Welcome
The powers that be at the Arkansas Times have graciously allowed me the opportunity to try my hand at contributing to the local blogosphere. The Howlawyer is my attempt to create a site with the purpose of discussing local and national politics, legal issues, legal cases, legislation, public policy, and political philosophy. As the name of this blog suggests, I am a Arkansas lawyer. One of my goals in creating this blog is to encourage educated debates which incorporate the actual text of the issues involved, whether it be proposed legislation, court cases, or links to news articles. Once thing I've learned from working with the courts and the legislature is that words count - words matter - and the text in any proposed bill should be carefully considered for both their intended meaning as well as consideration of unforeseen consequences. When possible, I want to quote bills, statutes, and court cases because many times arguments center on what people think a particular bills states and not the bill or court case itself. To that end, I would always appreciate access to the actual proposal of any issue we might be discussing, especially from those of you who have unlimited access to Westlaw and similar services.
While I am going to write this blog under my pen name - this will not be an anonymous blog and I'm not trying to hide who I am. I love the Internet and I love the free-for-all discussions that have been fostered and encouraged by the staff here at the Arkansas Times. To me, the Arkansas Blog is pure, undiluted Democracy with a capital D - freedom of speech in the truest sense. Anonymous blogs are healthy for our state and our country for countless number of reasons. Anonymous blogs represent freedom - because freedom also means freedom to say incendiary comments - to write passionately about issues with no fear of retribution - and to test our thoughts and opinions in the marketplace of ideas. We know that not everything written here is true - nor should it have to be. That being said - I hope to give my voice as much value as possible in this virtual marketplace. I want the facts that I present to be verifiable and when I'm wrong - I want to know why I'm wrong. There will always be room for off-the-cuff comments, cut-downs, and quips, but I want my readers to also feel educated and use this blog to educate me on the issues of the day. I hope you will find this to be an entertaining and educational blog.
Sincerely,
While I am going to write this blog under my pen name - this will not be an anonymous blog and I'm not trying to hide who I am. I love the Internet and I love the free-for-all discussions that have been fostered and encouraged by the staff here at the Arkansas Times. To me, the Arkansas Blog is pure, undiluted Democracy with a capital D - freedom of speech in the truest sense. Anonymous blogs are healthy for our state and our country for countless number of reasons. Anonymous blogs represent freedom - because freedom also means freedom to say incendiary comments - to write passionately about issues with no fear of retribution - and to test our thoughts and opinions in the marketplace of ideas. We know that not everything written here is true - nor should it have to be. That being said - I hope to give my voice as much value as possible in this virtual marketplace. I want the facts that I present to be verifiable and when I'm wrong - I want to know why I'm wrong. There will always be room for off-the-cuff comments, cut-downs, and quips, but I want my readers to also feel educated and use this blog to educate me on the issues of the day. I hope you will find this to be an entertaining and educational blog.
Sincerely,
The Hoglawyer
Comments
Welcome to the blog, Gray.
Words do count. Too bad so many bloggers don't realize that.
As a lawyer, what would you do with someone who filed a pleading in which the word "dilute" was incorrectly used in place of "delude"? (We deal with that sort of thing daily here.) Do judges believe in spellcheck? I don't.
Posted by: widj | September 11, 2006 08:38 PM
Congratulations on the new blog. And thanks for making it possible for someone to post without disclosing identity, even to trustworthy individuals such as Warwick and Max. Here's hoping that the sort of abuses that led them to require identification for the Arkansas Blog won't force you to do the same here. Thanks again, and good luck with the new blog!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 11, 2006 10:43 PM
welcome to the blogs, Counselor. If anyone welcomes questions and debates it ought to be a lawyer.
my older son is in his second year of law school, so I ought to know - I've been arguing and debating wtih that boy for about 23 years now, since he learned to talk, I think.
I don't live in Little Rock, but for the life of me I can't think of one good reason to vote against this jail tax. I know I'd be happy to pay that if we needed it here.
good luck!
tina
Posted by: tina | September 12, 2006 08:26 AM
Hoglawer:
Legal services are still among the professions blessed with sales tax exempt status on their client billings, granted by the legislature many years ago. Are your services (and those of accountants, architects, newspapers, radio & TV stations, billboard companies, etc.) more noble than those of plumbers & mechanics whose billings require the payment of sales taxes? Should the legislature repeal your tax exemptions to replace the revenues raised by the grocery tax would a mass exodus from Arkansas take place?
Posted by: MysteryShopper | September 19, 2006 04:11 PM
Hoglawer:
Legal services are still among the professions blessed with sales tax exempt status on their client billings, granted by the legislature many years ago. Are your services (and those of accountants, architects, newspapers, radio & TV stations, billboard companies, etc.) more noble than those of plumbers & mechanics whose billings require the payment of sales taxes? Should the legislature repeal your tax exemptions to replace the revenues raised by the grocery tax would a mass exodus from Arkansas take place?
Posted by: MysteryShopper | September 19, 2006 04:27 PM