the archives of f/k/a . . .

f/k/a means formerly known as

After almost 6 years and 2500 postings, f/k/a stopped publishing new material on February 28, 2009.  It’s all still here in our archives, so please browse to find our unique punditry, much of which deals with the foibles of lawyers and the rights of their clients, plus thousands of quality haiku by a couple dozen fine poets.  The closest thing we have to a “Best of” List can be found on Prof. Yabut’s Favorites Page.

….. david giacalone - Editor/Proprietor

Note: Due to a webserver change, some links to f/k/a posts are broken; since the material is all still here, we hope you’ll try using Google or our Search Box to find it.

Since May 2003, f/k/a has combined “breathless punditry” — lively commentary focused on legal ethics and client’s rights, plus political and cultural topics — with a dose of “one-breath poetry” in the form of genuine haiku and senryu. [Scroll down this page to find the history of this weblog (which has gone through several stages), its copyright policy, and information about its proprietor-Editor.] Although opinionated and occasionally cranky, the Editor/Host, David Giacalone, and his alter egos in “the f/k/a Gang” (including Prof. Yabut, ethicalEsq, Jack Cliente, and dagosan) strive for even-handedness and intellectual honesty, usually with a sense of humor. You can contact David through our Comment section, or by email using: “dag DOT law76 AT post DOT harvard DOT edu“.

Special thanks to the editors of the American Bar Association Journal for putting us on the very first Blawg 100 list of “the best sites by lawyers for lawyers” (December 2007). [Note: A "blawg" is a law or lawyer-related weblog.]

. . . We are also the proud recipient of Blawg Review’s “Creative Law Blog Award.” [see "thanks a lot (for all this pressure)" (Dec. 27, 2005)] In addition, we humbly thank both Blawg Review and Robert Ambrogi’s Lawsites, for including f/k/a in their “Simply the Best” Top Ten Blawg lists (see our post, October 5, 2007).  We’re also grateful that Lexis-Nexis has placed f/k/a on its very selective list of Top Legal Blogs at the Lexis Hub for New Attorneys.

As “Haiku Advocate and Missionary,” the Editor wants to share with visitors to this site the pleasures of real haiku (which we distinguish from the parody and pseudo-haiku you too often see on the Internet). In addition to his own humble offerings as dagosan, you will find haiku and related poetry by some of the very best published English-language “haijin” — our “Honored Guest Poets“, who have graciously shared their work with f/k/a and its readers — and the work of Japanese master Kobayashi Issa, translated by Prof. David G. Lanoue.

Quick Definition of Haiku: Haiku is a “one-breath” poem (no more than 17 syllables) that relates nature to human nature, and usually compares or contrasts a pair of sensory images, which are separated by a pause. At its best, haiku lets the reader share in the poet’s “haiku moment” — a moment of insight or awe.

Quick Definition of Senryu: Senryu is a short poem similar in structure to haiku but featuring observations on human nature (often ironic, humorous and/or coarse).

See “is it or ain’t it haiku?” to learn more about the haiku genre and find links to other helpful materials. Also see our Haiku Resources Page.

Most Americans only know haiku as childish poems with three lines and strict 5-7-5 syllable format — or, as off-color or silly doggerel in the 5 - 7- 5 format. I was fortunate to discover haiku as a true poetry genre and a multi-dimensional artistic experience, at a time when my health limited both my attention span and my stamina. Small doses of the tiny poems inspired me as a reader, and kindled a belief that even I — despite a couple decades as a lawyer — could learn to “do something creative.” I hope you’ll catch haiku fever from this weblog and the resources mentioned in the weblog.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: The commentary/punditry on this website is copyrighted by its author, David A. Giacalone, but is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License, and can be used for non-commercial purposes, so long as it is attributed to f/k/a and its author, and distributed under the same or similar license.

Please note, however, that the poets whose works appear at f/k/a reserve all prior copyrights and their poetry may not be reproduced without their prior consent. Of course, Fair Use rights are not affected by these limitations.

Our weblog history. The original weblog at this site began on May 26, 2003, and was called ethicalEsq. It focused on legal ethics and clients’ rights. haikuEsq came on board on Dec. 13, 2003, taking charge of our Sidebar. The post “Yes, Lawyers and haiku” explains the haikuEsq philosophy, and why we think haiku is a perfect art form for lawyers and others in our too-busy society. On May 26, 2004, we tried to go (virtually) all-haiku and launched f/k/a (see “Poetry Not Punditry” ). However, the world is just too interesting to ignore, so we went back to offering punditry. So far, health-related attempts to keep commentary as short as our poetry have failed.

Please note: the Editor, David Giacalone, is solely responsible for all commentary or opinion that appears in the postings on this weblog. The haiku poets who generously appear here as Honored Guests do not necessarily — or even presumptively — concur. The Editor is not responsible for the Comments of others, but requests that all Commentors refrain from vulgarities and personal attacks. We reserve the right to remove such offensive comments. Because Comments are moderated at this website, there may be a delay between submission of a Comment and its appearance online.

ethicalEsq and Prof. Yabut are Editors Emeritus of this website .

prof. yabut’s journal was officially launched April 26, 2004. He made his debut here, on April 1, 2004, and retired May 26, 2004. He is an alter ego of the Editor.

As explained here and here, ethicalEsq and Prof. Yabut have mostly given up the punditry business. However, we have archived ethicalEsq’s postings and his extensive Legal Ethics Resources , as well as Prof. Yabut’s favorites.

The Editor: Although there may appear to be (and often are) warring personalities at this weblog, it is created and edited solely by David A. Giacalone, who is affectionately known around here as “I” and “we” (as well as Mr. Editor, haikuEsq, dagosan, Prof. Yabut, and other pseudonyms). Due to health problems, I’m a prematurely-retired (but no longer prematurely-gray) attorney and mediator, living in the Capital Region of New York State. My discovery of haiku late in life has brought me a lot of joy (see Yes, Lawyers and Haiku), and I want to help people who might not think of themselves as poetry-lovers to enjoy, appreciate, and maybe start to write haiku and related forms of poetry.

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1976, I spent a dozen years emersed in antitrust law and competition policy at the Federal Trade Commission. In 1988, my first mid-life crisis took me from Washington, D.C., to Schenectady, a small city in Upstate New York, where I began a decade of practice centered in family court, mostly representing children and developing a divorce mediation practice.

At the foot of the main page of ethicalEsq’s archives, you will find a fuller description of the experiences and perspectives that led me to start ethicalEsq. As I try to find my balance among a mix of haiku poetry, serious client advocacy and punditry, and idiosyncratic fun, I hope you’ll find f/k/a to be an enjoyable and interesting place to visit (frequently). My goal is to stay healthy enough to keep posting for as long as folks keep coming — and, probably a little longer.

s/dag

p.s. The curious can find a few “then and now” photos of the Editor on the Siblings Page.

p.p.s. David Giacalone was also the founding editor of shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress, which offers news, views and information on self-help law, and was chosen “Best Law Blog In the Public Interest” in the Blawg Review Awards 2006 . You can find more of his haiku at dagosan’s haiku diary.