Albert Sonntag’s Legal Blog

The trial as drama
Prospective jurors usually come to court with a mind-set determined by criminal cases.  Who is the hero and who is the victim?  Which side represents whom?  And their job is therefore regarded as consequently simple:  finding in favor of the victim or hero and against the villain.  They are not impressed with […]

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Cold War not yet over in California
This year saw an attempt on the part of the California Legislature to abolish strictures imposed on teachers and professors at State educational institutions, as well as public employees who hold allegiance, in some manner, to the Communist Party.  Although Senate Bill 1322, sponsored by Senator Lowenthal of Long […]

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Refusal to return engagement ring could be breach of contract
 If you’re thinking of tying the knot and decide to buy an engagement ring for your fiancee, you may get it back if the engagement fails due to no fault of your own.  Conversely, if you receive a ring on your engagement, you will have to […]

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Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1970 (Menil Collections, Houston)

The practice of law requires the frequent use of reason, and I say frequent because it is not necessarily a constant. There are times when empathy and intuitive understanding become more useful than the steel trap of reason. I can think of many examples, but […]

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Nietzsche said, “I was born in the battlefield of Luetzen.”  I would like to explore a little bit why he said that.
The battlefield of Luetzen is indeed in the place where N. was born.  The town of Roecken is located on the road to Leipzig and in the middle of the big plain that was […]

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