* A dramatic closer look at Wolf Block’s collapse. [Philadelphia Magazine]
* The media buzz this week on Sotomayor: Her decision in the New Haven firefighters case could be a key issue during her confirmation hearings. [USA Today]
* Minnesota’s Supreme Court will hear arguments today in the Coleman–Franken election race. Yes, it is still going on. [Wall Street Journal]
* GM files for bankruptcy today. Wasn’t it always just a matter of time? [Associated Press]
* U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez has approved Chrysler’s sale of most of its business to Fiat. [Bloomberg]
* A Georgia man is facing execution for murdering an off-duty cop in 1989, even though seven out of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony. Should SCOTUS intervene? [New York Times]
Eliza Gray
Posts by Eliza Gray
* Republicans slam Obama for his “empathy” standard for his SCOTUS nominee, citing an earlier speech on the Senate floor emphasizing a different standard. [The Washington Post]
* Speaking of Obama, is he “the best lawyer to occupy the U.S. presidency since William Howard Taft”? [Foreign Policy]
* The Yankees held a moot court in a room off the clubhouse. Would you want to face a jury of Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon? [The New York Times]
* The Justice Department has arranged for the first Guantanamo inmate to be tried in a New York court. [The Washington Post]
* Shuttered Chrysler dealers may have a tough time fighting their closures in court, due to the freedom that bankruptcy laws give courts to tear up contracts. [The Wall Street Journal]
* Immigrants are being deported in the middle of their court cases. [The Los Angeles Times]
* President Obama will talk about his plans to close Guantanamo in a national address in order to rally support from the public after getting shut down by members of Congress. [CNN]
* After quietly accepting charges from several states, Craiglist is fighting back. The company sued South Carolina’s attorney general for violating free speech and the Commerce Clause with his prosecution threats. [San Francisco Chronicle]
* A “flamboyant” high profile defense attorney in New Jersey who was famous for saying “no witness, no case” has been charged with having key witnesses murdered. [New York Times]
* “Manhattan prosecutors have charged a New York personal injury lawyer with stealing $650,000 in client settlement money. [ABA Journal]
* Despite his liberal tendencies, David Souter treated the business community well. Will Obama’s successor do the same? [Wall Street Journal]
* The pitfalls and benefits of power of attorney. [New York Times]
* Struggling to compete for business in a shrinking market, law firms are hiring image and marketing consultants to improve their chances–one Philadelphia-based image consultant even tells them how to dress for the courtroom. Lay-off problem solved–apparently all you need is a makeover. [The Wall Street Journal]
* Not only that, but in an effort to be more business savvy, more firms are investing in management courses for their top lawyers. [The Wall Street Journal]
* Tweets lawyers should follow. [Law.com]
* Jeffrey Toobin on John Roberts. [The New Yorker]
UPDATE: * Kash on Toobin on Roberts. [Above The Law]
* The District US Court of Appeals ruled that the White House can keep emails from the public because the White House Office of Administration is not subject to The Freedom of Information Act. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
* A word of advice to the new summer associates: Paralegals can’t be trusted. [Legal Intelligencer]
* SCOTUS dismissed the lawsuit that sought to punish top Bush officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft, for detaining Muslims that were not involved in 9-11. [Christian Science Monitor]
* Military commission trials for Guantanamo detainees present many of the same challenges that the Bush administration faced, in spite of Obama’s facelift. [New York Times]
* The White House passed on an opportunity to bring a case involving gays in the military to the Supreme Court. Are they stalling and playing politics or are they right to say that the law should be changed in the legislature and not the courts? [Wall Street Journal (subscription)]
* What do potential SCOTUS nominees and ambulance chasers have in common? Uh, hopefully nothing…[Esquire]
* The court will hear a case against Sarbanes-Oxley in the fall term–is this the time to question too much oversight? [Washington Post]
* Conservatives are gearing up to attack Obama’s SCOTUS nominee. [The New York Times]
* The White House is preparing for the fight, and has hired Stephanie Cutter, who currently works for Timothy Geithner in the the Treasury Department, to help with the confirmation process. [CNN]
* But some Republican Senators say that Obama’s nominee will be confirmed no matter what they do (barring some major flaw). [The New York Times]
* The new Justice, whoever she, or he, but probably she may be, will have a busy docket this fall, including a case deciding whether juvenile offenders who commit crimes before they turn 18 can be sentenced to life in prison. [Reuters]
* The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is investigating at least 8 of Madoff’s investors and associates, including one of his closest friends. [The Wall Street Journal]
* Two enforcement lawyers at the SEC are being investigated for insider trading. [The Financial Times]
* The New York Times couldn’t get a quote from Justice Scalia about the Fordham privacy invasion, but we did. It feels good to gloat. [New York Times]
- Department of Justice, Lesbians, Morning Docket, Robert Wone, SCOTUS, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court
Morning Docket 5.08.09
By Eliza Gray
* There has been plenty off talk about potential Supreme Court nominees, but how about the conservative groups gearing up to oppose them? [The Washington Post]
* Two highly qualified lesbians, Virginia Linder and Kathleen Sullivan, are apparently on Obama’s Supreme Court short list. [ABC News]
* The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions, says that an openly gay Supreme Court nominee should be treated fairly “regardless of what kind of persuasion they may have.” [Fox News]
* Meanwhile Specter has lost his seniority on the Senate Judiciary Committee and will become the chairman of the subcommittee on crime and drugs. “What we don’t want is an angry former Republican during a Supreme Court hearing,” said a Democratic staffer. [Washington Post]
* Police continue to investigate mysteries surrounding the death of Robert Wone, a Washington lawyer who was murdered in 2006. [The Blog of Legal Times]
* Did you know there was an elite “Public Integrity Section” in the Department of Justice tasked with probing corruption charges of public officials? [The New York Times]
* A Los Angeles Judge accused an asbestos litigation firm of playing “a grisly game of asbestos litigation” after they refiled a Texas case in California because it has more exacting standards for a defendant to obtain summary judgment. Perhaps, judge, you’ve lost a little perspective? [ABA Journal]
* A German court rejected a woman’s appeal to take her married name Frieda Rosemarie Thalheim-Kunz-Hallstein because it is too long. [Time.com]
* “Across Georgia, poor people accused of crimes are being abandoned by their lawyers because there is no money to pay their legal fees” (this might put deferred start dates in to perspective).[The Atlanta Journal Constitution]
* Madoff “turned his investment firm into his ‘personal piggy bank,’” using the ponzi money for his family’s expenses. Personally, I have no energy for renewed outrage. [Bloomberg.com]
* President of San Francisco’s Federal Reserve says the economy is getting better. “For the first time in a while, there is some good news to savor.” If by good news, you mean that laid-off lawyers have taken to wearing track suits around the house “savoring” comfort food instead of 6-figure salaries, then yes, there is reason for optimism. [Bloomberg.com]
* Meanwhile, Chrysler’s bankruptcy judge Arthur Gonzalez paved the way for a fire sale of most of the company’s assets. [Reuters]
* A Miami juror, who was on the jury deliberating the case of 6 men accused of conspiring to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago, was replaced for refusing to deliberate. Got to hand it to her for getting out of jury duty. [The New York Times]
* Souter says goodbye, telling the U.S. Court of Appeals that a jurist’s satisfaction is “not in the great moments, but in being part of the great stream.” [The Washington Post]
* Should there be more women in the “great stream” Souter described. Justice Ginsburg says the Court would benefit from another woman. [USA Today]
* Senator Chuck Schumer went to bat for Loretta Lynch, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who held the job under Clinton and who has just been re-appointed by Obama. [The New York Times]
* The bankruptcy judge has made several decisions to keep Chrysler afloat including allowing a $4.5 billion credit line from the U.S. and Canadian governments. [The Detroit Free Press]
* State attorneys general will meet with Craiglist to discuss the elimination of advertisements for “illegal sexual activities.” [The Associated Press]
* In the Court’s first public appearance since Souter announced his retirement–there were many announcements of decisions and upcoming cases–but no mention of the elephant in the room. One case that will be decided is whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to give minors life sentences for serious crimes like rape. [The Washington Post]
* A group of biker lawyers has gotten together to form a small Los Angeles firm that represents victims of motorcycle accidents. [The Los Angeles Times]
* The story of a Beijing lawyer who took on Communist officials in court is evidence of how little freedom Chinese citizens really have. [The Los Angeles Times]
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