J. Dan Hull, Jr.
John Daniel Hull, II, 1900 – 1987. My grandfather. I spent his last 10 or so Thanksgivings with him in Missouri with […]
New Mind
“Without invention nothing is well spaced, unless the mind change, unless the stars are new measured, according to their relative positions, the […]
The World-Famous 12 Rules of Client Service: Embrace Them. Improve Them. Teach Them to the Help.
Sometimes all you need is what one favorite poet called a New Mind. These now classic if eternally annoying 12 Rules will get you there, […]
Sparta: Money, Guns and Mothers
“War is the last of all things to go according to schedule.”— Thucydides (460 BC – 395 BC) in The History of […]
O Rare Partner Emeritus
If you work for a peer firm, you will encounter me or someone very much like me. [Y]ou cannot avoid the essence […]
1971
On June 4, 1971, 55 years ago, on a fine Friday evening on our football field on Drake Road, near the 3 […]
Memorial Day
Memorial Day need not be maudlin but is always about our deepest respect, appreciation, admiration and longing. You can drink Miller Lite, […]
Duke Chanticleer 1975: Gonzoid Specimen No. 1.
People don’t want to accept that about themselves, that they’re part of the general rot, and they react to that angrily, which […]
Wild Men 2026 Rankings
The Rankings 1 through 100 as this blog sees them as of April 1. Living or (mainly) dead since the beginning of […]
REDUX: The Shakespeare Edition. Blawg Review #318: Fully-Engaged, Participatory, Risk-Taking, Pro-Immersion, Get-Off-Your-Knees, Change-the-World Will Shakespeare-Hunter Thompson Edition.
HORATIO O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! HAMLET And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more […]
Wild Bill
This is the Oklahoma Veterans Home, in Ardmore, OK, circa 1910. My great-great grandfather, William Beard Hull (1837–1929), died in this building […]
The 7 Habits of Highly Clueless Corporate Lawyers.
Lawyers who won’t take a stand is a time-honored tradition. Ernie from Glen Burnie, a lawyer and a life-long friend of mine, […]
Lawyering Done Right: A Backstage Pass to the World.
The Strip, Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood. As the fictional movie character John Milton said, law done right is a “backstage pass to […]
St. Genevieve saves us all.
“I know it, I see it. The Huns will not come.” Sainte Genevieve (422-512) saved Parisians from the Huns, the legend goes, […]
Dan Hull’s Rum Diary: Growing up Hunter Thompson.
Kurtz. He got off the boat. He split from the whole goddamn program. –Captain Willard, Apocalypse Now (1979) Thompson had a way […]
The World-Famous 12 Rules of Client Service: Embrace Them. Improve Them. Teach Them to the Help.
The 12 Rules, that’s who. Sometimes all you need is what one favorite poet called a New Mind. These now classic if eternally […]
107 Things Slightly Amoral Yank Lawyers Know
1. Date no one named Zoe, Brigit or Natasha. 2. No one you just met can leave anything in your home or […]
Draconian
Greek lawgiver Draco (c. 600 BC) standing in U.S. Supreme Court building between the “Light of Wisdom” and Confucius. South Frieze, right […]
Melvin Tolson’s Harlem Gallery
A funny, fearless and densely layered poem (1960s super-critic Karl Shapiro said the “baroque” style used made it funnier and more ironic), […]
Standards
Just realized today that I’m generally not good friends with anyone who hasn’t been (a) kicked out of a bar, (b) thrown […]
O Rare Partner Emeritus Redux
If you work for a peer firm, you will encounter me or someone very much like me. [Y]ou cannot avoid the essence […]
In Praise of Structure
Above: E practicing Structure. This 2006 post is from our famous Evergreen Collection. We haven’t seen a need to revise it much. […]
Racehorse Haynes on Imperfections
“I would have won them all if my clients hadn’t kept reloading and firing.” –Richard “Racehorse” Haynes (1927-2017). Trial Lawyer.
Christmas Clients
Just opened a nice Christmas card from a brand new, youngish CEO (born late 1980s) of an Ohio-based company. He also handwrote […]
One Night/One Person: 2025-26 Edition
The purpose of this post—which we keep revising every time we post it—is simple. To keep humans alive during the 30 coldest […]
Our World-Famous 12 Rules of Client Service: Embrace Them. Improve Them. Teach Them to the Help.
The 12 Rules, that’s who. Sometimes all you need is what one favorite poet called a New Mind. These now classic if […]