January 2015

Should information relating to plea negotiations be kept confidential?

* Did two little kids get slapped with a lifetime gag order barring them from talking about fracking. But how will they explain their third eye? [The Guardian]

* Private equity firm TPG is suing its former PR man — former Bush spokesperson Adam Levine — for allegedly stealing confidential documents and threatening to leak them to the press. They probably showed where the Iraq WMDs were. [O’Dwyer’s]

* So maybe the blizzard of 2015 fizzled for New Yorkers. But winter’s not over yet — how do you interview in a snowstorm? [Corporette]

* Simpson Thacher could have some malpractice issues with that $1.5 billion SNAFU. [Law360]

* “The Supreme Court’s Billion-Dollar Mistake”? Well, they’re still half a billion ahead of Simpson Thacher. [New York Review of Books]

* Suge Knight accused of murder. Not an archival story. [Los Angeles Times]

* As Juggalo Law likes to say, “‘Sup With Aaron?” A recap of day 2 of the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, the Patriots scandal that isn’t about deflated balls. [ESPN]

* Lagarrette Blount marijuana charges dropped like a Boise State linebacker. Huh. I guess this was yet another Patriots scandal. [ESPN]

* 30 bats flew into an Arkansas courtroom disrupting a trial. That’ll teach them to let Joe Chill go free. [MyFoxNY]

* An online CLE on the ethical issues of laterals and collapsing firms. Dewey know any firms who could have used this information? [Bloomberg BNA]

Symbolic pandering is the order of the day.

Which law firms will take the lead on promoting diversity in the legal profession?

The life of a lawyer coloring book captures the ennui of a profession.

You call this "fiscal conservatism" Scott Walker?

Apparently no one brushed up on legal ethics over the break.

2014 was a banner year for lateral movement in the legal industry. But, which law firms hired the most lateral partners? Which firms had the greatest number of partner defections?

Our job as attorneys is all about being perfect and conforming. This passion for perfection generally bodes well for us as lawyers … but it’s horrible if we want to leave the law.

Well that seems like a tough choice.

Who designed this supremely awesome Notorious R.B.G. tattoo, and where can you get one just like it?

What if we took the ridiculous questions asked of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch and paired them with ridiculous answers from Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch?

* Next time on Nancy Grace: A recent graduate of Michigan State Law allegedly got a master’s degree student from the school pregnant twice before he left the country. The woman allegedly murdered one of the babies, and the other is now missing. [Detroit Free Press]

* I’ll just leave this right here so I won’t get fined. It looks like a partner from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton helped Marshawn Lynch trademark his nickname “Beast Mode” — a trademark that may lead to Lynch getting a $100,000 fine from the NFL. [Am Law Daily]

* In other trademark news, Taylor Swift got approval for catchphrases from her album. “Nice to Meet You, Where You Been?” Her IP lawyers “Could Show You Incredible Things,” but you could’ve been getting down to “This Sick Beat.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Gibson Dunn earned $459,000 for successfully challenging Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage, which was apparently a “sharp cut” in the fees the firm initially requested for star litigator Ted Olson’s time. Poor Teddy. [National Law Journal]

* According to Am Law’s latest Lateral Partners Survey, there was a 7 percent increase in lateral moves — 2,736, to be precise — between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2014. Guaranteed pay packages, though, seem to be a thing of the past. [American Lawyer]

* The K&L Gates Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project, a clinic that’s perhaps better known as the firm’s revenge porn project, is assisting a California law student whose nude pictures and videos were allegedly put online by an ex. [DealBook / New York Times]

Even the top-billing associates aren't getting DPW scale for some class years.

* An interview with Judge Paul Cassell, the former jurist representing the woman accusing Professor Alan Dershowitz. Will this be the face of Dershowitz's reversal of fortune? (See what I did there?) [The Careerist] * Indiana is making moves to end litigation financing. If you want to see a naked attempt by deep pockets to influence the law, read this story. Or, you know, any story about lobbying ever. [LFC 360] * For people who kvetched that their precious feelings get hurt when Staci writes about sexism in the legal industry, it may warm your hearts to learn that, according to a UC Hastings Law study, STEM careers are just as bad. Yay? [Mashable] * Oh and finance is the same way. [Law and More] * Elementary school conducting poop inspections. Holy s**t. [Huffington Post] * Anti-vaccination parents have brought measles roaring back to ruin Disneyland vacations. Is it time to start suing them for turning their kids into plague vectors? [Forbes] * SpaceX drops its lawsuit against the Air Force. [Slate] * If you're interested in Sports Law, Penn Law is hosting a symposium on February 13. Get your tickets at this link. [Penn Law Sports Law Symposium] * Practice alert: The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution has issued a new set of rules. For any general counsel out there plagued with cross-border business-to-business disputes, check them out. [What About Clients?] * Our friend Sidney Powell's book, Licensed to Lie (affiliate link), earned a starring role at the Loretta Lynch confirmation hearings. Check out the questioning below. [YouTube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54uoOH_qh7U&feature=youtu.be

That's about as smooth as a confirmation hearing will go in this era of divided government.

Do you care about "accuracy" in law-related movies and TV shows? What about implausibility?

Discipline can allow one to grow and change, a lack of discipline will likely lead to stagnation. So do you want to be free or be a slave?