Custer and the Little Bighorn: The Last Great Battle of the American West

This book will remain the last word on Custer's Last Stand. The details amassed by the author astound me. Especially impressive are his biographies of the Sioux and Cheyenne leaders.

It is not a book for the squeamish. There are graphic accounts of mutilations of the dead Seventh Cavalrymen's corpses by women and old men from the Indian village.

Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 36 is malpractice territory. As Churchill said at Leeds in 1942: "There are upon our journey dark and dangerous valleys through which we have to make and fight our way."

What can be requested? You can request that your opponent admit the truth of statements of fact (or "opinions of fact or the application of law to fact.") Moreover, you can serve copies of documents and ask for admissions of genuineness.

When I was a baby law professor in the '60s, specificity reigned. But adoption of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure changed things effective Jan. 1, 1971. Following the federal model, our Rules allowed generalities. For example, a plaintiff only need plead a short and plain statement of the claim. The defendant can respond with a short and plain statement of defenses.

Yet specificity requirements remain. Let us take a look. If you represent a plaintiff suing for fraud or mistake, Rule 9.02 requires that the "circumstances ... shall be stated with particularity."

By Bill Bryson | Harper Collins | $19.95 | 199 pages | 2007
Reviewed by Donald F. Paine

This is an excellent brief but comprehensive biography of our best dramatist. The unabridged audio version is read by Bryson in his acquired British accent (he was born in Iowa).

Shakespeare has his modern detractors. But he added more than 2,000 words and phrases to the English language. Who first wrote "cold comfort" and "foregone conclusion"? Guess.

A new client enters your law office to complain about conversion of personal property. After introductory pleasantries, you should ask "When?" The client may say, "Well, I found out on [a date more than three years ago]." Probably you will need to advise this soon-to-be-former client that the matter must be placed in the category of tough.

A Story of Adultery, Murder and the Making of a Great President

By Julie M. Fenster
Palgrave MacMillan | $24.95 | 255 pages | 2007

Abraham Lincoln was a famous trial lawyer before he was at the helm of our shipwrecked nation. But there is scant evidence of trial transcripts. Fortunately for us, Ms. Fenster found in the Springfield State Journal newspaper stenographic verbatim reports of Illinois v. Jane Anderson and Theodore Anderson.

Roger Charles Tichborne (born 1829) was the heir apparent to a huge inheritance from a filthy rich British family. He was born and raised across the Channel in France and schooled in England. His native language was French.

He fell in love with first cousin Catherine ("Kate"). Her father forbade marriage until a wait of three years. So Roger took to sea in 1852. He wandered over South America.

In April 1854 he boarded the Bella at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, destined for New York. The ship was lost. No survivors were found. Roger's younger brother Alfred inherited the loot.

I often shake salt into my glass of beer. Because of weird health problems, I must replace sodium loss constantly. I'm glad I never encountered Steve White. He tried to kill business partner and neighbor Phil Rouss with mercury and arsenic, the latter poison being poured into Rouss's beer.

The facts are detailed by Judge Tipton in State v. White, 28 TAM 29-13 (Tenn. Crim. App., May 23, 2003). Here's a summary.

New law effective Jan. 1 defines who must serve

There is a new law controlling jury duty. It is Chapter 1159 of the 2008 Public Acts, effective Jan. 1, 2009. All competent adults summoned must serve unless excused.[1]

Some folks are incompetent and may not serve. Among those are infamous felons, including perjurers. A person "interested" in the case cannot serve. Close relatives of parties (within the sixth degree computed by the civil law) are likewise ineligible.

By the time you read this, the smoke will have cleared from the tumultuous race for president of our United States of America. At the early voting venue I considered casting a write-in ballot for James Knox Polk. But he died on Friday, June 15, 1849.

Mr. Borneman has written the best biography of Polk. I recommend that you purchase and read it. The author is a master of English prose.

James K. Polk made promises that he kept. He would serve only one term if elected.

He had five planks in his platform: