Launching Overbreadth.com

This blog has been relatively schizophrenic as I've struggled to figure out whether I want to blog about personal stories or law and politics. I decided the solution would be to sever the thing into two blogs:

OVERBREADTH.COM

This is where most of my blogging energy will go. It's a blog that focuses on liberal causes, the election, and first amendment rights. It's also an attempt to employ some of the blogging lessons I've learned from working on this blog. I hope you'll check it out. (I also hope you'll susbcribe by rss or by email!). For a taste of overbreadth, check out the Annotated Guide to Obama's Race and Politics Speech. And speaking of taste...

THE SMELL AND TASTE BLOG

Sometimes, I'll still want to post about personal life experiences and such. In particular, I'd like to chronicle the experiences of anosmia (no smell) and ageusia (no taste). I expect these posts to come less frequently than overbreadth, but they'll come now and then. Thanks for your patience with this transition!
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"If I only had one hour to live..."

Another moment from Wit of Mandamus IV. We got up on stage shortly after a video of Professor Nockleby in which he apologized for not being able to make the show this year and did something involving a rubber chicken. As it happened, he was in fact able to make the show after all, but determined to avoid this awkwardness, he showed up in disguise. This seemed important to point this out to the crowd. After that, I poke fun at his expense. The audio is a little hard to hear, so here's the transcript:

I just wanted to say, we're sorry that Professor Nockleby couldn't be here tonight... We heard there was a problem with his speech though, that it might've been canceled, and so he was able to send a surrogate, a first-year who's in the back seat back there... and I will say, regarding his... [pointing] look in the back! There's somebody who looks a lot like him... And I will say, I'll tell a story, I was in Professor Nockleby's class in my first year, you know they say, don't say "Please!" at the end of the exam... don't put stuff in that's personal to the professor, but I did write, "if I only had one hour to live, I would want it to be in your class..." And I would've been good if I hadn't written below that, "Because only you can make an hour feel like eternity."

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The Employment Lawyer's Guide to California Anti-SLAPP Law

More shameless self-promotion! An article I co-wrote (along with Benjamin Shatz) is featured as the cover story of the March Issue of the California Labor and Employment Law Review. It's subscription-based, so I can't republish the whole article here, but apparently they'll send you a full free issue if you request it from the California State Bar (details here). Here's the opening:

It seems like hardly a day passes without a California court issuing a decision involving the state’s anti-SLAPP statutes. Commentators call it an "explosion" that "clog[s] our courts." The anti-SLAPP statutes have evolved from relative obscurity to a powerful weapon in the defendant’s arsenal, like a summary judgment motion—but without the 75-day notice period, without discovery, and with the potential for attorneys’ fees. This article addresses the origins and operation of the statutes and then turns to some unique situations presented by anti-SLAPP in the employment context.

If you'd like to learn more about Anti-SLAPP, I recommend the California Anti-SLAPP Project
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"Baby, It's Cold Outside"

Last night, I visited my alma mater, Loyola Law School, to participate in the school's annual variety show, Wit of Mandamus. Here's a video clip of me accompanying the very talented, Sri Panchalam, on the Frank Loesser tune, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." (I'll post more clips of the show as soon as someone emails them to me.)

Update: Lots more clips and commentary of the show are available at Bruce Chang's Blog.
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