Non-Sequiturs

* Democrats tend to nominate a lot of lawyers, no, A LOT. [Need To Share News]

* Pokémon Go, and the associated legal issues, are only the beginning for augmented reality games. [Fox45]

* Good news if your verbal tics include the overuse of “um” — it makes you seem more authentic. [Law and More]

* The history, and proper usage, of the term amicus curiae. [Law Prose]

* Great advice for developing your own legal website. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* The anti-vaccination filmmakers behind Vaxxed are threatening legal action against an autism advocate who dares to speak out against them. [Jezebel]

* A judge who drank alcohol “on court premises” now has a lot of free time to drink in comfort elsewhere. [Legal Cheek]

* A fascinating research paper on how the media is leading everyone astray by portraying the Islamic State as lawless — their key to holding land is based in large part on their imposition of legal institutions. [Brookings Institute]

* Quinn Emanuel’s Susan Estrich is representing Roger Ailes. Am I alone in hoping she manages this case like she managed the Dukakis campaign? [Observer]

* The DNC Wikileaks fallout hits a law firm. Marc Elias of Perkins Coie is on record urging DNC officials to accuse Bernie Sanders of lying. I’m sure Perkins Coie will respond that he was just being “nuanced.” [Am Law Daily]

* F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s mother-in-law was just kidnapped in Brazil and is being held for a $36 million ransom. But, you know, let’s definitely have the Olympics there! [NPR]

* A review of the courtroom fates of a number of voter suppression tactics proposed around the country. [Economist]

* This University of Chicago professor is not happy with Judge Frank Easterbrook [Valparaiso University Law Review]

* The folks at Practice Panther took the ABA law school data and made this nice infographic. [Practice Panther]

* Taking the bar exam tomorrow? Some tips for instant calm. [Health.com]

* Thought experiment: How would the world be different if the federal government had bailed out Lehman Brothers? [Bloomberg Odd Lots]

* This British legal recruiter would rather see applicants with lesser qualifications because otherwise they are too arrogant. [Legal Cheek]

* Attorneys with SCOTUS experience are in high demand. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Potential upside of law firm mergers? Cybersecurity. [Law.com]

* Mike Sadler, the former Michigan State punter who was heading to Stanford Law in the fall, died in a car crash this weekend along with Nebraska punter, Sam Foltz. [Michigan Live]

* Are law firms being exploited by their clients to launder money? [Wall Street Journal]

* Richard McLaren is the law professor who laid the ground work for Russia potentially being banned from the Rio Olympics over a doping scandal. [New York Times]

* An analysis of the legal issues in the new Ghostbusters movie. [The Legal Geeks]

* Review of Anxious Lawyer (affiliate link), a new book by AtL columnist Jeena Cho and Karen Gifford. [Legal Ink Magazine]

* What does Rick Hasen think will happen in Texas now that the 5th Circuit has struck down its voter ID law? [KUT]

* Matthew Dowd and Robert Kulik, the lawyers turned children’s book authors we previously profiled, went on TV to discuss their work. [ABC News]

* Despite some big-ticket cases, the Supreme Court still leans right. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* The Kafka-esque treatment of a mentally ill rape victim, who was locked up over the Christmas holiday to make sure she’d testify, will infuriate you. [Mimesis Law]

* Cory Booker is still in the VP race, and he’s pissed about what he sees at the RNC: “It’s as if truth means nothing,” and the GOP is a “counter-factual party.” [Washington Post]

* Chris Christie “turned over his political testicles long ago.” Sounds about right. [Huffington Post]

* Is Ted Cruz’s political snub better than a legal remedy? [Law and More]

* Should India consider taking up Russia’s offer to build a nuclear aircraft carrier? [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* Will Pokémon Go open up a battlefield of legal troubles for Nintendo? [Ohio State Bar Association]

* Better Call Saul’s Jimmy McGill is a great example of the trickster lawyer. [Guile is Good]

* ComicCon is coming, and most of the vendors owe a lot to the doctrine of fair use. [ReCreate Coalition]

* A soured love affair turns into sanctions for discovery violations. [Legal Profession Blog]

* Lawyers get a reputation for being slow to change, but you need to adapt to a changing landscape. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* Insiders claim Megyn Kelly has told stories of sexual harassment at the hands of Roger Ailes to attorneys from Paul, Weiss. No wonder it looks like Ailes is on his way out. [New York Magazine]

* Be careful you don’t accidentally tweet your political opinions from your employer’s Twitter account, especially if you work for the Department of Justice. [Gizmodo]

* 5 tips to rebound when your legal game is considered “has been.” [Law and More]

* Taking the New York bar? Do yourself a favor and minimize your stress on test day — order your lunch ahead of time. [Custom Gourmet NY]

* There’s going to be a new season of Making a Murderer. [Slate]

* Restrictions on reproductive freedom are more than just a political talking point, there are real women who have to make tough choices as a result of the burdensome laws. [Huffington Post]

* Law professor is after blood, or at least disbarment, over the prosecution of the Freddie Gray case. [Washington Post]

* Justice Ginsburg gets the job done, and in as few words as possible. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Will robots do away with the billable hour? And, perhaps, your job? [Law360]

* Bill Cosby’s ex-lawyer, Marty Singer, is reportedly being profiled by Vanity Fair. [Jezebel]

* The Facebook Effect is changing how you do business. [Law and More]

* Ha, this poor law student — on the same flight as her tax prof the day after the final, as well as on the same return flight. [TaxProf Blog]

* Virginia scheme that harshly punishes the poor for being unable to pay fines is now the subject of litigation. [Slate]

* Ultimately, voters will decide how big a deal Hillary’s emails really are. [Huffington Post]

* If you still have your panties in a bunch over Justice Ginsburg’s comments about Donald Trump, maybe you aren’t paying enough attention to history. [Washington Post]

* Guess what? Your paralegals hate you. [The Lawyer]

* Ironman, err, Robert Downey Jr., is serving as an alternate on a jury. [Law and More]

* When in time are judicial opinions, as a matter of grammar? [LawProse]

* The RNC just ended #NeverTrump. [Slate]

* A look at Janelle Eveland Belling, the managing director of ediscovery services and strategy at Perkins Coie. [CodeX]

* Some thoughts from Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer of Microsoft, on his company’s big win before the Second Circuit. [On the Issues]

* Before the Second Circuit, Microsoft enjoyed a lot of support from amici — which can make a difference before the U.S. Supreme Court, according to this analysis by Adam Feldman. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Nell Minow, the corporate governance guru (and sister of Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow), has some assigned reading for America’s politicians: Professor William Birdthistle’s Empire of the Fund: The Way We Save Now (affiliate link). [Huffington Post]

* My former colleague Maura Grossman, ediscovery queen of Wachtell Lipton, has left the firm to open her own consulting practice and serve as a research professor. [Am Law Daily]

* Social media for lawyers: it’s all fun and games until someone loses their good reputation. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* If you are a lawyer between 24 and 49 who’s currently working in the northeast, a Ph.D. student would like to talk to you about debt (which you most likely have lots of — although none is needed to participate in the study). [Abby Stivers]

* A final reminder for our L.A. readers that the law firm battle of the bands is taking place tonight — so come out to support a good cause (and have a great time)! [Family Violence Appellate Project]

* I don't support the effort to brand one of the slain Dallas police officers as a white supremacist. Even if he was, he wasn't shot because he was a white supremacist. And even had he been shot because he was a white supremacist, that doesn't mean he should have been put to death in the street without due process. (See how easy it is to reject victim blaming when you see it?) [Huffington Post] * Pokemon Go is going to lead to so many lawsuits they may as well offer "Augmented Reality Law" to 3Ls next semester. [Los Angeles Times] * In breaking news, all judges are partisan hacks. Even at the state level. [Election Law Blog] * Firing law professors is a good way to keep law professors from being dicks. [TaxProf Blog] * The line between criminal bribery and good sales is thin. But I think we can all agree that taking someone to Knicks games is neither a bribe nor a perk, it's punishment. [Bloomberg View] * The Family Violence Appellate Project is holding its Los Angeles "Battle of the Bands" tomorrow. In related news, my family becomes violent towards each other when somebody screws up the drum beat in Rock Band 4. [Family Violence Appellate Project]

* Bill Cosby replaces Quinn Emanuel as his counsel. [Deadline]

* One of the One Direction boys is dating a law student… [Legal Cheek]

* Take the Lowering the Bar Supreme Court trivia quiz! [Lowering the Bar]

* Showing the sort of rationality long thought lost on major studios, Paramount releases guidelines for Star Trek fans hoping to make fan films. [The Legal Artist]

* “Law School Is The New Bootcamp.” The title may be a bit misleading, but this article bemoans the rise of lawyering over soldiering in political appointments. [American Spectator]

* Prosecutors clinging to their own deluded sense of justice seek same prison term at resentencing — even after some vacated convictions. [Sentencing Law and Policy]

* More analysis of the Justice Ginsburg comments on Donald Trump. In all the hubbub over free speech and judicial ethics, it seems to me that we give judges lifetime tenure specifically so they can voice whatever goddamned opinions they want without fear of reprisal. [The Faculty Lounge]

* It shouldn’t shock anyone, but some other countries are a lot better about handling student debt. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* Children (under 8) around the country prepare for the first white president of their lifetime. [Ad Week]

* Do people regret going to law school? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. [JSTOR]

* If law schools fudge employment data, will they be liable for their students’ debt? [TaxProf Blog]

* Are humanity, compassion and kindness the antidote to the recent wave of police killings and the death of Dallas police officers? Or is that too simplistic an answer? [Katz Justice]

* Notorious RBG has a lot to say about all the Court shenanigans going on. [New York Times]

* Law school cheating isn’t all that rare. [Law and More]

* Which law firms fared the best in front of the Supreme Court this Term? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Charles Fried, Solicitor General under Ronald Reagan, really, really doesn’t like Donald Trump. [Slate]

* Even David Boies couldn’t stop the shipwreck of the S.S. Theranos. [Law and More]

* Here’s what you need to know about the “bomb robot” used to take out the Dallas shooting suspect. [Buzzfeed]

* Union busters seem to be getting some help from the judiciary. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Title IX has been a failure on campus rape. Here’s why. [Deadspin]

* Got some down time this summer? There is a way to use that slowdown to your advantage. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* Former law school dean at Case Western Reserve University, Lawrence Mitchell, has changed his name. He writes all about the change without discussing the scandal that caused him to leave his post, and just might be related to the moniker switch. [Cleveland Scene]

* Republicans who deeply support the Second Amendment are starting to see the tragedy in the most recent round of police shootings. [Bearing Drift]

* Advice for decorating your office space. [Corporette]

* Creighton Law Professor Patrick Borchers would love to be the unreasonable prosecutor to go after Hillary Clinton over her emails. [Nebraska Radio Network]

* Breaking down the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights that looms large in the Alton Sterling shooting. [Fusion]

* The argument against shackling youth offenders in a courtroom. [Mimesis Law]

* Magic Circle firm, Clifford Chance, is the latest to employ robot lawyers. The end is nigh. [Legal Cheek] * In the latest episode of the More Perfect podcast they examine the cases that gave the Supreme Court the biggest power boost. [WNYC] * Jesse Jackson calls the killing of Alton Sterling by police a […]

* Tips from a Biglaw partner on balancing work and motherhood. [Big Law Business]

* But not everyone thinks that Biglaw is conducive to balancing family life with work. [Law and More]

* Which attorneys were most victorious at oral argument in front of the Supreme Court this Term? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Legal pot growers have a looming battle with the IRS. [Slate]

* Is now the time to end the death penalty? [Guile is Good]

* RIP, Judge Abner Mikva, whose career also included work as a U.S. congressman from Illinois, White House counsel to President Bill Clinton, and mentor to Barack Obama. He died this 4th of July. [Washington Post]

Ed. note: In observance of the Fourth of July, Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday. Have a great weekend!

* The little known religious history behind America’s seal. Separation of church and state be damned. [Wall Street Journal]

* Fireworks are super pretty to look at, but dangerous. So be careful out there. [Southeast Missourian]

* 5 prosecutors are responsible for 440 death sentences. That is incredibly disturbing. [The Guardian]

* U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves blocked a Mississippi law that would allow those with religious objections to deny wedding services to gay couples. Good to see the concept of precedent in action. [Reuters]

* Republican delegates can do… pretty much whatever they want to. It is a political issue, not a legal one. [Huffington Post]

* It is shockingly easy for the government to spy on journalists. [The Intercept]

* Lawyer that sued Led Zeppelin is suspended. [MSN]

* Donald Trump is definitely coming to Pennsylvania Avenue (he’s building a hotel there). [Denver Channel]

* This excerpt from Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (affiliate link) explains how a kid from the Rustbelt felt like a fish out of water at Yale Law School. [Huffington Post]

* Is the police culture in America at odds with the democratic nature of our government? [Katz Justice]

* Increasing associate compensation may be increasing the divide between the haves and have-nots. [Law and More]

* It is okay if you don’t have it all figured out when you go to law school. [Legal Cheek]

* Putting up a fight over MoFo’s “Ivy League” rates. [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* Explaining the sex scandal that is rocking the Oakland police department. [Slate]

* Thinking of suing Donald Trump? Here are 5 things you need to know. [Law.com]

* Knowing what you know now, would you do law school all over again? Fascinating thought experiment. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* Using the fraud defense to discharge law school debt at for profit schools is the new hotness. [Tax Prof Blog]

* Donald Trump is asking for campaign contributions from British politicians. They’re pissed about it, oh and by the way, it’s against campaign finance laws. [Talking Points Memo]

* RIP Ed Davis. Described as the best of the legal profession: smart, a fierce advocate for civil rights and above all, kind. [New York Times]