Aaron Landau

@[email protected]
203 Followers
229 Following
52 Posts
I'm a civil appellate attorney in Oregon. I'm also an instructor at the University of Oregon School of Law, and I post a regular series of "Appellate Nibs" about legal writing and oral argument.
Firm Websitehttps://harrang.com/person/j-aaron-landau/
Aaron LandauJan 4, 2023
If you’re following the House Speaker snafu, this is fun: Under Art. IV, incoming members can’t vote until sworn in—which the Speaker does. But there’s no Speaker until members vote to select one, and no House rules until they vote to adopt some—which, until sworn in, they can’t do. So how can anything happen at all? Here's Matt Tait's (@Pwnallthethings) outstanding, short dive into what’s basically governmental assembly code. So nerdy, so good. https://www.pwnallthethings.com/p/the-house-has-no-members-and-the
The House has No Members and the Bootstrapping of Power

Over at Dog Shirt Daily—the awfully named, but otherwise great daily publication by Ben Wittes—Ben has a really interesting question that he proceeds quickly to not answer: does the House have any Representatives? The motivation for his question is this post by Adam Kinzinger

PwnAllTheThings
Aaron LandauDec 28, 2022
I’m really impressed with the work @marcelias’s firm has done in voting rights litigation. Partisan stuff aside, I think it’ll have a lasting positive impact on election mechanics. (And as a lawyer who gets to play in the #electionlaw sandbox in Oregon, it’s especially interesting. Our vote-by-mail is universal and registration is all but automatic, so we avoid lots of the problems other states face, and most disputes concern what’s on the ballot.) Good work, all. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/21/democrats-elias-elections-00073595
Why Marc Elias Wants to ‘Babysit’ the Republican Party

After Trump attempted to use the courts to change the results of the 2020 election, many Republicans borrowed a page from that playbook. Now Democrats — with the aid of one powerful D.C. law firm — are mounting a counteroffensive.

POLITICO
Aaron LandauDec 23, 2022

One more #FollowFriday rec, in line with “tell me one person and why”:

If you dig tech policy issues (privacy, IP, programming, cultural geekery, etc) but not how seriously tech policy folks tend to take themselves, Parker Higgins (@xor) is a great follow. Insights and dad-jokes of the highest order. He’s also the brains behind the delightful @pomological, my all-time fav bot account. (And he’s a stellar crossword constructor to boot.)

Aaron LandauDec 23, 2022

For #FollowFriday, long handle-lists can be a blur. I love to see folks describe the “why” behind who they recommend. Here’s one of mine:

James Emmons (@IntlLawGnome) is a sharp attorney and an active booster of interesting content, but who still makes time for thoughtful commentary of his own. If you drink up law and public policy, James’ feed is a firehose. If I had to slim my feed to 10 people, he’d probably be among them.

Aaron LandauDec 19, 2022

#Appellate Nibs No. 4: Oral argument is a listening exercise.

You’re writing a brief. How amazing would it be to magically peek inside your judges’ minds and learn what they really think of your arguments? To know which issues they see as problematic? To learn where they’re already persuaded, so you can focus on what matters?

You can! …at the podium. That’s why, at argument, it's so important to listen. To inquire. To treat it as a conversation. And to never say, “I’ll get there, but first…”

Aaron LandauDec 19, 2022
Adiós, birdsite. And cheers to a quickly-growing community more interested in what makes a social network useful than in what makes it profitable. 🍻
Aaron LandauDec 17, 2022
Merry #Caturday! Like clockwork, Orange Julius Caesar and I do the NYT #crossword together every morning. (Or I’ll get VERY loudly reminded with the once-dulcet tones of an aging orange tabby.) Occasionally his brother Bodhi joins. But Bo just doesn’t wield the same verbal acumen — he’s usually just looking to freeload for a warm lap.
Aaron LandauDec 16, 2022
Nick Mark, MD Dec 16, 2022

One point that no one seems to have raised about @elonjet

The location of all aircraft & yachts is public info.

Elon’s jet is “tracked” because he insists on flying a $70m private Gulfstream. If he flew a charter jet (or god forbid commercial) this would be impossible.

He’s demanding both absolute privacy & luxury.

Aaron LandauDec 14, 2022
Government simply should not be in the business of executing its prisoners. Gov. Brown’s moral message here is right on, but ending the death penalty requires changing the law itself. Here, that means amending the state Constitution. I hope we’ll see a ballot measure in 2024 to do just that. (And if there’s a campaign out there to do it, reach out. I’d gladly help out pro bono.) https://www.opb.org/article/2022/12/13/oregon-governor-kate-brown-death-penalty-sentence-commutations/
Outgoing Oregon governor commutes death row sentences, orders execution chamber dismantled

In her final weeks in office, Gov. Kate Brown is commuting the sentences of those on death row and dismantling the state execution chamber in an effort to effectively end capital punishment in Oregon.

OPB
Aaron LandauDec 13, 2022
Talking with my hands again... Great CLE with attorneys Sarah Tuthill-Kveton and Jonathan Henderson to discuss a recent Oregon #appellate decision about what "recklessness" means in tort #law. (Who'd have thought we're still figuring that one out?!)