D.C. Circuit

When traveling abroad for the first time, it seems every American is struck by the brilliance of creating paper money with a correlation between the size of a bill and its value. “That must be nice for blind people,” we think. Well, the D.C. Circuit thinks the same way. In a 2-1 ruling (PDF) issued […]

Spring! Cherry blossoms, opening day, and pedigreed lawyers uniting in marriage. We’re pleased to be back with another installment of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, featuring these three impressive couples: 1.) Susannah Foster and Kenyon Weaver 2.) Kathleen DeLaney and Courtney Thomas 3.) Heath Kern and Joseph Gibson More on our finalists, after the jump.

* Does the Bush Administration have Blackwater’s back? The U.S. pushes for specific legal protections from Iraqi law for civilian contractors. [New York Times] * West Virginia: a little less corrupt than last week? WV Supreme Court agrees to rehear Massey Energy case (previously discussed here). [AP; WSJ Law Blog] * D.C. Circuit Chief Judge […]

So LEWW was at a wedding the other weekend, and who should plunk down next to us but a reporter for the NYT Vows section! It was a deeply emotional, humbling experience — like being face-to-face with Gandhi, or Bono — but after we recovered, we waved our ATL press credentials and had a nice […]

As noted in the Washington Post, President Bush is expected to name Alberto Gonzales’s replacement as attorney general in the next few days, after returning from Australia tomorrow. The WaPo seems to be predicting Ted Olson: [F]ormer solicitor general Theodore B. Olson has emerged as one of the leading contenders for the job, according to […]

The D.C. Circuit’s administrative law-heavy docket can be a total snooze-fest less than thrilling. But at least that uber-prestigious court is stocked with some interesting personalities. Like the prominent, conservative, and temperamental Judge Laurence H. Silberman. From a tipster: How about giving a shout-out to the latest Silbermannerisms? Yesterday Judge Silberman served up these two […]

[Ed. note: We now turn the floor over to the fabulous Laurie Lin, of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, for a guest post on the D.C. Circuit clerk book proposal controversy. This post was originally scheduled for publication yesterday afternoon, when Laurie was holding down the fort while we were offline and in transit. Sadly, technical […]

Liberal law professors can be pretty predictable in their tastes. Volvo stationwagons. Fair trade coffee. Guns. Guns? Yes, guns. No, not gunners — guns. Firearms. Bang bang. The good ol’ Second Amendment. According to a very interesting NYT article, by Adam Liptak: In March, for the first time in the nation’s history, a federal appeals […]

Here’s an open thread for some Friday afternoon discussion — of associate pay raise news (of course), the D.C. Circuit gun control ruling, the latest Patriot Act controversy, or whatever else is on your mind right now. Friday afternoons and evenings, of course, are favored times for breaking news — especially of the bad variety […]

“I wouldn’t call Harry Edwards a ‘judicial divo,’ per se. He’s just really irritable, that’s all.” This is a continuation of our earlier post about a luncheon talk by the fantabulous Judge Janice Rogers Brown. Judge Brown sits on the D.C. Circuit, the most prestigious appellate court in the country after the U.S. Supreme Court […]

Ed. note: Fans of diversity will be pleased to note that this post has nothing to do with (1) Aaron Charney, (2) Biglaw pay raises, or (3) Shanetta Cutlar. “I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: I am NOT a judicial diva!!!” (Okay, she didn’t say it quite this emphatically. But Judge Brown did […]

Last Friday, we attended a fantastic lunch talk by Judge Janice Rogers Brown (near right; her celebrity doppelganger, Wanda Sykes, is on the far right). In case you’re not familiar with her, Judge Brown is a leading judicial diva. She’s a former justice of the California Supreme Court and a current member of the D.C. […]

Here is some late-breaking judicial nomination news: 1. An update to our prior coverage of the withdrawal of the “Radioactive Four.” As one of you points out, it seems that Judge Terrence Boyle (E.D.N.C.), nominated to the Fourth Circuit, wanted to continue fighting. From the latest version of the AP story: William Haynes, William G. […]

Last week was short, thanks to the New Year’s holiday; but it sure was busy. Here are some highlights from a very momentous week: * No more jokes about Harriet Miers: the ill-fated ex-SCOTUS nominee has resigned as White House counsel. Speculation about her successor abounds. * No more jokes about the Dewy Orifice: the […]

Fun news CAN break over a holiday weekend. Check out this Times article (by the indefatigable Adam Liptak, a Yale Law School alum): A divided panel of the [exceedingly powerful] United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which will soon decide an important case concerning detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rejected […]

* An S.D.N.Y. Bankruptcy Court has given Air America time to pursue the sale of the liberal talk radio network. Interested suitors include Rush, Hannity, and the Monopoly guy. [MSNBC] * “A federal judge Tuesday temporarily barred Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from implementing a law designed to prevent illegal immigrants from living in the town.” [CNN] * […]

If you, like us, find Supreme Court justice sightings more thrilling than Brangelina spottings, you would have died from excitement at the portrait ceremony for Judge Stephen F. Williams. Judge Williams is the brilliant former law professor who now sits on the venerated D.C. Circuit. Back in the day, before he assumed senior status, Stephen […]

Last week we asked for your input on the most flattering hairstyle for Judge Janice Rogers Brown, of the exceedingly prestigious D.C. Circuit. Judge Brown, a high-powered and conservative jurist, may someday be the first African-American woman to sit on the Supreme Court. We offered you a choice of two looks: “Bangs Janice” and “Perm […]