Morning Docket

* Change you can believe in? It looks like Obama has recruited a few “washington insiders”: 8 of the 10 top lawyers he has hired for his transition team are veterans of the Clinton administration. [Bloomberg.com] * After his hunt yesterday, Justice Antonin Scalia told a room full of big-time Texas lawyers that he disagreed […]

* Felons can join the Army but not the New York police force. But New York State Supreme Court Judge Henry Kron wants to change that rule for Afghanistan war veteran, Osvaldo Hernandez, who served a year on Rikers Island for gun possession before joining the Army. [New York Times] * Former O’Melveny & Myers […]

* SCOTUS hearts the Navy, hates the whales. National security trumps environmental concerns in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council. [New York Times] * Obama plans to give the Department of Justice a makeover. Wilmer Hale partner David Ogden and Jenner & Block partner Thomas J. Perrelli are heading up Obama’s DOJ transition team. [Washington […]

* A New York Times round-up of law firm troubles. (Regular ATL readers will find nothing new here.) Lawyers aren’t cockroaches anymore, thriving in good times and bad. Now, law firms are the canaries in the economic coalmine. [New York Times] * Judge Judy gets political on Larry King Live. The joys of not being […]

* SCOTUS weighs case that could result in a lot more travel for crime lab experts. [New York Times] * Thirtieth child abandoned under Nebraska’s safe-haven law, intended to protect unwanted newborns from being abandoned. The “child” dropped off is an 18-year-old girl. The Legislature convenes Friday to change the law, so drop off those […]

[Ed Note: Due to technical difficulties, my super awesome Morning Docket picture could not be uploaded. I suggest you visualize the most awesome picture idea ever to go along with this column. Thanks.] * Good Morning American taxpayers. Please enjoy the $40 billion in AIG shares you just purchased. [NYT] * Circuit City: more knowledgeable […]

* A state agency publicly admonished retired Superior Court Judge John M. Watson for being rude in court, citing a case “in which he repeatedly mocked attorneys.” The agency claims Watson’s actions threaten the “integrity of the judiciary.” [Los Angeles Times] * A federal judge “opened the first hearing into the government’s justification for holding […]

* A puppy named Afro was rescued from a burning law firm in South Africa, and his owner promptly “smothered him with kisses.” [Independent Online] * Google dumped its needy girlfriend Yahoo, forgoing their advertising partnership instead of going to court to fight an anti-trust law suit filed by the US justice department. Yahoo is […]

[Ed. Note: Check back throughout the day for election shenanigans updates.] * Vote. Even if your boss tells you that clocking a full fourteen-hour-day at your miserable law firm is more important, remember that this is a historic election no matter who wins. Check out this fun New York Times piece on election night. * […]

* Readers who plan to become ambulance chasers might want to read this. The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a case involving the FDA. “At issue is whether the federal government can limit lawsuits by consumers…who have been harmed by prescription medications.” [NPR] * UBS clients issued claims over “100 percent principal protected notes” […]

* Texan Toxic Tort attorney Fred Baron has died. His profile went national this year due to his support for John Edwards (and his mistress) and his campaign to secure an experimental drug to treat his cancer. [Dallas Morning News] * New York AG Andrew Cuomo is on the case of big executive bonuses in […]

* Nebraska doesn’t want your teenagers or kids from other states. The legislature will hold a special session to fix its safe-haven law. [New York Times] * The DOJ declares Delta and Northwest Airlines man and wife. [Pacific Business News] * Washington Judge Roger Fisher doesn’t want anything to do with scalded monkeys. [Seattle Times] […]

* Google Book Search is now on the path to officially kill the public library. Google will pay $125 million to settle two copyright lawsuits, and will move forward with making millions of books available online. [Bloomberg] * A Nevada judicial candidate has sued the Las Vegas Review-Journal, claiming the newspaper defamed him and cost […]

* A Guantanamo prisoner and his attorney are boycotting their own trial. They have to be in court, but they aren’t saying a word. It was not the best strategy for voir dire. [Associated Press] * Musical chairs: Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney Haley Reynolds to head to Iraq. [Denver Post] * Edward “frying pan” Halverson […]

* Juror dismissed in the trial of Senator Ted Stevens. We hope she was the violent one. [New York Times] * Yet another strip club lawsuit, but this time there are strips clubs on both sides. Déjà Vu and Little Darlings claim that competitors urged cabbies to divert potential clients by telling them the two […]

* The media talk about Obama and the expected clean sweep of the government has pumped up Democratic tires so much that they think they can do the impossible: appoint two Democrats to the Texas Supreme Court. [Dallas Morning News] * The McCain-Palin efforts to recreate Florida 2000 in every state failed in Wisconsin. It’s […]

* Lehman’s lawyer fees “could reach a record $1.4 billion.”[Bloomberg] * The RNC spent more than a first-year associate’s salary on clothes for Sarah Palin. So, when you are reading mind-numbing legal documents at midnight tonight and your friends are out partying, just dream of all the snappy red jackets you can buy. [Los Angeles […]

[Ed. Note: Eliza Gray is a new writer for Above the Law. She graduated from Harvard and after a six-month stint in Brussels covering European Union politics at the European Voice, she moved back to New York to pursue a journalism career. She and Kash will be alternating Morning Docket responsibilities.] * Chief Judge ‘Naughty’ […]

* Citigroup wins … milk! [American Lawyer] * Brits can still beat-up their kids. [BBC] * AOL can’t put ads in personal emails, we hope. [Courthouse News] * Drive-through voting. [Associated Press] * … which of course should lead to drinking and driving and voting. Only in America! [Time]

[Ed. Note: Eliza Gray is a new writer for Above the Law. She graduated from Harvard and after a six month stint in Brussels covering European Union politics at the European Voice, she moved back to New York to pursue a journalism career. She and Kash will be alternating Morning Docket responsibilities.] * Hit my […]