A free legal self-help platform that drafts court-ready federal and state filings — complaints, motions, and demand letters — using only verified case citations, guided by Atticus BradStreet McDermott, the first AI counsel sent to law school.

Does it cost anything to draft a legal document?

No. Document drafting, the law library, and Know Your Rights education are free for all. The store and collectibles support the mission.

Are the case citations real?

Yes — every authority comes from a hand-verified arsenal of more than 200 controlling cases. If a citation is not verified to exist, it is never used.

LIVE WIRE

MARKETSEquity futures edge higher as traders assess Fed rate-cut timeline•MARKETSTreasury yields steady amid mixed signals on inflation and growth•MARKETSLegal-sector M&A activity remains elevated as firms seek scale•TOP CASEDobbs v. Jackson re-shaped abortion jurisprudence, litigation ongoing•TOP CASE303 Creative ruling expands First Amendment protection for service refusals•TOP CASEStudents for Fair Admissions ended race-conscious college admissions•USAFederal courts continue processing record civil-rights docket nationwide•USACongress debates reforms to the Administrative Procedure Act's scope•USAState attorneys general increasingly coordinate on multistate litigation•USAPublic defenders cite chronic underfunding as access-to-justice gap widens•WORLDInternational Court of Justice caseload grows as nations turn to legal remedies•WORLDEU AI Act compliance timelines prompt cross-border legal strategy reviews•MARKETSEquity futures edge higher as traders assess Fed rate-cut timeline•MARKETSTreasury yields steady amid mixed signals on inflation and growth•MARKETSLegal-sector M&A activity remains elevated as firms seek scale•TOP CASEDobbs v. Jackson re-shaped abortion jurisprudence, litigation ongoing•TOP CASE303 Creative ruling expands First Amendment protection for service refusals•TOP CASEStudents for Fair Admissions ended race-conscious college admissions•USAFederal courts continue processing record civil-rights docket nationwide•USACongress debates reforms to the Administrative Procedure Act's scope•USAState attorneys general increasingly coordinate on multistate litigation•USAPublic defenders cite chronic underfunding as access-to-justice gap widens•WORLDInternational Court of Justice caseload grows as nations turn to legal remedies•WORLDEU AI Act compliance timelines prompt cross-border legal strategy reviews•

OIG CRIMINAL WIRE BUSTED

FRESH BUSTFormer Federal Employee Pleads Guilty to Defrauding the Federal Government of Approximately $194 Million⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez convicted — bribery, extortion & acting as a foreign agent — 11 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. George Santos pled guilty — wire fraud & aggravated identity theft — 87 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI agent Robert Hanssen — espionage for Russia — life without parole⚖ON THE RECORDFormer CIA officer Aldrich Ames — espionage against the United States — life in prison⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI counterintel chief Charles McGonigal pled guilty — sanctions violations for a Russian oligarch⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — convicted of corruption — 14 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — racketeering & extortion — 28 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah — racketeering & fraud — 10 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter pled guilty — conversion of campaign funds⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. pled guilty — $750K in campaign funds — 30 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn — stole & leaked tax returns — 5 years⚖ON THE RECORDBaltimore Gun Trace Task Force — 8 police officers convicted of racketeering & robbery⚖ON THE RECORD'Fat Leonard' scandal — dozens of Navy officials convicted of bribery & fraud⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FCI Dublin warden Ray Garcia convicted — abuse of incarcerated women — 70 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer DHS acting IG Charles Edwards pled guilty — stealing government software & data⚖ON THE RECORDFormer VA pathologist Robert Levy — fraud & involuntary manslaughter — 20 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — convicted of corruption — 6.5 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NSA contractor Reality Winner — Espionage Act — 63 months⚖FRESH BUSTFormer Federal Employee Pleads Guilty to Defrauding the Federal Government of Approximately $194 Million⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez convicted — bribery, extortion & acting as a foreign agent — 11 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. George Santos pled guilty — wire fraud & aggravated identity theft — 87 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI agent Robert Hanssen — espionage for Russia — life without parole⚖ON THE RECORDFormer CIA officer Aldrich Ames — espionage against the United States — life in prison⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI counterintel chief Charles McGonigal pled guilty — sanctions violations for a Russian oligarch⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — convicted of corruption — 14 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — racketeering & extortion — 28 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah — racketeering & fraud — 10 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter pled guilty — conversion of campaign funds⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. pled guilty — $750K in campaign funds — 30 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn — stole & leaked tax returns — 5 years⚖ON THE RECORDBaltimore Gun Trace Task Force — 8 police officers convicted of racketeering & robbery⚖ON THE RECORD'Fat Leonard' scandal — dozens of Navy officials convicted of bribery & fraud⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FCI Dublin warden Ray Garcia convicted — abuse of incarcerated women — 70 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer DHS acting IG Charles Edwards pled guilty — stealing government software & data⚖ON THE RECORDFormer VA pathologist Robert Levy — fraud & involuntary manslaughter — 20 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — convicted of corruption — 6.5 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NSA contractor Reality Winner — Espionage Act — 63 months⚖

The Skunk Docket

The Skunk Docket · Education · June 2026

The Doctrine of Right Versus Wrong: You May Not Need a Lawyer. You May Need a Friend-of-the-Court Brief.

There is a phrase in Latin that every American should have been taught in school and almost none were: amicus curiae. Friend of the court. It means that even when you are not a party to a case — even when no lawyer will take your call — the law itself provides a door through which an ordinary citizen may respectfully ask a judge for permission to be heard. Not to fight for the plaintiff. Not to fight for the defendant. To help the court get it right.

Older than the Republic, bigger than one side

The friend of the court is one of the oldest offices in Western law — Roman in root, carried through the English common law into ours. Henry Clay stood as one of the earliest amici before the United States Supreme Court in Green v. Biddle in the 1820s. Louis Brandeis's famous fact-laden brief in Muller v. Oregon (1908) proved a brief could reshape constitutional law. Today the Supreme Court's own Rule 37 says it plainly: an amicus brief that brings the Court relevant matter the parties missed 'may be of considerable help.' The office was never reserved for the powerful. It was reserved for the helpful.

The Doctrine of Right Versus Wrong

This platform now formally promulgates, teaches, and operates under the Doctrine of Right Versus Wrong — authored by David Bruce McDermott II and dedicated to the Honorable Judge Jim Huber of the Tulsa County District Court (No. FD-2009-1187). Its seven tenets, in brief: right and wrong exist before statutes, and the public never surrendered its seat; justice is not a side — the only client is the correct result; no credential is required to tell the truth; candor is the price of the podium; the record is sacred — document, cite, verify, or sit down; power answers to paper, in the open, by lawful process, never by threat or mob; and the courtroom belongs to the people. Read the full doctrine, the history, and the true courtroom story behind Tenet IV on the Friend of the Court page — then use the builder there to draft your own Motion for Leave and amicus suggestion, free.

“I'm emotionally attached to the case. I'm unskilled on the floor, and I'm not a lawyer. I'm sorry, Your Honor.” — the sentence Brett Brough taught, spoken before Judge Jim Huber, answered with one word: “Okay.”
Tenet IV — Candor is the price of the podium

Why this matters now

For a hundred years the machinery of American jurisprudence drifted away from the public it was built to serve — priced out and professionalized shut. The amicus tradition is the lawful counterweight, and it is being handed back to the people at scale: a free builder that walks any citizen through the Motion for Leave, drafts the brief or a respectful letter to the judge, audits every citation against verified law, and prints in exact court format. Not to promote one side. To determine justice for all, in our system of jurisprudence — the way the office was always meant to work. The door is on the Friend of the Court page. Walk through it.

Educational commentary. The history cited — Green v. Biddle, Muller v. Oregon, Supreme Court Rule 37 — is public record and independently verifiable. The doctrine and courtroom account are the founder's own, published as first-person testimony. Not legal advice.

Hear it on The Legal Stinker Podcast

© 2026 David McDermott · LAW SKUNK™ · McSkunkville™ · All Rights Reserved. All characters, lore, artwork and games — Atticus Bradstreet McDermott™, Judge Brett David McSkunk™, David Bradstreet McSkunk™, Jim McSkunk Rockford™, Hugh "Le Pew" McSkunkner™, The Firm, the McSkunkville Casino™ and Series One: The Case of the McSkunk Ruby™ — are original works protected under 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. Unauthorized reproduction or commercial use is prohibited.Sealed in the Copyright Vault →