‘‘The concept of equal protection under both the state and federal constitutions has been traditionally viewed as requiring the uniform treatment of persons standing in the same relation to the governmental action questioned or challenged.’ Constitutional right of equal protection ‘‘is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike’’  Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health

Connecticut is a State that does not tolerate or codify hatred. Please come and live here or at least spend a few days here. If you’re a company, please relocate your business here. We respect all of your employees. We love families. Really, we mean it.

Don’t believe me, read Kerrigan which I linked to above. We’re not without our problems but we’re on the right side of history.

In response to our Supreme Court recognizing the rights of same-sex couples to marry, do you know what the citizens of Connecticut did? We didn’t take to the streets. We didn’t amend our constitution (even though we had the chance to). We did nothing. There wasn’t even any real controversy. As it should be, it was business as usual.

Various trade and industry groups like to rank Connecticut as unfriendly to business. And our permitting process slows economic growth. Our transportation systems need to be improved as do failing inner city schools. Those criticisms are fair.

But when I see those studies they never seek to measure things like “respect for equal rights”.  My guess is that what happened in North Carolina last night cost them business. Many young people from around the country took to twitter to boycott moving to or vacationing in North Carolina.

To which, I say, come to Connecticut. We welcome you and your family with open arms.

I took this picture at Rocky Hill Town Hall on Monday. Presumably they have a pet counter in the building. Though I was unable to confirm this.

“You can be too trusting, but you can never be too trusted.”

4 hour parking limits at meters.

Parking meters are presently capped at 2 hours. Like many people heading to court, I use these meters a lot.  If I’m heading in on a short motion, I’ll opt to fill the meter ($2) in lieu of paying $9 to park for the day. Many people do this.

Clients and lawyers regularly have to leave court to feed meters. Delays are common in court.

My small idea is to bump the meters to 4 hour limits. In exchange for the added convenience, I’d happily pay $5 for a 4 hour block of time. Under my proposal, the City would net an extra dollar (likely more) and Hartford would be instantly more “business friendly”.

There are no shortage of opinions as to what if any cloud based apps are safe for attorneys to use.

Cloud based apps allow for offsite storage of data. All sorts of data. Services like google apps provide for cloud based email solutions. While a service like evernote allows attorneys to take notes and have the notes anywhere there’s an internet connection – regardless of platform. Very cool stuff.

The arguments usually boil down to “it’s safe read the privacy policy v. that service will comply with a subpoena by law enforcement.” I’m not stepping into the fray of this argument. Lawyers should read the privacy and storage policies of cloud based providers and make their own determination as to whether or not any provider complies with the ethical requirements of his jurisdiction.

What gets lost in the debate is how lawyers use technology. Presently, my firm uses an onsite server. Many of the documents stored on that server wind up in the public domain as pleadings.

Let’s say a client comes to you with very sensitive information. Information that puts the clients business, liberty, and/or safety at risk. Are you going to write that information down and leave it on a notepad in your office? Where custodial staff could find it? What if you drop a folder on the way to court and the wind blows your notes away – are you going to risk that? I’d hope not.

Lawyers need to use common sense in storing sensitive data and that doesn’t change in the cloud.

Lawyers and litigants alike beware of parking near Hartford’s courts.

Meters have long been aggressively checked in the area.

Recently, I got a ticket for not being parked within 12 inches of the curb.

There’s no way that’s correct. None. I paid the meter and I parked properly.