This summer, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law 3L Dave Johnston won $50,000 on the online game show, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” He had a little help from the TruTV (formerly Court TV) anchor, Ashleigh Banfield. When we interviewed him back in July, we asked what his plans were for his 50Gs.

He said he wanted to use them for a “good cause”: fighting back against Cardozo’s kosher policy. Since Cardozo Law is part of Torah-embracing Yeshiva University, the stated policy is that no school money can be spent on unkosher food, according to Johnston. In his words:

That meant student groups could only purchase their food from certain ultra-Orthodox kosher restaurants that had agreements with the administration. In the interest of cost, most orgs would opt for kosher pizza, made without the meat enzyme found in regular cheese but with the rich flavor of oily cardboard. It’s also more expensive than most pies. Meanwhile, one block west of Cardozo is Famous Original Ray’s (the real one) and one block east is Patsy’s Pizzeria. Where I grew up in California, my pizza options were usually Domino’s and Papa John’s. Maybe that’s why this policy boggles my mind. Here you have the world’s finest pizza in pizza-crazy New York so close, and the majority of Cardozo students do not keep kosher, so it just seems criminal to force us to pay more for less.

“Criminal” seems like a bit of a stretch. But Johnston says the kosher policy caught him by surprise when he first arrived at Cardozo:

This kosher situation caught me off guard when I came to Cardozo as a secular Jew. The kosher policy is not mentioned in Cardozo brochures. Cardozo had been described as a secular law school (see [“Cardozo Law School is secular, but as a result of its heritage many of its students are Jewish.”]). I knew Cardozo was affiliated with Yeshiva University, but they seemed separate and distinct. For example, if you refresh the Yeshiva University homepage, you’ll see yarmulkes in most of the photos. I haven’t found a single one on the Cardozo website. To me, that was telling.

Judging potential law schools based on the photos on their websites is probably not the best way to go about the selection process. But at least it tells you more about the attractiveness of the student body than the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

After Johnston won his Millionaire jackpot, he met with Cardozo Special Events about holding an unkosher feast to celebrate his winnings and thank his fellow students for their support. “I wanted to do it by giving them the mouthwatering pizza that no one else would,” said Johnston.

Find out whether pig products found their way into Cardozo conference rooms, after the jump.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered a federal trial judge to take a closer look at the murder case against Troy Anthony Davis, a Georgia death row inmate. The SCOTUS directed the district judge to “receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis’] innocence.”

Justice Antonin Scalia, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented. Justice Scalia questioned the viability of Davis’s claim of actual innocence, then went one step further. Even if Davis might be “actually” innocent, he’s SOL:

This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent.

This bold pronouncement caught the attention of Professor Alan Dershowitz, back at Justice Scalia’s alma mater, Harvard Law School. From “Scalia’s Catholic Betrayal,” over at The Daily Beast:

Let us be clear precisely what [Scalia’s dissent] means. If a defendant were convicted, after a constitutionally unflawed trial, of murdering his wife, and then came to the Supreme Court with his very much alive wife at his side, and sought a new trial based on newly discovered evidence (namely that his wife was alive), these two justices would tell him, in effect: “Look, your wife may be alive as a matter of fact, but as a matter of constitutional law, she’s dead, and as for you, Mr. Innocent Defendant, you’re dead, too, since there is no constitutional right not to be executed merely because you’re innocent.”

It would be shocking enough for any justice of the Supreme Court to issue such a truly outrageous opinion, but it is particularly indefensible for Justices Scalia and Thomas, both of whom claim to be practicing Catholics, bound by the teaching of their church, to do moral justice. Justice Scalia has famously written, in the May 2002 issue of the conservative journal First Things, that if the Constitution compelled him to do something that was absolutely prohibited by mandatory Catholic rules, he would have no choice but to resign from the Supreme Court.

So should Justice Scalia resign? The Dersh isn’t saying that — yet.

But he does have a challenge for Nino.

You have to admit, Mormons take a lot of crap. I’m Catholic. Technically, I believe that 2,000 odd years ago this coming Sunday, some dude “un-deaded” himself, haunted a few of his friends, ignored his enemies, and then vanished up into the sky. And he’s not coming back until it’s time to kill everybody. I will celebrate this occasion with chocolate. But Mormons are the kooky ones?

I like a good Mormon joke as much as the next guy, but are there places outside of Utah where Mormons aren’t subjected to a religious double standard? The Mormon Lawyers blog has compiled a list of the Top Ten Mormon Friendly Law Schools. Number one on the list:

1. University of Nevada, Las Vegas - William S. Boyd School of Law

* Number of Mormon Law Students: 80
* Percentage of Student Body: 16.98%
* Cost of Living: $14,260
* Cost of Tuition: $20,302
* Distance to nearest Temple: 13 Miles
* US News Ranking: 88
* Total Points: 409

Isn’t UNLV also 13 miles from a brothel? Temptation is awesome.

Check out the full top ten list after the jump.

* This celebrity lawsuit round-up has Billie Jean suing Michael Jackson. She says she was his lover, and that his kid is her son. [Popsquire Beat]

* Looking to apply for the federal bail-out? This application is “so simple and easy to use that even Skadden Arps should bill no more than $2.7 million to review it.” [Vanity Fair]

* Law school selling naming rights to everything but the bathroom. [TaxProf Blog]

* U.N.says don’t hate on other people’s religions. [Reuters]

* Laid off? Look at the upside. This associate is celebrating: “Unemployment is awesome. I read books all day, lay out in the sun, watch TV, visit friends (you know, all the stuff you can never do when working for a NY law firm).” [Greedy Associates]

* We love those Alaskan family values. The grandmother of Bristol Palin’s unborn child has been arrested on drug charges. [Politico]

* Biglaw bonuses may be less, but at least they’re in cash. How would you like a “”partner asset facility” in your stocking? (Ed. note: We’re pleased to see the term “half-Skadden” adopted by the WSJ.) [WSJ Law Blog]

Given the state of the world, we can understand some anger at the Big Guy Upstairs. And the best way to deal with anger is in the courtroom, right?

So thought former Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers. He sued God last year, “seeking a permanent injunction to prevent God from committing acts of violence such as earthquakes and tornadoes.”

Judge Marlon Polk threw out the suit, and all future suits against the Almighty. From the Omaha World-Herald:

You can’t sue God if you can’t serve the papers on him, a Douglas County District Court judge ruled in Omaha Tuesday.

Judge Marlon Polk threw out Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers’ lawsuit against the Almighty, saying there was no evidence that the defendant had been served. What’s more, Polk found “there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant.”

Chambers, an avowed atheist and Creighton University School of Law grad, defended his suit, saying he was trying to make a point. He doesn’t think that the Nebraska legislature should prohibit certain lawsuits. We’re not sure we see the logic behind defending frivolous lawsuits by filing a frivolous lawsuit, but we are amused by his legal arguments:

In August, [Chambers] argued that Polk should take judicial notice of the existence of God. The senator cited the facts that U.S. currency says “In God We Trust,” God is invoked during oaths in court hearings, and chaplains offer prayers before legislative bodies.

“If God is omnipresent,” Chambers said in that August hearing, “then he is here in Douglas County and in this courtroom.”

Polk denied as moot the motion to take judicial notice of God.

Chambers’ suit against God tossed out [Omaha World-Herald]

If legal novelist John Grisham and Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown were to get together and make a literary baby, it would look a lot like our lawsuit of the day. From London’s Daily Telegraph:

The heirs of the Knights Templar have launched a legal battle in Spain to force the Pope to restore the reputation of the disgraced order which was accused of heresy and dissolved seven centuries ago.

The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros [$150 billion USD].

They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church.

1307? It seems like the statute of limitations has run out on that one. (Or “prescriptive period” per Spain’s civil law system.)

The Pope has the Vatican to blame for inspiring the lawsuit:

The legal move by the Spanish group comes follows the unprecedented step by the Vatican towards the rehabilitation of the group when last October it released copies of parchments recording the trials of the Knights between 1307 and 1312.

The papers lay hidden for more than three centuries having been “misfiled” within papal archives until they were discovered by an academic in 2001.

Apparently, the Knights hope the suit will help improve their reputation, sullied by age-old accusations of worshipping Satan, denying Jesus, and practicing sodomy. It seems more likely that they’ll have a new accusation added to the list: filing frivolous and unsuccessful lawsuits.

Knights Templar heirs in legal battle with the Pope [Daily Telegraph via NPR]

Alabama state court judges: they love themselves some Ten Commandments.

Just like Roy Moore, former chief justice of Alabama, Judge Ashley McKathan thinks the “higher law” has a place in the courtroom. Four years ago, the county circuit court judge had the Ten Commandments embroidered on his judicial robe. Presumably it’s a silent reminder, to himself and to those in his courtroom, of the Really Big Judge upstairs.

Now he’s in trouble with the American Civil Liberties Union for invoking the Big Judge in the courtroom again — this time out loud. The ACLU has filed a complaint against him with the Judicial Inquiry Commission for violating ethics rules and the U.S. Constitution. From CNN:

The ACLU complaint said McKathan dropped to his knees and prayed aloud during a court hearing in February. He told the 100 people in the courtroom that he was not afraid to call on the name of Jesus Christ, witnesses said, and ordered all to join hands and pray, according to the complaint filed soon after the hearing….

In response to the complaint, McKathan told the Mobile Press-Register for a story Thursday: “Whatever comes of all that, I’ll continue to have peace.” Quoting Romans in the King James version of the Bible, the judge added: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose.”

Amen.

Complaint against judge praying in court [CNN]

When it comes to diversity, Disney World must think they’ve got it covered with the “It’s A Small World” ride. A 24-year-old Sikh, who wears a beard and turban as part of his faith, says he was allowed to work for the company when he was costumed from head to toe, but was denied a job as a non-costumed street musician. Allegedly, those in charge of hiring — or not hiring — commented that Sukhbir Channa did not have the “Disney look.”

What? No mouse ears? From HandelontheLaw:

Sukhbir Channa says that when he applied to be a trumpet player at Disney World, he was told he didn’t fit the ”Disney look” and would not be hired. The trumpet performance junior at the University of South Florida was seeking a job during the 2006 holiday season.

On Monday, Channa, 24, of Davie said he has filed a lawsuit against Disney, alleging the company discriminated against him because of his turban and bushy beard — requirements of his Sikh religion. The suit was filed in Tampa, where the university is located and where the hiring process took place, and seeks $1 million in punitive damages….

”I was specifically told that I was qualified for the gig,” Channa said Monday, but “they told me anything that involved me being seen by the audience wasn’t possible.”

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) is part of the $1 million religious discrimination class action lawsuit against Disney. With only 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., we wonder how many have actually applied for jobs with Disney. According to SALDEF’s press release, Sikhs have been caught up in the wave of religious discrimination following September 11. Sikhism is closer to Hinduism than to Islam, but people must just get hung up on the beard and turban.

Would it have been more or less discriminatory if Disney had hired Channa, but only let him play in Aladdin parades?

MAN SAYS DISNEY WOULDN’T HIRE HIM BECAUSE OF HIS ‘LOOK’ [Handel on the Law]
Statement from Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Complaint [PDF]

Parents of an Ohio eighth grader are suing their son’s teacher, principal, and school superintendent, as well as the Mt. Vernon City School District. Apparently the teacher is among the one in eight biology teachers who don’t believe in evolution, and he espouses his religious beliefs in class. And oh yeah, he burned a cross into their son’s arm!

From the Courthouse News Service:

The John Does claim Freshwater has unconstitutionally taught his religious beliefs in his science classes for more than a decade. They claim that in 2003 Freshwater sought, and was denied permission, to teach “intelligent design,” but does it anyway. They claim his classroom is festooned with Biblical posters, that he tells his students that “although he is forced to teach from the textbooks, the teachings are wrong or not proven according to the Bible.”

The complaint [PDF] states: “On Dec. 6, 2007, Mr. Freshwater burned a cross into James Doe’s arm using an electric device manufactured by Electro-Technic Products, Inc., Model BD-10A. The manufacturer of Model BD-10A warns that the electric device has a high voltage output that should never be used to touch human skin. … Mr. Freshwater applied the electric device to the arm of at least one other eighth grade student on Dec. 6, 2007. The area burned with Model BD-10A resulted in an easily identifiable cross consisting of red welts with blistering, swelling and blanching in the surrounding area…

The complaint also states that Freshwater, as adviser of the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, claimed to drive Satan out of a speaker at a club meeting, told club members that “they are saved, whereas the other students playing on the playground are going to Hell,” distributed Bibles at school, gave “extra credit” to students who did work on “intelligent design,” and that school administrators knew all this but failed to discipline him for it.

Last time we checked, exorcising demons from your students wasn’t part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Eighth Grader Says Teacher Burned A Cross Into His Flesh [Courthouse News]

This lawsuit seems distinctly un-Christian. Matthew Lincoln is suing his Tennessee church for $2.5 million, for injuries sustained during a service. What happened to turning the other cheek?

From the Smoking Gun:

Last June, Matthew Lincoln was attending an evening service at his nondenominational Tennessee church when he approached the altar where a visiting minister was offering individual prayers for parishioners. Assigned “catchers” were present on the altar in case congregants fainted, fell, or otherwise lost control.

When the minister, Robert Lavala, slightly touched his forehead, the Knoxville-area man “received the spirit and fell backwards.” Except nobody was there to catch him, Lincoln charges in a $2.5 million lawsuit filed yesterday against Lakewind Church and its pastors. Lincoln, 58, claims that he fell backwards, striking his head against the “carpet-covered cement floor.”

Overlawyered has covered quite a few of these types of lawsuits. Perhaps the plaintiffs should band together and file a class action against the Big Guy Upstairs, for negligently inflicting them with the spirit.

Man Falls After Receiving Spirit, Sues [Smoking Gun]
Slain in the Spirit: Tennessee case [Overlawyered]

Today is Friday, so this news is timely. Some of you may recall the case of Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy. Norman Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked in A&O’s New York office, sued the elite “Magic Circle” law firm, alleging that it discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.

For counsel, Schoenfeld retained Anne C. Vladeck, the superstar plaintiffs-side employment lawyer who successfully represented Anucha Browne Sanders in her sexual harassment case against Isiah Thomas and MSG. After Vladeck and Sanders won at trial, the parties settled the case — including all appeals — for a cool $11.5 million.

Back to the Schoenfeld case. Sources close to the case inform us that the parties have resolved the case, and it will be formally closed in the near future. It hasn’t been dismissed yet, as you can see when you check the S.D.N.Y. docket (1:07-cv-11431-HB), where the last entry is the pretrial scheduling order. But the parties have an agreement in principle to settle, and it will be papered up soon.

We reached Todd Girshon of Jackson Lewis, counsel to Allen & Overy, by phone. He offered a “no comment” (although we detected a faint hint of amusement in his voice as he said it). We’ve left telephone and email messages for Anne Vladeck, counsel to Norman Schoenfeld. We haven’t heard back from her yet, but we’ll let you know if and when we do.

We must confess that, although we’re happy to see the parties resolve their differences, we’re sad that we won’t get to write more about this case. As you may recall, when the story first broke, we thought that it might turn into “the Jewish version of Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell.” It looks like that won’t be happening. No tales of “bending over,” boiled hard drives, or boasts of representing Nazis — just a quiet settlement. What began with a bang has ended with a whimper.

In other Allen & Overy news, the New York office has a new managing partner. Congratulations to Kevin O’Shea, who assumed leadership of the New York office effective May 1. Presumably he’s glad to have this lawsuit behind the firm as he takes the reins at A&O - NY.

Update: The firm has confirmed news of the imminent settlement. See here.

Earlier: Lawsuit of the Day: The Jewish Version of Charney v. S&C?
Schoenfeld v. Allen & Oy-vey-ry: We’ve Got Close to Bupkis
Schoenfeld v. Allen & Oy-vey-ry: A&O’s Answer

We were tempted to give you a scandalous photo of a Catholic schoolgirl with this post, but we thought a heavenly Will Ferrell was funnier. Now, on to Catholic School News.

We’ve been following the trials and tribulations of Ave Maria School of Law for some time now. The school even has its own category tag on ATL.

In the latest news, reported by Julie Kay in the National Law Journal, more than a dozen faculty members have left since the February 2007 decision to move the school from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Ave Maria, Florida (a town founded by Domino’s founder and school head Thomas Monaghan):

The brain drain at the school has been devastating, [tenured professor Richard Myers] said.

“There were 20 full-time people on the faculty a year-and-a-half ago,” he said. “Next year there will be five of that group left teaching full-time. That’s a dramatic change.”

The law school has been actively trying to recruit new teachers, Myers said, with only limited success. The school recently hired a tax professor and a visiting professor, he said.

Prospective law school students may want to steer clear until Ave Maria gets back on track. The extensive list of the departed faculty members is available below the fold.

In other Catholic law school news, we reported earlier this month on St. Thomas’s decision not to let students complete their pro bono requirement at organizations with missions that conflict with Catholic values. If you choose to go to a Catholic school for its ranking and not its religious mission, don’t expect sympathy if you gripe to your friends about the school imposing its values on you. In our poll, over 57% of the 1,726 voters supported St. Thomas’s decision.

More discussion, after the jump.

This is slightly off the legal beat. But these days, everyone is talking about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright — including lots of law professors (like Ann Althouse and Glenn Reynolds). And we also know how much you enjoy controversy over commencement speakers, especially at Northwestern University (where Jerry Springer is speaking at the law school’s commencement this year).

So, with those connections in mind, here’s some interesting news from late last week:

In a highly unusual move in the academic world, Northwestern University in suburban Chicago has publicly disinvited the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright from its June commencement ceremonies, where he was to receive an honorary degree.

It’s another indication of the rolling repercussions of the retiring African American pastor’s inflammatory comments on America, 9/11, race relations, the AIDs epidemic and Illinois’ junior senator, Barack Obama.

From Northwestern’s statement:

Dr. Wright was quoted as saying that his invitation to receive an honorary degree was withdrawn by Northwestern President Henry Bienen because Dr. Wright “wasn’t patriotic enough.” If Dr. Wright was quoted accurately, that statement is not true. In his conversation and correspondence with Dr. Wright in March, President Bienen never characterized Dr. Wright’s views or made a judgment about them. The letter said, “In light of the controversy surrounding statements made by you that have recently been publicized, the celebratory character of Northwestern’s commencement would be affected by our conferring of this honorary degree. Thus I am withdrawing the offer of an honorary degree previously extended to you.”

So, readers, any thoughts — on Northwestern’s withdrawn invitation, or on Reverend Wright more generally? Might he have a cause of action against Northwestern arising out of his “dis-invitation”?

(No, we don’t seriously think that. But we’re trying to give this post some connection to the law, however tenuous. And we figured that those of you who are studying for final exams might appreciate the challenge of trying to come up with a legal theory for such a lawsuit. Go ahead — spot those issues!)

Collected Jeremiah Wright coverage [Althouse]
Statement Regarding the Rev. Dr. Wright [Northwestern University]
Jeremiah Wright axed from honorary degree by Northwestern U. [Top of the Ticket / Los Angeles Times]
Clyburn Blasts Wright for ‘Knee-Capping’ Obama [The Trail / Washington Post]

Catholic law schools uphold two legal regimes: the laws of the U.S. legal system, and the laws from the big guy upstairs. Some students are just there for the former, and discomforted by the influence of the latter.

A tipster writes to us about a debate at Minnesota’s St. Thomas School of Law. We notice that in their motto — “Faith, Reason, Community” — faith comes first. So students probably should have expected something like this:

At Minnesota’s new law school, St. Thomas, the students have a 50-hour pro bono requirement. The school just announced that students can’t get credit if they do pro bono work for an organization that supports birth control or abortion. It seems kind of goofy.

The Minnesota Post (via Minnesota Lawyer Blog) has an article about a St. Thomas student who tried to fulfill her pro bono requirement at Planned Parenthood. Though she got approval from the student board, Dean Thomas Mengler shot it down:

Mengler announced in a campuswide letter that students would not receive credit for volunteering at Planned Parenthood or any other organization “whose mission is fundamentally in conflict with a core value of a Catholic university.”

“As a Catholic university, we have a right and a responsibility to be Catholic,” Mengler said in an interview on Tuesday. “Certainly, one of (the church’s) core values is sanctity of life.”

See also today’s Minnesota Star-Tribune (via Mirror of Justice, a leading Catholic legal theory blog).

St. Thomas isn’t the only law school struggling to balance secular influences and religious traditions. We recently received an e-mail from a Georgetown alum who tried to direct his donation to the school’s pro-choice campus group. They turned him down — see the e-mail exchange after the jump.

UST Law has unplanned controversy over volunteer credits [Minnesota Lawyer Blog]
Quote of the Year [Mirror of Justice]
Volunteer-credits decision sparks debate at St. Thomas law school [Minnesota Post]
Student’s volunteer mission is latest row at St. Thomas [Minnesota Star-Tribune]

The Florida Senate has its eyes on the road this month. A few weeks back, they passed legislation imposing a $60 fine on truck nutz. Now, they’re denying Christians the right to their own vanity license plates. No nutz, no crosses… what fun is left for Florida drivers?

The vanity plates are being nixed because of that whole pesky separation of church and state thing. From CNN:

A license plate that would have become the first in the nation to prominently feature a religious symbol is unlikely to be on the road any time soon after state lawmakers did not include it in a bill Tuesday.

The plate, which included an image of a Christian cross, stained-glass window and the words “I Believe,” is not in legislation passed late Tuesday that’s now headed to the governor.

Opponents of the plate said approving it would result in a court challenge because it violated the separation of church and state and gave the appearance the state was endorsing a particular religious preference.

Supporters of the religious license plate say that not allowing it is restricting free speech. We say, just get a decal!

In other license plate news, Missouri’s planning to roll out license plates with a grammatical error, because “the people want it that way,” according to the Missouri Department of Revenue. Instead of the “Show-Me State,” the state’s nickname reads “Show Me State.” Maybe they should change the state’s nickname to “Show Me How To Use a Compound Modifier.”

Florida’s ‘I Believe’ plates hit roadblock [CNN]
I BELIEVE tag hits speed bump (rejoice) [Legal Satyricon]
New plates lack hyphen in Show-Me [News-Leader]

The law firm of Latham & Watkins has lots of things going for it: eye-popping profits, ample prestige, and a promise of no layoffs. What more could you ask for?

How about…. a powerful and glamorous client, with deep connections in Hollywood? Reported over at Radar Online:

Recently, Radar reported on Scientology’s short-lived attempt to beat its Guy Fawkes mask-clad antagonists “Anonymous” at their own game: scary YouTube videos. A clip posted by a Sciento associate under the name “AnonymousFacts” displayed the names and personal information of several supposed Anonymous members and accused the group of violent threats and terrorism. YouTube quickly took the video down and suspended AnonymousFacts. But the hassle for at least one of the three men shown didn’t end there.

A little more than a week ago, Jonathan (he asked his last name not be repeated again), who’d joined a Facebook group called “I Support Anonymous” and attended their protests, answered a knock at the door of his parents’ L.A.-area home, where he lives while attending community college. A mustachioed man in a suit and claiming to be from the law firm of Latham and Watkins was holding a “file” and asked to speak to Jonathan’s parents by name, he recently told Radar. He told the mystery man his parents weren’t available and offered to take the package for them. “No,” the man said. “I can’t legally give this to you.” Jonathan shrugged and told him to come back later. That’s when things got weird.

Later a friend of the family came over and said Mr. Mustachio was hanging out in front of the house and had asked her if she was Jonathan’s mom. When she said no, he waited until Jonathan’s parents did arrive, then handed them the file and said, “This is a courtesy letter. No charges are being filed yet. But your son may be involved in terrorist activity.” And then he left. Inside the package was a letter accusing Jonathan of terrorism and a DVD copy of the YouTube video, he says.

Sounds like a pretty fun assignment for a junior associate — anything to get out of the office. But the “Church” denies this ever happened:

A Church of Scientology spokesperson says the group does employ various lawyers across the country to deal with what she tells Radar are “acts of violence, terrorism, and death threats,” but adds, “It is not true that lawyers from any firm representing the Church have visited anyone. If anyone is suggesting otherwise, that is false.”

We’ve contacted Latham for comment. We’ll let you know if and when we hear back from them.

Update: We have our doubts about the firm’s involvement. Writes a commenter:

It is highly unlikely that the person hounding this kid is actually from Latham. Scientologists have a policy (called the “Fair Game” policy) that allows them to lie, cheat, impersonate, physically threaten/assault, etc. if it will further the aims of the “church”. Although that policy was ostensibly cancelled at some point (in name only), scientologists continue to live by it in practice. It’s pretty much guaranteed that the man with the file was not from Latham but was instead a scientology poser.

Seriously—would an associate from Latham actually serve papers on anyone? F**k, no. We use process servers!!

We feel bad for Latham. Some imposter is going around making it look like they represent the Church of Scientology. And their lawyers have mustaches.

Further Update: Or maybe Latham DOES represent the Church of Scientology? See here. (Gavel bang: commenter.)

We have reiterated our inquiry to Latham concerning whether or not the firm represents the Church of Scientology. We’ll let you know what we find out. (They did not respond to an earlier request for comment on this subject.)

Final Update: Read more in this update.

‘Anonymous’ Kid Outed by Scientologists Gets House Call [Fresh Intelligence: Radar Online]

Palm Sunday is this coming weekend, and Easter isn’t far away. So please indulge us as we go on a little religious digression.

The Vatican just rolled out seven new deadly sins. From the Telegraph:

Failing to recycle plastic bags could find you spending eternity in Hell, the Vatican said after drawing up a list of seven deadly sins for our times.

The seven, which include polluting the environment, were announced by Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, a close ally of the Pope and the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the Roman Curia’s main court….

According to Roman Catholic doctrine, mortal sins are a “grave violation of God’s law” and bring about “eternal death” if unrepented by the act of confession.

One ATL reader, who sounds a bit like a sentencing geek, observes: “In addition to providing Nino with a new tranche of doctrinal fodder, it takes the average soft-core sinner right out of sinner-safety-valve territory.”

So what are these seven new, deadly sins?

Mgr Girotti said genetic modification, carrying out experiments on humans, polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs were all mortal sins.

Some Biglaw partners “carry[] out experiments on humans,” i.e., hapless associates. Some lawyers — e.g., Biglaw partners, top trial lawyers — “becom[e] obscenely wealthy.” Many lawyers, as well as paralegals, “pollut[e] the environment” — remember all the times you didn’t recycle Westlaw print-outs? — and “tak[e] drugs” occasionally (or regularly).

But since not all of you are Roman Catholic, you might not put much stock in the Holy See’s list. So we’ve tried to adapt it, by coming up with a “Seven Deadly Sins” list for law-firm life.

Check it out, after the jump.

The Magic Circle law firm of Allen & Overy, defendant in Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy, has just filed its Answer (PDF). They’re hoping to make Norman Schoenfeld’s claims disappear. Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked at the firm, alleges that A&O discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.

We contacted the firm for comment. Here is their statement:

Allen & Overy denies all allegations of discrimination. This person’s employment was terminated based solely on performance within his orientation period, a trial period of time mandated for all employees. He also failed to disclose to Allen & Overy the fact of his previous employment at another law firm.

Our firm has a strict written policy prohibiting any form of discrimination, and we provide all new employees and partners training in both diversity awareness and harassment prevention. Over the past several years, we have also instituted live diversity training for all of our existing attorneys and managers. We will vigorously defend our proud reputation of diversity and inclusion and are confident of a positive outcome for Allen & Overy with respect to these allegations.

More discussion, including interesting information from tipsters, after the jump.

Update (5/9/08): The case is settling. See here.

Back in December — around the holidays, so many of you may have missed it — we wrote about Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy. It’s a lawsuit brought by Norman Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked in the New York office of Allen & Overy. Schoenfeld claims, among other things, that A&O discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.

Since then, we’ve received many requests for updates. This message is representative:

“Is there any news on this lawsuit? As a Sabbath observant 2L, this is of interest to me and many of my friends. A post on ATL providing an update would be appreciated. Love the site. Thanks.”

We’re not aware of any procedural developments in the case. And we sadly didn’t receive much in response to our request for firsthand information about Norman Schoenfeld or Allen & Overy in New York. Here’s the most interesting tip we received — some opinions from an A&O associate:

“That this suit goes on is beyond anyone here at A&O. I did not know this Schoenfeld guy much for the five minutes he worked here and don’t know if his complaint has merit. I will say this though: associates don’t want to work with Mark Wojciechowski and are asking not to work with him.”

“He told A&O he was bringing associates from Mayer Brown; MB associates refused to come work with him. Better to stay on a sinking ship like MB NY than work for a nightmare like Mark Woj….”

“No one can understand how firm management let this happen (rumor is that A&O already fired their first outside counsel). Recruitment of NY lawyers is badly affected and we just wait to see how much this costs the firm in damages (and associates of course since all s**t gets passed down - you know the partners won’t take the hit in their pocket).”

We contacted the firm for comment, but they didn’t have anything to add.

If you have any firsthand information to pass along about the events in question, please email us. Thanks.

Complaint: Norman Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy (PDF)

Earlier: Lawsuit of the Day: The Jewish Version of Charney v. S&C?

Our favorite bride this week is one we don’t get to write about. Rachel Berkowitz is a professional organizer who “helps individuals and businesses to organize closets, filing systems and offices and to move and pack.” And if you’re not a little bit turned on by that, we want to see your underwear drawer.

On the legal-eagle front, three Fordham JDs (at least) and a Sunday school teacher make this our first Catholic-themed week here at LEWW.

The contenders:

1. Sandra Zucker and Joshua Bennett

2. Mari-Claudia Jiménez and Steven Coffey

3. Laura Brown and Brian Vogt

More about these couples, after the jump.