Blog

Court Is Assembled: Can Principled Counsel Be Taught?

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:24:00 GMT

There is a new leader in your organization. First impressions are good. The leader projects confidence, charisma, and competence. Initially, the rapport developed across the organization is strong. However, as time goes on, what was initially projected as confidence increasingly gives way to an aggressiveness approaching bullying.

Book Review: The Centaur’s Dilemma

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:23:00 GMT

In his book, The Centaur’s Dilemma, renowned national security practitioner and former U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Chief Judge James E. Baker contextualizes the expansive development of AI and its emerging legal structure. As in his previous literary works, Baker frames his terms and issues, the most pertinent of which is the “Centaur’s Dilemma,” or “how to reap the benefit of AI for national security purposes without losing control of the consequences.”

News & Notes

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:23:00 GMT

News & Notes 2021 Issue 4

Lore of the Corps: Justice Was a “Casualty of War”

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:22:00 GMT

On 17 November 1966, four infantrymen—Sergeant (SGT) David E. Gervase, and Privates First Class Steven C. Thomas, Cipriano S. Garcia, and Joseph C. Garcia—on a five-man reconnaissance patrol in South Vietnam entered a small village and kidnapped a twenty-year-old Vietnamese woman named Phan Thi Mao.

In Memoriam: W. Hays Parks

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:21:00 GMT

On 2 June 2021, Hays Parks was buried amongst his fellow Marines at the Marine Corps Cemetery in Quantico, Virginia. This was as it should be, for those who knew Hays understood that he was a Marine’s Marine and a proud, vocal member of the Semper Fi fraternity. So, how did this dedicated “gyrene” find his way to the Army JAG Corps?

Practice Notes: The Domestic Violence Victim Addition to the SVC and LA Programs

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:20:00 GMT

It is Day 1 in your job as the new special victims counsel (SVC), and you get a call requesting SVC services for a victim of domestic violence. Your automatic inclination is to inquire further as to whether or not the victim is a victim of a sexual offense; otherwise, you are of the belief that they are not eligible for services. But then you remember the training you received on domestic violence at the SVC certification course, which drives you to dig deeper.

Practice Notes: Love in the Time of COVID

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:19:00 GMT

The Novel Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) frustrated certain performance aspects of Department of Defense (DoD) contracts across the world. Among other things, contractors had problems getting their employees into and out of the Combined Joint Operations Area–Afghanistan (CJOA–A). Non-contracting activities were desperate to understand the associated rules, demanding contractors “figure out” a way to solve such entry and exit requirements.

No. 1: Conversations with the Last Five Chief Trial Judges of the Entire1 U.S. Army

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:18:00 GMT

If you’re going to be a lawyer and just practice your profession, well you have a skill, so you’re very much like a plumber; but if you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself, something to repair tears in your community, something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That’s what I think a meaningful life is—one lives not just for oneself, but for one’s community.

Practice Notes: Leadership and JAG Corps Military Spouses

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:18:00 GMT

You and your spouse anxiously await word from the Personnel, Plans, & Training Office (PPTO) on your next assignment. Your spouse is hoping to obtain a highly sought-after staff judge advocate (SJA) or other leadership position. Will all the hard work, dedication, and time apart be worth it? Will it be rewarded with a coveted leadership position?

No. 2: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Investigating Federal Civilian Employees Pursuant to Army Regulation 15-6

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:17:00 GMT

Obtaining testimony from federal civilian employees during an administrative investigation pursuant to Army Regulation (AR) 15-61 can be difficult. If approached improperly or without careful analysis, it can adversely affect both the investigation and any follow-on corrective action. This article examines some of the legal protections afforded to Department of the Army (DA) Civilian employees being interviewed as part of an AR 15-6 investigation, specifically when employee misconduct or criminal activity is suspected.

No. 4: Certain Principles Are Eternal

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:16:00 GMT

“Principled Counsel is professional advice on law and policy grounded in the Army Ethic and the enduring respect for the Rule of Law, effectively communicated with appropriate candor and moral courage, that influences informed decisions.” Although this particular definition is new to our Corps, principled counsel has been at the heart of our legal practice throughout our nation’s history.

No. 3: Cross-Examining Convention

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:16:00 GMT

This article is intended to do one thing: encourage the military justice community of practice to grapple with the arguments typically made when justifying the value and utility of commanders as court-martial convening authorities. To do that, this article uses the same simple method I have employed in a class I teach to West Point cadets.

Closing Argument: Principled Counsel and the Paraprofessional

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:15:00 GMT

Principled Counsel: Professional advice on Law and Policy grounded in the Army Ethic and enduring respect for the Rule of Law, effectively communicated with appropriate candor and morale courage, that influences informed decisions.