Ramsey County Law Library Blog

U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska has shut down his witty and popular Hercules and the Umpire blog, according to the National Law Journal (NLJ). Apparently Koph’s blog had became an “embarrassment” to the Court, and sometimes hinted of being a political soapbox of sorts (which federal judges are required to abstain from). Subscribers to the NLJ can read about his now-inactive blog, and also his interview with NLJ. Remember that that Judge Kopf was the sentencing judge in the Shon Hopwood case, and that he followed Hopwood’s inspiring career development on his blog. Nonetheless, Judge Koph’s blog has been called out as perhaps a blog that pushes too close to the boundaries of what is appropriate for a federal judge.

Here in Minnesota, Anoka County District Judge Pendleton has become a blogging legend in his own right, for his blog is the platform of his excellent and informative Pendleton Updates. Minnesota Lawyer put the spotlight Judge Pendleton’s blog in its August 17 issue. Also check out Wright County District Judge Stephen Halsey’s  Jurors Behaving Badly blog which addresses “the very small percentage of jurors who fail to follow the judge’s instructions,” plus his Minnesota Family Law Issues blog. Also, Hennepin County District Judge Kevin Burk is the author of the American Judges Association blog.

So, you can see that some judge blogs are about providing concrete information, whereas others lean more toward reflective musings and conversation-starters. If you are bringing a case before a known blogger judge, it certainly cannot hurt to check out their blog.  Do you have a favorite judge blog?  Please share it with us!

Its elegant first impression in navy blue seems as timeless as your favorite suit. For faithful users of a classic legal tool, this is your last summer. I speak of Westlaw Classic, which will be discontinued as of August 31. Classic has remained surprisingly popular among regular users of the Law Library. It’s no surprise that some folks are pretty unhappy with its discontinuation.

The Law Library has long offered users free access to both Westlaw Classic and Westlaw Next, and we are happy to offer assistance to users unfamiliar with the latter. West also offers this special transition page to assist those making the switch.  This comparison chart of the two might also make the process easier.  (Hint: Select “Advanced Search” on the homepage of Westlaw Next to get to the terms and connectors interface.)

AALL Spectrum did an interesting feature on Westlaw Classic and its history last December. Read it and file the memory of old Westlaw alongside that of other old technologies like rotary phones, pagers, and mimeographs. (Note: You can still use the fax machine at the Law Library.)

Mental Health Awareness Month isn’t just about those who might accidentally land in the criminal justice system. It is also a time to consider the mental health of lawyers. For those legal practitioners seeking to grow their own professional happiness and satisfaction, it turns out that money and prestige aren’t on the list of essential ingredients. A New York Times article recently showcased a Yale Law School study which revealed that it was those lawyers making the least money that scored highest on a happiness survey. These included most notably public defenders and Legal Aid attorneys. The findings of this study were similarly echoed in a Minnesota Lawyer blog.

Lawyers don’t necessarily score high points for happiness compared to other professions, given their high incidence of suicide and alcohol abuse. This negative mental state might also be built into the occupation itself, as lawyers must always be aware of that half-empty glass in the form of possible worst-case-scenarios. Our legal system is adversarial by nature where one party’s win must mean another’s loss. Also, a Westlaw search of lawyer disciplinary cases before the Minnesota Supreme Court reveals that clinical depression is often packed in the baggage of the disciplinee. (In case you’re wondering, Minnesota case law allows psychological afflictions to be a mitigating factor in disciplinary proceedings. See In re Wayhrich, 339 N.W. 2d 274 (1983)).  This lawyer predelection against happiness also appears to start early.  The Yale study concluded that 70 percent of the law school students were affected by mental health issues.  Additionally, this article from the Journal of Legal Education showcased a different study that revealed increasing levels of depression among law students as they progressed toward graduation. Basically, only eight percent of students showing signs of clinical depression upon entry, but 32 percent did by the end of first year, and 40 percent by graduation. (Here’s another provocative theory: The growing student debt load that students accumulate during law school might leave them increasingly susceptible to depression, especially as they face an iffy job market.)

If your mental state has deteriorated to the point that your work quality could be affected, see about getting some help through an organization like Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.  Are you a law firm associate on the fast track to partnership hoping that true happiness will finally enter your life when you make partner?  An author of the Yale study believes that this likely won’t prove true. His conclusion from the findings is that prestigious firm jobs simply do not provide the “feelings of competence, autonomy or connection to others—three pillars of self-determination” that public service-oriented jobs do. But you don’t have to leave the firm partner track to take advantage of these happiness factors. For an afternoon of public service, consider volunteering for our Housing and Conciliation Court clinic. Our volunteer lawyers find that the offering answers and advice to our community’s residents who need it most to be an immediately rewarding and satisfying experience.

Last week fans of Better Call Saul got to watch hero/villian Jimmy McGill essentially demonstrate the legal principle that there is no privacy expectation protected under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when it comes to your curbside garbage. In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court held in California v. Greenwood that the Constitution does not prohibit warrantless search of curbside garbage left for collection. (486 U.S. 35). Coincidentally, the Minnesota Supreme Court recently put the whole garbage-as-discoverable-evidence doctrine under the microscope of the Minnesota Constitution in the case of State v. McMurray (A12-2266).

The facts of McMurray basically involved police seizure of contents left by McMurray in opaque plastic garbage bags on his curbside for trash collection. Murray’s attorneys argued that the warrantless search of his garbage was an impermissible search and seizure under Article 1 Section 10 of the Minnesota Constitution, which they argued protects beyond the U.S. Constitution standard. The Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that since this provision of the Minnesota Constitution reads the same as the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, it doesn’t afford any more privacy. Thus, police officers in Minnesota didn’t need a search warrant to sift through McMurray’s trash, since there is no expectation of privacy once garbage is placed outside for collection, just like in Greenwood. In a provocative dissent, Justice Lillehaug wrote that the nature of trash has changed since Greenwood, as has the scientific means of analyzing it for information. The majority, however, concluded that “Minnesotans are well aware of potential threats to their privacy and security and have prudently altered their conduct in response.”

So now Minnesotans, be aware that our Supreme Court believes that you can prudently manage your own garbage and its secure disposal. Garbage management and disposal, however, is a far trickier proposition in the professional legal context than it is for common households. Are you an attorney anticipating a big “clean out” of your office in the near future? Do yourself a favor and adopt a formal document destruction policy for your practice if you don’t already have one. Second, give a moment’s thought to what you plan to do with that recycling bin that you plan fill when carrying out your office purge. Assuming that the documents or other materials in the bin can be legally and ethically destroyed (a subject beyond the scope of this blog), do you know the proper and secure means of doing so? As for your clients, they should also know which materials should be kept, destroyed, or turned over to you, plus the secure means to carry out each option.  (Obviously, all of these questions should be asked not only of the hardcopy documents and objects at hand, but also of electronic information.)

Before your (or your client’s) private information comes into the wrong hands (i.e.  identity thieves, stalkers, or enterprising Jimmy McGill-esque snoops), consider reading some of these resources available at the law library:

• Frans, Myron L., and Christopher J. Kopka, “Records Management and Retention Policies for Law Firms,” Bench & Bar of Minnesota  (April 1998): 28-34. (This article provides a practical overview on your ethical obligations from a Minnesota standpoint.)
• Kent A. Gernander, Client Relations Formbook (2014 2nd Ed.). (See Chapter VI – File Retention and Destruction)
• Robert L. Haig, Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel (2010). (See Chapter 29 – Management of Corporate Documents.)