Defamation
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Biglaw, Defamation, Disasters / Emergencies, Divorce Train Wrecks, Election 2012, Family Law, Inappropriate Venue, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Real Estate, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 10.29.12
* Hurricane Sandy is set to arrive today, so batten down the hatches, folks! Everything’s closing down for the storm, but please feel free to email us if your law school or law firm is encouraging you to work. [Washington Post]
* Thanks to the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United, companies can now recommend how their employees should vote, which is “no different from telling your children: ‘Eat your spinach. It’s good for you.’” [New York Times]
* Biglaw firms are re-negotiating their office space leases in an effort to save money. While some firms have already sealed their new real estate deals, others are still on the prowl — but which ones? [Am Law Daily]
* The University of St. Thomas School of Law has a new dean, and it certainly seems like he’s willing to make some waves to help his students. The first step for Robert Vischer? Reducing tuition. [National Law Journal]
* “I don’t think her popularity has improved since the [murder] verdict.” That’s probably why Casey Anthony’s lawyers are desperately trying to get a new venue for Zenaida Gonzalez’s defamation case. [Orlando Sentinel]
* A man divorced his formerly fugly wife (she had $100K in plastic surgery to correct her looks), sued her for luring him into marriage her under false pretenses, and won. Don’t worry, girls, this happened in China. [FOX]
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Cozen O'Connor, Defamation, Kids, Law Schools, Lawsuit of the Day, Litigators, Trusts and Estates, Vicious Infighting, Weirdness
Lawsuit of the Day: A 'Big-Shot' Lawyer Sues His Trust-Fund-Having Daughter -- for Defamation?
A prominent Manhattan lawyer is suing his own daughter -- for libel. Throw a seven-figure trust fund into the mix, and we have ourselves a Lawsuit of the Day.... - Sponsored
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Defamation, Sex, Sex Scandals
Ex-Bengals Cheerleader Pleads Guilty To Sex With Student, But Is Still Suing TheDirty.com For 'Ruining Her Reputation'
More about Sarah Jones, the former cheerleader and teacher who pleaded guilty to sleeping with a student, and her continuing defamation lawsuit against a website called The Dirty.
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Defamation, Law Schools, LSAT, Sex, Sex Scandals
Ex-Bengals Cheerleader Who Took A Plea Deal On Sexual Misconduct Charges Is Now Considering Law School
Because after you've accepted a plea deal on sexual misconduct charges, the next logical step is to apply to law school... -
Defamation, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Rankings, Screw-Ups, Violence
Non-Sequiturs: 10.05.12
* Do we really need another “50 Best Law Schools” ranking list? Meh. But we know you want to find out if your school made the cut. [Business Insider] * What’s the hardest part of being a public defender? Is it a) the low pay, b) the long hours, or c) getting punched in the face by an unhappy client? [Huffington Post] * This lawyer is involved in a mess of defamation accusations because he made the mistake of paying attention to anonymous comments. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * Only amateur fibbers simply pretend they have cancer. If you want to be the real deal, you gotta tell all your friends you also don’t have health insurance and get them to raise three grand to pay for your imaginary chemo. [Legal Juice] * So, I would never fake an injury to get to use a wheelchair, because of the serious karma issues it would probably create in my life (e.g., above blurb). But I will say I went to Disneyland once with a physically disabled friend, and it was freaking amazing. I’ve never waited in so few lines in my life. [Consumerist] * I think the lesson here is that it’s generally poor parenting to name your child after the sound a bomb makes. [CBS Cleveland via Legal Blog Watch] -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Crime, Crowell & Moring, Defamation, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Immigration, Law Firm Mergers, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms, Money, Morning Docket, Patents, Small Law Firms, Technology
Morning Docket: 10.03.12
* Yeah, about that huge bonus we were going to pay our ex-finance director — we realized how silly that was, so we’re not going to do that. Aww, don’t worry, Dewey & LeBoeuf, you’ll have plenty of other chances to look absurd. [Am Law Daily]
* Not only is Samsung suing Apple for patent infringement, but the company is also trying to get a do over by getting Judge Lucy Koh to throw out the original billion-dollar verdict over jury foreman Velvin Hogan’s alleged misconduct. [Bloomberg]
* “Small deals are easier to swallow, easier to integrate.” Regional firms like Carlton Fields and Adams and Reese are gobbling up smaller firms in what seems to be the latest trend in law firm merger mania activity. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Douglas Arntsen, the former Crowell & Moring associate who had to be extradited from Hong Kong after embezzling $10.7M from clients, pleaded guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence. [New York Law Journal]
* It’s tough to come up with appropriate whistleblower jokes given the background here. We’ll play it straight: Mike McQueary filed a defamation suit against Penn State, and he’s seeking $4M in damages. [ABC News]
* Jose Godinez-Samperio, an undocumented immigrant, is fighting for the ability to practice law in Florida, but the members of the state Supreme Court are literally trying to make it into a “federal case.” [Washington Post]
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Defamation, Divorce Train Wrecks, Non-Sequiturs, Privacy, Solicitor General's Office
Non-Sequiturs: 09.12.12
* Jury agrees that Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis slandered casino mogul Steve Wynn by saying he threatened to kill Francis over his gambling debt. That’ll be $20 million. Or, Francis can just show Wynn his boobs. [Huffington Post] * Moonbeam Jerry and Chris “Destroyer of Idiots” Christie are feuding. It’s just like Biggie v. Tupac, but with hot air instead of unregistered firearms. [Daily Dolt] * Dude spies on his wife in their own home for the better part of a year. Now they’re getting divorced. Mother, tell your husband not to spy my way. [USA Today] * Judging from the intensity of the ATL Fantasy Football league after just one week of play, a lot of lawyers really wish they had this job. [Sports Illustrated] * Thank God there were no leaf blowers were involved, or one of these guys may have napalmed the whole neighborhood. [Legal Juice] * Congratulations to Goodwin Procter on a notable hire out of the Solicitor General’s Office: Willy Jay, who has argued before SCOTUS almost a dozen times. [Goodwin Procter] * Just a reminder that Elie is speaking in front of the Anti-Defamation League’s Young Lawyers division tomorrow night at the beautiful New York offices of Arnold & Porter. One of his topics is “why you don’t want me deciding your hate speech,” so at the very least, it should be lively. [Anti-Defamation League] -
Abortion, Airplanes / Aviation, Defamation, Job Searches, Jury Duty, Law Professors, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Morning Docket, Politics, Racism, Rape, Texas, Travel / Vacation, Unemployment, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 08.29.12
* “He’s stupid. I wouldn’t even count him as a Republican.” Many Republican women at the RNC wish that the men like Rep. Todd Akin would just shut up about abortion, rape, and contraception. [Reuters]
* Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the discrimination against minorities. A panel of judges on a D.C. federal court shot down the state’s redistricting plans for lack of compliance with the VRA. [Washington Post]
* A disgruntled Stanford Law graduate’s defamation and retaliation suit against the school was dismissed. Sorry, but it’s highly doubtful that a law professor blacklisted you from getting a job. [National Law Journal]
* “[T]here’s a surplus of attorneys and not enough jobs for it.” Lincoln Memorial’s president admits amid accreditation issues that perhaps it wasn’t the best time to open the Duncan Law. [Knoxville News Sentinel]
* “I don’t know if this was worth it, but I did have a good time in Cancun.” Skipping deliberations to go on vacation is a great way to earn yourself a trip to jail, but this girl got lucky. [Proof & Hearsay / Journal Sentinel]
* Continental faces a lawsuit after baggage handlers allegedly removed a sex toy from a passenger’s luggage and taped it outside the bag for the world to see. At least it wasn’t the TSA. [Courthouse News Service]
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Affirmative Action, Biglaw, Defamation, Labor / Employment, Lawsuit of the Day, Minority Issues, Partner Issues, Privacy, Racism
Lawsuit of the Day: Fifty Shades of Ropes & Gray
Let's take a closer look at former Ropes & Grey associate John H. Ray III's newest complaint against his old firm— as well as an interesting Above the Law shout-out featured within the document... -
Defamation, Intellectual Property, Patents, Weirdness
Strange Vendetta of the Day: 'Legos Lied to Me as a Kid'
A Legos patent dispute unveils some unusual lifelong psychological issues... -
Defamation, Gay, Quote of the Day, State Attorneys General, Unemployment
Quote of the Day: Andrew Shirvell Is Now Just Another Poor, Unemployed Law Grad
What does Andrew Shirvell have to say about the multimillion-dollar judgment against him? -
Bankruptcy, Baseball, Biglaw, California, Defamation, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Pornography, Prostitution, Sex
Morning Docket: 08.17.12
* “I don’t think I should have to pay anything back, because I wasn’t part of the management that drove the firm into the ground.” Dewey know when it’s time to stop complaining, pay up, shut up, and move on? [DealBook / New York Times]
* Good news, everyone! According to the Citi Midyear Report, based on the first half of 2012, Biglaw firms may have trouble matching last year’s single-digit profit growth. You thought the worst was over? How embarrassing for you. [Am Law Daily]
* Apparently Andrew Shirvell didn’t do a very good job questioning himself on the stand, because the former Michigan AAG now has to shell out $4.5M in damages for defaming Chris Armstrong. [Detroit Free Press]
* Six of one, half a dozen of the other: Barry Bonds’s lawyers filed a reply brief in their appeal of his obstruction conviction, arguing that his statements were truthful but nonresponsive, as opposed to being misleading. [AP]
* “We’re crazy about sex in the United States. I call it ‘sexophrenia.’” The Millionaire Madam’s attorney had a nutty yesterday after a judge refused to dismiss a prostitution charge against his client. [New York Daily News]
* The opposite of a fluffer? Los Angeles officials seeking to enforce the city’s new adult film condom law are beginning a search for medical professionals to inspect porn shoots for compliance. [Los Angeles Times]
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Bankruptcy, Biglaw, California, Celebrities, Defamation, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Law Schools, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jackson, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Pro Bono, Rap, Small Law Firms, Unemployment
Morning Docket: 08.16.12
* Dewey have some false expectations of success for this partner settlement agreement? Only one in four affected partners have signed on the dotted line, but advisers think the plan will win bankruptcy court approval. [Am Law Daily]
* “There comes a point where the prospects of substantially increasing your income just outweigh everything else.” Even on his $168K salary, this appellate judge wasn’t rich in New York City, so he quit his job. [New York Law Journal]
* The middle class needs lawyers, and unemployed law school graduates need jobs. The solution for both problems seems pretty obvious, but starting a firm still costs money, no matter how “prudent” you are. [National Law Journal]
* “This is a time when law schools are trying to look carefully at their expenses and not add to them.” New York’s new pro bono initiative may come at a cost for law schools, too. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Much to Great Britain’s dismay, Ecuador has announced that it will grant political asylum to Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame. Sucks for Ecuador, because Assange is known to not flush the toilet. [New York Times]
* A smooth criminal gets a break: Michael Jackson’s father dropped a wrongful death suit against Dr. Conrad Murray. It probably would’ve been helpful if his attorneys could actually practice in California. [Washington Post]
* Did Lindsay Lohan’s lawyers plagiarize documents from internet websites in their defamation filings against Pitbull? You can deny it all you want, but his lawyer is out for blood and sanctions. [New York Daily News]
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Defamation, Fashion, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Social Networking Websites, Television
Non-Sequiturs: 08.15.12
* Andrew Shirvell questioned himself for over an hour today in defense of himself from Chris Armstrong’s defamation lawsuit. I’m telling you, life is so much easier when you don’t care about a person’s sexual orientation. [Detroit Free Press] * It looks like Boies Schiller somehow filled the spot left by Elizabeth Wurtzel. [Thomson Reuters News and Insight] * Election Law professor Rick Hasen is disappointed with the Pennsylvania voter ID decision today. [Election Law Blog] * Grumpy baby boomer blogs angrily about law and life, a.k.a. my future. [Grumpy Baby Boomer] * How to dress like a female lawyer from a television show. Funny, I didn’t know “breast implants” were a fashion accessory now. [Levo League] * The Daily Caller dug up an article Michelle Obama wrote about critical race theory while at Harvard. She makes some pretty good points, especially considering the perspective of a young black person trying to deal with Harvard Law School in 1988. But I suspect the context of the article, the theory, the history, the university, and everything else will be missed by most of the readers of the Daily Caller. [Daily Caller] * Here’s a new social network for law students. [Indiana Lawyer] * Buy Tyler Coulson’s book (affiliate link), save a dog. You don’t want to kill puppies, do you? [PR Web] * Lat is on a proposed SXSW panel about haw law firms should (and should not) be using Twitter and other social media. I hope firms don’t listen to him, because it’ll make my job easier. [SXSW PanelPicker] -
Blog Wars, Blogging, California, Cyberlaw, Defamation, Free Speech, Media and Journalism, Technology
Anal-Retentive Hyperlinking Helps Gizmodo Sidestep Defamation Suit
And this is why bloggers always hyperlink…. -
Cyberlaw, Defamation, Divorce Train Wrecks, Drugs, Racism, Rape, Technology, Texas
Don't Mess With This Texan: He is One Tough Underdog
The continuing saga of a small town, East Texas lawyer that could easily turn into the next three-hour, Oscar-winning Daniel Day Lewis epic... -
Defamation, Law School Deans, Law Schools
Law School Litigation Update: Kurzon LLP Sues Cooley Law School for Defamation
Cooley Law School gets sued for defamation on Friday the 13th... -
Contracts, Defamation, Lawsuit of the Day, Nude Dancing, Ridiculousness
Lawsuit of the Day: Strip Club Seeks Emergency Injunction Over Octomom's Refusal to Bump 'N Grind
A Florida strip club is seeking an injunction against Octomom to prevent her from bumping and grinding on an alternative pole... -
Bankruptcy, Benchslaps, Biglaw, Billable Hours, California, Celebrities, Defamation, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Drugs, FDA, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Pro Se Litigants, Sam Sparks, Sports
Morning Docket: 07.10.12
* Dewey know how many professional firms have been allowed to stay on as advisers for the largest law firm bankruptcy in U.S. history? Six out of nine firms were permitted to continue services, but Proskauer wasn’t one of them. [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)]
* In other defunct firm news, Al Togut will be presenting Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former partners with a proposed settlement on Wednesday. You’ve been warned: prepare yourselves for some Biglaw-style bitching. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Despite reports of the billable hour going the way of the dodo bird, it looks like they’re here to stay. Right now, corporate law departments are still much more excited about alternative billing arrangements than law firms. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Judge Sam Sparks, the King of Benchslaps, dismissed Lance Armstrong’s lawsuit against the USADA in record time. That ruling came too quickly — guess it’s time to investigate judicial doping. [New York Times]
* Marc Dreier’s son, Spencer Dreier, is representing himself pro se in a defamation suit against his former college roommate. Looks like Daddy couldn’t spring for his kid’s lawyer while he was in the clink. [Bloomberg]
* A California woman claims that the Food and Drug Administration’s methods regarding sperm donations are unconstitutional. Why should she have to go to an intermediary to get sperminated? [Huffington Post]
* Do you smell what The Rock is cooking? It’s not exactly something to be proud of. Actor Dwayne Johnson is listed as a “co-conspirator” in a $1.8M fraud lawsuit that’s been filed by a South Florida family. [NBC Miami]
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Defamation, Feminism, Free Speech, Law Schools, Quote of the Day, Religion, Women's Issues
Quote of the Day: Do You Really Want To Slide Down That Slope?
Sandra Fluke opines on free speech in the wake of "slut-gate," and explains why she picked Georgetown Law.