Do you fear data? | Associate settles bonus suit | Is education a constitutional right?

ABA Journal latest headlines

Are schools that fail to teach children to read violating their constitutional rights? (podcast)

Apr 24, 2017, 8:30 am CDT

Judge 'inexplicably' threatened private school over custody disagreement, appeals court says

Apr 24, 2017, 8:00 am CDT

Defense lawyer in rape case tells jurors that women are good at lying; defendant is acquitted

Apr 24, 2017, 7:00 am CDT

When should lawyers bet on themselves? Sometimes clients will give you the answer

Apr 22, 2017, 10:00 pm CDT

Lawyers: Don't be afraid to double down on data

Apr 21, 2017, 9:24 pm CDT

Judge releases man held for three years after new prosecutor acknowledges case is weak

Apr 21, 2017, 5:05 pm CDT

Faced with dwindling admissions, some law schools seek out overachieving 1Ls

Apr 21, 2017, 4:15 pm CDT

ABA files 9th Circuit amicus brief supporting Hawaii federal court's injunction against travel ban

Apr 21, 2017, 3:24 pm CDT

Justice Department sends compliance letters to 'crumbling' sanctuary jurisdictions

Apr 21, 2017, 2:51 pm CDT

Special team investigates death of judge on New York's top court; widower disputes suicide theory

Apr 21, 2017, 12:48 pm CDT

Associate settles suit claiming unfair billable-hours calculation caused him to lose out on bonuses

Apr 21, 2017, 10:57 am CDT

AG Sessions criticizes judge from 'an island in the Pacific,' raising the ire of Hawaiians

Apr 21, 2017, 10:22 am CDT

In the Magazine

From the April 2017 Issue

Rocket Law

The Outer Space Treaty turns 50. Can it survive a new space race?

Leave to Withdraw

Lawyers should tread carefully before quitting a troublesome client

Question of the Week

What's the word you're most worried about mispronouncing?

Law books are full of words we rarely speak. Even if they studied Latin in school, litigators can be unsure how to pronounce nici prius, ratio decidendi and sine die, to name three troublesome phrases Bryan A. Garner cites in A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage.

Legal Latin is not the only courtroom language that sends lawyers to the dictionary. Case names and place names can be confounding. And the ABA Journal recently noted that Justice Elena Kagan in oral arguments cited an “antecedent” clause and pronounced the word as “an-TESS-a-dent.” Ann O’Connell of the Solicitor General’s office opted to carry on pronouncing antecedent more conventionally as “ant-a-SEED-ent.”

This week we ask: What’s the word you’re most afraid of mispronouncing? And if the judge does not use the standard pronunciation, which precedent do you follow?

Answer in the comments.

Read the responses to our last question: Have you taken a bar exam in more than one state?

Featured answer:

Posted by LarieBee: “I took and passed the entire Michigan bar exam in 2013 and the entire Illinois bar exam in 2016. Michigan’s covered more topic areas and truly focused on state specific law, while Illinois’ was quite general, even in the essays. For these reasons, Michigan’s was more difficult, even factoring in the experience I gained while clerking for a Michigan state court prior to taking Illinois’ exam.”