Recent Headlines from Above the Law
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Law Schools
Ranking The 10 Law Schools On The Rise That Probably Aren't On The Rise
Website ranks law schools based on... well, it seems like nothing. -
Law Schools
Dean Builds 146th Best Law School And Retires With $5.3 Million Package
It may look easy to run a school with numbers this bad... but it's also lucrative! -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket 11.12.19
* A University of North Texas lawyer has resigned after using the N-word during a free speech panel at the school. This attorney just learned a valuable lesson in free speech. [New York Post]
* A lawyer set to argue an important case about DACA in front of the Supreme Court is a Dreamer himself. [CNN}
* Hundreds have signed a petition in opposition to Scott Brown’s appointment as president of New England Law. [Boston Globe]
* An attorney from Roswell, New Mexico, is running against President Donald Trump in the New Hampshire primary. His chances of winning are out of this world… [KOAT Action News]
* Lawyers for Representative Tulsi Gabbard are demanding that Hillary Clinton retract allegedly defamatory comments about Gabbard’s relationship with Russia. [Hill]
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Law Reviews, Law Schools
The Most Valuable Lesson Of The Florida Dean Controversy
Even the lower-tier schools have their moments. -
Law Reviews, Law Schools
Law School Dean Publicly Criticizes Student In Law Review Article Over A Sexist Remark
She publicly embarrassed a student, and she wasn't entirely wrong. -
Attorney Misconduct, Drinking
Law Student Charged In Drunken 'Naut Guilty' Boating Accident
Which law school does he attend? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.31.14
* Per the Department of Education, Harvard Law sucks at handling sexual assault and harassment complaints. As it turns out, the DoE only found out about the misconduct because a faculty member from New England Law snitched on the Ivy League school. [Boston.com]
* Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the penalties for pot possession. One state legislator wants to change that in the new year, and hopes his colleagues will puff, puff, pass his bill in favor of small civil fines instead of jail sentences. [VICE]
* “If the court has been waiting until the country is more comfortable with gay marriage, they’ve waited long enough.” The first SCOTUS conference of 2015 will focus on gay marriage cases. It’d be fabulous if they took one. [Supreme Court Brief]
* Latham and Fried Frank are going to be advising on Shake Shack’s initial public offering. Hungry attorneys working on the IPO will be disappointed to learn that their client doesn’t have any public offerings for consumption on Seamless. [Am Law Daily]
* The bankruptcy trustee for the late, great, defunct firm of Howrey LLP keeps lining up big settlements for its remaining creditors. This time, Wiley Rein will contribute $1 million to the failed firm’s coffers. Howrey like dem apples? [Wall Street Journal]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Law School Deans, Law Schools
ABA To Honor Law Dean Who Has Done The Most To Embarrass Legal Education
Is the ABA trying to troll all of us? -
Contests, Law Schools, March Madness
ATL March Madness: The Worst Law School In America — Elite Eight
ATL's quest to crown the worst law school continues with an underdog leading the way. -
Contests, Law Schools, March Madness
ATL March Madness: The Worst Law School In America -- Sweet Sixteen
The action intensifies in the ATL Worst Law School bracket. -
Contests, Law Schools, March Madness
ATL March Madness: The Worst Law School In America -- First Round
Voting begins for the Worst Law School In America! Polls close Sunday night. -
Contests, Law Schools, March Madness
ATL March Madness: The Worst Law School In America -- Bracket Released
Time to while away your Monday filling out a bracket. -
Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Books, Career Alternatives, Disasters / Emergencies, Gay, Gay Marriage, House Judiciary Committee, Law Firm Mergers, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Morning Docket, Patents, Sandra Day O'Connor, SCOTUS, Sex, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 10.30.13
* Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has joined Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in being one of the only justices to perform a same-sex marriage. No divas here: the wedding ceremony was held at the high court because “[t]hat’s where she was.” [BuzzFeed]
* “Proceed with caution.” David Kappos, the former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, isn’t too keen on the latest patent reform bill that’s currently before the House Judiciary Committee. If only the man still had a say. [National Law Journal]
* Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge have released a joint statement to ensure the public that the proposed merger is still on. Good news, everyone! The firm won’t be named McDentons. [Am Law Daily]
* Ralph Lerner, formerly of Sidley Austin, has been slapped on the wrist suspended from practice in New York for one year’s time after improperly billing car service to clients to the tune of $50,000. [Am Law Daily]
* It’s been a year since Superstorm Sandy, and lawyers are still counseling their clients on how to muddle through the mess. Volunteer some pro bono hours and help out those in need. [New York Law Journal]
* After threatening to cut faculty positions, New England Law Dean John O’Brien is taking a 25 percent pay cut. He’ll only earn $650,000. Wow. I think we’re supposed to be impressed. [Boston Business Journal]
* Career alternatives for attorneys: rescuer of nerd relics. Head to this Brooklyn book store (of course it’s in Brooklyn) if you’re desperately seeking long lost science fiction tales. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* We bet that folks in Australia would like to tell the the High Court to bugger off after overturning this ruling. Sexual injuries that occur during work-related trips don’t qualify for workers’ compensation. [Bloomberg]
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Law School Deans, Law Schools
Obscenely Compensated Dean Proposes Cutting Faculty Positions To Make Budget
It's the faculty's turn to sacrifice at the altar of this law dean. -
Biglaw, Law Schools
Which Law Schools' Grads Run Biglaw? An ATL Infographic
An aquatic look at which law firms' alumni have the top spots at the largest U.S. law firms. -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Career Alternatives, Crime, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Tax Law
Morning Docket: 02.11.13
* “You just sit there, looking stupid.” The justices of the Supreme Court aren’t required to show up and look like “potted plants” at the State of the Union address, but some of them do every year. [CNN]
* Well, thanks to the DOJ’s fraud lawsuit filed against ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, it’s starting to look a lot like a litigation gang bang up in here as far as the states are concerned. [Bloomberg]
* Dewey know whether D&L’s retirees are still kicking (legally speaking) or if they’ve decided to send their claims to hospice? We certainly do, and we’ll have more on this later. [Am Law Daily]
* That “death and taxes” thing may be true, but when you’re trying to navigate the U.S. tax code as a married same-sex couple and the government won’t even recognize your union, there’s an uncomfortable air of uncertainty. [New York Times]
* “Have we seceded already? The execution is faster than I thought.” Guess which state in the Deep South accidentally raised a Confederate battle flag over the building that houses its Supreme Court. [Clarion-Ledger]
* Mama said knock you out: if you’re trying to figure out how to get a job after graduating from New England Law School, moonlighting as a champion boxer will help you beat down the competition. [Boston Herald]
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Law School Deans, Law Schools, Student Loans
What, You Thought Law School Deans Worked for Free?
A law school dean makes an obscene amount of money, and now everybody is outraged. -
Adam Liptak, American Bar Association / ABA, B for Beauty, Biglaw, Deaths, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, Morning Docket, Reality TV, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor, Suicide, Supreme Court, Technology, Television, Texas, You Go Girl
Morning Docket: 01.14.13
* “I’m a New Yorker, and I jaywalk with the best of them.” Don’t be fooled by the rocks job that she’s got — she’s still, she’s still Jenny Sonia from the block. The Supreme Court’s very own wise Latina, author of a new memoir (affiliate link), is proud of her city. [New York Times; 60 Minutes]
* If you’re looking for an M&A adviser, you’d be wise to seek out counsel from Skadden Arps. The firm sweeped three separate rankings lists based on the total value of its clients’ 2012 M&A transactions. [Am Law Daily]
* Only in the world of legal education could the dean of a law school that isn’t even numerically ranked by U.S. News have the highest salary of all law deans nationwide. (We’ll likely have more on this later.) [Boston Globe]
* Arizona schools will allow 3Ls to take the bar exam, but New York schools may soon do away with 3L year altogether. Of course, the ABA will find a way to muck it up, but still, hooray for progress! [National Law Journal]
* Remember “Made in Jersey,” the show about a stereotypical Jersey girl who made the jump to Biglaw? Yeah, neither does anyone else. Hopefully “Staten Island Law” won’t face the same fate. [New York Daily News]
* “Sexiness is all about being a woman of character.” Our congratulations go out to DaNae Couch, the Texas Tech law student who advanced to the Top 10 of the Miss America competition. You go girl! [Lubbock Online]
* Aaron Swartz — Reddit co-founder, friend of Larry Lessig, felony hacking defendant — RIP. [New York Times]
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2nd Circuit, Akin Gump, American Bar Association / ABA, Arent Fox, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Breasts, Divorce Train Wrecks, Dorsey & Whitney, Duane Morris, Education / Schools, John Roberts, Law Professors, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Morning Docket, Oral Sex / Blow Jobs, Pornography, Privacy, Real Estate, SCOTUS, Sheppard Mullin, Supreme Court, Texas, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 08.10.12
* “I’ve been a restaurant waitress, a hotel hostess, a car parker, a nurse’s aide, a maid in a motel, a bookkeeper and a researcher.” This SCOTUS wife was well-prepared to give a graduation speech at New England Law. [Huffington Post]
* Sniffling over lost profits is the best way to get a court to take your side. Biglaw firms have asked the Second Circuit to consider reversing a decision in the Coudert Brothers “unfinished business” clawback case. [Legal Intelligencer]
* James Holmes, the alleged Aurora movie theater gunman, is being evicted from his apartment. Guess he didn’t know — or care — that booby-trapping the place with bombs would be against the terms of his lease. [Denver Post]
* The ABA has created a task force to study the future of legal education, and its work is expected to completed in 2014. ::rolleyes:: Oh, good thing they’re not in any kind of a hurry — there’s no need to rush. [ABA Journal]
* Indiana Tech, the little law school that nobody wants could, has hired its first faculty members. Thus far, the school has poached law professors from from West Virginia, Florida A&M, and Northern Illinois. [JD Journal]
* When divorces get weird: is this lawyer’s soon-to-be ex-wife hacking into his law firm email account and planning to publish privileged communications online? Yep, this is in Texas. [Unfair Park / Dallas Observer]
* Breast-feeding porn: yup, that’s a thing, so start Googling. A New Jersey mother is suing an Iowa production company after an instructional video she appeared in was spliced to create pornography. [Boston Globe]
* If someone from your school newspaper asks you for a quote about oral sex, and then you’re quoted in the subsequent article, you’re probably not going to win your invasion of privacy lawsuit. [National Law Journal]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Cardozo Law School, Law Schools
Breaking: Thomas Jefferson School of Law's Motion to Dismiss DENIED -- And Twenty More Law Schools to Be Sued
Today, the lawyers leading the law school litigation squad announced that they are planning to target 20 more law schools for class action lawsuits over their allegedly deceptive post-graduation employment statistics. This time around, you may be surprised by some of the law schools that appear on their list....