Morning Docket

Morning Docket 01.05.09

By  
on

* The Washington Post editorial board sounds the call for a judicial pay raise, lamenting the fact that with salaries at $170k, most federal trial judges make less than Biglaw junior associates. “Increasingly cut out of contention for these important and prestigious positions are workaday lawyers most familiar with the realities of the business and legal arenas,” says The Post. [Washington Post]

* … Or maybe wannabe judges should migrate to L.A. County, where judges make $250k per year (factoring in benefits). Judges there are fighting off a Judicial Watch lawsuit that seeks to cut their pay. [Los Angeles Times]

* A Liberian immigrant tried to sneak monkey meat into New York from Africa. Judge Raymond J. Dearie rejects her faith-based objection to smuggling charges, writing that nothing in her religion “required her to abstain from truthful completion of paperwork.” [Associated Press]

* Democrat Al Franken will soon claim victory in the Minnesota Senate race, but incumbent Republican Norm Coleman will try to get the Minnesota Supreme Court to count some additional absentee ballots. This drawn-out vote counting is really impinging on the contest’s drama. Maybe they should just thumb wrestle for the seat. [Reuters]

* Gambling addictions and attorney trust funds are not a good combination. A New Jersey attorney admits to stealing $4 million from his clients to fund his love of Atlantic City slot machines. [The Star-Ledger]

Sponsored

Topics