Brian Nomi got the official word in July that the Army promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel… We recently had a case involving the VCBA/VLSP, Inc. and their attempt to locate an attorney by the name of Samuel Goodwin. After several days of searching the country for the attorney Goodwin, they found one in Vivian, Louisiana, 71082. Verna Kagan, Emeritus Attorney extraordinaire, told Mr. Goodwin that perhaps he was the ONLY Sam Goodwin lawyer in the country. Mr. Goodwin informed us via letter, which after his exhaustive research; he too found he was the only Samuel Goodwin, lawyer, in the USA. Hard to imagine and I would have lost that bet…We still have a few openings remaining for the 2010-2011 J.H.B. Inn of Court campaign beginning September 16 and running through May 12 at the Saticoy CC. Call/email me ASAP…

Dien Le sat in the first row of the special section during the U.S. Supreme Court’s last day of the term June 28. Justice Ginsburg was present a day after the death of her husband. Justice Stevens gave a heartfelt farewell speech. Supreme Court Bar members, upon entering the courtroom, were given bowties to wear in honor of Justice Stevens. Waiting in line to get into court, Dien met the attorneys who argued the McDonald(2nd Amendment) and Christian Legal Society (Hastings College of the Law) cases. Dien.le@calawconsel.com… A six-month suspension has been recommended for an Illinois lawyer who repeatedly criticized a judge, calling him, at one point, a “narcissistic, maniacal mental case” during a telephone conversation with the judge and opposing counsel. Although Melvin Hoffman has practiced for more than 35 years without any prior discipline, he is not a good candidate for probation because he refuses to admit that he was in the wrong and take recommended steps to correct his behavior, says the Review Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission in a written opinion. Hoffman contended that his constitutional right of free speech allowed him to express his opinion of the judge. Good luck with that…

Barcelona? Greece? Aris Karakolas at aris@lascher.con…Quote of the Month: “Law is a mind without reason. I’ll return.” From Lil Wayne, rapper, in a Twitter post the day he began a twice-delayed yearlong prison sentence on a weapons conviction…LA attorney William L. Taylor died June 28 after more than 50 years being a civil rights advocate. His memoir, A White Guy Like Me as in: “What leads a white guy like me to spend his life working on behalf of black people?” Went to Yale Law School and after winning $7,000 on the TV game show called Tic Tac Dough in the 50s, he testified before the grand jury when the quiz show scandal broke…

New officers for the Tri-Counties Government Attorneys Association are Patrick Hehir, president; Julie Doi, vice president; and Felicia Liberman, secretary-treasurer. They all started July 1… According to California Lawyer, the Greatest Law Review Articles Ever Written: “The Jurisprudence of Yogi Berra,” “The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rules,” “The Top 10 Politically Correct Law Reviews,” “My Pizza With Nino,” “The Wrong Stuff,” “Lawsuit Shmawsuit,” “Legislative And Judicial Dynamism in Arkansas: Poisson v. D’Avril,” “Fundamental Principles of American Law,” “The Bard And The Bench: An Opinion and Brief-Writer’s Guide To Shakespeare,” and “A Critique of Judicial Humor”…I cannot remember a non-legal function where all four Court of Appeal Justices were in attendance. But they were spotted together at a 60th BD party July 17…

Carmen Ramírez kicked-off her campaign for the Oxnard City Council with an announcement July 22 at the Oxnard Public Library…Nipped in the bud: A short-lived decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to create a category for medical marijuana fired up companies seeking protection for their product and business names. Soft drink makers wanted to trademark Canna Cola and Keef Cola, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies sought to protect the names Budtrader and Pot-N. A candy maker hoped to trademark “Bhang, the original cannabis chocolate.” After the WSJ report, the category was hastily removed and called a “mistake.” For a local spin on medical marijuana, watch Team One of Inns of Court tackle medical marijuana and Prop 19 on September 16. Speaking of IP – The Intellectual Property Section will gather Aug. 12 inside thePlug Nickel in Thousand Oaks. Email your attendance to bar@vcba.org…University of San Diego law student Andrew Jeter had to make a tough decision. Should he go to his tax class, where attendance counts towards the grade, or should he compete in the 2010 World Series of Poker? Jeter made the right choice, at least from a financial standpoint, TaxProf Blog reports. He won a little more than $24,000 and finished 568th. Jeter was a student in a class taught by blogger and law professor Paul Caron, whose students are equipped with clickers to record the answers to class room questions. The answers count toward the final grade, placing a premium on classroom attendance…

Lucky Amber Eisenbrey eloped July 2 and got herself hitched to Agustin Rodriguez on the beach in Ventura after a trip to Mexico. On hand and barefoot too was her daughter, Alexis. Rumor has it Amber will be changing her last name… Cohen & Slamowitz has only 14 lawyers on staff, but manages to file about 80,000 lawsuits a year. The Woodbury, N.Y. firm files debt collection suits, and it uses computer software to help prepare its cases, the NYT reports. It also hires outside lawyers to appear in court on a per diem basis and has on staff 30 to 40 paralegals and secretaries, as well as 60 people trying to collect debts. One software program used by the firm, Collection-Master, can generate collection letters, summonses and lawsuits, according to the story…With 23 years of legal experience, Laurie-Allen Shumaker thought she would soon find another job when she was laid off in January 2009 from her position as a shopping center lawyer. But as of July 19, after applying for over 1,000 jobs – including positions as a clerk and a day care worker – Shumaker, who is nearly 60 years old, has landed exactly zero interviews, she tells the Huffington Post. “Interviews are like seeking unicorns,” she tells the blog…

We do not take the month of August lightly. Take advantage of the reduced prices and the NINE CLE courses this month. Check out your CITATIONS calendar flyer or www.vcba.org