In church this morning, our pastor spoke to us about the 10 Commandments. This is one of the most well-known passages in the Bible, and it forms much of our understanding of what we know to be right and wrong. The preacher challenged all of us to try and list each of the Commandments in the order in which they appear in Exodus. I was able to name 9 out of 10 with about half of them being in the right order. Give it a try, then check yourself (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20&version=NIV) and let me know how you did.

Any person or attorney (some of them are also people) who has been to court more than a couple of times has had some frustrating moments, but the court system here in Rome runs pretty efficiently, for the most part. The judges (and their staffs) and the clerks and the private attorneys and the District Attorney's office and the Public Defender's office and the Sheriff's Department all work pretty well together to keep things moving along at a brisk pace most of the time. Swift justice is my favorite kind of justice.

You know that commercial where the woman likes the yogurt so much that she sucks it right out of the cup in the middle of the grocery store? Did that commercial offend you? Well, I got a call a couple of months ago from a guy who was so offended by that commercial that he wanted to sue the yogurt company, the advertising agency and the television networks for airing it.

He claimed the commercial offended his sense of morality and decency. Furthermore - he claimed - the sight of the woman doing such a thing to a cup of yogurt made him feel nauseous. I suggested that he change the channel the next time he saw it coming on.

One of my areas of specialization as a lawyer is employment discrimination. I get about 1o calls a week from recently fired employees who feel like they've been treated unfairly. After I listen to their story, I usually agree that they were treated unfairly, but I have to explain to them that unfair treatment is not necessarily against the law.

One of the most common things I say to potential clients goes as follows: "In Georgia, there are very few protections for employees. Your employer can fire you for any reason - or no reason at all - as long as it was not based on your age, race, sex, religion or a disability. You can be fired just because your boss doesn't like you. I know what happened to you doesn't seem fair, but it was not illegal."

Occasionally, the potential client is able to tell me facts that seem to make out a pretty good case for discrimination based on one of the factors I mentioned earlier. I would say that about 1 in every 20 callers has facts that justify further investigation by my office. Only about 1 in every 50 turn into good cases worth pursuing, and I am happy to do that for them.

Here is my first foray into the blogging world. It all seems terribly self-indulgent, but, hey, if I've got something I think is worth typing, maybe you'll think it's worth reading.

Most of what you'll find here are my takes on the experiences I have as a lawyer and a judge. Occasionally, I'll venture into other areas, though. With a busy wife and two young children, I'm sure I'll have plenty to discuss.

Thanks for checking me out, and I hope you'll subscribe and comment from time to time. I think that will make me feel like there's some point to all this.