Privacy
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.30.19
* Rod Rosenstein is heading to the job market. I’m available to consult if Rod needs some résumé polishing tips. [National Law Journal]
* Legal employment numbers are up! That’s… not actually great news. [Law.com]
* If you were trying to draw up the most glaring gender bias suit, you’d probably pass on “female general counsel asked to serve the men cake” as too far-fetched and yet here we are. [Law360]
* If you’re looking for more insight into the Am Law 100 numbers, the folks you brought them to you will be having an in-depth discussion on the topic all day today. [American Lawyer]
* Trump’s suing to block congressional subpoenas of his banks because he really, really, doesn’t want people to know he’s not a billionaire. [Huffington Post]
* The Seventh Circuit says death by autoerotic asphyxiation isn’t accidental. In case, you know, you were planning something in Chicago. [Courthouse News Service]
* Tech giants are trying to gut California’s privacy law. [WIRED]
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Technology
Federal Agent: Using A Taped Box To Send Stuff Overnight Via FedEx Is Suspicious Behavior
Obviously criminal activity. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.04.19
* Gordon Caplan showed up in court. At least he didn’t hire someone else to do his appearance for him. [Hartford Courant]
* Mueller people think the report might be worse than the four-page summary written by Trump’s stooge might suggest. [CNN]
* Wait, Jones Day may be a terrible place to work? [American Lawyer]
* In-house counsel needed in the Bay Area. [Corporate Counsel]
* Facebook user records just left laying around in public. Red angry face. [Law360]
* The mayor from Mayer. [American Lawyer]
* Australia to go after social media companies that don’t rapidly deal with violent content. [NY Times]
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Intellectual Property
In Your Face: How Facial Recognition Databases See Copyright Law But Not Your Privacy
Like many legal issues involving evolving technology, there is more here than meets the eye.
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Non-Sequiturs
Non Sequiturs: 03.24.19
* In the wake of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement, I predicted that Chief Justice John Roberts, a staunch institutionalist when it comes to the Supreme Court, would serve as a moderating influence at SCOTUS — and so far that seems to be the case, with Adam Feldman noting a “a mild liberalizing over time” in JGR’s jurisprudence. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* Speaking of SCOTUS, it’s high time for the Court to resolve the messy circuit split on email privacy under the Stored Communications Act, according to Orin Kerr. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* The Trump Administration’s new executive order about free speech on university campuses might harm rather than help the cause of academic freedom, as Paul Horwitz points out. [PrawfsBlawg]
* Republicans aren’t the only ones with purity tests for judicial nominations; Demand Justice, a left-wing group focused on the federal judiciary, has high standards for Democratic opposition to Trump nominees. [Bench Memos / National Review]
* While you wait for the 2019 edition of Above the Law’s law school rankings, check out the latest installment of the “revealed preferences” law school rankings, by C.J. Ryan and Brian L. Frye. [SSRN]
* What’s next for Kira Systems, a leader in the world of legal AI? Co-founder and CEO Noah Waisberg isn’t resting on his laurels — and he’s putting that $50 million investment from last September to work. [Artificial Lawyer]
* Fastcase continues to forge new partnerships — and in its latest alliance, it will give its subscribers access to select titles from the American Bar Association (which, full disclosure, published my book (affiliate link) in 2014). [Dewey B Strategic]
* If you’ll be in New York this coming Wednesday, consider attending the inaugural Kenneth P. Thompson ’92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform at NYU Law School, focused on wrongful convictions and the roles of prosecutors and others in the criminal justice system. [NYU Law]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.22.19
* It’s cliché to label this, “but their emails” right? [NY Times]
* R. Kelly wants to see this sex tape. Let’s presume it’s for defense purposes. [TMZ]
* Navigating the privacy waters between GDPR and CCPA. [Corporate Counsel]
* Gordon Caplan has a court date with Aunt Becky. [American Lawyer]
* While eDiscovery has been a thing for over a decade, a new study confirms that a lot of firms still don’t understand it. [Legaltech News]
* The SPLC removed its founder…folks around the work they do think that was the right move. Meanwhile, prepare for years of white supremacists going “I can’t be criticized because SPLC had a sh [New Yorker]
* Mississippi wants a law aborted next. [NBC News]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.12.19
* When trying to credibly disavow past comments making light of sexual assault victims, try to do it sometime before your entire career hinges on pantomiming remorse. [National Law Journal]
* Steptoe the latest firm to unveil a new strategy to promote diversity. [American Lawyer]
* In the latest ABC News “The Investigation” podcast, John Dowd describes the Mueller investigation that’s tripped up 30+ actual and alleged wrongdoers “a terrible waste of time.” [The Investigation]
* EU has logged 59,000 data breaches since GDPR came online. So that’s working out great. [Corporate Counsel]
* Pierce Bainbridge continues its hiring spree, nabbing an IP litigation star from McKool. [The Recorder]
* Soccer officials appeal red cards to Second Circuit. [Law360]
* Trump commissions Cyberdyne Systems. [Courthouse News Service]
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Legal Operations
57 Million Reasons To Get Your Organization’s Data In Order
How is it possible organizations do not know what information they possess, the value of that information, and how it is accessed and used? -
Stupid Lawyer Tricks
Stop Posting This Facebook Privacy Notice -- Your Pseudo-Legalese Means NOTHING!
This Facebook hoax has been meaningless for SEVEN years. STOP! -
Intellectual Property
Catching Up With A Conundrum? Mobile Biometrics & The Privacy Of Your Personal Data
Courts must understand the nature of technology in addressing our fundamental rights rather than letting technology undermine them. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.22.19
* In college hoops corruption trial, it seems the defense wants to confuse having a “reason” with having an “excuse.” The judge is not here for it. [Law360]
* On the same theme, here’s an exploration of how billable hour pricing models encourage overbilling that doesn’t confuse identifying the impetus of bad behavior with excusing it. [American Lawyer]
* Dog Gone! DA drops animal cruelty charges in “authorities accuse lawyer of sex with dog” case, putting an end to the most bizarre of the charges. All the drug and firearm charges though… yeah, he had to plead guilty to those. But Snoopy’s honor is restored. [Trib Live]
* Google, a company worth billions, gets hit with $57 million GDPR fine, reinforcing that GDPR is a lot of useful bark but very little actual bite — at least for now. [NY Times]
* Legal Aid fighting back against law that lets private investors pay off people’s minor tax bills and then seize their homes. [Omaha World-Herald]
* Shutdown may start killing people directly — federal worker needs her insurance back to live. [Courthouse News Service]
* Ghost of former national Chief Justice upset according to psychic. [Legal Cheek]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non Sequiturs: 01.06.19
* It’s baaack: partisan gerrymandering returns to the Supreme Court — and in the view of veteran SCOTUS watcher Amy Howe, it’s unlikely that the justices will duck the merits this time around. [SCOTUSblog]
* Article III standing and the Stored Communications Act: Orin Kerr argues that it should be viewed through the lens of property rather than privacy. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* Carrie Severino calls out Senate Democrats for their persistent — and in her view, unjustified — questioning of judicial nominees about their religious views and affiliations. [Bench Memos / National Review]
* Joel Cohen identifies an interesting issue: should a defendant prejudiced by government misconduct in a case receive a break at sentencing? [Law & Crime]
* Here are some highlights from Chief Justice John Roberts’s year-end report on the federal judiciary, courtesy of Howard Wasserman. [PrawfsBlawg]
* The new year is a time of beginnings — and endings. Concurring Opinions, you will be missed. [Concurring Opinions]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.27.18
* Law firms keep on merging and won’t stop until there’s just one huge law firm that will still get drowned out by the Big 4. [American Lawyer]
* Eversheds lawyer found dead at the bottom of a cliff right after the firm received complaints about his behavior at the Christmas party. [Mirror]
* Top attorneys under 40. [Law360]
* Federalism and states’ rights are fundamental to the American way of life… until they inconvenience businesses. Then Republicans are all over gutting state laws. [WIRED]
* A roundup of 2018’s SCOTUS comedy. [National Law Journal]
* Morgan Stanley hit with $10 million fine from FINRA proving there are still some regulators doing their jobs in this administration. [Corporate Counsel]
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Sponsored Content
A Year In Review: Privacy Law In 2018
The past year has been a momentous one for privacy law. -
Bar Exams
Bar Exam Horror Story: Woman Alleges She Was Secretly Filmed Showering During Bar Exam Hotel Stay
Well, this is absolutely horrifying. -
Technology
EFF, ACLU Petition Court To Unseal Documents From DOJ's Latest Anti-Encryption Efforts
The DOJ lost its attempt to break into Facebook but got the court to keep its failure under wraps. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.30.18
* Senator Tim Scott has effectively killed the district court nomination of Thomas Farr. At this point, the administration could just grab another name out of the hat of tons of nominally qualified North Carolina Republicans. But instead they’ll just wait until the next session and redo this whole thing with their newly expanded majority to own the libs. [Courthouse News Service]
* It looks like Trump may actually be zeroing in on a new AG. [CNN]
* The tech industry expects federal data privacy legislation next year. I don’t know if these people have noticed, but it’s unclear this upcoming legislature could pass a National Ice Cream Day resolution. [Corporate Counsel]
* Former FBI chief James Comey is moving to quash a lame duck House subpoena. Comey’s publicly declared that he’s happy to testify before the committee in a public hearing. But, as you might imagine, the House Republicans don’t want a public hearing where they won’t be able to spin what happens. [Reuters]
* While everyone’s predicted the death of the billable hour, it turns out that the antiquated billing mechanism has an unlikely defender: the clients. [Law360]
* The new tax law will completely screw up divorces. Add that to the overseas manufacturing incentives as something Trump probably didn’t realize when he dropped this dud of a law on the country. [Fox17]
* Firms could get slapped with malpractice over substance abuse or poor mental health. [New York Law Journal]
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Technology
Alexa On The Witness Stand Is Going To Be Killer For Privacy
The Internet of Things can and will be used against you. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.08.18
* Is Matt Whitaker’s appointment as Acting Attorney General even legal? Well, Justice Thomas certainly doesn’t think so. [Twitter]
* Associate signing bonuses are on the decline according to a new report. On the other hand, we’ve heard about more firms offering payouts to make associates whole on bonuses when jumping firms, and I’m not sure this decline captures that. If not, this decline might be a distinction without difference. [American Lawyer]
* Rudy Giuliani claiming he’s got “financial troubles” while spending over $12K on cigars. Maybe he should ask for an advance from his client who claims to be a billionaire but is pretty obviously not even close to being a billionaire. [NBC]
* Ron Wyden proposes criminal penalties for corporate data breaches. [Corporate Counsel]
* Attorney wanted for murder has been apprehended in Cuba. [Law360]
* As much as we tout advances in legal technology, it’s the changes to the legal business model that may usher in the biggest transformation. [Forbes]
* More insights from the In-House Benchmarking Report. Work is still moving in-house and technology has a lot to do with this shift. [Legaltech News]
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Technology
Just As Expected: GDPR Has Made Google Even More Dominant In Europe
Working out exactly as planned...