A Pot-Pouri of News Stories

Since I flew in only an hour back I haven’t had time to catch up on my reading, but five items on the feeds caught my eye:

FindLaw announces current court opinions and case summaries available through RSS feeds. The summaries are written by legal editors, tagged by jurisdiction and law topic, and then fed into an RSS (really simple syndication) feed that automatically sends updates to subscribers. FindLaw uses the SmartFeed technology from FeedBurner (www.feedburner.com). SmartFeed is compatible with every feed reader—even mobile platforms. It enables users to aggregate their customized FindLaw feeds in one place. To view all the FindLaw RSS feeds, including the new Case Summary RSS feeds now available.

THE FUTURIST Magazine Releases Top Ten Forecasts, number five of which states:

5. There may not be world law in the foreseeable future, but the world’s legal systems will be networked. The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), a database of local and national laws for more than 50 participating countries, will grow to include more than 100 counties by 2010. The database will lay the groundwork for a more universal understanding of the diversity of laws between nations and will create new opportunities for peace and international partnership. -Joseph N. Pelton, “Toward a Global Rule of Law: A Practical Step Toward World Peace,” Nov-Dec 2007, p. 25

Barristers should be tested for skills, says Australian ex-judge. Hampel J, said that judges “were constantly reporting cases of barristers showing insufficient preparation, legal research, knowledge of basic case law, legislation and advocacy skills”.

Bob Ambrogi’s list of Ten Legal Podcasts you can’t do without

Steve Sanders nice riff on how the American originalists who oppose the use of foreign law still cite Blackstone.