Why Distracted Driving is Dangerous

Thanks to the National Safety Council for this great mythbusting graphic:

On Spring Break, protect your kids from the sun

Spring Break is almost upon us here in Arkadelphia. Many of you (not me, sadly) will be headed to the beach or the mountains next week. Whichever is your destination, remember to use sunscreen! The worst sunburn I ever got was on the underside of my nose while on a Presbyterian church ski trip to Winter Park.

The FDA recommends keeping kids under 6 months old out of the sun completely. Use a beach umbrella and a hat for your baby.

For older folks, the FDA recommends that you pick a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen that has an SPF of 15 or higher, and reapply after swimming, sweating, or toweling off. The agency also recommends good-quality sunglasses.

Remember that you can still get sunburned when it’s cloudy, and the most intense rays are between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Have lots of fun this week, and be safe!

Hilary, Nathan, and oral argument – It's not what you think

Ordinarily, the mention of husband and wife in the same sentence as the term "oral argument" isn't a good thing. However, Hilary and Nathan recently showed there is an exception to this rule!

Nathan argued a big truck collision case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on January 16 in St. Louis. In this case, the Chaney Law Firm is defending a jury verdict it won for a client in federal district court in Hot Springs in January 2012. One issue on appeal dealt with the routine use of medical visual aids based upon digitized x-rays and proton density MRIs. The other main issue on appeal was a procedural question concerning two professional defense witnesses that were excluded; the defense tried to call these new experts at the last minute because its original expert's theory of degeneration did not hold up under cross-examination. You can listen to Nathan's argument here.

Hilary argued a social security disability case before the Eighth Circuit on February 14 in Kansas City. Hilary's case involved issues of whether the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) gave the proper amount of weight to all the medical evidence. Hilary argued that the ALJ erred by only considering just five pages of medical records from just one doctor who said he didn't have enough information to fill out the disability paperwork, when hundreds of other pages of records from four other doctors showed our firm's client is truly disabled. Even the one doctor the ALJ relied upon prescribed narcotics on at least 13 different occasions, yet the ALJ found our client's pain was not severe enough to preclude work. This case truly shows why many people need legal representation when dealing with the Social Security Administration. You can listen to Hilary's argument here.

It is truly a high honor and great privilege to argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Below are pictures from the courtrooms in St. Louis and Kansas City. Which has the better view?

Nathan speaks to Arkadelphia High School business class

I was invited by Principal David Maxwell and instructor David Gustaveson to speak to several business classes at Arkadelphia High School this morning on the subject of intellectual property. 

I told the students a plastic Coke bottle represents 5 types of intellectual property and asked for their help in naming each one. We walked through (1) the design patent for the shape of the bottle, (2) the utility patent for the tamper-resistant top, (3) the trade secret on the Coke formula, (4) the trademark for Coca-Cola® and Coke®, and (5) the copyright for the label.

The discussion turned to the laws for intellectual property. We discussed the constitutional basis for each type of intellectual property and some basic tensions between protecting intellectual property rights and encouraging free sharing of ideas. iPhone vs. Android helped illustrate some of these principles, and the students were divided in their loyalties to their cell phones.

I appreciate the students being attentive and interactive. Thanks to Mr. G and Principal Maxwell for inviting me out! And, thanks to Paul Sivils for giving me a tour. AHS has changed quite a bit since I was a student!

UPDATE: We've added a page on the site that includes an explanation of how a Coke bottle represents five different types of intellectual property. Check it out here.

Constitutional tampering

An Arkansas legislator introduced SJR6 this week, which is bad news for ordinary Arkansans. Why? It tampers with the Arkansas Constitution. It seeks to change the system of checks and balances of our state government. We ask that you contact your local legislators and ask them to vote against SJR6. Click here to find your legislators’ contact information.

Every civics class in every high school teaches that there are three branches of government: executive (the governor), legislative (the General Assembly), and the judicial (the court system). Traditionally in our country, the courts have the power to pass their own rules regarding how the court system works. These rules include how a judge rules on particular kinds evidence, how to process a case through the court system, how to appeal cases, and how to regulate the conduct of lawyers and judges.

The courts don’t pass laws, they merely enforce the ones passed by the Legislature. Occasionally, the General Assembly passes laws that try to tell the court system how to do its job, and the courts declare those laws unconstitutional. Some newcomers to the Legislature are upset that a group of laws passed in 2003 have been declared unconstitutional because they tried to tell the court system how to do its job. This resolution is the result.

One of the primary purposes of the court system is to make sure the law is applied consistently, year after year. This resolution would make the law much more inconsistent because the rules of the court system would likely change every two years. We have tens of thousands of laws and hundreds of court rules, so it is already hard enough for ordinary citizens to know what the law is. When rules change constantly, courts can’t consistently apply the law, and most folks won’t be aware of harmful changes.

This resolution is not constitutionally conservative, and we oppose it. But don’t take our word for it. The Arkansas Bar Association voted to oppose the resolution, and it is made up of all types of lawyers on all sides of the aisle: judges, prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers, and civil plaintiff and defense attorneys. 

Bottom line: this resolution is bad for ordinary Arkansans. We need your help in opposing it. Please contact your legislators today, and ask your friends and families to do the same.