Recent Headlines from Above the Law
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4th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, California, Constitutional Law, Crime, Gay Marriage, Health Care / Medicine, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, Music, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, State Attorneys General, Supreme Court, Trials
Morning Docket: 07.12.13
* You’ve seen Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg give Justice Antonin Scalia the finger in prose, but now you can hear what it would sound like in operatic form as composed by a recent law school graduate. [NPR]
* The Fourth Circuit upheld Obamacare’s employer mandate against Liberty University, calling it a constitutional tax, just like the individual mandate. Now’s a perfect time for a sip of Campari. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The Fried Frank toner bandit was sent to the slammer, but alas, it’s unlikely that the firm will be able to recover any of its losses. Too bad, it could use the cash after its 2012 performance. [Am Law Daily]
* Crisis? What crisis? The dean of UC Davis Law refuses to trim class size, but that doesn’t really matter — the application cycle is handling the situation quite nicely. [Sacramento Business Journal]
* Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane won’t defend the state against a lawsuit seeking to overturn its ban on same-sex marriage. She’s choosing the people over politics. [New York Times]
* With his trial quickly drawing to a close, George Zimmerman is growing increasingly worried about his future. Let’s face it, even if he’s acquitted, living in hiding isn’t a very good look for him. [ABC News]
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Biglaw, Commencement, Crime, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Morning Docket, Murder, Sentencing Law, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Trials
Morning Docket: 05.10.13
* Growth was “steady” for New York’s top firms, with Latham & Watkins and Skadden Arps leading the pack in terms of gross revenue — which wasn’t surprising, considering their Am Law 100 gross revenue ranking. [New York Law Journal]
* Dewey know when we’ll be able to stop using this pun? Hmm, at this rate, probably never. Steve Otillar and Citi recently settled their dueling suits over the ex-D&L partner’s capital contribution loan to the failed firm. [Am Law Daily]
* Cahill Gordon was supposed to investigate the Rutgers basketball scandal, but the firm cited a conflict of interest, so Skadden Arps stepped in. [Insert the joke of your choice here. I don’t like or watch this sport.] [Reuters]
* Surely you’ve heard about Justice Orie Melvin’s sentence by now. As it turns out, shaming a judge like you’d shame your dog online might not be enforceable… which is too bad. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
* When we last spoke about “controversial” commencement speakers, we didn’t bring up the fact that Nancy Pelosi would be pulling double duty at UC Davis and Baltimore. Thoughts? [National Law Journal]
* She’s got a death wish: the aggravation phase of the Jodi Arias trial was postponed at the last minute yesterday, and some think it’s because of the interview she gave after the verdict was announced. [CNN]
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Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
Open Thread: 2014 U.S. News Law School Rankings (33 – 48)
Do you have something to say about your law school's U.S. News ranking? This is the place to do it! -
Fabulosity, Law Schools, Reader Polls, Videos, YouTube
The Harlem Shake Takes Law Schools By Storm
Law students from schools around the nation are letting their freak flags fly thanks to this Harlem Shake phenomenon. -
Copyright, Divorce Train Wrecks, Education / Schools, Family Law, Law School Deans, Libraries / Librarians, Money, Morning Docket, Police, Pro Bono, Public Interest
Morning Docket: 09.27.12
* A former Cravath law librarian is fighting his “effective termination” from Southern Illinois University School of Law over alleged threats to bash a colleague in the head with a crowbar. How déclassé! What, was a champagne flute not available? [National Law Journal]
* Is New York’s new mandatory pro bono requirement for admission to the bar too rigid a licensing rule? Compared to what it could have been, no, but obviously others disagree on this point. [Am Law Daily]
* New York Law School’s dean thinks that experience in City Hall gives him an edge. In other news, after being sued over its employment stats, NYLS had the most applicants ever since 2008. Sigh. [New York Law Journal]
* Jamie McCourt doesn’t think it’s very fair that she only got a $131M divorce payout when her ex-husband, Frank McCourt, ended up with $1.7B after he sold the Dodgers. #filthyrichpeopleproblems [Bloomberg]
* “I’m in shock and I’m angry and I’m hurt and I’m flabbergasted and I’m livid.” You’d feel the same if you saw that your engagement photo was being used in an anti-gay marriage mailer. [City Room / New York Times]
* Don’t mind me, I’m just watering my hippies: in a proposed settlement, the University of California is offering $30K to each of the students who were pepper-sprayed by a police officer at UC Davis last year. [CNN]
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Commencement, Eric Holder, Law Schools, Martha Minow
Commencement Speakers: Coming To A Law School Near You
Will a commencement speaker this year cause a controversy? -
Crime, Email Scandals, Food, Law Schools, Nauseating Things, Ridiculousness
Law School Lunch Drama Continues -- From Coast To Coast
Over the last month, we have continued receiving tips from law schools across the country about Hansen's soda heartbreak and the adventures of a refrigerator warrior. Today, we have a round-up of the most recent law school lunch wars, courtesy of UC Davis Law, Cornell Law School, Iowa Law, and of the University of Cincinnati College of Law… -
Bar Exams, Boalt Hall, California, Law Schools, Loyola Law School
California Bar Passage Rate Holds Steady; Shame For Underperforming Schools Deepens
California has released some macro-level results from the July 2011 administration of the bar exam. The California bar is notoriously difficult, and every year we like to take a look at which schools prepared their students well for the exam, and which schools did not. You might be surprised at which California law school had the best passage rate on the California bar. Hint: it's not Stanford, or Boalt Hall, or UCLA.... -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 05.25.11
* Jared Lee Loughner has been declared incompetent to stand trial. So no trial, but what happens next? Put him in the two dimensional, General Zod prison? Navy Seal Team 6? We need options, people. [CNN] * DOJ, TSA successfully mess with Texas. It wasn’t even that hard. [Not-So Private Parts / Forbes] * This […] -
Law Revue, Law Revue Video Contest, Law Schools, Videos, YouTube
Congratulations To Our 2011 Law Revue Video Contest Winner!
After the closest vote in (the three-year) history (of the Law Revue contest), we are finally able to crown the best law revue video in 2011. May all of the pride and good feeling in all the land be sent henceforth to Boston University School of Law, for their winning video submission: I Like The […] -
Law Schools, Rankings, Student Loans, U.S. News, UNC Law, Vanderbilt
Open Thread: 2012 U.S. News Law School Rankings (16 - 30)
And now things get interesting. As we continue to run through the U.S. News 2012 law school rankings, we get to a crucial set of schools. The schools in this batch are certainly top tier, but they’re not “top 14”; for the most part, though, they charge like top 14 schools (especially the private ones). […] -
Drinking, Law Schools, Parties, Pictures, Rudeness, Violence
Law School Party Follow Up -- Now With Art
Last week, we wrote about the crazy party at the “Over the Hump” law prom of UC Davis Law. Many Davis commenters chimed in to say that the party really wasn’t all that crazy. That’s not surprising. If you go to a party that’s off the hook, only you didn’t witness or experience anything particularly […] -
Drinking, Law Schools, Parties, Rudeness, Violence
Drunk and Disorderly Conduct at a Law School Prom?
The volume of applications to law schools nationwide is down by about 13 percent for the fall 2011 class, as noted recently by the Daily Journal (subscription). This is positive news. Maybe it means that people who are thinking prudently about their futures are finally getting the message that law school is no longer a […] -
Bar Exams, Boalt Hall, California, Law Schools, Loyola Law School
California Bar Exam Results By Law School: Open Thread
Here in New York, home to Above the Law and Breaking Media, we’re gearing up for more epic snow. Those of you lucky enough to live in the Golden State might have to deal with earthquakes, mudslides, and obnoxious celebrities, but at least you don’t have to deal with blizzards. Falling snow? Not in sunny […] -
Law Schools, LSAT, Student Loans
Above the Law Is 1 for 2 at Helping Would-Be Lawyers Do the Right Thing
And we might have had a perfect score if it not for that pesky God character floating around. In the past few weeks, we’ve brought you two stories about would-be lawyers trying to make critical life decisions. There was the first-year law student who was considering dropping out of law school after just one semester. […] -
Antonin Scalia, Contests, ERISA, Eugene Scalia, Hotties, Porn Names
ERISA Hotties: Your Male Nominees
This was absolutely agonizing; but after hours of deliberation, we managed to do it. We reviewed the male side of the field in our ERISA Lawyer Hotties Contest, then painstakingly winnowed it down to twelve deserving finalists. (Yes, we previously said we’d have ten finalists. But picking even a dozen, from so many worthy competitors, […]