Marriage and the Transgendered Person
May 31, 2005
Recently, the Associated Press reported the story of a New Hampshire couple with an unusual problem. After being married for a few years, the husband, with his wife's assent, underwent a sex-change operation. The husband, a naturalized U.S. citizen with a foreign birth certificate, is now seeking to have the name on that birth certificate changed from Michael to Mikayla, something the federal government is not necessarily going to allow. But what does this sex change mean for the couple's marriage, which produced one biological child before the operation? Under New Hampshire law, same-sex couples may not marry, and New Hampshire's Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the state from recognizing even same-sex marriages solemnized outside the state. As a man and a woman at the time of their marriage, they were certainly legally wed, but are they still married under the laws of a state that has outlawed same-sex marriage? Can they choose to remain married? And could they get a divorce if they wanted one?
Federalism and Same-Sex Marriage
May 31, 2005
What is the meaning of "federalism" in the context of the same-sex marriage debate? Is it a set of consistent principles, or merely a strategic device capable of being used as both sword and shield by both sides? What limitations might federalism impose on the interpretation and construction of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the state "mini-DOMAs," the proposed Marriage Protection Amendment, and the multiple state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage? Is it conceivable for the same-sex marriage issue ultimately to be resolved without a national solution? These are some of the questions that distinguished panelists discussed at a recent symposium, "Breaking with Tradition: New Frontiers for Same-Sex Marriage," sponsored by Yale Law School. Robert Post of Yale Law School was the moderator of the panel discussions.
Oregon Marriage Decision Has Impact on Employers
May 31, 2005
On April 14, 2005, the Oregon Supreme Court held in <i>Li and Kennedy v. Oregon</i> that the roughly 3000 marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples by Multnomah County are not valid. The Supreme Court's decision may change the obligations and opportunities for employers, depending on the nature of the employer and the decisions the employer has previously made regarding whether or not to treat certain partners of employees as if they were spouses.
Adoption and Foster Care Remain National Hot-Button Issues
May 31, 2005
Emboldened by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in January not to hear a case about the constitutionality of Florida's ban on adoptions by homosexuals, activists in several states are pushing bills to restrict the ability of homosexuals and/or same-sex couples to be adoptive or foster parents. Bills have been introduced in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia in the last few months.
New Frontiers for Baker Donelson's KM
May 31, 2005
So much has been written about knowledge management in the past 10 years and so many products purporting to enable knowledge management have been pushed on the legal community, that I am not sure that the term is relevant anymore. However, I have always thought some of the main tenets of KM make a lot of sense.<br>An exciting project that we are rolling out at Baker Donelson starting this month conforms to those main tenets of KM.
Legal Acrobatics A Review of Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0
May 31, 2005
If you haven't already seen a couple reviews of Acrobat 7.0, you must not be reading much legal tech trade literature! I've caught at least half a dozen already. Adobe Systems has accompanied the release of their latest version with quite a media blitz, at least in the legal sector. And for good reason. The Acrobat product family encompasses a host of features highly useful for legal professionals.
Product Review Using Ringtail CaseBook to Manage Complex Litigation
May 31, 2005
Bryan Cave LLP is an 800-lawyer firm with litigators in eight U.S. cities and London. In 2002, the firm asked me to evaluate our litigation technology and litigation support services. For better or worse, we had neither budget nor staff during the first 9 months. While we could not affect any immediate change, this was the ideal opportunity to do a needs assessment, survey the available technology, evaluate the trends in the market, and ultimately plan and budget for implementation.
Practice Tip: What You Need to Know About Fighting Spyware and Adware
May 31, 2005
While obvious security threats like fast-spreading worms have a tendency to garner news headlines, other stealthy security risks threaten law firms and other businesses every day. An increasing amount of spyware and adware programs have the ability to facilitate the disclosure of business information and risk privacy, confidentiality, integrity, and system availability. Law firms ' like other corporations ' usually accumulate a vault of information that could cause serious problems if it were shared with the wrong contacts or, even worse, stolen. Spyware's evolution from simple cookies to a range of sophisticated user-tracking systems has left many businesses without the control over their proprietary data and <br>A recent survey by IT industry analysts IDC identified spyware as the fourth greatest threat to enterprise security.
Clause & Effect
May 27, 2005
Record Distribution/Promissory Estoppel <br>Record Production Deals/Breach of Contract
Courthouse Steps
May 27, 2005
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
