In Walker v. Cromartie, the Supreme Court of Georgia rules that it's not unconstitutional for the state to require professional malpractice plaintiffs (even indigent ones) to file expert declarations with the complaint. . . . . . Elena Kagan stressed her devotion to impartiality. . . . . . A rural judge with a high school education is removed from the bench, and he cites his lack of education for his mistakes. (h/t: ALM) . . . . . Via the Gallagher Blog, here's news of Prof. Maureen Howard's article, Taking the High Road: Why
Prosecutors Should Voluntarily Waive Peremptory Challenges, 23 Geo. J. Legal
Ethics 369 (2010). . . . . . Georgetown, one of the leading law schools in the legal ethics field, has named a new dean, William Treanor. (Disclaimer: I'm a 3rd generation Hoya Lawya.) . . . . . A Democratic state senator in Florida quit his firm after BP hired the firm. . . . . . Plaintiff's counsel caused a mistrial but now objects to the costs and rates of defense counsel. The order detailing the misconduct is here. (h/t: ALM) . . . . . In Schaff v. State, the Court of Appeals of Georgia reversed a disqualification order in a criminal case. Key passage:
Donald Schaff is charged with various crimes related to his alleged molestation of M. S., who is also his minor daughter. We granted his application for interlocutory appeal to review the trial court's order granting the State's motion to disqualify defense counsel, Kevin Gough, whom the court determined would be a necessary witness with regard to a videotaped recant of the victim. For the following reasons, we reverse the disqualification order. Schaff also enumerates as error the trial court's order preventing him from interviewing the victim prior to trial, but we discern no error with regard to that enumeration.