Cultivated Compendium is my personal website with the occasional link to my reporting and to important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news.
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News and Reporting
July 20th, 2020
Reuters recently published a three-part series that appears to be the most comprehensive look at misconduct by American judges ever. Here's the scope of the project: "In the first comprehensive accounting of judicial misconduct nationally, Reuters identified and reviewed 1,509 cases from the last dozen years – 2008 through 2019 – in which judges resigned, retired or were publicly disciplined following accusations... Continue Reading
June 26th, 2020
This is a freelance piece I recently wrote for the Rochestser Business Journal:
As much of the working world embraces working from home due to COVID-19, Marisa Zeppieri says she feels a little bit of betrayal that previously many employers refused to provide that accommodation to people with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
“It’s archaic thinking that all positions happen in this 9 to 5 structure,” says Zeppieri, an... Continue Reading
April 29th, 2018
Here is a recent piece I wrote for the Rochester Business Journal about the benefits of continuing education despite the demands of busy personal and professional lives:
When Pamela Black-Colton, the executive director of admissions & student services for University of Rochester’s School of Education, was earning her MBA at night, she never went anywhere without her textbook. She would use any spare minute she could find to keep... Continue Reading
December 16th, 2017
Here is a recent story I wrote for the Connecticut Law Tribune about changes to the law for corporations and LLCs that went into effect earlier this year:
While Delaware remains the hub of corporate law with a large number of publicly traded companies choosing to incorporate there, Connecticut is aiming to compete with the state and other large commercial jurisdictions, as recent reforms have been made to state laws governing... Continue Reading
October 15th, 2017
Here is another recent article I did for the Rochester Business Journal:
Rochester may be known as a leader in imaging and optical science, but a lot of people don’t know about its active presence in medical clinical research by standalone facilities and area hospitals.
Dr. Scott Feitell, a cardiologist and director of heart failure for Rochester Regional Health’s Sands-Constellation Heart Institute, notes that even though it... Continue Reading
October 15th, 2017
Here is a recent piece I wrote for the Rochester Business Journal:
The Rochester region is open for business for women-owned enterprises, and several local female business leaders report that they have been able to find success for their companies no matter what type of industry they work in.
“The (Rochester business) climate is on fire for women,” says Lauren Dixon, chief executive officer of Victor-based ad agency Dixon... Continue Reading
March 16th, 2017
President Donald Trump has proposed a budget that would cut funding for programs that help poor, rural Americans, including access to free lawyers in civil cases, The Washington Post's Steven Mufson and Tracy Jan report. All funding would be slashed for the Legal Services Corporation, which funds legal aid agencies like the one that employs me. Funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps many... Continue Reading
March 12th, 2017
President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to "expand access to drug treatment, strengthen prevention options and address the scourge of drug addiction after hearing about many Americans' struggle with opiate abuse," CNN's Dan Merica reports. But the Republican health care plan Trump backs would end the requirement that states that have expanded Medicaid cover addiction-treatment services and mental health... Continue Reading
March 11th, 2017
My latest piece for the New York Law Journal:
Despite efforts to reduce the number of people entering New York City's criminal justice system for low-level crimes, the number of women arrested for misdemeanors has not been reduced at the same rate as for men, according to a new report.
The study, by the New York Women's Foundation and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Prisoner Reentry Institute, found that 42,... Continue Reading
March 4th, 2017
My latest piece for the Connecticut Law Tribune:
Legislation that would provide a wholesale update to Connecticut arbitration law for the first time in a half-century, an effort that's failed several times already, recently received a hearing in the General Assembly and appears ready to gain traction.
Advocates of adopting the model "Revised Uniform Arbitration Act" (RUAA) are hoping that 2017 will be the year the... Continue Reading
February 17th, 2017
Here's a freelance piece I did today for the New York Law Journal about New York City's ground-breaking plan to use city funds to ensure that tenants earning less than 200 percent of the poverty level will have lawyers when facing eviction:
New York City's plan to offer free counsel to low-income Housing Court tenants facing eviction doesn't mean tenants who fail to meet income requirements won't receive any help... Continue Reading
January 4th, 2017
It's not just the shape of the U.S. Supreme Court's jurisprudence that President-Elect Donald Trump will get to shape. The Economist reports that he will be able to appoint lawyers to 96 judgeships in district courts and 16 on the nation’s circuit courts. Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution projects that Trump appointments will lead to half of district-court seats being held by Republican appointees.
This is... Continue Reading
January 3rd, 2017
The New York Times' Abby Goodnough and Robert Pear and The Washington Post's Kelsey Snell and Mike DeBonis both have pieces about how the Affordable Care Act is likely to endure to some extent despite the plans of President-elect Donald Trump and Congressional Republican leaders to repeal it.
The Washington Post reporters note that "Democratic opposition and complex Senate rules mean that core pieces of the 2010... Continue Reading
January 3rd, 2017
The New York Times' Abby Goodnough reports that Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and other hospitals serving poor neighborhoods face a financial crisis if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. President-elect Donald Trump and Republican Congressional leadership have vowed to do exactly that.
The hospital industry predicts that "hospitals stood to lose $165 billion through 2026 if more than 20 million people lose the... Continue Reading
December 31st, 2016
Here's a reason to be hopeful about 2016 despite, among other things, the election of Donald Trump, the loss of several beloved celebrities and the intractable civil war in Syria.
Innovations for Poverty Action's Annie Duflo and Jeffrey Mosenkis write that 2016 might turn out to have been one of the best years for humanity because the number of people living in extreme poverty and child mortality has been dropping... Continue Reading
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