Making Things Clear
Take a piece of fine stemware and examine it for flaws. Hold it up to the light. Look carefully at its shape and texture, its shine and clarity. Someone trained in the art of glassmaking will be able to detect slight imperfections and deformities, some so small and subtle as to be unnoticeable. A craftsman […]
Process and Substance
Contested tort-law cases implicate both process as well as substance. Process. Process encourages fair procedures so that all interested have notice and a right to be heard. Substance. Substance addresses the actual merits of what’s at stake. We navigate this split in all contested proceedings, and there’s some relationship between the two. The Due Process […]
Whiplash and the Ascending Reticular Activating System
It’s probably a safe generalization to assert that whiplash injuries caused by rear-end car accidents are typically undervalued. No matter what symptoms the patient presents with the diagnosis is misleadingly termed a “soft tissue” injury that “should resolve completely in six to eight weeks.” A new and growing body of medical literature sheds light on […]
Specialization’s Limit
Specialization of labor––surely this makes the most sense. Hire the most highly qualified people, train them in a particular specialty, and then have them carry out that single specialized task. This has been the conventional wisdom for decades, used in a variety of contexts. There would seem to be no downside to this perfectly rational […]
Daubert and the Ethical Limits of Human Testing
It’s well known that some areas of research cannot be tested in human double-blind studies due to ethical prohibitions. Researchers cannot knowingly inflict harm to one group. See, e.g., In re Zoloft (Sertraline Hydrocholoride) Products Liability Litigation, 26 F.Supp.3d 449, 453 (US Dist. Ct. E.D. Penn. 2014)(“Although the “gold standard” for epidemiological studies is the […]
Perfecting Prediction: A Search for the Right Detail
Part of one’s task is to predict what likely will occur in the future. Not many devote any real effort to improving this “skill.” It’s akin to mindreading––why bother to devote any time to it? There’s no point. Probability theory and statistics––these provide tools of analysis, but not the means of arriving at the values […]
Beyond the Horizon
An argument based on ideas differs from an argument based on people or things. In many instances, an argument based on ideas presupposes a frame of reference within which an evaluation can take place. An argument based upon people or things, however, requires no such assumption. One is asked to look, compare, and to draw […]
Care and Belief
There’s no work-life rule book, no single text that holds all the answers. Certainty is provisional; knowledge is interim; conventional wisdom can be uprooted in a day. Perfectionists are those who use a laser, not string, to align their garden rows. They ignore the well-worn path. They seek out the ultimate as if the ordinary––the […]
In Defense of the Center
We are exhorted to start strong—and to end strong. Beginnings and endings—these we are advised must be practiced and perfected. We are told of the importance of primacy and recency. We are urged to make a good—no, excellent—first and last impression. These things we know. But what about the center—that vast uncharted territory between start […]
Arguing Rules
Legal rules set forth certain requirements, but every rule is subject to interpretation and application to the specific facts of the case. Say you are seeking a ruling from a Court to depart slightly from the literal requirements of a rule. The rule says one thing, but you are urging some flexibility in the way […]
