This week I have the privilege of hosting the Blawg Review for the third time – I also hosted Reviews 133 & 173. For those who are not familiar with the Blawg Review, it is a roving, weekly round up of the prior week’s legal blogs expertly orchestrated by the anonymous Ed. The Reviews are traditionally organized around a theme. For example, Securing Innovation’s theme last week was Indigenous People’s Day. This week’s theme is my virtual day with Lord Stanley’s Cup. For those of you who do not know, the Chicago Blackhawks (my Chicago Blackhawks) won the National Hockey League championship this year. The winner of the NHL playoffs gets the famed Stanley Cup.
“Hockey in August?” you ask. Of course, not many people play hockey in August, even in Original Six towns. My local rink shuts down for the month of August and the Blackhawks are not even back in camp for a few weeks. But one of the many Stanley Cup traditions is that the summer after winning it, the players and key personnel from the winning team each get a day with the Cup. They take it home, eat Cheerios and even buffalo wings out of it, or whatever else they want. I grew up with hockey and have grown into a Blackhawks fan, although I grew up cheering for the winged wheel. Despite my efforts cheering for the Blackhawks, including attending much of the regular season and all but one home playoff game, the Blackhawks have not yet contacted me for my day with the Stanley Cup. I am sure the letter got lost in the mail. So, I am spending today with the Cup and sharing it with the legal blogosphere.
I will start the day with Chicago bloggers, who are presumably as excited about the Cup as me. At his Death & Taxes Blog, Joel Scheonmeyer is basking in the glow of the Cup and trying to get close to Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz to discuss pet trusts for the famous, hockey-loving Wirtz beagles. Brian Leiter questions U.S. News & World Reports’ top law school rankings, but surely not the standings at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs at his Law School Reports. The Chicago Lawyer’s Attorneys in Transition blog looks at writing sample issues for legal job applicants. An issue that many Blackhawks faced (well maybe highlight reels anyway) at the end of the season as the Hawks’ Stan Bowman made the difficult decision to get next year’s team under the dreaded salary cap.
Steven Tanner at the Chicago Family Law Blog asks whether California’s same-sex marriage ruling will impact Illinois (or other states without such a ruling). No doubt as he takes his picture with the Cup he is proud of the Blackhawks for sending defenseman Brent Sopel to Chicago PRIDE Parade with the Cup. At the Becker-Posner Blog, Becker and Posner compare the US and German responses to the recession. No doubt this would help the Wirtz family who faced red ink this year despite a Cup win and a sky-rocketing franchise. Staying on the topic of the economy, Peter Zura looks at the recession’s impact upon patent litigation at his 271 Patent Blog, while waiting his turn to kiss Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Chicago lawyer Evan Brown at Internet Cases looks at copyright preemption issues in the context of a plagiarism database. Brown no doubt is confident that Patrick Kane did not steal his post-game-winning goal celebration from anyone. C-K Faculty Blog looks at an excellent law review article by IP professor David Schwartz regarding the citation of law review articles in judicial opinions.
Leaving Chicago, Stephen Albainy-Jenei of Patent Baristas (go Blue Jackets?) looks at a Federal Circuit decision expanding drugmakers’ protections against generics. Julie Fleming (an Atlanta Thrashers fan?) at the Life at the Bar blog no doubt appreciates the long journey these Blackhawks took to the Cup and the individual goals that propelled them to the peak of their craft as this week she compares legal business development to pioneers hiking the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails and challenges readers to create a list of twenty reasons you want to develop business.
Kevin O’Keefe, at his LexBlog blog questions whether the ABA’s leadership is ignoring their obligation to engage people through social media and is no doubt impressed by the Blackhawks very impressive and forward-thinking use of Twitter. And while Blawg Review is generally not about the host’s analysis, if you want an example of an organization that has nailed using Twitter in both content and tone, check out @nhlblackhawks. At the [Non]billable Hour, Matt Homann (a fan of the dreaded Blues? Although I thank them for Red Berenson) takes social media advertising retro for an older crowd.
Vincent LoTempio stops cheering long for Buffalo’s own Patrick Kane long enough for a very in-depth look at how inventions come about. Remaining in Buffalo, IP.com’s Securing Innovation looks at the first U.S. patent in between conflicting feelings of pride for Kane and disappointment over the state of their Sabres.
Cordell Parvin at his Law Consulting Blog no doubt appreciates Stan Bowman’s salary cap dance during the off-season and how it has kept hockey in the Chicago news when it would traditionally be preempted by baseball, as he suggests lawyers use bills to distinguish themselves with clients. And seeing the Cup is bittersweet for Parvin as goalie Marty Turco left his Dallas Stars this summer to defend Chicago’s goal next year. As for me, I always welcome another Michigan Man to the Blackhawks. Staying in the south, Docket Report takes a comical look at the alleged false patent marking of a very old children’s toy, but he agrees there was nothing false about these Blackhawks and their lightning fast offense.
From the south, we head to Canada, where hockey is religion. Eric Macramalla was too busy reviewing the legalities of the Kovalchuk contract arbitrator’s decision at his Offside: A Sports Law Blog to spend any time admiring the Cup, but I suspect he may not be a Hawks fan. He does, however, offer some in depth analysis of the CBA and the arbitrator’s decision. No doubt, Macramalla agrees that the Hossa contract is fine and that the NHL should not review that contract. At Law21, Jordan Furlong ponders how to kill a law firm.
We dip back into the States to sip from the Cup with David Harlow who looks at the privacy and security of patient records at his HealthBlawg while he wonders if his Bruins can go all the way next year. And our final stop is also in Boston at Ilan Barzilay’s District of Massachusetts IP Blog where he looks at an “IP soap opera” stemming from a jail sentence. He does not have any comments on the Blackhawks free agency soap opera because like Harlow, he is preoccupied with how his Bruins are doing.
Next week’s Blawg Review will be at Law is Cool, a blog focused on Canadian law schools where there are no doubt a few more hockey fans. Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.
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Continue Reading Blawg Review #277: A Virtual Day With Lord Stanley’s Cup