Posts

#polarvortex, Climate Change, and My Course on Environmental Dispute Resolution

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Understanding and Solving Complex Environmental Issues This Cold Morning Schools and offices closed as the temperatures dipped to lows not seen in decades. Experts explained what was happening here and here .  A deep dip in the jet stream allowed the frigid cold and winds of the North Pole to descend far south.   This morning, my little micro-climate in the central Appalachian Mountains registered a temperature of nearly six degrees below zero.  My home town of St. Louis, inundated with a large snow fall and even colder temperatures, is reportedly "closed" today.  The entire city. As I write this post, I am bundled in a fleece robe, long underwear, yoga pants, a hat, and my pink, fluffy, finger-less gloves.  I've got a lap blanket wrapped around my legs and mid-section, but I'm about to crawl inside my down sleeping bag so I can continue to work at the computer comfortably. Boo Boo, my littlest dog, is wearing two layers of dog clothes and has cur

Distinguished Alumni: Magistrate Nicole Lawson

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Distinguished Alumni  of the  Appalachian School of Law: Magistrate Nicole Lawson Legal Career Nicole A. Lawson is another ASL graduate serving as a Magistrate for the Supreme Court of Virginia, along with Elisabeth Griffith and Zack Stoots .    She works in the Norfolk Magistrate's Office. (Lis Griffith, fellow ASL alum works in the same office.)    Lawson and her husband, Robert Wnukowski, moved from Stafford, Virginia to Virginia Beach, Virginia the week after they returned from their honeymoon in August 2012.   She was hired the following month as a Magistrate.  After the two-month certification school process, she began holding bond hearings and issuing arrest warrants, search warrants, temporary detention orders for mental health crises, and emergency protective orders. Robert works as an 8th grade Civics and Economics teacher at Kempsville Middle School located in Virginia Beach.    The  Magistrate Manual  describes the position this way

Three Questions to Keep You Motivated

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Creating  Your Own  Future Chris Brogan, one of the bloggers I follow who gives advice to entrepreneurs, offered this advice in his E-zine today: I’m asking myself a bunch of recurring questions every single morning, and all throughout the day: * What’s my vision of myself and my business and how will I make that real today? * If I say I am ____ (this kind of person), then what does that look like in action DAILY? * What can I do to change reality towards what I want it to be? What, specifically, can I change to make the world come closer to matching my vision? These are huge questions, but they are business questions, they are life questions, they are the questions of an owner. They are not “how do I get the boss to notice me” questions. They are “how do I get the UNIVERSE to do what I want it to do” questions. * * * Your year is made up of days, and those days must be treated like your only hopes and chances exist within them. So, I will quit watching e

A Deeper Look at the "Law School Crisis"

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Professor Brian Leiter  Takes on the Scambloggers Professor Brian Leiter, a well-known blogger , is now writing for the Huffington Post . In American Law Schools: The New Reality , he describes the many factors that have contributed to the down turn in applicants to law school including: Competition among law school for US News rankings, which forced them to compete based on expensive services instead of affordable tuition; Rising student debt; Poorer employment outcomes for graduates in a recessionary economy; Congressional overhaul of bankruptcy laws as they relate to student loans; and Lax oversight by the ABA regulators. I've blogged about all these topics this past year.  And, it is nice to have this summary for easy reference. In his second article, American Law Schools and the Psychology of Cyber-Hysteria , Professor Leiter looks at the "toxic" environment law schools face while trying to respond to the market downturn in responsible

ASL Distinguished Alumni Profiled in 2013

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Distinguished Alumni  of the  Appalachian School of Law  Profiled in 2013 We have plenty to brag about!  I am very impressed by how quickly our graduates assume senior positions with great responsibility.  Our alumni show a strong dedication to public and community service, just as we intended when the founders created the Appalachian School of Law with a focus on ADR, professional ethics, leadership, and community service.  Beginning in October 2013, I profiled fifteen alumni of ASL who serve in public service jobs.  I want to capture those profiles in one place before moving into 2014.   So, below you will find the alumni I profiled in 2013, with links to each profile.  I am listing them in the order profiled, and I include the year they graduated from ASL.   Captain Artie Vaughn , Area Defense Counsel, Judge Advocates General Corp (2007). M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen , Assistant U.S. Attorney (2003). Justin J. Marcum , W. Va. House of Delegates (2011).

25,000 Page Views for The Red Velvet Lawyer

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25,000  Page Views Friends, family, and colleagues: Another milestone reached! 25,000 page views! My blogging experience started in March 2013. Like everything, success relates directly to the attention and energy invested in the project. As I blogged more frequently, built my relationship with other bloggers, got more posts shared by my FB friends, and continued to create content I hoped you would like, page views grew exponentially, slowing a bit over the holiday season. Here is a summary of my experience: 5,000 page views on August 2013. 10,000 page views on November 7, 2013. 15,000 page views on November 27, 2013. 20,000 page views on December 9, 2013. 25,000 page views on January 1, 2014.    Obviously, I am a very long way from getting the million hits a day that top bloggers see (and don't expect that kind of attention), but I am very grateful for this opportunity for growth, connection, voice, and influence. Thanks for supporting The Red Velv

Spotlight on Top Blog Postings for 2013

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Most Popular Posts in 2013 Several of the blogs I follow have provided year-end-round ups of their most popular blog postings.  I am providing links to them here, so we can access them long after they disappear off my blog roll. Many of these blogs made the ABA Top Blawggers list this year. Above the Law: Top Ten Most Popular Posts Brian Leiter's Law School Reports: Signs of the Times, 2013 in Review Dewey B Strategic: 2013 Review Real Lawyers Have Blogs: Top Posts for 2013 Robert Ambrogi's LawSites: Most Popular Posts of 2013 Buffer Blog: The 10 Most Popular Social Media Marketing Guides The Droid Lawyer: My Top Posts in 2013