Changing the course of American history, one hot dog at a time

My favorite thing about the 4th of July is the very unvegetarian Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, which is held every year in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. This year's competition was quite dramatic. At the end of the ten-minute contest, reigning champion and world record holder Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and six-time winner Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi of Japan were tied at 59 hot dogs each. But Chestnut ate himself to victory in the five-dog "eat off" held immediately after the competition. (Story here).

One year--I think it was 2006--one of the television commentators predicted that if Chestnut defeated Kobayashi, it would change the course of American history. I have nothing to add to that comment.

And while I'm on the subject of competitive eating, here's a fascinating article from Slate about competitive eating injuries.

Who Will Save Our Souls?

This summer I am encountering issues that lawyers face day in and day out as they parry with their opponents over discovery and trial prep. Chief among their concerns is e-discovery, especially in light of the recent Qualcomm verdict and our growing culture of technology. But, is the fast moving pace of information causing us to lose that powerful pause, that moment in which our conscience can speak to us, and guide us down "the [road] less traveled by"?

The ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct (2004) include Rule 4.4 "Respect for Rights of Third Persons." Section (b) reads, "A lawyer who receives a document relating to the representation of the lawyer's client and knows or reasonably should know that the document was inadvertently sent shall promptly notify the sender." As might seem obvious, there is no mention in the Rule about not reading the document, which includes email. The Rule only instructs notification of one's opponent. Indeed, the comment to Rule 4.4 says that the lawyer "may" return the document "unread," but that this is "a matter of professional judgment ordinarily reserved to the lawyer."

When I learned of this I was surprised. I can understand beginning to read the email, realizing that it was not for your eyes, immediately closing it, and then holding on to it while the parties and/or judge determine the appropriate response. However, that the ABA would approve going ahead and reading the email, gaining an obvious advantage over your opponent because of what was likely an honest mistake on their part, seems to be official permission to NOT play nice in the sandbox.

What do you think? Has the ABA gone too far? Is the ABA merely recognizing and condoning zealous client advocacy? Are these the kinds of ethics that we want to be the baseline for our profession? Can we do better than this? Who will save our souls?

Simply Amazing

Perhaps the best match I've ever seen. Simply amazing. Nadal: 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7. After a match like that, I almost feel guilty about winning the Great Lunch Wager of 2008. Almost...

And Venus was great yesterday.

A wonderful tournament indeed.

The Great Lunch Wager of 2008

Well, we know an American woman is going to win Wimbledon. That's a positive although generally their matches against each other are dull affairs. Although Serena usually wins the battle of the Williams sisters, I am predicting a Venus victory this time.

More importantly, the RLR bet of the year has come down to the final match. Frankly, I like my chances. Either way, I hope the match is a classic - these two are playing fantastic tennis right now.

Points for That

Study break time for RLR readers who are studying for the bar exam.

Click on this story from the London Times about a British standardized test for English language skills that awards points to students who write expletives in the exam booklet.

"The chief examiner, who is responsible for standards in exams taken by 780,000 candidates and for training for 3,000 examiners, told The Times: “It would be wicked to give it zero, because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for – like conveying some meaning and some spelling. 'It’s better than someone that doesn’t write anything at all. It shows more skills than somebody who leaves the page blank.'"

Proud of Our Own

Congratulations to Michael R. Boland, Jr., a 2007 summa cum laude graduate of Penn State's Dickinson School of Law and Editor-in-Chief of the Penn State Law Review. In the fall of 2008, Michael will begin a one year clerkship with the Honorable D. Brooks Smith in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Michael interned in Judge Smith's chambers as a law student and is currently an associate at Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia.

Michael was preceded by Rachael Goldfarb, a 2006 Penn State Dickinson alum who interned for Judge Smith as a student, clerked for the Federal District Court in Philadelphia, and most recently clerked for Judge Smith in the Third Circuit. Rachael currently works at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as Special Assistant to the President in the Global Health Division.

The most prestigious alum featured in this post is Judge Smith himself, a 1976 Penn State Dickinson alum and recent appointee to the law school's Board of Counselors. President George W. Bush nominated Judge Smith to the Third Circuit in 2001, who received a "well qualified" rating by the ABA and was confirmed by the Senate in 2002. This came on the heels of the Judge serving twelve years in the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania after President Reagan nominated him in 1988.

Judge Smith's career clerk, Dawn Svirkso, is another Penn State Dickinson alum, again from the pre-PSU days. Both the Judge and Dawn are tremendously caring, intelligent, and sincere people who are a credit to this institution and priceless to Third Circuit jurisprudence.

The Virtual Tourist

It is summer in State College, and while I do love this town, there are times when I get itchy feet to get out and do “city” things. One of my favorite things to do in a city is wander through an art gallery and just soak in the presence of the masters (with a foamy cappuccino, of course). When I lived in the Bay Area, the Legion of Honor was my favorite museum to go and percolate in. We here in State College do have some of the world’s best museums within a few hours, but if you want to nip out for just an afternoon, it can be tough. The great thing about the internet age, though, is the virtual collections available on the web are incredible. It can’t compare to standing in the West Ground Gallery of the National Gallery of Art and looking at the Voyage of Life in all of its glory, but virtual visits to some of the most amazing collections in the world certainly gives me a flavor of city-dwelling.

I encountered a wonderful website recently that collects the web addresses of online collections. The website, hosted by Coudal Partners, a Chicago-based advertising firm, is called the Museum of Online Museums. The site links to the virtual collections of museums all over the world, check it out.

If online galleries are just not for you, State College will be swelling with throngs of art-lovers in just nine days. The forty-second annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts kicks off on July 9th.