Federal Government
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Barack Obama, Biglaw, Fabulosity, Federal Government, Military / Military Law, Partner Issues, Politics, Pro Bono
Departure Memo Of The Day: Jeh Johnson Parting With Paul Weiss
Have you ever seen such an inspiring Biglaw departure memo? -
Biglaw, Books, Celebrities, Fabulosity, Federal Government, Gay, Guns / Firearms, Law Schools, Legal Research, Media and Journalism, Rankings, Supreme Court Clerks, Technology
30 Under 30: The Top Young Lawyers And Policymakers (2014)
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Barack Obama, Constitutional Law, Department of Justice, Election Law, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Morning Docket, S.D.N.Y., SCOTUS, Shira Scheindlin, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 12.24.13
* People have “greatly underestimated how powerful a jurist Justice Sotomayor would be,” and now that one of her concurrences flies directly in the face of Obama’s NSA tactics, we’ll get to see how powerful she really is. [MSNBC]
* Here’s a fun end-of-the-year roundup: President Obama’s Top 10 Constitutional Violations of 2013. Fifty internet points shall be awarded to the first person who correctly guesses how many are related to Obamacare without looking. [Forbes]
* Following Judge Shira Scheindlin’s stop-and-frisk spanking, the Southern District of New York changed its rules on case assignments in order to increase transparency. Related-case judge-shopping just got a whole lot harder. [New York Times]
* Wiley Rein is defending its fee request in the Voting Rights Act case, and says the Department of Justice is “[tying] itself in knots” trying to find a way to get out of paying the piper. Harsh. [Blog of Legal Times]
* These are four ways you can overcome a low GPA when applying to law school, but really, the best way to overcome a low GPA is to not apply at all. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
* “I am not trying to bring down the NSA, I am working to improve the NSA.” Now that he’s unleashed all of America’s deep dark secrets, Edward Snowden just wants to Google like a regular guy. [Washington Post]
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Clerkships, Department of Justice, Fabulosity, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Feeder Judges, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Merrick Garland, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks
Congratulations To The 2014 Bristow Fellows
Which law schools and lower-court judges send the most people into prestigious Bristow Fellowships at the U.S. Solicitor General's Office? -
Abortion, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Fashion, Federal Government, Gay, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Partner Profits, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Texas
Morning Docket: 11.05.13
* The Supreme Court might have dismissed the Oklahoma abortion case as improvidently granted, but not to worry, because the high court may yet get the chance to abort a woman’s right to choose in this new case from Texas. [New York Times]
* Wherein Justice Scalia seems highly concerned about toupees: yesterday, Supreme Court justices put their fashion sense to the test when trying to determine what ought to count as clothing under the Fair Labor Standards Act. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* The Senate is forging ahead with the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, but the bill will likely fail in the House because discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is still cool with John Boehner. [CBS News]
* Wherefore art thou, ladness? According to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, profits per partner at top firms in the U.K. are behind profits per partner in the U.S. America, f**k yeah! [Businessweek]
* Bill de Blasio, the Democratic candidate in the NYC mayoral race, apparently has “deep ties” to Gibson Dunn, the firm behind Citizens United. Gather round, conspiracy theorists. [International Business Times]
* An InfiLaw school is changing its name to Arizona Summit Law. How kind to tip law students off to the fact that even if they climb all the way to the top, there’s nowhere to go but down. [National Law Journal]
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Clerkships, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Feeder Judges, Job Searches, Law Schools
Clerkship-Seeking 2Ls, Start Your Engines
What do you think of the latest change to the law clerk hiring process? -
Boalt Hall, Depositions, Federal Government, Insider Trading, Law Schools, Mark Cuban, Morning Docket, New Jersey, Politics
Morning Docket: 10.17.13
* The fiscal impasse in our nation’s capital is over! The government shutdown is over! Obamaphones for everyone!!!!! [Washington Post]
* Tim Geithner was recently deposed as part of a lawsuit alleging that the government bailout of AIG was unconstitutional. Muammar Gaddafi was less recently deposed as part of a coup alleging that his female bodyguards were unconstitutionally sexy. [Fox Business]
* Berkeley Bird Beheader begins boot bivouac. [Fox5 Vegas via Las Vegas Law Blog]
* Cory Booker (Yale Law ’97) won a Senate seat last night, promptly bumping Lat from the cover of the next Yale Law alumni magazine. It was the Halloween issue — the annual Boo Haven edition. [ABC News]
* Mark Cuban was acquitted of insider trading charges yesterday. In related news, this basset hound loves fans. [CBS News]
* Brooklyn Law faces a possible debt downgrade from Standard & Poor’s. The school’s unemployed graduates, substandard and poor, have yet to weigh in. [Crain’s New York Business]
* In other law school news, Chicago-Kent announces an interesting new initiative (with a Whopper of a name). [IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (press release)]
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Abortion, Banking Law, Biglaw, Books, Education / Schools, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court, Williams & Connolly
Morning Docket: 10.14.13
Ed. note: In honor of Columbus Day (and Canadian Thanksgiving), Above the Law will be on a reduced publication schedule today. We will be back in full force tomorrow.
* Justice stops for no one, not even a broken Congress. With the end of days approaching quickly for federal courts in terms of funding (or the lack thereof), many judges are lashing out and declaring all their employees essential. [National Law Journal]
* Legal expenses can be especially “painful,” even for the biggest of banks, but sadist firms like Sullivan & Cromwell, Paul Weiss, and WilmerHale are really getting their rocks off on Jamie Dimon’s suffering. [DealBook / New York Times]
* DLA Piper’s future’s so bright it’s got to wear shades — and appoint a new co-managing partner in New York City, its largest office. Congratulations to Richard Hans, you’ve co-made it! [New York Law Journal]
* “It’s not just about me.” Jim Tanner, a Williams & Connolly partner who represents Jeremy Lin, is leaving the firm to start his own sports management business, and he’s taking people with him. [Bloomberg]
* “I have no apologies to make about anything I did.” Steven Donziger of Chevron/Ecuador infamy will be defending himself in court this week in what’s being called a legal cage match. [Wall Street Journal]
* “Touro is asking a judge to declare the school a diploma mill.” Irony alert: Touro wants Novus University Law School, a school supposedly conferring “worthless law degrees,” to be stopped. [New York Post]
* If you think SCOTUS abused its discretion in the early abortion cases, you’re going to love this book (affiliate link), a “cautionary tale” about consequences of decisions like Roe v. Wade. [Wall Street Journal]
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Anthony Kennedy, Biglaw, Christopher Christie, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Gay Marriage, Law Reviews, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, New Jersey, SCOTUS, State Judges, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 10.11.13
* Justice Anthony Kennedy doesn’t think that law school should be shortened to two years, but he does think that the “cost factor has to be addressed.” Somebody really ought to listen to this man and give his words some credence. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Let’s give Lady Justice a big round of applause, because the federal judiciary announced that it’s got enough cash on hand to keep things running until October 17, two whole days more than originally planned. Cherish the small things. [Blog of Legal Times]
* If Biglaw firms don’t adapt to the changing times, they may soon go the way of the dodo — or, to be a little more relevant to large law firms, they may soon go the way of the Dewey. Scary. [American Lawyer]
* Gov. Chris Christie’s administration appealed a judge’s denial of a stay on a ruling allowing gay marriages to be performed within the state. Please try to stay Jersey Strong and fabulous through this. [USA Today]
* Law review? More like flaw review, amirite? Apparently there’s a big problem with law review articles, and it’s not just that they’re incredibly boring and wind up in books that are never read. [National Law Journal]
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Abortion, Barack Obama, Biglaw, Celebrities, Constitutional Law, Federal Government, Law Firm Mergers, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Real Estate, SCOTUS, Securities and Exchange Commission, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 10.10.13
* “There are no magic bullets here.” Caught in a “trilemma,” President Obama is up against the wall and is running out of options. He soon might be forced to choose the least unconstitutional solution to the nation’s problems. [Bloomberg]
* During the government shutdown, it certainly wouldn’t be worth it for furloughed employees to hire lawyers to fight their “essential” versus “non-essential” determinations — please, like they’ll be able to afford legal representation right now. [National Law Journal]
* It seems some partners at both Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge aren’t fans of a possible tie-up, so they’re heading for the hills as fast as they can. Perhaps it simply wasn’t meant to be? [Am Law Daily]
* It’s time for our favorite show, As the Weil Turns! Partners from various offices are departing for other Biglaw firms, and we can now confirm that Steven Peck is a new face at Proskauer. [Law360 (sub. req.)]
* We told you last week that Matthew Martens of Fabulous Fab fame would be leaving the SEC, but now we know where he’s landing. Congrats on your new home at WilmerHale. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Ohio is the latest state to offer “hazy” abortion restrictions that skirt the very edge of Supreme Court jurisprudence in order to make women feel guilty about their own right to choose. [New York Times]
* “Without makeup she looks like the Joker in Batman.” Joan Rivers is locked in a $15 million condo catfight with a Canadian socialite who isn’t afraid to pull punches. Meow! [New York Daily News]
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Federal Government, Federal Judges, Money, Quote of the Day
This Federal Judge Has A Message For Congress: 'Eff You!'
Members of the federal judiciary are very pissed off about the shutdown. -
Animal Law, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Judicial Nominations, Lateral Moves, Law Firm Mergers, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Pets, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Trials
Morning Docket: 10.08.13
* Say what you will about Justice Scalia, but the man is hilarious — more funny than his four liberal colleagues combined, according to a statistical analysis of oral argument recordings. [New York Times]
* The government shutdown is slowing down the judicial confirmation process, already famous for its speed and efficiency. [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]
* More about news for Steven Donziger in his long-running battle with Chevron. Maybe it’s time to surrender, Steve? I hear Ecuador is a great place to retire. [New York Law Journal]
* Law firm merger mania continues, as Carlton Fields combines with Jorden Burt. [Carlton Fields (press release)]
* Herbert Smith Freehills says “you’re hired” to Scott Balber, the lawyer for Donald Trump who got mocked by Bill Maher on national television. [The Lawyer]
* You might see your dog as harmless and cuddly, but the law might see your dog as a weapon (and rightfully so, in my opinion). [New York Times via ABA Journal]
* Congratulations to all the winners of the FT’s Innovative Lawyers awards. [Financial Times]
* And congratulations to Heidi Wendel and Deirdre McEvoy, high-ranking government lawyers headed to Jones Day and Patterson Belknap, respectively. [New York Law Journal]
* Today the Supreme Court will hear argument in McCutcheon v. FEC, a major campaign finance case that some are calling “the next Citizens United.” Check out an interview with one of the lawyers behind it, after the jump. [UCTV]
Marty Lasden of California Lawyer magazine interviewed the severely conservative James Bopp Jr. for the “Legally Speaking” series (in which I previously participated). It appears this interview with Bopp took place before Bopp got bumped from the podium in favor of Erin Murphy, a young superstar of the Supreme Court bar.
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Antonin Scalia, Federal Government, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Justice Scalia Doesn't Give A 'Merda' About The Shutdown
What are Justice Scalia's thoughts on the shutdown?
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Biglaw, Crime, David Boies, Federal Government, Gay Marriage, Health Care / Medicine, Law Firm Mergers, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, Ted Olson
Morning Docket: 10.01.13
* “The multimillion dollar question is: Is it going to happen and for how long?” Surprisingly, health care attorneys from large firms are being quite blasé about the Congressional battle over Obamacare. [Blog of Legal Times]
* The 2013 Global 100 is out, and with an 8.6 percent growth in revenue, DLA Piper was able to really show the world the benefits of churning that bill, baby! We’ll have more on this news later today. [American Lawyer]
* This is getting exhausting: Dentons, the three-way merger product of SNR Denton (a merger product itself), Salans, and Fraser Milner Casgrain, is in talks with McKenna Long & Aldridge for yet another merger. [Am Law Daily]
* The director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s enforcement unit will be stepping down to spend time more with family. The countdown until he returns to Skadden Arps starts now. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Ted Olson and David Boies, perhaps more commonly known these days as the gay marriage dream team, will be working together to challenge Virginia’s ban on marriage equality. [National Law Journal]
* Should law school be two years long? Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency (3 points) is beating the pants off Northwestern’s dean (-4 points) in this debate. [Debate Club / U.S. News & World Report]
* If you’re still considering applying for law school despite all of the warnings seen here and elsewhere, then you’ll probably want to follow this advice. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
* The Italian Court of Appeal is retrying Amanda Knox of a crime she’s already been convicted and acquitted of, and the chances she’ll be extradited if convicted again are slim to none. Buon lavoro. [CNN]
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Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Department of Justice, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Politics, Privacy, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, White-Collar Crime
Morning Docket: 09.26.13
* With a government shutdown looming, the Supreme Court will likely go about business as usual. In fact, Justice Alito is rolling his eyes at the mere concept of closing the Court’s doors as we speak. [SCOTUSblog]
* But in the meantime, both the Department of Justice and the federal judiciary are hunkering down and waiting for the collapse of law and order thanks to all of our petulant politicians in Washington, D.C. [Blog of Legal Times]
* Justice Scalia thinks the NSA’s surveillance programs may come before SCOTUS for an examination of a “right of privacy that comes from penumbras and emanations, blah blah blah, garbage.” [Associated Press]
* Perhaps it’s due to the “hangover from the collapse of the markets in 2008,” but white-collar defense practices are on the rise in Biglaw, and the firms’ leaders could not be happier. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* Another law school ranking just means there’s another way for Yale to whoop Harvard’s ass. Now we know that Lat’s alma mater is slightly better at producing law deans than Elie’s. [National Law Journal]
* A motion to dismiss has been filed, and now Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite who assisted in bringing about the end of General David Petraeus’s career in the CIA, is watching her legal case unravel. [CNN]
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Federal Government, JPMorgan Chase, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans, Wall Street
Taxpayers Should Worry When JPMorgan Gets Crowded Out Of The Student Loan Business
When private lenders are getting out of the student loan game, we should all worry that the government is still in it. -
Department of Justice, Federal Government, Immigration, Job Searches, Law Schools
Reminder: DOJ Honors Program Applications Are Due Soon
When are applications due, and how big will the program be? -
Biglaw, Citigroup, Federal Government, Money, Partner Issues, Partner Profits
Yikes! Are D.C. Law Firms In Trouble?
Quite possibly, according to a recent survey of law firm performance. -
Bloomberg, Career Alternatives, Environment / Environmental Law, Federal Government, Food, Shopping, Videos, YouTube
A Federal Government Lawyer Bags Her Legal Career
Meet Danielle Vogel, a former Justice Department lawyer who recently launched a grocery store and farmers' market. -
Biglaw, Federal Government, Job Searches, Kids, Money, Perks / Fringe Benefits, Pregnancy / Paternity
Biglaw Might Be The Only Way You'll Ever Afford Child Care
Working and having a baby means you're probably working for free.