Reidinger and Osteen Clear Senate Judiciary Committee

Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to forward the U.S. District Court nominations of Martin Reidinger (Western District) and William Osteen Jr. (Middle District) to the full Senate.

Thomas Farr (Eastern District) and Thomas Schroeder (Middle District) await confirmation hearings.

Commentary on Lawyer Advertising

Sam Johnson writes to the Greensboro Law Blog:

I have just been through the recent issue of The Jurist, from Wake Forest Law School, and was disappointed to see page after page of the names of lawyers, many of them from Greensboro and the Triad, indulging in the self-advertising which is so obvious in their saying they each have been selected to be included in Super Lawyers or Elite Lawyers or something similar. Everyone should know that the “selection” is a matter of subscribing to the publication, and has virtually nothing to do with the abilities or skills of the lawyers themselves. This is a disservice to the profession and the public. It is simply more of the self-promotion that has ruined us as a profession, and I wish some movement could be initiated to put a stop to it. I was taught at Wake Forest that this sort of thing is clearly unethical, and yet it has become the norm. It is a pathetic way to “market” oneself in a supposedly dignified profession, which has lowered itself to being just another competing business.

Lawyers seek ways to relieve job stress

The News & Record has this article about mental illness and the legal profession.

Bossman to begin 20-year sentence

The News & Record reports here that Clarence "Doc" Martin, the former car dealer who became well-known during the '80s through ads claiming, "Nobody walks 'til the Bossman talks!", will begin serving two consecutive 10-year sentences.

In 1991, Martin was convicted and sentenced on two fraud charges and was pleading guilty to other charges. He walked out of the sentencing hearing for lunch, and then disappeared for 16 years, until he was arrested in Arizona in March. He was "returned" to Greensboro in May.

Innocence project still lacking at WFU School of Law

The Winston-Salem Journal reports here that Wake Forest University School of Law is the only one remaining in North Carolina that does not have an innocence project.

According to the article, Campbell University will start an innocence project in the fall, joining Duke University, the University of North Carolina, N.C. Central University, Elon University and the Charlotte School of Law, which opened in August.

Advocates hope that Wake Forest will soon join the other schools.

Judging North Carolina's Judges

The Business Journal reports here that the North Carolina Bar Association (which is now under the leadership of Greensboro's Janet Ward Black) is devising a new pilot program that would evaluate judges' performances. The Bar Association intends to create a system in which people familiar with judges fill out evaluations on their performance.

As the article explains, the program is not without criticism.

Program for aspiring law students seeks to boost minority lawyers

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is hosting The Road to Law School Academy, which is part of a program run by the American Bar Association's Council on Legal Education Opportunities.

The program is intended to help minority college students learn about the law school experience.

You can read more about it here and here.