Aaron Hernandez

  • Morning Docket: 01.22.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 01.22.20

    * Officials in Flint, Michigan are in “hot water” after the Supreme Court denied their efforts to have a lawsuit against them dismissed. [The Hill]

    * Rose McGowan has been sued for defamation for saying that her former law firm was bought off by Harvey Weinstein. [Chicago Sun Times]

    * Aaron Hernandez’s lawyer has some tough words about the Netflix documentary concerning the late football player and convicted murderer. [Men’s Health]

    * An Indiana lawyer has been suspended from practice for stealing money from disabled and special-needs clients after setting up trusts for these individuals. [Indiana Lawyer]

    * A lawsuit filed by Apple is testing whether an employee can plan a rival company while still on the payroll. This sounds like a plot line from Silicon Valley. [New York Times]

  • Morning Docket: 09.22.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 09.22.17

    * According to a lawsuit filed against the NFL and the New England Patriots by Aaron Hernandez’s family, the former football player who was serving a life sentence for murder at the time of his death had a “severe case” of CTE. Jose Baez, the family’s attorney, said Hernandez had “the most severe case [researchers] had ever seen for someone of Aaron’s age.” [CBS Boston]

    * A man after Trump’s own heart: During a recent speaking engagement, Justice Neil Gorsuch explained why he believes judges ought to be conservative on the bench, saying that “the job of the judge to apply it, not amend the law … even when he might well prefer a very different outcome.” Later, he said judges must stick to interpreting laws instead of rewriting them. [Associated Press]

    * Uh-oh. Skadden is under fire for work the firm did for Paul Manafort five years ago. Apparently Manafort asked the firm to write a report justifying the jailing of a client’s political rival, and it’s coming back to haunt them. The DOJ wants the firm to hand over all documents having to do with the matter. [New York Times]

    * After being fired by President Donald Trump for her refusal to defend the travel ban, former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates has found a new home, at least for this semester. Yates will serve as a Distinguished Lecturer from Government at Georgetown Law. Congratulations! [Law.com]

    * In an effort to bring on-campus residential life back for law students — and thanks to alumni donations totaling $60 million — Yale Law is expanding its campus for the first time in almost 100 years. Construction on the new dorm is expected to be completed by the end of next summer. [Yale Daily News]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 05.09.17

    Non-Sequiturs: 05.09.17

    * Wanda Sykes’s is a big fan of Sally Yates. Wanda Sykes is all of us. [Jezebel]

    * If this happens I will be gladly paying my New York State income taxes from now on. [Salon]

    * No, Tiffany Trump cannot take (most of) these classes next year because, you know, she’ll be a 1L. [Slate]

    * Some of these people are making it a habit to argue in front of SCOTUS. [Empirical SCOTUS]

    * JDs don’t have the same power as MBAs. [Law and More]

    * It’s like it never even happened. [The Root]

    * Sure, this they’ll prepare for. Health-care reform? Not so much. [The Hill]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 04.26.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 04.26.17

    * Today is World IP Day. Oh wait, that’s wrong. “Today is World IP Day.TM” [World Intellectual Property Organization]

    * A pair of twins is graduating from UVA Law. In other news, it’s a really slow news day at UVA. [UVA Today]

    * Alabama is voting to put an anti-abortion amendment in their state constitution because there’s literally not a single other issue requiring the attention of Alabama lawmakers. [The Hill]

    * Johnny Depp’s managers don’t trust him. [USA Today]

    * This woman does not like xylophones. [Lowering the Bar]

    * For Serial fans in Minnesota, Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder are speaking in your town on May 10. [Beth El Synagogue]

    * A tribute to death penalty litigator Steve Bright. [Katz Justice]

    * The Beast shouldn’t be forgiven at the end of Beauty and the Beast. [The Legal Geeks]

    * Aaron Hernandez did not write a note to a prison lover, according to his lawyer. [CBS Sports]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 04.19.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 04.19.17

    * An interesting look at the life and career of Gloria Allred — who has litigated groundbreaking civil rights cases as well as TMZ fodder. [Coverage Opinions]

    * Lawyer Jose Baez intends to investigate the death of his client Aaron Hernandez, who was found dead in his prison cell after apparently hanging himself. [Deadspin]

    * Footnote of the day (gavel bang: Raffi Melkonian aka @RMFifth Circuit). [Twitter]

    * Professor Jonathan Adler still has doubts about the Emoluments Clause lawsuit against President Trump (although it’s much stronger now, thanks to some additional plaintiffs). [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

    * Professor Glenn Reynolds has some doubts about diversity (although I suspect he strongly supports intellectual diversity). [Instapundit]

    * Professor Ann Althouse has her doubts about… Democrats (even though she has voted for more Democrats than Republicans over the years). [Althouse]

    * And Professor Eugene Volokh has his doubts about the constitutionality of this order. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

    * In honor of national haiku poetry day, here are some verses from Dean Dan Rodriguez of Northwestern Law. [PrawfsBlawg]

    * Congrats to the ACLU of Massachusetts, the national ACLU, the state public defender’s office, and Fick & Marx LLP on a huge and historic win! [ACLU]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 04.14.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 04.14.17

    * Eli Manning might be getting burned by discovery. [ESPN]

    * The Covington & Burling report on sexual misconduct at Choate that is rocking the world of elite boarding schools. [New York Times]

    * Aaron Hernandez found not guilty of a 2012 double murder. Don’t worry, he is still serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder. [Deadspin]

    * Did Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, misplace $350,000? [Buzzfeed]

    * If only this was what really happened behind the scenes at SCOTUS. [Huffington Post]

    * DOJ gives up on HB2 litigation. [Slate]

    * The civil rights of students are… probably not in good hands. [Salon]

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  • Morning Docket: 06.09.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 06.09.16

    * Let’s just cut to the chase. You want to know what salary news you may have missed since you last checked in with us. Here’s the roster of movement news — good, bad, and indifferent — from yesterday: Cleary, Simpson, Holwell, Covington, Debevoise, Quinn Emanuel, Winston, SullCrom, Kirkland, Skadden, Freshfields, Cooley, Davis Polk. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage, check out our omnibus 2016 salary page where we collect all these stories. [Above the Law / 2016 Salary Increase]

    * Speaking of a firm that hasn’t announced salary changes yet — seamless transition! — Dentons is having to field some tough offshore tax scandal questions. That said, since they employ 4 out of 5 lawyers in the world things like this were inevitable. [Am Law Daily]

    * Former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez hires Casey Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, and Thabo Sefolosha’s lawyer, Alex Spiro. No word on Hernandez and Baez’s fee arrangement. [Fox61]

    * The Justice Department offers 6 tips for presenting your client’s merger to federal agencies. Being a top campaign bundler inadvertently left off the list. [National Law Journal]

    * “Trump’s Terrifying Relationship With the Law.” It’s the bimbo he just can’t leave. [Rolling Stone]

    * Dumb political reporting tries to make something out of an O’Melveny lawyer attending some Hillary events while working on the Trump University case. [Politico]

    * If you need to get your white slippers of albino African endangered rhino back home, don’t book tickets on Delta. [Courthouse News Service]

    * In New York, there’s new ethical guidance on advertising after changing firm names to reflect new partners. [Law360]

  • Morning Docket: 03.28.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.28.16

    * Kimberly Kitchen, the woman who was parading around and pretending to be a lawyer for a decade before she was caught in the act, was recently convicted of forgery, unauthorized practice of law, and felony records tampering. On the bright side, at least she doesn’t have six figures worth of law school debt to worry about right now. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * President Obama published an op-ed in praise of SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland on AL.com, pleading with Alabamians to let their senators know that it’s their duty to give Scalia’s would-be replacement a hearing and a vote, lest we “jeopardize our system of justice, hurt our democracy, and betray the vision of our founding.” [AL.com]

    * Who is the real Merrick Garland? Not only does he have a “résumé that makes you want to cry,” but he’s also a pretty endearing gent. He used to want to be a doctor, he loves singing show tunes, and he was once so nervous when officiating a wedding that he began the ceremony before the bride even walked down the aisle. [New York Times]

    * “We are heartened by this development and look forward to the Committee making this request directly … as is standard practice.” Republicans may be willing to accept Merrick Garland’s nominee questionnaire, but the White House has yet to receive one from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley or Senator Patrick Leahy. [BuzzFeed]

    * Judge Pamela A.M. Campbell, who presided over Hulk Hogan v. Gawker, has had more decisions reversed on appeal than any other judge in her county, but “a judge who’s not afraid to make a decision and a not afraid to be reversed, is quite naturally going to be reversed more, and that doesn’t mean the judge is not a good judge.” [Tampa Bay Times]

    * A judge has ruled that Ropes & Gray, the firm that once represented ex-New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez, must turn over the murder convict’s cellphone to his new attorneys so they can analyze it for his defense in the double murder case he’s being prosecuted for by the Suffolk County DA’s Office in Massachusetts. [Boston Herald]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 08.10.15

    * Interesting… audio of Richard Nixon’s only oral argument before the Supreme Court. [Concurring Opinions]

    * Aaron Hernandez’s lawyers want his murder indictment tossed. Tom Brady is relieved he now has the second-dumbest Patriots legal challenge. [NECN]

    * There’s a robust piranha-smuggling operation in the United States. That’s… Sharknado levels of terrifying. [Legal Juice]

    * In between ripping Rosie O’Donnell, the GOP “debate” actually talked a little about the Constitution. [Dorf on Law]

    * New York’s responsible banking law is unconstitutional. Banks rejoice. [Reuters]

    * The New York Times broached the subject of “resting bitch face.” How do lawyers avoid the phenomenon? [Attorney at Work]

    * God Donald Trump is entertaining. [What About Clients?]

    * Why aren’t the poor a suspect class? [PrawfsBlawg]

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  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 01.30.15

    * Did two little kids get slapped with a lifetime gag order barring them from talking about fracking. But how will they explain their third eye? [The Guardian]

    * Private equity firm TPG is suing its former PR man — former Bush spokesperson Adam Levine — for allegedly stealing confidential documents and threatening to leak them to the press. They probably showed where the Iraq WMDs were. [O’Dwyer’s]

    * So maybe the blizzard of 2015 fizzled for New Yorkers. But winter’s not over yet — how do you interview in a snowstorm? [Corporette]

    * Simpson Thacher could have some malpractice issues with that $1.5 billion SNAFU. [Law360]

    * “The Supreme Court’s Billion-Dollar Mistake”? Well, they’re still half a billion ahead of Simpson Thacher. [New York Review of Books]

    * Suge Knight accused of murder. Not an archival story. [Los Angeles Times]

    * As Juggalo Law likes to say, “‘Sup With Aaron?” A recap of day 2 of the Aaron Hernandez murder trial, the Patriots scandal that isn’t about deflated balls. [ESPN]

    * Lagarrette Blount marijuana charges dropped like a Boise State linebacker. Huh. I guess this was yet another Patriots scandal. [ESPN]

    * 30 bats flew into an Arkansas courtroom disrupting a trial. That’ll teach them to let Joe Chill go free. [MyFoxNY]

    * An online CLE on the ethical issues of laterals and collapsing firms. Dewey know any firms who could have used this information? [Bloomberg BNA]

  • 7th Circuit, Andrew Cuomo, Benchslaps, Biglaw, Blogging, Erwin Chemerinsky, Fast Food, Gay, Gay Marriage, In-House Counsel, Law Professors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, New York Times, Police, Politics, Richard Posner, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court, Tim Wu

    Morning Docket: 08.27.14

    * Judge Posner dished out a whole lot of benchslaps at yesterday’s Seventh Circuit arguments over Indiana and Wisconsin’s bans on same-sex marriage. [BuzzFeed]

    * Major U.S. and Canadian law firms chow down on Burger King’s whopper of a deal with Tim Hortons. [Am Law Daily]

    * A recent Delaware court ruling on attorney-client privilege might allow in-house lawyers to speak more freely about wrongdoing at their companies, according to Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * The corruption trial of former Virginia governor continues; yesterday Bob McDonnell’s sister took the stand. [Washington Post]

    * A favorable evidentiary ruling for Aaron Hernandez. [Fox Sports]

    * And good news for Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu, the two law professors running for governor and lieutenant governor of New York: the Times dissed their opponent, Andrew Cuomo, with a non-endorsement. [New York Times]

    * I recently spoke with one of my cousins Joao Atienza of the Cebu Sun Star, about Above the Law and the world of legal blogging. [Cebu Sun Star]

  • Football, Intellectual Property, Labor / Employment, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Trademarks

    Non-Sequiturs: 07.02.14

    * Politico asked 19 legal experts to evaluate the Supreme Court term. I wonder which 9 justices they thought were most important this term? [Politico] * One of the girls who stabbed a friend at the supposed behest of the fictional “Slenderman” was deemed incompetent. [Chicago Tribune] * Have you checked out the logo for Stussy jeans? Because those horsies look awfully familiar to a certain other, more famous jean company. [Los Angeles Intellectual Property Attorney Blog] * The sad truth for those of you banking on Biglaw careers to pay off your loans? You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. [Law School Lemmings] * The recent study that created a cumulative ranking of law schools based on LSAT scores, employment, and citations has been updated to account for school-funded jobs. No more gaming the system schools. [The Faculty Lounge] * Womble Carlyle prevails in the discrimination suit brought by a cancer survivor they fired when her cancer treatment left her weak. What’s with lawyers picking on cancer survivors today? [Triangle Business Journal] * Mr. Florida Football: July 2014. Check out his stats: 6’1″, 245, 3 murder charges… [Chronicle of Higher Education] * The next generation wants to change the world. Maybe consider something other than law school. [Law and More] * The suit between Jerry Only and Danzig (Glenn, not Chris) is heating up with a countersuit. [Metal Sucks] * Time for another Battle of the Law Firm Bands! This one is in L.A. next Tuesday, July 8, and 11 bands from area law firms and companies are playing, including bands from Latham, Gibson, O’Melveny, and MoFo. It’s for a good cause, so show up. [Family Violence Appellate Project]
  • Art, Biglaw, Brown Rudnick, California, Celebrities, Crime, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain

    Morning Docket: 12.18.13

    * “No one calls me Justice Sotomayor and no one calls Justice Kagan Justice Ginsberg. It’s an exhilarating change.” Back in the day, people used to mistake the Notorious RBG for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. How rude. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]

    * Eversheds, the national U.K. law firm that sounds like it’s an outdoor storage emporium, has elected a new chairman. Congrats to Paul Smith, who specializes in environmental law, and will begin his four-year term on May 1. [Am Law Daily]

    * In his last year of service, California Treasurer Bill Lockyer will moonlight in Brown Rudnick’s Irvine office. Critics think this move “looks and smells bad.” If it’s brown, flush it down? [Bloomberg]

    * Down 11 percent from last year, this fall, law schools enrolled the fewest amount of students since 1975, when there were only 163 ABA-accredited schools. Too bad tuition’s still so high. [National Law Journal]

    * Aaron Hernandez is now facing a wrongful death suit filed by Odin Lloyd’s family. Without anything else to say about this sports-related legal news, here’s a picture of Elie Hernandezing. [Associated Press]

    * George Zimmerman is an artiste extraordinaire, and one of his paintings is currently for sale on eBay where the price has been bid up to $110,100. The guy’s almost as talented as George W. Bush. [CNN]