ABA Journal

  • Morning Docket: 02.26.18
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.26.18

    * “Eat sh*t, Bob.” Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver convinced a judge to dismiss a defamation suit filed by Robert Murray of Murray Energy, finding that the comedian was well with his First Amendment rights to criticize the coal baron and his company on HBO. [Hollywood Reporter]

    * Former Skadden associate Alex van der Zwaan has already pleaded guilty to lying in the Russia investigation, but special counsel Robert Mueller isn’t nearly done with the Biglaw firm. According to sources, “[l]awyers at Skadden are on edge,” which means we should get ready for some juicy Skaddenfreude. [New York Times]

    * This weekend, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released their declassified rebuttal to Republican claims that FBI and DOJ officials abused their powers, calling those claims a “transparent” attempt to undermine the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference. [NBC News]

    * “Do better NKU. Dont let him teach us.” Students and alumni of Northern Kentucky University Law School are demanding action after former dean Jeffrey Standen was allowed to resign and then return as NKU’s highest-paid full-time professor following sexual harassment allegations, but the school says it can’t fire him. [Cincinnati.com]

    * How are you reacting to the scrutiny of sexual harassment in the workplace? That’s just one of the questions the ABA Journal and Working Mother want you to answer in this important survey for women and men working in law firms. [ABA Journal]

  • Morning Docket: 04.11.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 04.11.17

    Uh-oh! Trouble in paradise? It looks like Martin Shkreli’s lawyer — who also happens to be his co-defendant — has turned on him.

    * Florida has released the results from its administration of the February 2017 bar exam, and they were not pretty. The percentage of those who passed dipped a bit since 2016, but students at both Orlando law schools were more likely to have failed. But which law school did the worst of all? We’ll have more on this later. [Orlando Sentinel]

    * Trouble in paradise? Martin Shkreli’s former lawyer, Evan Greebel — who also happens to be his co-defendant — has turned on him, accusing the pharma bro of submitting false documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and engaging in illegal stock trading. Greebel, of course, now wants to be tried separately from Shkreli. [Bloomberg]

    * “I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be back.” Five women who once worked at Davis Polk and had been gone for at least two years to raise their families have returned to the firm for one-year stints with a program called “Davis Polk Revisited.” If all goes well, they may be able to return for a longer period of time. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * A former Hunton & Williams partner who spent 20 years on the lam as a fugitive has finally been caught. Scott Wolas, who was disbarred in 1999, was most recently accused in a $1.5 million real estate investment fraud scheme. Over the course of his alleged criminal career, Wolas reportedly assumed a number of other aliases. [Am Law Daily]

    * Each year around Easter, the ABA Journal hosts a Peeps in Law diorama contest. It’s time to cast your vote for your favorite, and this time around, the competition is pretty stiff. We’re particularly partial to the entry that’s been dubbed “State of Peepington v. Trump,” but “Peepsburg and Sugarmayor” is also very cute. Vote! [ABA Journal]

  • Morning Docket: 03.24.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.24.16

    * “If you give a judge a meeting, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk, because he is probably very thirsty from that one time you compared him to Idi Amin.” In light of the stranglehold Republicans have on Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s fate when it comes to his confirmation hearings, Dahlia Lithwick composed this cute riff on the children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. [Slate]

    * In an attempt to get with the times, Vermont Law is offering a Reduced-Residency Juris Doctor program, where students will be able to take up to 15 credits online in an off-campus location. Unfortunately, this flexibility comes at a price — the same exact price as the school’s regular J.D. program. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

    * Considering the high tensions during oral arguments yesterday in Zubik v. Burwell, a legal battle having to do with the ACA’s contraceptives mandate, the Supreme Court seems poised to issue another 4-4 split decision in one of the most controversial cases this term. If that happens, the lower court ruling would be left intact. [New York Times]

    * The ABA Journal wants to know how much you paid in law school tuition. If you graduated before the cost of a three-year legal education was akin to a mortgage, please take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are. If you’re a recent graduate, you’ve got plenty of people to commiserate with about your hefty debt burdens. [ABA Journal]

    * “Did the Supreme Court make weed legal across America?” No, no it did not, and you must be stoned if you think that’s what the high court did in its decision, or lack thereof, in the Nebraska v. Colorado case that it begged off on earlier this week. For now, the federal legalization of marijuana is nothing more than just a pipe dream. [Inquisitr]

  • Morning Docket: 01.21.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 01.21.16

    * Criminal defense attorneys have been painted so poorly by Hollywood for such a long time that Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, the defense attorneys at the heart of Making a Murderer, “never expected to be viewed as hero[es] for just doing our job.” [WSJ Law Blog]

    * All in a day’s work: When Ted Cruz wasn’t busy “[making] a lot of people really angry” during his Supreme Court clerkship, he was watching porn with Chief Justice William Rennquist and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. [New York Times]

    * It seems like Ted Cruz has made prospective Biglaw donors angry as well. Although Sullivan & Cromwell hosted an event in his honor, his campaign contribution amounts from other firms are “humdrum,” with only one Texas firm on his side. [The Careerist]

    * Thanks to a $25 million dollar donation from an alumnus, Villanova Law will now be known as the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Hopefully a new name will make people forget about the school’s scandal-plagued past. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

    * In light of last week’s sexism sanction from a federal judge, the editors of the ABA Journal want to know if you’ve ever heard sexist remarks while working as a lawyer. We’d like to know too. Email us for inclusion in our series on the subject. [ABA Journal]

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  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 08.13.15

    * “When it’s convenient, we’re alumni; when it’s not convenient, we are not alumni.” Grads of Texas Wesleyan Law — which is now known as Texas A&M Law — are suing because the school won’t grant them new degrees or recognize them as alumni. Harsh, y’all. [Houston Chronicle]

    * The ABA Journal wants to know who you think the smartest judge in the U.S. is. Let’s hear it for the wonderful women of the Supreme Court: Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. [ABA Journal]

    * Now that same-sex marriage is legal across the country, it only seems logical that bans on adoptions by same-sex couples should be overturned. Mississippi will have Roberta Kaplan of Windsor fame to thank when its ban is struck down. [New York Times]

    * Pa. Attorney General Kathleen Kane has claimed innocence with regard to the criminal charges she recently racked up. She blames the entire ordeal on blowback from the state’s “Porngate” scandal. AG Kane has got one hell of a moneyshot. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

    * Did you know that there’s such a thing as barbecue law? Further, did you know that a Biglaw attorney who serves as counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright who’s never handled a barbecue case has cornered the market on BBQ law books (affiliate link)? [Legal Times]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 06.26.15

    * Step right up and place your bets, because there are still five major cases left on the Supreme Court’s docket. With two decision days remaining, we’ve got same-sex marriage, execution methods, emissions, Congressional redistricting, and guns on tap. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * A Chicago attorney was arrested this week after a kiddie porn stash was allegedly found in his home. Good thing he resigned from his firm before being arrested. He probably wouldn’t have been able to meet his billable hours requirements while sitting inside of a jail cell. [Chicago Sun-Times]

    * California lawmakers passed the harshest mandatory vaccination requirements in the country — which include a ban on religious exemptions — and they’re waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown to sign the bill. Anti-vaxxers must be losing their minds. [Los Angeles Times]

    * Sorry to harsh your mellow, but Lloyd’s of London is now refusing to insure marijuana businesses due to conflicts between state and federal laws as to their legality. Current policies will not be renewed, and no new contracts will be issued. [Insurance Journal]

    * The ABA Journal wants to know about the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen a co-worker do while on the job or in court. This is a pretty easy answer here at ATL. I’ve seen Elie Mystal dancing around without his shirt on more times than I can count. [ABA Journal]

  • Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Canada, Elena Kagan, Gender, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Staff Layoffs, Supreme Court, Women's Issues

    Morning Docket: 02.06.14

    * According to Justice Kagan, Justice Ginsburg “is responsible for eliminating sex discrimination from American law.” Whoa, that’s a nice thought, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves with wishful thinking. [New York Law Journal]

    * After handing out pink slips staff, Heenan Blaikie lawyers sat down and voted to dissolve the Canadian firm’s partnership and wind up its business. It’s kind of like Dewey, but with maple syrup! [Legal Post / Financial Post]

    * Jack W. Butler, the bankruptcy bigwig who managed to negotiate the American Airlines / US Airways merger, will leave his home at Skadden Arps after 23 years and head to Hilco Global. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * Vermont Law School has partnered with several historically black colleges and universities in order to put warm bodies in empty seats promote the expansion of racial diversity in the legal profession. [VT Digger]

    * David Savner, a corporate partner at Jenner & Block, recently donated $1 million to his alma mater, Northwestern Law, to fund a high-tech classroom. It must be nice to be rich. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

    * The ABA Journal wants to know what the “oddest” elective course you ever took in law school was. If you took a “Law and _____” class and didn’t get an “A,” you should hang your head in shame. [ABA Journal]

  • 9th Circuit, Affirmative Action, Biglaw, Blank Rome, Gay, Job Searches, Jury Duty, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Morning Docket, Pornography, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain

    Morning Docket: 01.23.14

    * The Supreme Court isn’t sure how to address restitution in this child pornography case, but the justices agreed that they didn’t like the “50 percent fudge factor” offered by a government attorney. [New York Times]

    * No, stupid, you can’t strike a juror just because he’s gay. By expanding juror protections to sexual orientation, the Ninth Circuit recently added a new notch on the gay rights bedpost. Progress! [Los Angeles Times]

    * The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board says the NSA’s domestic surveillance program is illegal and should be stopped. Sorry, Edward Snowden beat you to the punch on that one. [New York Times]

    * While Blank Rome was busy denying a possible merger with Nixon Peabody, it picked up 21 attorneys from two small firms in California to open a San Francisco office. Sneaky. [Philadelphia Business Journal]

    * Dennis T. O’Riordan, the ex-Paul Hastings partner who faked his credentials, was disbarred — not in New York, where he claimed he was admitted, but across the pond in the United Kingdom. [Am Law Daily]

    * The ABA Journal wants to know if your law firm considers law school pedigree during its hiring process. Please consider the law schools your firm shuts out from OCI, and respond accordingly. [ABA Journal]

    * Word on the street is UALR School of Law is trying to push an affirmative action program that’s “likely unconstitutional.” It might also be insulting to prospective minority students, so there’s that. [Daily Caller]

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  • Benchslaps, Contests, Contracts, Elena Kagan, Job Searches, Non-Sequiturs, SCOTUS, Student Loans, Supreme Court

    Non-Sequiturs: 12.11.12

    * Kagan, J., benchslapping. [Josh Blackman's Blog] * I think I’d get this if I understood gymnastics. [Associate's Mind] * Some people think IBR is pointless, but if you disagree, check out this petition. [We the People: Your Voice in Government] * Partner readers, check out this new podcast (featuring law firm consultant Ed Wesemann and yours truly). [Attorney Search Group] * Our annual Law Revue Video Contest is still a few months away, but if you like making legally themed videos, keep an eye on this contest (more details forthcoming, including info on the prizes). [Federal Bar Association] * Speaking of contests, we welcome your votes in the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 (under “News/Analysis”). [ABA Journal] * And speaking of Above the Law, the deadline for applying for our writer/editor position and our internship is tomorrow — so act now if interested! [Above the Law]
  • Biglaw, Blog Wars, Blogging, Bloomberg, Cellphones, Crime, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Music, New York Times, Non-Sequiturs, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology, Videos, YouTube

    Non-Sequiturs: 11.30.12

    * Just in case you haven’t seen enough responses to the Case Western Law dean’s New York Times op-ed, here are some more. (Plus, with this, you’re getting the additional bonus of an incredibly sad letter from a young lawyer.) [Associate's Mind] * Oh mon dieu! Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s legal team is now denying that that there was ever a settlement in the hotel maid’s sexual assault suit civil suit, and especially not a $6M settlement — because that’s apparently “flatly false.” [Slate] * You’ve probably led a sad and lonely existence if you’re laying on your death bed and worrying about who will inherit your iTunes library. Don’t worry, they’re headed to a “legal black hole,” anyway. [Legal Blog Watch] * And in other news, some teenagers are so obsessed with their tech gadgets, like cellphones, that they’d allegedly be willing to kill their family and pry the damn thing from their cold dead hands. [Legal Juice] * Please remember to vote for your favorite law blog (coughcough Above the Law coughcough) in the Blawg 100 in the News/Analysis category, and all the rest of the sites you read in other categories, too! [ABA Journal] * After the jump, Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia speaks with law firm consultant Tim Corcoran of the Corcoran Consulting Group about the future of rainmaking and business development in Biglaw….
  • Barack Obama, Bernie Madoff, Copyright, Department of Justice, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court

    Morning Docket: 06.28.12

    * Today’s court session is business as usual for SCOTUS, because the justices always seem to save the “best” for last. And now I’ll have that stupid Vanessa Williams song stuck in my head all day. Sorry if I got it stuck in yours, too. [National Law Journal (reg. req.)]

    * Meanwhile, over at the White House, the air was thick with the sound of silence on the eve of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act. More than willing to bet that President Obama probably didn’t sleep too well last night. [Los Angeles Times]

    * “If she dies and Romney wins, the Supreme Court will be the most conservative in history.” Oh, please. Stop giving Ruth Bader Ginsburg flak for being too old, and learn to respect your elders — she’ll quit (or she’ll croak) when she damn well feels like it. [New York Times]

    * Peter Madoff will plead guilty to two federal charges at the end of the week. He’ll probably serve ten years in prison. In the long run, that’s nothing compared to big brother Bernie’s 150-year sentence. [Bloomberg]

    * Reason #11ty-billion why we <3 Flori-duh: a judge rejected the DOJ's request to block Florida's voter purge, and Governor Rick Scott, of course, was pleased as punch, calling it a "common-sense decision." [POLITICO] * Megaupload wins again: a New Zealand court ruled that the search warrants used to raid Kim Dotcom’s mansion were illegal because they failed to “adequately describe the offenses to which they related.” [Reuters] * Loan debt will allegedly make you do some pretty crazy sh*t. Jason Bohn, the law school grad featured in an NYT article about the perils of law school, now stands accused of murdering his girlfriend. [New York Post] * The ABA Journal wants to know if you think your law school’s name and reputation affected your career path. Well, the first comment on my first post was “the what what school of where now,” so you tell me. [ABA Journal]

  • Court Reporters / Stenographers, New York Times, Non-Sequiturs, Parties, Prostitution, Public Interest, Technology

    Non-Sequiturs: 06.18.12

    * Roger Clemens was found not guilty on charges of lying to Congress about using steroids. [New York Times] * Why did the ABA Journal kill a feature story on mentoring by Dan Hull and Scott Greenfield? The world may never know, and the world may never see the story. [Simple Justice] * Q: What does a male lawyer do when his female secretary gives him a nice little Father’s Day gift? A: Freak out because random acts of kindness are so unusual, and then write a letter to a New York Times advice columnist. [New York Times] * If you’ll be in D.C. this Thursday, June 21, check out this battle of the law firm bands — a fun event that we’ve covered before, as well as a fundraiser for a worthy cause. [Banding Together 2012] * ATL readers are awesome. You guys have already been a huge help to this court reporter who almost died when he fell into the Chicago River. The family is still taking donations, and now there’s a PayPal link, so it’s even easier to lend a hand to Andrew Pitts and his family. [Kruse Reporters Blog] * A closer look at the continuing rapid progress of predictive coding (or, as skeptics would say, our new computer overlords) in legal discovery. [WSJ Law Blog] * New York’s “hot dog hooker,” Ms. Catherine Scalia (no, not that Scalia), was sentenced to jail. Maybe she should have deigned to sell chocolate milkshakes instead. [Gothamist]