Minor blog formatting adjustments and new tools...

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SquareSpace rolled out some new features, one of which you will find in the right sidebar.  SquareSpace now stores Twitter posts on its own servers to speed load times.  The widget is also interactive, allowing you to navigate back through older Twitter posts.

While I was at it, I slightly expanded the width of the content area and then increased the font size for posts to improve readability.  If these sorts of things matter to you, feel free to leave a comment.

Blogs of Note: The Pop Tort

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It's been a while since I noted an update to the "Blawgs" of Note, but I've been meaning to get back to recommending some quality reading from around the "Blawgosphere" (ack - that's a painful pseudo-word).  Today's recommended reading is The Pop Tort, brought to you by the Center for Justice & Democracy.  If you are big business, you probably think that the Center for Justice & Democracy is another cover group for "greedy" trial lawyers.  If you are a consumer attorney (or a consumer), you probably think that the Center for Justice & Democracy is that thin line between unchecked corporate tyranny and hapless, helpless individuals that would have tire tracks up their back but for the voice of stalwarts like CJ&D.  Regardless of your perspective, The Pop Tort is good reading.

You can follow The Pop Tort (@ThePopTort) on Twitter or become their fan on Facebook.  Personally, I have grave misgivings about Facebook, but it's hard to resist the FaceBorg, with its hundreds of millions of assimilated drones.

Other coverage of Coito v. Superior Court

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Coito v. Superior Court (March 4, 2010) is apparently generating a fair bit of interest, based upon the search engine traffic viewing this blog's post about this new opinion.  Other articles that may be of interest include: 

More commentary will likely follow; this decision seems to have hit a nerve.

 

Congratulations to The UCL Practitioner...

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on the occasion of announcing the formation of her own firm.  Kimberly Kralowec, author of The UCL Practitioner, has announced the The Kralowec Law Group.  I wish Kim the best of luck; she was an inspiration to my own blogging efforts.  I hope that four years from now I will be able to say, "I have every intention of continuing to write this blog as I have done for the past six years."

The beauty of SquareSpace...

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is that it allows for quite a bit of tinkering with site layout on the fly.  See, SquareSpace for some examples of how far you can go with their hosting platform.  This is both good and bad.  The good part is self-evident.  The bad part is that you can lose hours and hours of time creating graphics and adjusting layouts without realizing it.  So don't mind my tinkering with the layout; once I got started, I had to keep going until I was marginally satisfied with it.  I was bored, and I may tinker more.  So don't be surprised if the blog looks a little different every day.

Speaking of adjustments, the page-width header and "floating" banner required very precise pixel registration of some graphics.  Interestingly, chrome rendered part of the header 1 pixel off from how both Internet Explorer and Firefox render the same images.  I suspect that there is difference in how the browsers handle a rounding issue.  Regardless, everything now aligns in Chrome, Firefox 3.6, and Internet Explorer 8.  I can't help the rest of you.

Those defense lawyers are fighting back: new Class Action Countermeasures blog offer tips on defending against class actions!

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Andrew J. Trask, of McGuire Woods, is authoring a new blog, entitled Class Action Countermeasures.  Looks like there is some interesting information of interest to both sides of the class action bar.   Looks like there is some grammatical grammar in my grammar, grammatically speaking.

Follow @classstrategist on twitter.

Via ClassActionBlawg.com

Multi-Blog Post and Message to Plaintiffs' attorneys: Join CAOC!

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George Washington once said:

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

Letter of Instructions to the Captains of the Virginia Regiments [July 29, 1759]. The advocates of consumer rights, viewing the resources of defense firms and corporate defendants, can relate to the trepidation felt by the out-numbered and out-gunned Continental Army. Because of that disparity in resources, Consumer Attorneys of California ("CAOC") consolidates the voices of consumer attorneys throughout the state to (1) preserve and protect the constitutional right to trial by jury for all consumers, (2) champion the cause of those who deserve redress for injury to person or property, (3) encourage and promote changes to California law by legislative, initiative or court action, (4) oppose injustice in existing or contemplated legislation, (5) correct harsh, unjust and oppressive legislation or judicial decisions, (6) advance the common law and promote the public good through the civil justice system and concerted efforts to secure safe products, a safe workplace, a clean environment, and quality health care, (7) uphold the honor, integrity and dignity of the legal profession by encouraging mutual support and cooperation among members, (8) promote the highest standards of professional conduct, and (9) inspire excellence in advocacy. This post is a multi-blog effort to inform consumer attorneys about CAOC's value and encourage participation in CAOC through membership.

CAOC works tirelessly to protect or advance those causes of import to consumers and their attorneys in California. Often those efforts, though valuable, receive little fanfare. For example, CAOC recently sponsored SB 510, which affects the re-sale of what are known as "structured settlements," in which victims receive financial compensation over a period of time for medical expenses and basic living needs, as determined by a jury. Before SB 510 was signed by the Governor, Courts expressed frustration at their inability to prevent the sale of structured settlements on terms that might ultimately lead to long-term financial hardship for the victim. Now, SB 510 gives judges the information they need to make a reasoned decision about the propriety of a structured settlement sale.

Measures like CAOC-sponsored SB 510 help protect the most vulnerable members of our society and ask for nothing in return. They exemplify the spirit of CAOC. However, CAOC is only as effective in its mission as its membership allows it to be. When consumer attorneys join the ranks of CAOC, its voice gains in power and clarity. But if consumer advocates sit on the sidelines, hoping to benefit from the work of others, CAOC is stretched thin, and we are all at risk as a result.

Now, consumer advocate bloggers from across the state are combining their voices to call upon each and every lawyer and firm that regularly represents plaintiffs to join CAOC, thereby strengthening the consumer's first line of defense. The blogs participating in this unified call to action are:

Show your support of consumers' rights by joining and supporting CAOC. Together we can make an impact that we cannot make alone.

Apple gets off its proverbial and finally releases SquareSpace iPhone application

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Back on September 11, 2009, I announced the long-anticpated release of an iPhone application for SquareSpace in a blog post that must have excited almost no reader of this blog.  Unfortunately, what Apple did was inadvertently release and then pull a beta version.  It had the final version, but Apple sat on its...hands and didn't fix its own mistake.

For that person in the back who was excited, I want you to know that your wait is over.  Today Apple finally got around to releasing the final version of the Application.