Clark,
<< Man, I wish I had never said anything about being a
lawyer. Now its the "Clark is a lame lawyer" flame
fest. >>
Whoa! "Flame fest"? I'm sorry you perceived that. I honestly thought people
had bent over backwards NOT to impugn your skills in this regard. If
anything, a few have come to rely on your skills perhaps more than you are
comfortable with, since IP is not your specialty.
In particular, my little off-topic rant was not about ANYTHING on this list,
but a reaction to other cases that led me to my opinion of certain lawyers
who assume that lawyers can understand my business while I cannot understand
theirs. (There is one case in particular which I chose not to bring up on
list -- though I'd love to hear your opinion on it some day -- in which I am
in no way involved, but which revealed to me the depths of hubris of some
lawyers when speaking outside their field of expertise.) Alec's very blunt
statement of the limitations of lawyers happened to be a good opportunity
and a vaguely related reason to vent a little bit of steam. IN NO WAY was it
a commentary on the skill or knowledge of you or Alec or any other legal
scholar around here. If in any way I made you feel criticized, please accept
my humblest apologies. I find you one of the true voices of reason and good
fellowship on this list, and I would never knowingly flame you.
<< In the interests of full disclosure so no one thinks I
am trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes: I am a
criminal trial attorney--a prosecutor. I work in the
specialty sexual assault and child abuse unit (one of
two specialty units in our office). >>
Thank you. This is often a thankless corner of the law, and I sincerely
appreciate your efforts. I have seen the after-effects of this kind of
crime, and it was one of the most traumatic events of my life, even though I
was not directly affected and the incident was two decades past. For you to
face this on a daily basis raises my esteem for you several notches further.
<< I wrote and published an article on a
Constitutional Law issue (dont ask) in the Loyola Law
Review. >>
Oh, now you KNOW I have to ask... (or just go behind your back and look you
up in FindLaw...)
<< I knew I shouldnt have said "I'm a lawyer."
People--righfully--interpret that as some "I'm better
than you" statement. Thats not what I was trying for. >>
I see no reason to conceal the fact that I am a computer programmer. You
should feel no need to conceal your profession. IP lawyer or not, you ARE
more likely to spot a flaw in legal reasoning, just as I will likely find a
bug in P/L1 code quicker than you will even though I have never studied that
language.
I am sincerely sorry you felt flamed or felt your credentials were called
into question. That was never my intention, and I do not believe it was
anyone else's.
Martin L. Shoemaker
Emerald Software, Inc. -- Custom Software and UML Training
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.EmeraldSoftwareInc.com
www.UMLBootCamp.com
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