Politics

In a National Law Journal piece published today, Senator John McCain wrote at length about the law. McCain said he was committed to three priorities: I want to concentrate on what would be three important priorities in a McCain administration: keeping the Department of Justice politically neutral, focusing law enforcement programs on addressing important issues […]

Just a reminder from the Judicial Code of Conduct: “a judge should refrain from political activity.” And clerks too. Duh, right? Well, Utah’s chief federal judge seems to have “forgotten” about canon 7 in her excitement about Obama. From the Salt Lake Tribune: Judge Tena Campbell, a President Clinton appointee, donated $100 to the Democratic […]

The ABA Journal has sounded the starting gun on speculation about the lawyers ready to take prominent roles in the new administration. Depending on the presidential victor, names you know will become names that everybody knows. Let’s jump into the ABA speculation on an Obama Administration. For U.S.A.G: Eric Holder: Partner, Covington & Burling. Holder […]

Apparently, the activities of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) are now a matter of national import. The group, best known for absolutely nothing prior to a month ago, is now poised to “threaten the fabric of democracy,” according to Senator John McCain. One might have expected the Obama campaign to take […]

The Supreme Court ruled today to stay a restraining order requiring Ohio to verify thousands of voter registrations by today: The Supreme Court appeal by [Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer] Brunner, a Democrat, said many mismatches will appear for trivial reasons. She said Wednesday that as many as 200,000 of Ohio’s 660,000 new registrants this […]

* Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias speaks out against the DOJ’s ACORN probe. [Talking Points Memo] * Judges in China refuse to take lawsuits over tainted milk. [Associated Press] * They may cause rashes. And brain cancer. But we still love them. [Reuters] * Grand jury investigations for Lehman, in New York and New Jersey. […]

We received just over 1,200 responses to last week’s ATL / Lateral Link survey on politics in the workplace, and two things immediately became apparent. First, there aren’t that many good political lolcats, so we’ve decided to make do with an lolronpaul (h/t punditkitchen). Second, now that the general election is in full swing, political […]

We’ve discussed that under Barack Obama’s plan, taxes on Biglaw associates are likely to go up. But a cursory glance over on Open Secrets shows that many law firm partners are contributing towards the Obama campaign. One associate we’ve talked with has a pretty interesting idea on how to deal with Biglaw partners that support […]

The latest analysis of Obama’s and McCain’s tax plans show that both candidates will likely raise the marginal tax rate paid by most Americans: Senator Obama’s tax plan includes a number of proposals for new or expanded tax benefits that are generally targeted to low- and moderate-income taxpayers. Many of these additions to the “skyline” […]

Back in February, our ATL / Lateral Link survey on politics in the workplace found that 74% of you were discussing politics in the workplace, but less than 3% of you felt any need to conform to a particular political view. At the time, 20% of respondents said that their fellow associates had tried to […]

David Kernell, the now infamous 20-year-old hacker who got access into Sarah Palin’s private email account, has been indicted by a federal grand jury. Kernell is the son of the Democratic chairperson of Tennessee’s House Government Operations Committee. The A.P. reports: Kernell, an economics major at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, faces a maximum […]

Pundits and news junkies aren’t the only people talking about presidential politics these days. Some attorneys want to add their two cents as well. We saw earlier what happened when Orrick attorneys used the firm-wide email list to espouse political views. But Jack Levin, a partner at K&E Chicago, apparently felt that he had learned […]

Does anybody else think that the new President will enact new corporate regulations? Corporate counsel think that regardless of the winner this November, labor and employment regulation will increase. The National Law Journal reports: According to a recent survey of nearly 400 corporate counsel, six out of 10 corporate counsel expect this year’s presidential election […]

Earlier today, Governor Sarah Palin released her tax returns. It turns out she makes a little more than most “hockey moms” but she’s no Joe Biden. TaxProf Blog breaks down how she stacks up to the other Article II contenders: Gov. Palin’s charitable contributions do not approach the 10% tithe required by her evangelical church, […]

The Vice Presidential debate just ended, and there was a lot more “law” than one might have expected. The best legal sparks flew over the Constitutional powers of the office of Vice President. Palin came out of the gate first when asked about her role as Vice President: I’m thankful the Constitution would give a […]

Earlier this week we reported on Sarah Palin’s apparent inability to name more than one important SCOTUS case. Some commenters felt that we should reserve judgment on Palin’s judicial knowledge until we had “confirmation” about those opinions. Some people also questioned what her VP opponent, Joe Biden, might say under similar circumstances. Well, now we […]

Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric last week made me … happy. But the McCain-Palin campaign appears nonplussed with the post-interview spin. Maybe the campaign feels pressured by the latest “global electoral college poll.” Regardless, the campaign is set to “re-introduce” Sarah Palin. Palin, and McCain this time, sat down with Katie Couric again. (I […]

Last week, we tangentially touched on the issue of California’s Proposition 8, which is titled: “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” The issue touched off a firestorm of comments, with many strong opinions for and against the measure. Apparently, senior attorneys at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe also hold strong opinions about Prop. 8. Political […]

We like to think of ATL as a place where lawyers can get together and discuss the compelling news of the day. Well, the news of the day is that Wall Street will apparently not be receiving $700 billion dollars to cover their bad investments. The House rejected the bailout plan. The Dow is down […]

* The bailout is not on. Talks imploded at 10:30 p.m. last night. Congress is back at it today. [New York Times] * Two-time ATL Lawyer of the Day Jack Thompson, the crazy controversial video game crusader, has been permanently disbarred. [Crave / CNET News] * Words to live by: Don’t make sex videos. And […]