9-11 UAL Flight 175 Civil Trial Begins in November

As a native New Yorker, I am personally connected to the events surrounding 9-11, and have commented on the Victim Compensation Fund and ensuing litigation for media outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press, and CBS Radio. My position paper on 9-11 Airline Liability and letters to Judge Hellerstein and the NY Attorney General are available at http://www2.gsu.edu/~rmipzb/9-11.htm.

Of the thousands of claims made by victim families, only one family refused to settle, seeking answers rather than money on how the hijackers made it past security at Logan Airport in Boston, MA on September 11, 2001. The trial of Bavis v. United Airlines (Flight 175) is scheduled to begin on November 7, 2011.

I am working on an article about the upcoming trial, which will appear in The Huffington Post in early September 2011.

Judge May let 9/11 Lawuit Pursue Damages for Suffering on Doomed Flight
The final minutes of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to strike the World Trade Center, were sheer horror, as reported in calls to the ground. The hijackers used pepper spray and knives. A flight attendant had been stabbed; both pilots had been killed.

Roger Clemens' comments can come back to haunt him

Below is what I said about Roger Clemens in 2008:

Famed criminal defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a law professor at Harvard, believes Clemens has walked into a perjury trap.

"My strong suggestion to Clemens is that he take the Fifth Amendment, and that he not walk into this perjury trap," he said.

But Hardin has said all along his client plans to testify today. That could be risky, says Perry Binder, professor of legal studies at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State.

"Any time you've got stuff under oath by someone else or yourself, there's always the opportunity to be impeached with what you've already said," Binder said.

Dershowitz believes it's likely Clemens will face criminal prosecution at some point.

Well, here we are today.

Continue reading from 2008 article: It's T-minus one for Rocket

BRIAN McTAGGART, 02/13/2008 Houston Chronicle

Teacher who dropped out inspires at-risk students

Excellent and inspiring article for students of all ages:

Tears well up in Deborah LaPlante’s eyes as she sits at the back of the Orleans Arena, watching intently as her students file one by one across the stage to receive their high school diplomas.

As with most graduations, it’s a joyful occasion. Parents are smiling, teachers are beaming and students are radiating pride and hope for the future.

LaPlante, a 51-year-old teacher at Chaparral High School, never experienced the triumph of a high school graduation. In 1976, she dropped out of Orange Glen High School in Escondido, Calif., just a few weeks into her junior year. She was 16.

Continue reading: Teacher who dropped out recalls experience to inspire at-risk students
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/21/chaparral-teacher-uses-personal-experience-inspire/

Learning Empathy by Looking Beyond Disabilities

Excellent article in the NY Times for high school teachers:

The unusual lessons are part of a new effort, called the Pearls Project, to promote tolerance and empathy in a school culture where being different can mean social exile. Ridgewood teachers developed it this year in partnership with Positive Exposure, a nonprofit group in New York City founded by Rick Guidotti, a fashion photographer.

Mr. Guidotti, who has photographed supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer, began snapping pictures of children with genetic disorders in 1997. A year later, Life magazine published his photo essay on albinism, titled “Redefining Beauty.” His work with these subjects has also been displayed in galleries, medical schools and children’s hospitals, as well as at Harvard University and at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

For the Pearls Project, Mr. Guidotti photographed 11 young people, each with a different disability. He also arranged for them to blog about their experiences and answer questions from the Ridgewood students. The subjects are identified only by their first names — Byron, Ashley, Rebecca, et al. — and come from various states.

Continue reading Learning Empathy by Looking Beyond Disabilities

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/nyregion/at-nj-school-learning-not-to-look-away-from-the-disabled.html?_r=1&ref=education

The Importance of Education, from Walt Frazier

Former NY Knicks basketball legend Walt Frazier discusses the importance of education:

"I grew up in very humble beginnings in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm the oldest of nine kids -- seven sisters and one brother, so I often tell people when you grow up in a scenario like that, you either like kids or you hate them. I've had an affinity for kids for a long time. When I came to the Knicks, they were my most ardent supporters. They bought my books, they bought my Clyde sneakers, they attended my camp. So today I feel compelled to give back.

"One of the things I do under my Walt Frazier Youth Foundation is I go into the schools and talk about the importance of education and the abstinence of drugs and alcohol. I go to inner-city schools and I also go to the elite schools. I usually ask the kids, 'How can you improve your relationship with your parents?' Whether it be the inner-city school or the elite school, they say 'communication.' They say, 'My parents don't communicate.' I think you can't motivate people unless you communicate, so you gotta talk to those kids, look in those eyes when they come in, know what they're doing, know their friends, and that's going to be essential for their success.

Continue reading Walt Frazier recognized as a "Fab Father"
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/5404/walt-frazier-recognized-as-a-fab-father

Speaking for GAP during Paralegal Week: June 13th CLE Luncheon on Professionalism

I hope everyone in Metro Atlanta joins me for a FUN (I promise) CLE Luncheon for The Georgia Association of Paralegals (GAP):

Instilling Professionalism and Humor in an Adversarial System
Perry Binder, J.D.
DATE: Monday, June 13, 2011
TIME: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm (Lunch, then speaker will begin at 1:00 pm)
LOCATION: Nelson Mullins
Atlantic Station Atlantic Station
201 17th Street NW, Suite 1700
Atlanta, GA 30363

COST: Free
SPONSOR: ParaNet
DEADLINE: June 10, 2011
REGISTRATION: Registration online. Open to the first 40 registrants.
http://www.gaparalegal.org/June13_rsvp.shtml

Former civil litigator turned professor, Perry Binder, offers paralegals a mirror to reflect on unacceptable behavior witnessed in the practice of law. Participants get to “learn by example,” with Perry’s original and hilarious lessons. The ultimate goal of the session is for paralegals to envision living a rewarding professional life, through civility, humor, humility, and stress reduction. Perry uses examples dealing with law or other professions to draw behavioral parallels evidenced by legal professionals.
http://perrybinder.com/ParalegalTopics.htm

Bad Luck and Hard Times on the Menu at a Bus Terminal in West Virginia

This article in The New York Times resonated with me, as someone who writes about West Virginia and who was a Greyhound ticket agent/baggage handler in New York state's so-called rust belt

Bad Luck and Hard Times on the Menu at a Bus Terminal in West Virginia

by Sabrina Tavernise

WEIRTON, W.Va. — The bus terminal in this old mill town used to be for people who were going places. Greyhound would take them to nearby Pittsburgh and Cleveland and other cities where the steel industry was booming. These days it is a diner where no one goes anywhere and regulars sit for hours smoking cigarettes, playing slot machines and talking about sports. it still has the same name, Bus Terminal, and a painted map with a clock for each time zone. But the promise of travel has long faded and the faces here remain the same, a cast of characters who fill the hours with verbal boxing.

CONTINUE READING:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11weirton.html

"Illegally Funny" in the Classroom article in NSA Speaker Magazine

As a proud member of NSA, the National Speakers Association, I wrote this month's "Humor Me" column in Speaker magazine. Enjoy!

Illegally Funny

I never dreamed of being a college professor. Does anybody? When my third-grade teacher asked us about our dream job, Molly said astronaut. Evan: actor. Perry: Obtain a terminal degree and lecture on legal morasses.

Continue reading by clicking .jpg to the left (enlarge article by clicking .jpg again)

Perry

Oprah's Inspiring Fourth-grade Teacher, Mary Duncan

As Oprah winds down 25 years, she recalls her inspiring moments:

One of the defining moments of my life came in fourth grade—the year I was a student in Mrs. Duncan's class at Wharton Elementary School in Nashville. For the first time, I wasn't afraid to be smart, and she often stayed after school to work with me. I thought I would one day become a fourth-grade teacher.
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Oprahs-Top-20-Moments/3

Reunion: Oprah's Favorite Teacher was on the Show - Includes Video http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/10-Memorable-Oprah-Show-Reunions/2

Race to Nowhere Movie Review

This documentary is an interesting response to Waiting for Superman. Excellent movie review in Slate...

By the end of this school year, about half a million people will have watched the documentary Race to Nowhere. This stealth juggernaut can't be seen on TV, in any multiplex, or on DVD. But since the fall of last year, it's been shown almost 2,000 times in school auditoriums and community centers across the country—mostly to parents beset with the fear that they're blowing the raising of their kids. The emotional discussions following the screenings—part catharsis, part call to action, part finger-pointing—are excellent introductions to the contentious debate about what we want from our kids and from the people who educate them.

First-time filmmaker Vicki Abeles, 49, a Northern California lawyer and mother of three, was moved to pick up a camera when her children started suffering from school-related headaches, stomachaches, and panic attacks. What she produced is a wide-ranging polemic against our current education system that is artless, occasionally overwrought, and undeniably powerful. It confirms—and stokes—the unease many parents have about how miserable much of childhood seems today. It also sets up Abeles as the anti-Amy Chua. In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua's thesis is that if you let up, your kid will become a coddled American slacker. Abeles offers the antithesis. She argues that part of America's greatness is born of our misfits and dreamers, that our gift to our children is time to engage in "aimless" play.

Continue Reading Battle Hymn of the Anti-Tiger Mother
By Emily Yoffe, Updated Friday, April 29, 2011