June 2012
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Books, In-House Counsel, Shameless Plugs
Inside Straight: Cravath Summer Bonuses!?
Mark Herrmann just might have some shocking, scandalous news... maybe... -
Barack Obama, Constitutional Law, Election 2012, Health Care / Medicine, John Roberts, Neal Katyal, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Individual Mandate Survives; It's A Tax Now!
Roberts upholds the individual mandate as a tax, not as a use of commerce power... - Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
Barack Obama, Bernie Madoff, Copyright, Department of Justice, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 06.28.12
* Today’s court session is business as usual for SCOTUS, because the justices always seem to save the “best” for last. And now I’ll have that stupid Vanessa Williams song stuck in my head all day. Sorry if I got it stuck in yours, too. [National Law Journal (reg. req.)]
* Meanwhile, over at the White House, the air was thick with the sound of silence on the eve of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act. More than willing to bet that President Obama probably didn’t sleep too well last night. [Los Angeles Times]
* “If she dies and Romney wins, the Supreme Court will be the most conservative in history.” Oh, please. Stop giving Ruth Bader Ginsburg flak for being too old, and learn to respect your elders — she’ll quit (or she’ll croak) when she damn well feels like it. [New York Times]
* Peter Madoff will plead guilty to two federal charges at the end of the week. He’ll probably serve ten years in prison. In the long run, that’s nothing compared to big brother Bernie’s 150-year sentence. [Bloomberg]
* Reason #11ty-billion why we <3 Flori-duh: a judge rejected the DOJ's request to block Florida's voter purge, and Governor Rick Scott, of course, was pleased as punch, calling it a "common-sense decision." [POLITICO] * Megaupload wins again: a New Zealand court ruled that the search warrants used to raid Kim Dotcom’s mansion were illegal because they failed to “adequately describe the offenses to which they related.” [Reuters] * Loan debt will allegedly make you do some pretty crazy sh*t. Jason Bohn, the law school grad featured in an NYT article about the perils of law school, now stands accused of murdering his girlfriend. [New York Post] * The ABA Journal wants to know if you think your law school’s name and reputation affected your career path. Well, the first comment on my first post was “the what what school of where now,” so you tell me. [ABA Journal]
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Police, Texas, Videos, YouTube
Motorcyclist Roughly Arrested After Refusing to Give up His Helmet Cam; Camera Films the Whole Thing
Motorcyclist gets pulled over, cop demands his helmet camera, the cyclist says no, then gets arrested. Camera records the whole thing. Now we all get to watch the video. Fun times. -
Airplanes / Aviation, Deaths, Nauseating Things, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Screening Room Floor
The TSA is at it again, this time allegedly disrespecting a man carrying his grandfather's ashes for the sake of security screening… -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.27.12
* Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSBlog believes that the individual mandate will be upheld tomorrow. I’m on record as saying that if so, it’ll be the greatest moment of Chief Justice Roberts’s tenure. It would be a message that the Court was above politics, something that the Court has struggled to prove since Bush v. Gore. Obviously, I expect them to strike down the mandate, laugh at the other two branches of government, and then have a big sex and coke party because they can’t be fired. [SCOTUSblog] * Back in the day, I went to Lollapalooza and caught a performance of Courtney Love’s band Hole, and it was great and she was great and then she did a cover of Come as You Are that blew the doors off and I remember just hoping she’d stay just clean enough to make great music. Things didn’t work out that way. [Hollywood Reporter] * Social media. Data breach. Lawsuit. This happens so often now I don’t know that it’s news, it’s just the way things are. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * NYU Law Professor wants to ban hate speech. Gosh, I hardly think the government should be able to prevent me from saying things like “this stupid freaking argument would never be tolerated at Columbia.” [Bloomberg Law] * SEC is suing Phil Falcone, which is fun but might not make the most sense. [Dealbreaker] * The Ninth Circuit is trying to look down the rabbit hole of just what border agents can do to your laptop, and how long they can keep it. [Law Technology News] -
In-House Counsel
House Rules: What Does It Take to Stand Out?
Columnist David Mowry examines what it takes to set yourself apart as an in-house attorney. -
Advertising, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad
Thanks to Our Advertisers
Above the Law extends its thanks to this week's advertisers. - Sponsored
AI’s Impact On Law Firms Of Every Size
How solo lawyers, midsize firms, and global large law firms have an opportunity to adjust the way they work. -
7th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Health Care / Medicine, Immigration, Richard Posner, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Posner Pwns Scalia
Judge Richard Posner has some not exactly complimentary things to say about Justice Scalia's dissent in Arizona v. United States… -
Guns / Firearms, Law Professors, Law Schools
Law Professor Promises He Was Just Joking About Shooting People
Professor claims he was fired for making jokes about shooting people. At least, we think they were just jokes... -
Courthouses, New Orleans, Sex
A Courthouse Bathroom Stall Isn't the Best Place to Have Sex With a Minor
A New Orleans man was arrested after allegedly having sex in the bathroom of a criminal courthouse. So not sexy... -
Law Schools, Rankings
Where Did the Fortune 500 CEOs Go to Law School?
Did you know that 46 of the CEOs on the 2012 Fortune 500 list went to law school? Find out which schools they attended... -
Books, Fabulosity, Lawyerly Lairs, Money, Old People, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Real Estate
Lawyerly Lairs: Retired Skadden Partner 'Downsizes' to $3 Million Penthouse
A retired Skadden partner "downsized" to a $3 million penthouse. It's a tough life, but somebody's got to live it.
Sponsored
Law Firms Now Have A Choice In Their Document Comparison Software
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
How Transactional Lawyers Can Better Serve (And Maintain) Their Clients
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Why Do AI And Legal Professionals Make The Perfect Partnership?
AI’s Impact On Law Firms Of Every Size
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Cardozo Law School, Facebook, Law Schools
Student Wants Facebook Friends To Know He's Better Than Them
Facebook is like catnip for gunners... -
Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Guns / Firearms, Insider Trading, Law Professors, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Prostitution, Rankings, Student Loans
Morning Docket: 06.27.12
* Pay up or shut up: Dewey former partners need to worry about getting our kneecaps busted by the banks that loaned us money to fulfill our capital contributions? [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)]
* Senate leaders reached a tentative deal to keep student-loan interest rates at 3.4%. Too bad this only applies to undergrads — law students are still left holding the bag. [Wall Street Journal]
* Your mom probably told you not to be a tattletale, but evidently that kind of behavior really pays off in court. Adam Smith, formerly of Galleon, was sentenced to only two years’ probation for his “very substantial” aid in Raj Rajaratnam’s insider trading trial. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Forty-six CEOs on the 2012 Fortune 500 list went to law school, but only four hold degrees from schools outside the U.S. News Top 100, and just one went to an RNP school. Yikes. [U.S. News & World Report]
* Was this Nova Law professor “mentally deranged enough to engage in a campus shooting rampage”? That’s apparently what members of the administration thought when they fired him. [National Law Journal]
* Anna Gristina, the accused “Millionaire Madam,” was released last night on $250K bond after spending four months behind bars. Looks like it’s back to the world’s oldest profession for this soccer mom. [Reuters]
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Ave Maria School of Law, Law Schools, Student Loans, Texas
TTTrading Places: Law Schools Acquire New Territory
Law schools acquire other law schools so they can become bigger law schools. Mwahahaha.... -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.26.12
* Yesterday, we talked about Professor Jonathan Turley being butthurt over the criticism he received from Ann Althouse and others. Today, Althouse responds. I'm keeping my powder dry till Thursday, when I will undoubtedly have a full mental breakdown as SCOTUS overturns a healthcare plan I didn't really like in the first place. [Althouse] * Woman gets raped. Woman gets morning after pill. Woman reports rape to police. Police arrest woman on outstanding, unrelated warrant. Warden confiscates pill because that's what Jesus would have wanted. Do I have to explicitly say this happened in Florida, or did I give you enough context clues? [The Daily Dolt] * Hedge fund manager who faked his own death has thoughts on famous murders. [Dealbreaker] * Some other ways for law firms to compete for clients beyond offering the lowest price. [What About Clients?] * I think if this Miami Heat owner insists on proceeding with this lawsuit, then we should all get to Champagne Bukkake him when he loses. [The Legal Satyricon] * Check out this awesome podcast I was on last night. Not only did I get progressively more drunk while taping, I think I also said that Roberts "isn't so bad" and then named my favorite Justice appointed by a Republican. [Recess Appointment] -
Football, Kids, Quote of the Day, Rape, Suicide
Quote of the Day: Sorry, But No One Feels Bad For You
How has Jerry Sandusky been faring while on suicide watch? -
Biglaw, Small Law Firms, Women's Issues
Size Matters: Who Wants It All?
Can women at small law firms have it all? Insights from Valerie Katz. -
Blogging, Canada, Legal Ethics, Nude Dancing, Pictures, Pornography, Sex, Sex Scandals, Sexual Harassment
Probe Into Madam Justice Lori Douglas Gets Underway
What's the latest news about Madam Justice Lori Douglas, the Canadian judge whose nude photographs made their way to the internet?