7th Circuit

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.29.16

* Legal showdown averted (for now): the feds were able to access the data on the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone without any help from Apple. [Washington Post] * A Harvard Law School grad stands accused of a $95 million fraud scheme -- yikes. We'll have more on this later. [ABA Journal] * Does a sentencing delay violate the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial? Some on SCOTUS seem skeptical. [How Appealing] * Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announces his intention to veto the Free Exercise Protection Act, which critics claimed would have protected discrimination as a form of religious liberty. [New York Times] * Hillary Clinton takes Republicans to task for their handling of the current Supreme Court vacancy. [Wisconsin State Journal via How Appealing] * Some thoughts from Professor Noah Feldman on the recent Seventh Circuit ruling about the use of form contracts on the internet (which nobody reads). [Bloomberg View] * Save money (on taxes), live better: a federal judge strikes down a tax levied by Puerto Rico on mega-retailer Wal-Mart. [Reuters] * The Bracewell law firm, now sans Giuliani, elects Gregory Bopp as its new managing partner. [Texas Lawyer]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.25.15

* Why are so many law grads failing the bar exam? Law profs, a law dean, and a Biglaw recruiting specialist all have answers to this question... and only some of them come close to being satisfactory. [Room for Debate / New York Times] * Jurors in the Dewey & LeBoeuf trial have deliberated for five days thus far, and seem to be no closer to coming to a verdict than when they first started. They're quibbling over thesaurus entries for the word "fake" (i.e., "fake income"). [Am Law Daily] * Thanks to the OnRamp Fellowship, more women lawyers are making a reentry into the legal profession through Biglaw firms than ever before. Participating firms now include Skadden Arps and MoFo, amongst others. Congrats! [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * Law school enrollment may be stagnant across the country, but at Colorado Law, it's booming. The size of the school's incoming class is 22 percent larger than last year's was. What can we say other than students were sTOKEd to get in. [Boulder Daily Camera] * If you're ever fired from your job, charged with insider trading, and the SEC wants access to your work phone, take heart in the fact that your personal passcode is just that -- personal. The SEC can't treat it as a business record thanks to this ruling. [WSJ Law Blog] * Richard Cudahy Sr., longtime Seventh Circuit judge, RIP. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.26.15

* Melvin Feliz, husband of Keila Ravelo, the partner who allegedly bilked Hunton & Williams and Willkie Farr out of millions to lead a life of luxury, pleaded guilty in the fraud case brought against him. Is she a prospective Real Housewife of Cellblock D? [Bergen Record] * Sorry, Southwest passengers, but the Seventh Circuit says you're stuck with your free drink vouchers, and the lawyers who represented you in this class-action suit are stuck with their $1.65 million. No one is happy up in the unfriendly skies. [Associated Press] * China's economy may be on the brink, but that doesn't matter to Dentons. The firm is as happy as ever about its proposed merger with Dacheng because it really wants a horde of lawyers, so it's gonna get one. It's "almost absurd" to think otherwise. [Am Law Daily] * As we mentioned yesterday, lawyers work too damn much -- so much, in fact, that they're quitting their Biglaw jobs, starting competitor practices, and poaching talent from top firms by offering them a sense of work-life balance. [Harvard Business Review] * Kevin Fagan, perhaps better known as Juror 83 in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial, is speaking to the media about his experience, and says he might've changed his death penalty vote if he had known the youngest victim's parents opposed it. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.09.15

* If Taylor Swift doesn't like a photographer she just shakes it off... and then roughs him up according to her contract. [Gawker] * Bankers commit crimes for the dumbest reasons. [Dealbreaker] * Chadbourne closes its Beijing office, leaving the firm with no more boots on the ground in Asia. It's like the Asian Pivot... but backward. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * The Florida Supreme Court just ordered the legislature to redraw some of the state's congressional districts before 2016. All that hard gerrymandering work for nothing, huh? [Reuters via Yahoo News] * Richard Hsu of Shearman & Sterling and the host of the Hsu Untied podcast finds himself on the other side of this interview. [One-400] * Massively underpaying lawyers. It's not just for Massachusetts any more. [Legal Cheek] * Katten Muchin is back in hot water after the Seventh Circuit revived a malpractice suit. [Law 360] * Judge Rakoff relishes an opportunity to sit by designation on the Second Circuit. [Dealbreaker] * A reminder that Bloomberg BNA is hosting its inaugural Big Law Business Summit next week to hear from in-house counsel about the evolving relationship between Biglaw and its clients. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

By Joe Patrice