* Judge Robert Bork (in seersucker and a cane) dishes on Richard Nixon and the trouble with modern martinis in an interview with Judge A. Raymond Randolph. [The Federalist Society]

* Evolution: not a cure for the uglies. [Newsweek]

* Married couples would now rather "share chores" than procreate. [AP]

* Starburst Fruit Chews: "Dangerously Chewy" for this Michigan woman. [FOX News]

Last Friday, in the Scooter Libby case, Judge Reggie Walton delivered quite the benchslap. Some brief background, from Ana Marie Cox:

A group of exceedingly prominent law professors (including Alan Dershowitz and Robert Bork) filed an amicus brief to Judge Reggie Walton [on Friday], arguing that the Libby verdict could possibly be overturned on appeal because of the "close question" about the constitutionality of the special prosecutor....

I was struck (as were others) by the footnote Judge Walton appended to his agreement to have the brief submitted:

Here's the feisty footnote:

It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics' willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penalties, incarceration, or worse. The Court will certainly not hesitate to call for such assistance from these luminaries, as necessary in the interests of justice and equity, whenever similar questions arise in the cases that come before it.

Judge Walton, feel free to call upon The Dersh for help in future cases. He's more than happy to offer his opinion on any subject under the sun. In fact, you may quickly come to regret your "call for such assistance" from that loquacious luminary.

(But you might want to give Judge Bork a break. He's a little preoccupied right now....)

Update: The WSJ Law Blog has more here, including the names of additional celebrity professors on the brief.

Shorter Reggie: I Will Remember Your Interest in Public Service the Next Time Someone Really Needs It [The Next Hurrah]
Libby's Last Stand [Swampland / Time.com]
Law Blog Footnote of the Day: the Scooter Libby Trial [WSJ Law Blog]

(Gavel bang: Several email correspondents, plus a commenter.)

Who says that conservative judicial icon Robert Bork, of the famously ill-fated Supreme Court nomination, is anti-plaintiff?

Judge Bork is all in favor of punitive damages -- when, for example, he's demanding them in his Complaint (PDF). The distinguished law professor and former judge has filed a slip-and-fall lawsuit against the Yale Club of New York City.

Bork's fellow traveler in conservative circles, Ted Frank -- who's currently a fellow at AEI, where Bork used to be a fellow -- "sympathize[s] with Judge Bork's serious injuries." But even Frank deems Bork's claim for punitives a bit dubious.

P.S. Bork groupies, mark your calendars: On June 26, the Federalist Society is holding Borkapalooza in Washington, DC. More details here.

Note to Fed Soc folks: Do not place Judge Bork's dais at an "unreasonable" height, and be sure to have handrails on the stairs leading up to it. You're welcome.

Bork Sues the Yale Club [Overlawyered]
Robert Bork Files Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit Against Yale Club [WSJ Law Blog]
Bork v. Yale Club of New York City [Wall Street Journal (PDF)]
A Conference Discussing the Contributions of Judge Robert H. Bork [Federalist Society]

We're a day late; Justice Antonin Scalia turned 71 yesterday, on March 11. But better late than never. Does anyone know how Nino celebrated this august occasion?

On the subject of Justice Scalia's age, here's an interesting squib from Jan Crawford Greenburg's most excellent new book, Supreme Conflict, describing how Justice Scalia edged out Judge Robert Bork as a SCOTUS nominee:

[T]he politics of the nomination turned on age and compatibility. Scalia edged out Bork on both. "It came down to the ten years," one top official later explained. Scalia was almost a decade younger than Bork, and even though he smoked and drank, he also exercised regularly. [DOJ official William Bradford] Reynolds and his team concluded that Scalia was likely to be on the Court longer than Bork because he was in better health -- an important consideration if Scalia was to be Reagan's last nomination.

Greenburg argues that nominating Scalia before Bork was a big mistake:

By nominating Scalia first, alongside the controversial Rehnquist, the White House used up all its political advantages. With Reagan at the height of his popularity and Republicans controlling the Senate, Bork would have been confirmed alongside Rehnquist -- leaving the more loquacious and charming Scalia to emerge for the next nomination, all but daring senators to reject the court's first Italian American nominee.

Hindsight is 20/20; but JCG is probably right about this. And considering that both Antonin Scalia and Robert Bork are alive and well today, in seemingly excellent health, both men would presumably have enjoyed long tenures on the Court had President Reagan switched the order of their nominations.

Happy birthday to Justice Antonin Scalia [How Appealing]

* The Democrats are in the House -- and Senate, too. Say hello to the new chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. (And goodbye to Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.)

* It was a big week for politics -- and celebrity divorces. Parting ways: Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.

* Dewey Ballantine + Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe = Sexytime!!!

* Hit movie Borat + Two dumbass frat boys = Lexytime!!!

* "Shake-It-Like-Shakira" contest + Drunken Jersey girl = More Lexytime!!!

* Rumors of Justice Stevens's retirement: Greatly exaggerated? Or for real this time around?

* Speaking of the SCOTUS, here's a fun fact: "It is unlawful to... make a harangue or oration... in the Supreme Court Building."

* For the record, onetime Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork "doesn't go seducing women at a convent."

* News flash: Your friends who went into investment banking make WAY WAY WAY more money than you. (Unless you're a new Wachtell Lipton partner, in which case they make WAY more money than you.)

Here at Above the Law, we offered up lavish coverage of the magnificent wedding of Ted Olson and Lady Booth. Given Olson's status as a giant of the legal profession, a former Solicitor General and leading Supreme Court advocate, this coverage was fitting and proper.

But, alas, it was not complete -- and it may have been inaccurate in certain respects, for which we apologize. These omissions and possible errors were brought to our attention by some helpful reader comments.

Here are the items we'd like to address. Please refer back to this post and this post for background, as needed.

1. We assumed that the gentleman who escorted the beautiful Lady Booth down the aisle was her father. It appears we were correct. According to this comment, by Wayne N. Perkey II, "that is our father (Wayne N. Perkey) walking her down the aisle. It was indeed a beautiful wedding, and a good time was had by all."

2. We said we didn't know the identity of "the Margaret Thatcher doppelganger in the floral print dress." We were enlightened by this comment:

Although Mary Ellen Bork would not likely quarrel with an analogy in any aspect to the Iron Lady, the term Margaret Thacher "doppelganger"... is hardly 'fair' to the very lovely Mary Ellen, wife of the esteemed Judge -- and unintended style-celebrant on these pages.

We thank this commenter for the information, also corroborated by an email we received: "The [woman in the floral print dress] is Mary Ellen Bork. She read two Shakespeare sonnets picked out by Ted and Lady, and then gave a prayer. She's a former nun."

(That observation, of course, begs another question: Did Mary Ellen Bork cast off her nun's habit in order to be with Bob Bork? If so, it's tremendously romantic. As the Mother Superior said to Maria in "The Sound of Music": "Follow your heart! Even if that beard is a bit scratchy.")

3. "Napa Casual." This has generated controversy more heated than Bush v. Gore, Ted Olson's most famous case. We originally wrote:

Despite the tremendous collective brainpower of these august guests, we hear that several of them were left scratching their impressive craniums by one wedding detail: the request on the wedding invite for "Napa Casual" attire.

These leading minds of the bench and bar can slice, dice, define and parse the most complex legal terms known to man. But throw two innocent little words at them -- "Napa Casual" -- and watch them panic.

There's disagreement among the commenters about this detail (which we received from a source we regard as highly reliable). Some commenters say that the "Napa Casual" request was "a myth." Others say that yes, there was such a request, but it was made with respect to the rehearsal dinner (not the wedding).

How can we settle this dispute between anonymous commenters? Like good lawyers, we're going to issue a document request. We'd very much appreciate it if someone would send us a digital photograph or pdf scan of the Olson-Booth wedding invitation and/or the rehearsal dinner invitation. The only way to settle this disagreement is by recourse to ocular proof.

We're still having email problems, so please contact us at our temporary address: abovethelawtips AT gmail DOT com. Thank you.

Earlier: Lady and Ted's Excellent Adventure: Wedding Photos That Rock
The Eyes of the Law: Ted Olson's Star-Studded Nuptials

"Okay, Judge Bork. Smile and say 'The Original Understanding'!!!"

(Also: Is that Harvard Law prof Laurence Tribe standing behind Robert Bork, or just someone who looks a lot like him?)

Earlier this week, we gave you a detailed report about the fabulous nuptials of Ted Olson -- the winning lawyer in Bush v. Gore, former Solicitor General, and current Gibson Dunn partner -- and his beautiful and brilliant bride, Lady Booth.* The Olson wedding was attended by the crème de la crème of D.C. and conservative legal circles.

Now we have an update to our prior coverage, an ATL exclusive: WEDDING PICTURES!!! And they're not boring, like the ones your college roommate makes you look at every time you visit her house. Did Justice Sandra Day O'Connor attend your college roommate's wedding?

Check out the pics -- there are just a few of them, it won't take you long -- after the jump.

* "Lady" is her given name, not a title. See here.

This past Saturday, October 21, Washington superlawyer Ted Olson and his fiancee, Lady Booth, were married. The wedding ceremony took place at the stunningly beautiful Meadowood resort, in Napa Valley, California.

Olson, a giant of the Supreme Court bar, served as Solicitor General -- the federal government's top lawyer before the Supreme Court -- from 2001 to 2004. He's currently a partner in the elite D.C. office of top-flight firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Olson successfully litigated the landmark 2000 election case, Bush v. Gore, in the Supreme Court. On the losing side: renowned litigator David Boies. But presumably there were no hard feelings, since Boies showed up for the wedding festivities -- along with many other legal luminaries.

Some legal celebrity sightings, from the Washington Post's Reliable Source:

More than 300 guests attended the midafternoon ceremony on the golf course, including Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, former justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, legal commentators Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova, NPR's Nina Totenberg, legal names such as Robert Bork, Kenneth Starr, David Boise [sic], and Olson's law partner Bill Kilberg. U.S. Appeals Court Judge Laurence Silberman performed the ceremony, and Wall Street Journal Publisher Gordon Crovitz served as best man.

This is Booth's first marriage and Olson's fourth. The couple will honeymoon in Hawaii.

We hear through the grapevine that the wedding was, not surprisingly, "a great time. It seemed like half of Washington was there!"

Other notable guests: Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, of the Fourth Circuit; Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, of the Ninth Circuit, and his ever-stylish wife, Maura O'Scannlain; Frank Fahrenkopf, former RNC chairman and current gaming industry superlobbyist, with his wife, Mary; current Solicitor General Paul Clement; and conservative pundit Laura Ingraham.

Despite the tremendous collective brainpower of these august guests, we hear that several of them were left scratching their impressive craniums by one wedding detail: the request on the wedding invite for "Napa Casual" attire.

These leading minds of the bench and bar can slice, dice, define and parse the most complex legal terms known to man. But throw two innocent little words at them -- "Napa Casual" -- and watch them panic.

If only every day could be a court day. Who doesn't look good in black?

Update: You can check out photographs from the wedding by clicking here.

Napa Nuptials for Olson and His Lady [Washington Post]
Theodore B. Olson, Solicitor General bio [USDOJ.gov]
Theodore Olson [Wikipedia]