Reprise: Better Chancery Practice FAQ
April 30, 2015 § 4 Comments
Reprise replays posts from the past that you may find useful today.
BETTER CHANCERY PRACTICE FAQ
October 8, 2010 § 1 Comment
My 8.05 financial statements stink. How can I improve them?
Here are Ten Tips for More Effective Rule 8.05 Financial Statements.
Is my estate ready to close?
Check out this Checklist for Closing an Estate.
I think I need to file a habeas action. Any tips?
This Habeas Corpus Step by Step should help.
One more time: what are those child custody factors I need to prove at an upcoming trial?
The Albright factors are what you’re looking for.
Help! We need to sell some real property in an estate, and I don’t know where to start?
How to Sell Real Property in an Estate may be just what you need.
I’ve been asked to handle a minor’s settlement for a Jackson firm, and I’ve never done it before. What do I need to do?
This Outline for Handling a Minor’s Settlement will get you started.
My mail has an MRCP 41(d) notice in it this morning. I remember you said something about it, but I don’t have time to look for it. Can you remind me what I am supposed to do?
<Sigh> Here’s a post on what to do When Rule 41(d) Comes Knocking at Your Door.
I need to prove the tax effects of alimony, but my client can’t afford to hire a CPA to come testify. Any ideas on what I should do?
Try looking at Proving Tax Effects of Alimony.
My Chancery Judge is really nitpicky. How can I draft my adoption Complaint to satisfy him?
Are you talking about me? Whatever. Here is a post on pleading Jurisdiction for Adoption.
Every time I go to court in Jackson, the lawyers there snicker about my countryfied attire. Any suggestions? I cannot afford another $100 contempt citation for punching out a lawyer in the courtroom.
You probably need to be charging more so that you can afford either a better wardrobe or more contempt fines. Until you do, try reading “High Waters” and Burlap Suits. It won’t change anything, but it may help you to feel better.
Meet the Other Blogging Judges
April 20, 2015 § Leave a comment
I’ve never given much thought to how many other judges have blogs. Recently, though, in a ramble through the online ABA Journal, I stumbled upon a list of judge blogs, including mine.
The list may or may not be complete, I am not sure. The ABA site asks readers to send in links to other blogs, so I suspect there are some more. Judge Griffis’s blog isn’t there … yet. The ABA list purports to list only regularly updated blogs, but I found some that are inactive.
Here are the active entries, with links:
Anonymous blog by several UK magistrates (JP’s) who tell of the sad, funny, tragic, and epic cases in their courts and the lawyers and characters who play the parts.
From 1980 to 2008, US District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer had a monthly column in the Texas Bar’s monthly magazine with hilarious actual legal anecdotes and excerpts from depositions, briefs, and trial transcripts. This blog is a serialized archive of those columns. Reading these is like reading our own autobiography for many of us.
Maryland Judge Stephen I. Platt’s bog focusing on the interface between business, law, and public policy. This blog is also published as an op-ed column in the Daily Record, a Baltimore business and legal newspaper.
Retired Arizona judge Thomas A. Jacobs answers actual questions submitted by teens on a broad array of legal topics, such as cyberbullying, criminal procedure, First Amendment rights, alcohol and the law, and many others. He also writes about legal issues of interest to young people. This is not your usual stuffy, legalistic site. The blog has an appearance and style appealing to young people. If someone — Judge or lawyer — in Mississippi is considering taking on the task of authoring a blog, this would be a worthwhile model for a valuable service for Mississippi youths.
The subtitle, “The Role of the Federal Trial Judge,” defines senior status US District Judge Richard George Kopf’s blog. Kopf, of Nebraska, writes on a wide range of subjects with wit, waxing philosophical, and imparting advice to practitioners and other judges alike. Even if you don’t become a regular reader, you owe it to yourself to click on the tab “Generalissimo Francisco Franco and this Blog,” on his home page. Caveat: Judge Kopf has gotten some unwelcome and hostile attention for a post he made that was critical of the USSC’s Hobby Lobby decision, in which he admonished the justices to “STFU.” He also has been criticized for comments that can be considered sexist.
Judge Patricia A. Barnes’ blog covering legal aspects of workplace discrimination. Barnes is a judge with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (Chief Judge interim) and the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe (Associate Justice, Court of Appeals) in Northern Nevada. She is a licensed, practicing attorney in Pennsylvania.
The Better Chancery Practice Blog
Oh, but you’re already here. Welcome.
There are several more, but they appear to be defunct. You can access the complete ABA list at this link. And if you click on the tab “Blawgs” on that page, you will find a directory of legal blogs, which the ABA calls “blawgs.”
Inspired by the ABA directory, I googled “Judge Blogs,” and came up with these active sites:
Wisconsin Judge John Dimotto’s blog “to record and convey the daily experiences of a Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge.” The subjects are practical tips, expositions on the law, and observations.
Judge Kenneth Burke writes posts of interest to judges (which should be of interest to lawyers) for the American Judges Association.
UK Magistrate Trevor Coulart’s blog about life, photography, and his other interests, none of which involve the law.
Anybody know of any others?
Courthouses of Mississippi
April 17, 2015 § 4 Comments
George – Kathy Wilkinson
Kemper -LP
Hinds at Jackson – LP
Marion Chancery – Erik Lowery
Pearl River – Barbie Parham
Montgomery – LP
Leflore – LP
Stone – Kathy Wilkinson
R.I.P. Chancellor Dan Fairly
April 3, 2015 § 2 Comments
… This day, April 3, 2015.
“May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
Reprise: Checklist for Closing an Estate
March 26, 2015 § Leave a comment
Reprise replays posts from the past that you may find useful today …
CHECKLIST FOR CLOSING AN ESTATE
September 27, 2010 § 15 Comments
- _____ Judgment opening the estate or admitting will to probate is filed, and there is no contest.
- _____ Oath of Executor/Administrator filed.
- _____ The Executor/Administrator has properly filed his or her bond, or it was waived by the will or by sworn petition of all heirs with entry of a court order authorizing the waiver.
- _____ Letters Testamentary or of Administration issued.
- _____ The affidavit of known creditors required by MCA § 91-7-145 was properly executed by the Executor/Administrator and filed before publication to creditors.
- _____ Publication of Notice to Creditors was made in “some newspaper in the county” that meets the criteria in MCA § 13-3-31, for three consecutive weeks, and it has been more than ninety days since the first publication.
- _____ Inventory and appraisement were done and timely filed, or were waived by the will or by all heirs by sworn petition with order so waiving.
- _____ All accountings were timely filed and approved by court order (other than the final accounting, which is now before the court), or waived by the will or excused by the court.
- _____ In the case of an administration, publication for unknown heirs has been completed, and a judgment determining heirs has been presented, or will be presented in advance of presenting the final accounting.
- _____ All interested parties to this estate have been served with the petition to close and all other closing documents, including the final account, and they have joined in the petition or have been duly served with a Rule 81 summons, and there is a proper return or properly executed waiver or joinder for each interested party.
- _____ All probated claims have been paid, and evidence of such payment is in the court file, or the probated claims will be paid in the course of closing the estate, and a final report will be filed evidencing payment.
- _____ The attorney’s fees and expenses, as well as those of the Executor/Administrator have been disclosed to all interested persons, and they have no objection.
Wearin’ O’ the Green
March 17, 2015 § Leave a comment
Happy Saint Paddy’s Day to all you Irish and Irish at heart out there.
The Better Chancery Practice Blog 