* “It seems no one can use dirty words, except Steven Spielberg.” Well, sh*t, I’ll be damned. Is Elena Kagan going to be the voice of reason in the Supreme Court’s FCC profanity case? [Los Angeles Times]
* Ken Cuccinelli filed an emergency motion to get Virginia’s primary ballots printed. You can’t wait three days for Perry’s hearing? It’s on Friday the 13th. You know how that’s going to go. [Bloomberg]
* The Tenth Circuit upheld a ruling to block an Oklahoma law barring the consideration of Sharia law in court decisions. If this pisses you off, go and watch Homeland. You’ll feel better. [MSNBC]
* Dewey want to join the Magic Circle? Bloody hell, of course! Clifford Chance has snagged two mergers and acquisitions partners from Dewey & LeBoeuf. [DealBook / New York Times]
* What will an LL.M. get you in today’s job market? Not a whole lot. And if you’re counting that extra year of loan debt as something of value, then you’re just a masochist. [National Law Journal]
* Heather Peters, the former lawyer suing Honda in small claims court, may be SOL because of a SOL issue. Stay tuned for the results at her second hearing later this month. [Huffington Post]
ALL YOUR DOCS ARE BELONG TO US.
Litigators at large law firms spend an inordinate (and depressing) amount of time on discovery disputes. They bombard poor magistrate judges with motions to compel. They bicker over deposition timing and location. They compile massive privilege logs. They file letter briefs with the court, explaining their entitlement to certain documents that opposing counsel is withholding, without justification.
Partners who work on such matters often say to their associates, “Find me a case in which a judge sanctioned a party for failure to comply with discovery obligations — preferably a case in which the non-compliance is exactly what opposing counsel is doing here, and ideally featuring soaring rhetoric about the importance of following discovery rules.” The associate spends several hours on Westlaw or Lexis, then returns empty-handed; there was nothing quite on-point. There was certainly no soaring rhetoric.
This shouldn’t be surprising. Do you think successful lawyers give up the practice of law in order to keep dealing with discovery-related headaches, for a fraction of what they earned in the private sector? Of course not. Federal district judges prefer to write published opinions about Sexy Constitutional Issues, leaving their magistrates to oversee the discovery playpen. In the rare discovery-related cases that do go up on appeal, federal circuit judges affirm as quickly and summarily as possible, so they can get back to the fun stuff. [FN1]
If you’re a Biglaw litigator searching for a published opinion addressing discovery issues, well, today is your lucky day. Check out this great opinion, just handed down — not by a mere magistrate or district judge, but by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit….
Continue reading “Biglaw Litigators, Rejoice! A Circuit Court Opinion on a Discovery Dispute”
'Judge Tacha, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.'
Here’s a new mini-trend: federal judges leaving the bench to lead law schools.
In 2007, David F. Levi stepped down as chief judge of the Eastern District of California, to assume the deanship of Duke Law School.
Today, Pepperdine University School of Law announced that Judge Deanell Reece Tacha — who has served on the Tenth Circuit for over 25 years, including a term as chief judge (2001-2007) — will be the school’s new dean, effective June 1.
Judge Tacha follows in the footsteps of another federal judge: former D.C. Circuit Judge Ken Starr, of Whitewater / Monica Lewinsky fame. Judge Starr served as Pepperdine Law’s dean until he left last year for the presidency of Baylor University.
How are students reacting to news of Judge Tacha’s appointment?
Continue reading “Musical Chairs: Judge Tacha To Take Over as Dean of Pepperdine Law”
Today the Tenth Circuit told the state of Utah that it could no longer erect crosses by the side of the highway memorializing state troopers who have died. The WSJ Law Blog excerpts this part of the opinion in American Atheists, Inc. v. Duncan (PDF):
“This may lead the reasonable observer to fear that Christians are likely to receive preferential treatment from the [Utah Highway Patrol],” the judges wrote, adding elsewhere in the opinion that “unlike Christmas, which has been widely embraced as a secular holiday. . . . there is no evidence in this case that the cross has been widely embraced by non-Christians as a secular symbol of death.”
I’m sorry, are there Hindus driving through Utah who are unaware that “Christians are likely to receive preferential treatment” in Utah? If so, I’d call that person a most unreasonable observer.
All joking aside, are we really living in a world where a simple cross to mark the death of a government worker violates the Establishment Clause?
Continue reading “Crosses Memorializing Dead State Troopers in Utah Ruled Unconstitutional”
If this tiger reminds you of your pet cat, you are an idiot.
There’s a Chris Rock joke about the Siegfried & Roy tiger attack: “That tiger didn’t go crazy, that tiger went tiger.” With that in mind, I bring you this latest decision from the Tenth Circuit, via the National Law Journal:
An insurance company does not have to pay a Kansas family $100,000 for an accident in which a Siberian tiger attacked and killed their daughter during her senior photo shoot, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
On Monday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that Safeco Insurance Company of America does not have to pay damages in a wrongful death suit because the homeowners policy bought by the tiger’s owners excluded coverage for business pursuits.
I’ll admit, it took me a second to appreciate what was going on here. As it turns out, the only actor that behaved reasonably in this situation was the tiger (and the Tenth Circuit)….
Continue reading “Tiger Goes Tiger, Insurance Company Doesn’t Have to Pay”
* “Are we headed for another Great Depression?” [McClatchy]
* Quelle surprise: Bear Stearns shareholder lawsuit (filed in S.D.N.Y. by Coughlin Stoia). [Bloomberg; WSJ Law Blog (PDF of complaint)]
* Speaking of Bear Stearns, here are some law firms losing out on BSC business. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Tenth Circuit reverses convictions of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio. [AP]
* Harvard Law School will pay the 3L tuition of future students who agree to work for nonprofit organizations or government for five years following graduation. [New York Times via Tax Prof Blog; Harvard Law School (news release)]
* Settlement in Paul McCartney-Heather Mills divorce (more on this later). [Legal Week]
* SCOTUS to hear Second Amendment / D.C. gun control case today (more on this later too). [New York Times; Reuters]
Last week, an investiture ceremony was held for Judge Neil Gorsuch, recently confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. And it was a star-studded affair. From the Denver Post:
Seven-year-old Emma and 5-year-old Belinda helped their father, Neil Gorsuch, into his judge’s robes Monday after the newly appointed 10th Circuit Court judge was sworn in.
Munching on cookies after the formal ceremony, Emma said she thought it “was nice.”
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who was in Denver to administer the oath, spoke directly to the little girls before Gorsuch raised his right hand. “He’s doing it to remind all of us that the first obligation any American has is to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States,” he said.
Justice Kennedy’s pedagogical impulse is admirable. We suspect, however, that Emma and Belinda were thinking more about cookies than the Constitution.
Some supplementary coverage, from an ATL tipster:
The entire en banc 10th Circuit was present. Justice Kennedy administered the oath. Attorney General Gonzales read the commission. Both Colorado Senators made remarks, as did Mark Hansen of Kellogg Huber (the insanely prestigious appellate shop from which Gorsuch rose). Half of the Justice Department was there: Rachel Brand, Elisebeth Collins Cook, Brett Gerry, Wan Kim, Gregory Katsas, among others.
The Gorsuch clerks showed everyone around Denver and got trashed on consecutive nights. Good times were had by all.
Article III groupies, Judge Neil Gorsuch is one to watch. He’s brilliant, he’s young, and he’s incredibly well-connected. Look for him to rise through the ranks of Supreme Court feeder judges in the years to come — and, perhaps, to be nominated to the Court himself someday.
(Judge Gorsuch is taking the seat of Judge David Ebel, who has been the Tenth Circuit’s resident feeder judge for quite some time now. Guess that’s the 10th Circuit’s designated “feeder seat.”)
Update: Would someone be able to locate and/or send us a good photo of Judge Gorsuch for our files? Our quick Googling didn’t produce anything useful.
10th Circuit judge’s oath a family affair [Denver Post]
North Korea now has nukes. Happy Columbus Day!
A number of you — e.g., federal government employees — are probably enjoying a day off right now. But for those of you who are stuck in the office and looking for distraction, you can always count on us to provide it.
* A California appeals court has ruled that prosecutrix Joyce Dudley must be disqualified from a rape case that may have served, at least in part, as the basis for a crime novel she wrote. If you can judge a book by its cover, Dudley’s book — Intoxicating Agent — is kinda schlocky. Current Amazon sales rank: #1,591,294. [New York Times; The Recorder]
* For more highbrow reading by a lawyer-turned-writer, check out Brad Snyder’s new book, A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports — just reviewed quite favorably by David Margolick for the New York Times. Current Amazon sales rank: #2,235 (and climbing). [New York Times]
(Disclosure: Brad Snyder, who manages the impressive feat of being simultaneously brilliant and super-cool, was our law school classmate. He’s also a former Ninth Circuit clerk, for Judge Dorothy Nelson.)
* Some advice for aspiring federal judges (at least as long as the Senate stays Republican): Steer clear of those lesbian commitment ceremonies. [Grand Rapids Press via How Appealing]
* Paula Rieker — the attractive, Starbucks-savoring former Enron-ista (see photo) — gets a break at sentencing: two years of probation, instead of ten years in prison. Caramel macchiatos all around! [Associated Press]
* Tenth Circuit Chief Judge Deanell Reece Tacha — who is a woman, and whose last name is pronounced ” TAH-ha” — has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, a top policy-making body for the federal courts. [Topeka Capital-Journal via How Appealing]
* More details emerge about the Robert Wone murder in Washington, DC. Wone was a prominent, promising young Asian-American attorney — general counsel at Radio Free Asia, and a former Covington & Burling associate — who was murdered under highly suspicious circumstances this past summer. [Washington Post]
* “Bless him Father, for he has sinned”: Msgr. John Woolsey made some unauthorized withdrawals from his church’s collection plate, which he blew on golf vacations and Rolex watches. (Monsignor: A Rolex is so unoriginal. Why not, say, a nice Patek Philippe?) [Judicial Reports]
* Newly confirmed Tenth Circuit judge Neil M. Gorsuch — a member of the Elect, former partner at the super-elite Kellogg Huber firm, and former Principal Deputy to the Associate Attorney General — has a new book out. It’s entitled The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. We have no idea what it says; but it was probably smart of him to get confirmed before it was published. [How Appealing]
* Planning a trip to Ireland? Law professor William Birdthistle has some recommendations for you. [Forbes]
* Gov. Jon Corzine’s picks for the New Jersey Supreme Court have cool names: James Zazzali, nominated to be the next Chief Justice, and Helen Hoens, nominated to fill Zazzali’s vacated seat. We support Judge Hoens’s nomination, ’cause we’re suckers for alliteration. And assonance, too. [New York Times]
* This is a long and juicy article; we’ll probably blog more about it later. For now, some key terms to whet your appetite: insider trading, ballroom dancing, trips to Cuba, BMWs, strippers. Oh, and a forklift operator. Don’t forget the forklift operator. [Fortune via WSJ Law Blog]
How Appealing reports that the Senate has just confirmed Jerome A. Holmes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, by a vote of 67-30. The Tenth Circuit, a moderate and quasi-boring appellate court, hears appeals from six underpopulated states in the heart of flyover country.
So why is the Holmes confirmation newsworthy? For those of you who haven’t been following this story, Holmes is a highly respected, exceptionally well-credentialed attorney. Who happens to be extremely conservative. Who happens to be African-American. And who happens to be quite outspoken on a number of issues, including affirmative action — which he strongly opposes.
One of our Hill sources describes Holmes as “the next Clarence Thomas,” who has liberals running scared. Our source opines: “They [Senate Democrats] would have loved to have stopped the Holmes confirmation. But given his credentials, and the fact that he’s black, there was nothing they could do. [Sen. Arlen] Specter scheduled several hours of floor debate, basically daring the Democrats to speak out against him. This is a fight the Republicans wanted to pick.”
And in the end, it’s a fight that they won. We’ll be keeping an eye on Judge Holmes. At the young age of 45, he has at least a decade left of possible viability as a Supreme Court nominee.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Jerome A. Holmes [How Appealing]
