The Competitive Fire: An Interview with Ari Sherwin

Kirk Shaw, 1L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 I met Ari Sherwin, Corporate Counsel (IP) for Sherwin-Williams, while he was visiting Professor Nard’s intellectual property survey class, as he and other IP attorneys spoke about their experiences as in-house counsel. He kindly agreed to this interview. Mr. Sherwin has been with Sherwin-Williams for the past year and a half, before which he practiced in the private sector. He received his degrees in Ohio: BS in Biological Sciences at The Ohio State University; MS in Anatomical Sciences from CWRU; and JD from Cleveland-Marshall.

Leaning In? Or Leaning Inward? Thoughts on Sheryl Sandburg’s New Book “Lean In”

Maria Hibbard, 2L

Managing Editor, The Docket

 Sheryl Sandburg, COO of Facebook, launched a book—and an entire campaign—in mid-March encouraging women to “lean-in” to their careers, family, and friends, boldly declaring that women can “have it all.” Sandberg’s “Lean In” campaign includes a memoir-type book, a website (leanin.org), and a “global community committed to encouraging and supporting women leaning in to their ambitions.” (See leanin.org)

Legal Fiction: The Lord of the Rings

Benjamin Sattin, 3L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”

This quote—translated from the Black Speech of Mordor—decorates the One Ring, which was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron during the Second Age of Middle-earth.  In the beloved novel The Hobbit and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy that followed after, J.R.R. Tolkien, the most influential fantasy writer of all time, shares the story of this One Ring.  Both these books and their award-winning film adaptations bring to life Tolkien’s vivid world, which entrances readers and viewers alike, as the epic events that lead to the eventual defeat of Sauron and the destruction of his One Ring unfold before them.  Naturally, Tolkien’s immortal work got me wondering: Someone has a claim against poor Gollum for destroying his property.  So, the question we’ll seek to answer here is who?

Letter from the Editor: Hell of a Season

Andrew Guran, 3L

Editor-in-Chief, The Docket

 Editor’s Note:  The author hopes that the following can provide strength to those who’s lives have been struck by unforeseeable events or have struggled in any way at one period or another during their lives.  In memoriam Erik John Guran (10/6/1989–6/9/2012).

“In this hell of a season gives me more of a reason to be with you.”  The Black Keys, Hell of a Season.

On May 19, 2013, I graduate from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.  This not only caps off my 19 years of education, but ends the most important year of my life. 

The week of May 19–26, 2012, included my wife’s graduation from medical school, her grandmother’s 90 birthday celebration, moving into our first apartment, my bachelor party, and concluded with the best day of my life—my wedding day. 

Congratulations to 2013 Dunmore Champion Samantha Chassin

The Docket’s Graduating Staff Members

The Docket would like to thank and congratulate each of its graduating staff members.  If it were not for your hard work and effort, The Docket could never be what it is today.  Good luck to you all in your future endeavors.  We thank you dearly for your creative theories, insightful thoughts, and words of wisdom.

Rico Barrera (Contributing Editor)

Jeffrey Bieszczak (Contributing Editor)

Andrew Guran (President and Editor-in-Chief)

Kapree Harrell-Washington (Staff Writer)

Medha Kapil (Staff Writer)

Jintana Khamphaidboon (Staff Writer)

Phetcharat Khamphaidboon (Staff Writer)

Jessica Lordi (Copy Editor)

Hope Lu (Staff Writer)

Jeffrey Masor (Technology Editor)

Lisa Okasinski (Staff Writer)

Steven Paille (Staff Writer)

Vijya Patel (Copy Editor)

Quisha Peng (Staff Writer)

Daniel Pesciotta (Contributing Editor)

Karelia Rajagopal (Contributing Editor)

Benjamin Sattin (Copy Editor, Contributing Editor, and Secretary)

Aurelia Tunru (Associate Editor)

Jiangli Wang (Staff Writer)

Amanda Xu (Staff Writer)

Ohio Notary Certification

SaraJean Petite, 2L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 For as long as I can remember, I have known that a notary with a commission that never expires was another way of indicating that the notary was also an attorney.  Now that I’m on my way to becoming an attorney, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about what will be involved in getting my own non-expiring certification.

The Quintessential Quaffer Farewell Edition: Respect Beer, But Don’t be a Beer Snob

Daniel Pesciotta, 3L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 Hello my fellow beer-drinking law students (and faculty)! With graduation right around the corner, this will be my final Quintessential Quaffer article. I have been writing this column for The Docket for three years and have enjoyed sharing by passion for craft beer with all of you. I have received a lot of positive feedback for these beer articles. Thank you!

With this article, I just want to leave you all with some words of beer wisdom that I hope will help you better enjoy craft beer for years to come. Call them the Quintessential Quaffer’s Three Maxims of Beer Advocacy. If you take nothing else away from my beer articles, remember these three things:

Benefits of Coconut Oil

Jintana Khamphaiboon, LLM

Staff Writer, The Docket

 Pure coconut oil is extracted through a cold non-thermal technique (cold pressed coconut oil) produced from fresh coconut meat.  Coconut oil is a clear as water, containing vitamin E.  When we consume coconut oil, the acid chloride in the coconut oil are monoglycerides called monolaurin, which is a substance similar to the lauric acid that is found in mother’s milk, as well as helps build one’s immunity.   Monolaurin is currently used in antibiotics and can kill bacteria that causes one’s arteries to harden.

You Are the Dominator-Fountainhead

Quisha Peng, LLM

Staff Writer, The Docket

 One of my friends recommended that I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand during my trip to New York City for spring break.  When I first searched Atlas Shrugged on the Internet, a comment about the book jumped out at me.  “It is kind of promoting the philosophy of  Ayn Rand.”

Happiness Needs to be Created!

Phetcharat Khamphaiboon, LLM

Staff Writer, The Docket

 Happiness needs to be created.  It cannot happen by itself.  If we consider the moment of happiness that we have.  We will realize that we create it.  It’s you who decides whom you want to be.  No one else can.

“Part 2: The Warmakers”

Wesley Cheung, 2L

Staff Writer, The Docket

 Armed with horse and bow, the nomads of the Asiatic steppe fought like a swarm of bees and would loose their arrows both on the attack and on the retreat.  At the time, no army in history was as mobile as the mounted steppe army. Such an army had no supply lines to slow them down and no logistics to sever. Its existence was completely parasitic on the villages it ravaged, the people it conquered, and the fields it consumed. There was no vanguard to smash and no front lines to scatter. Where an army’s objective is to sink as much teeth into an opposing force’s tail, the mounted steppe army consisted entirely of teeth. Until the invention of the internal combustion engine or gunpowder, fighting a mounted army was a tactical nightmare.

Drop that Big Gulp

Megan Larkin, 1L

Staff Writer, The Docket

 After decades of rising obesity rates in America, many are turning to government regulation for an answer.  With the exception of the Affordable Care Act, the increase in the number of people considered obese and the resulting societal costs have been at the center of the healthcare conversation.

Medical researchers in the nutrition field have identified sugary sweetened soda as a major contributor to what some have termed “the obesity epidemic.” They claim the calories contained in these drinks have little to no health value and add to weight gain in consumers, yet serving sizes have substantially increased in the past several decades. Increased availability has been correlated with increased public consumption.

Debbie Docket

Dear Debster,

A few weeks ago, I met this bodacious babe at Bar Review and there was definitely a mutual attraction going on there.  I tried to get her number, but she had to go to the bathroom and I guess she got sidetracked on her way back because I didn't see her again that night.  Last week, I saw the same hottie sitting in Blackacre, so I sat down next to her and we definitely started a serious flirting session.  Almost as soon as I sat down, though, she ran off to class, so I failed again in getting her number.  Debster—I never strike out two times, let alone three times.  I repeat: Never.  What is going on here?

Sincerely,

Confident and Sexy

Invisible Students

E.G. Oxley, 1L

Staff Writer, The Docket

 Each year, tens of thousands of high school students across the nation go on to attend college. Some of those students succeed, and others fail; America talks about all college students—regardless of whether they find gainful employment with their degrees. What America does not talk about, however, are the thousands of students who graduate from high school every year with a disability recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). This profound national silence is not due to lack of disabled students in the world of higher education, but rather to institutional pressure to hide away all of the students who don’t conform to the American ideal of the youthful, able-bodied college student. I could speculate that this might have something to do with colleges as businesses whose primary concern is with increasing their customer base—but mere speculation solves nothing. Instead, what I propose is an unveiling of the hidden world of disability within the university community.

Free Market Legal Education System

Andrew Guran, 3L

Editor-in-Chief, The Docket

 The cost of law school is one of the most prohibitive factors in attracting high-quality students.  In order to help make law school a more financially viable choice, states have assisted public universities for years by providing legal education at a lower cost.  However, in today’s poor legal job market and down economy, states should stop subsidizing law schools by getting rid of in-state tuition and charging all students one uniform rate. 

Latin America Grapples with Legacy of Blood and Violence

Gary Joseph Wilson, 2L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 The latter half of the 20th century saw Latin America torn apart by violence.  A series of military governments gained power, and waged a “dirty war” against leftist dissidents.  Dictators like Agosto Pinochet in Chile and Alfredo Stoessner in Paraguay directly oversaw mass killings in the name of national security.  As the military governments lost power, they signed amnesty laws into effect to protect themselves from prosecution during the transition to democracy.  But now, decades later, some Latin American countries are confronting their blood-soaked pasts with efforts varying from the establishment of truth commissions to full-fledged prosecutions. 

How I Learned to Stop Litigating and Love Prison Mac and Cheese or Confessions of a Pro Se Racketeer: The Trial of Paul Bergrin

James Stevick, 2L

Staff Writer, The Docket

 He may be a pimp, drug dealer and murderer but nobody could accuse high profile New Jersey defense attorney Paul Bergrin of being a bad litigator.  Armed only with his thunderous oratory and cross-examinations deployed with the weight of a sledge hammer, Bergrin hung the jury in his murder trial in 2011.  However, on March 18, 2013, in U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh’s courtroom, he wasn’t so lucky.  The jury found him guilty of all twenty-three counts, including murdering a witness, conspiring to murder a witness, trafficking cocaine, prostitution, and bribery.  Bergrin will serve at least three life sentences in a federal prison and could be handed up to four more life sentences.

Congratulations 2013-2014 SBA Senators

Class of 2014: 

Vincent Coe

Carly Boyd

Samantha Chassin

Michael Beer

Michael Gabrail

Elizabeth Horan

Donald Slezak 

Class of 2015:

Morgan Kearse

Matthew Barbara

Julianne Shi

Sara Grout

Jordan Palmer

Sienna White 

Vis Team Competes in Hong Kong

Editorial Staff, The Docket

 The Case Western Reserve University School of Law Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Team participated in the 10th Annual Willem C. Vis (East) Competition in Hong Kong from March 11—17, 2013.

Law and Leadership Institute

Cheryl Cheatham

Reference Librarian, Judge Ben C. Green Law Library

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

 Many of you may have noticed high school students in classes here on early Saturday mornings during autumn and spring. Alternatively, in the summer you may wonder where those students on a school bus are going so early in the morning. You are watching the Cleveland area Law and Leadership Institute students on the move!  The Law and Leadership Institute, LLC (LLI) is a statewide program for high school students from communities under-represented in the legal profession. It is hosted by law schools throughout Ohio in collaboration with the legal community. The primary instructors in the program are law students.  LLI “inspires and prepares students from underserved communities for post-secondary and professional success through a comprehensive four-year academic program in law, leadership, analytical thinking, problem solving, writing skills and professionalism.” Student participants also receive standardized test preparation, go on college visits and other field trips, and intern at Cleveland law firms, courts, and corporations.

Health Resources for Students

 Editorial Staff, The Docket

If you suffer from depression and/or substance abuse, you are not alone.

Alcoholism afflicts 1 in 12 adults, according to the University of Pennsylvania.  The same study found that 1,400 students die of alcoholism every year. 

NPR estimates that as many as 25% of college students suffer from severe depression. More disturbingly,      “Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. And the number one cause of suicide for college student suicides is untreated depression.”

But is doesn’t have to be that way.  There are many great, local resources that can help you get by.

The Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program describes themselves as a “private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping Ohio's judges, attorneys, and law students obtain treatment for substance abuse, chemical dependency, addiction, and mental health issues.”

Tribe Time!

Andrew Guran, 3L

Editor-in-Chief, The Docket

 Although the Cleveland Indians season began last Tuesday, April 2, 2013 in Toronto, Ontario against the Blue Jays, baseball is really not back in Cleveland until the sold out home opener against the New York Yankees on April 8, 2013 at 4:05PM.

Study Tips for Final Exams

Amanda Soraiz, 1L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 As the end of the semester rapidly approaches, we find ourselves divided into two camps of students. In the first, students are perfecting outlines and adding to them daily as they review class material. For the other 99% of us, we are simply struggling to find motivation for tomorrow’s readings and attempting to ignore the impending finals freak-outs that will begin at varying points over the next two weeks.

In an attempt to alleviate some of these fears, aid in last-minute studying, and procrastinate on my own set of readings, I have compiled a quick list of some of the top rated tips for acing law school exams.  While some of these may seem like “common sense,” we live in a world where common sense is no longer, well . . . common.

Break.

Czarina Powell, 2L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 This break I broke.  Literally: as in my body broke down and the cold I had been avoiding all semester decided to show its ugly face.  I had been begging my body every day to “please don’t get sick; now is not the time!” But my immune system decided to take a nice, long respite from protecting me from illness and I landed in Arizona the Saturday of spring break sick and tired.

SCOTUS vs. The Court of Public Opinion

Alex Gerard Ahern, 2L

Staff Writer, The Docket

 If Facebook is any indication of the vox populi, SCOTUS should strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”).

“Part 1: The Nomads”

Wesley Cheung, 2L

Staff Writer, The Docket

 The year was 1215 and Shah Mohammad of Khwarezm, a powerful ruler of one of the greatest Islamic civilizations in the middle ages, toyed with the idea of invading and conquering a mysterious land of spice and silk.  Under the guise of diplomacy, Shah Mohammad sent spies to this foreign land, and, within five years, these spies reached the outskirts of the city of Zhongdu.  Immediately, they noticed something was terribly wrong.  What looked like a snow-covered mountain in the distance was, as they approached the city, a massive pile of bone bleached white by the wind and sun.  The bogs and marshes that sucked at their boots thickened with the grease of rotting bodies until, unable to bear the stench and disease of decay, the spies turned back and returned to Khwarezm.

Steubenville Rape Convictions: Rape Culture Perpetuated….Again

Molly Conway, 1L

Staff Writer, The Docket 

 CNN reporters Candy Crowley and Poppy Harlow did a live coverage of the Steubenville verdict, which resulted in outrage from people who found their overt sympathy and condolence for the perpetrators to be horrendous.  

This begs the question—-why is it so difficult to see a  rapist face legal consequences for rape?  This trial has sparked a large public discussion of rape culture, which many sexual assault advocates think is much overdue.  Although having sympathy for a crying high school boy facing severe consequences is not unheard of, the CNN reporters went above and beyond normal sympathy.

Legal Fiction: Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket Contest

Ben Sattin, 3L

Contributing Editor, The Docket

 In the delightful book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Roald Dahl tells the story of Charlie Bucket and his tour of Willy Wonka’s magical, mysterious, and fairly sinister chocolate factory.  Four other children accompany Charlie on this exclusive tour, yet only Charlie reaches the end of the tour as the flaws of each of his companions contribute to the early conclusion of their respective visit. 

Debbie Docket

Dear Debbie,

I’m a nervous wreck.  Public speaking terrifies me and getting cold-called on in class is a recurring nightmare.  I love my writing classes, particularly CORE, but I hate being forced to speak in my other classes.  The few times I've been called on, my face starts burning, sweat pours from every possible pore, and I have trouble formulating simple sentences.  I know public speaking is a key element of being a successful lawyer, but I hate doing it! Debbie, am I doomed? 

Sincerely,

Too Spooked to Talk