an Injury Lawyer Actually Do? What Types of Accidents Require Legal Help? The Real Reason Insurance Companies Want You Alone How Much Is Your Injury Case Really Worth? What If It Was a “Minor”…

[The Brennan Center for Justice has announced the virtual event, The Rise of the Imperial Presidency, to take place on August 5, from 3–4 p.m. ET.  DRE]The executive branch has amassed tremendous power, challenging the constitutional balance among branches of government. This year alone, the president has ignored the laws passed by Congress to fire leaders of independent agencies without cause, freeze the spending of appropriated funds, and deploy the military as a domestic police force.Supporters of vast presidential power have a name for this: the unitary executive. It’s the idea that the Constitution gives the president full personal control over the executive branch and wide latitude to act unilaterally. While legal scholars debate its scope, the theory in its most expansive form envisions a king-like president largely unconstrained by Congress or the courts. An embrace of this theory by the executive branch and Supreme Court could carry far-reaching…

Swimming pool injuries can cause serious harm and often involve complex legal issues. When accidents happen in Missouri, injured parties may need a specialized pool injury lawyer to help navigate the laws and hold the responsible party accountable. A pool injury lawyer in Missouri works to secure compensation for those hurt due to pool owners’ negligence or unsafe conditions. Missouri laws require pool owners to take proper safety measures to prevent accidents. However, many injuries stem from inadequate supervision, lack of barriers, or unsafe maintenance. Understanding who is liable and how to prove fault is crucial in these cases, which is why legal guidance is essential. A knowledgeable Missouri pool injury lawyer can assist with filing claims and gathering evidence to support victims’ rights. They also help explain the rights of injured individuals and the responsibilities of pool owners under Missouri law. Key Takeaways Pool injury lawyers help victims get…