American Bar Association / ABA
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.26.16
* A judge who drank alcohol “on court premises” now has a lot of free time to drink in comfort elsewhere. [Legal Cheek]
* A fascinating research paper on how the media is leading everyone astray by portraying the Islamic State as lawless — their key to holding land is based in large part on their imposition of legal institutions. [Brookings Institute]
* Quinn Emanuel’s Susan Estrich is representing Roger Ailes. Am I alone in hoping she manages this case like she managed the Dukakis campaign? [Observer]
* The DNC Wikileaks fallout hits a law firm. Marc Elias of Perkins Coie is on record urging DNC officials to accuse Bernie Sanders of lying. I’m sure Perkins Coie will respond that he was just being “nuanced.” [Am Law Daily]
* F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s mother-in-law was just kidnapped in Brazil and is being held for a $36 million ransom. But, you know, let’s definitely have the Olympics there! [NPR]
* A review of the courtroom fates of a number of voter suppression tactics proposed around the country. [Economist]
* This University of Chicago professor is not happy with Judge Frank Easterbrook [Valparaiso University Law Review]
* The folks at Practice Panther took the ABA law school data and made this nice infographic. [Practice Panther]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Sex, Technology
This Week In Legal Tech: Showdown At The ABA Over Free Law And Free Sex
Ignorance of the law excuses no one; is it fair, then, that citizens should have to pay for the law they are obliged to know? - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Legal Ethics, Technology
This Week In Legal Tech: Ethics And Technology Competence
If you're still in the technological dark ages, beware: You face not just obsolescence, but also ethical rebuke.
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Money
Infographic Answers: How Much Do Lawyers Make By Practice Area?
An illustrated guide to where you screwed up. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools
How Big Is It To Strip The ABA Of Its Accreditation Role?
The ABA's been handling this job for more than a few years now... -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools
ABA May Be Stripped Of Power To Accredit New Law Schools
The ABA's practices have finally struck a government agency as crazy. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.27.16
* We hope that all of our readers had a wonderful weekend! In case you haven’t been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that raised salaries on Friday: Jones Day, Pillsbury, and Nixon Peabody. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]
* Karmic retribution? The ABA keeps popping out accredited law schools as if it were some sort of a clown car, but it may lose the power to accredit law schools for a one-year period thanks to a recommendation from the Department of Education’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. [Big Law Business]
* “For the time being, at this specific time on this court, Kennedy remains the pivotal justice.” Justice Anthony Kennedy may be almost 80, but he remains the Supreme Court’s constant swing voter. In his opinion in the Fisher affirmative action case last week, he was able to successfully “gut his own precedent.” [Washington Post]
* With a net worth between $7.6M and $25M, if Judge Merrick Garland were ever to be confirmed to the position for which he’s been nominated, then he’d be the wealthiest SCOTUS justice of them all. According to their financial disclosures, the next wealthiest justice is Stephen Breyer, with a net worth between $6.1M and $16M. [ABA Journal]
* Disbarred defense attorney F. Lee Bailey — who you may remember as being part of O.J. Simpson’s “dream team” — filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to escape $5M+ of debt owed to the IRS. He says the IRS previously turned down his settlement offers because he’s “a celebrity, and it would look bad for them.” [Portland Press Herald]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.15.16
* If you’ve been too busy billing, this is the roster of salary movement news from yesterday: Fried Frank, Jenner & Block, Covington, Boies Schiller, Mayer Brown, DLA Piper, and Goodwin Procter. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage om pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]
* Quit worrying, law students: Per the managing partner of litigation powerhouse Keker & Van Nest, the firm’s billing rates won’t be “dramatically changed” after its adoption of the $180K Cravath salary scale, and it won’t be harder to get a job there because the raises “[won’t] have any influence” on the firm’s hiring plan. [Big Law Business]
* Shook Hardy & Bacon is the latest Biglaw firm to welcome a woman to the highest managing role it has to offer. Madeline McDonough, a 26-year veteran of the firm, will join the small — but growing — clan of female lawyers who serve as the managing partners or chairs of some of the nation’s largest law firms. Congrats! [WSJ Law Blog]
* Andrew Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of slitting the throat of a law firm managing partner, was convicted on all of the charges he faced in the attack. This likely does not bode well for his wife, attorney Alecia Schmuhl, who will stand trial this fall and who is said to have been the mastermind behind the brutal assault. [Washington Post]
* For the first time ever, the ABA is conducting random audits of law school employment statistics from the class of 2015. Ten schools have been randomly selected for audits, along with 382 randomly selected students from 156 schools. Which schools do you hope are audited? We’re sure we could name a few. ::coughInfiLawcough:: [ABA Journal]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.03.16
* A ray of light for Madonna as the Ninth Circuit hands her a victory in a long-running copyright infringement case, creating a circuit split in the process. [Billboard]
* The New York Court of Appeals overturns the $17.2 million award Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder earlier won against Cadwalader at summary judgment. Life’s hard for billionaires who beg regular people pay their bills for them. [Law360]
* Kirkland & Ellis plays hardball with departing partner, forcing him to repay a $120K bonus before walking out the door. [Legal Week]
* This is why we can’t have nice things. Literally. Intellectual property concerns threaten customizable goods. [Corporate Counsel]
* Texas AG Ken Paxton’s still gonna have to face those criminal fraud charges. [Courthouse News Service]
* Industry groups come out of the woodwork to challenge a Department of Labor rule requiring retirement advisors to act in the best interest of their customers. Crocodile tears abound as the groups claim they agree with the sentiment of the rule but just want the SEC to write it — knowing full well that the SEC isn’t going to write it. [Wall Street Journal]
* Add ABA President Paulette Brown to the list of people outraged that Donald Trump is criticizing a federal judge for, among other things, being of Mexican descent. [Law360]
* Irell gets sneaky in this copyright win over pre-1972 songs. [Litigation Daily]
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American Bar Association / ABA
Back In The Race: Can Alternative Legal Services Providers Force The ABA To Change The Non-Lawyer Ownership Rules?
Right now, it seems unlikely, since ALSPs are not in a position to rebel and demand the repeal of the non-lawyer ownership rule. -
Job Searches, Law Schools
How Law School Job Rates Changed This Year
The entry-level market for new graduates remains grim, although job rates improved at some law schools. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Crime
ABA President Wants Every Lawyer To Take One Simple Test
This is a crucial test all lawyers and law students should take. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.10.16
* “None of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something or someone they are not.” The Justice Department and North Carolina have traded dueling pleadings over HB2, the so-called “bathroom bill.” AG Loretta Lynch’s press conference announcing the DOJ countersuit was nothing short of awe-inspiring. [New York Times]
* Just one week after threatening to strip Arizona Law from access to its law school applications and admissions clearinghouse, the Law School Admission Council is backing down, saying it will “maintain the status quo” until the ABA makes a decision on the validity of the GRE over the LSAT as a law school entrance exam. [WSJ Law Blog]
* “On behalf of the Section of Family Law, we pose the following question: WHAT PART OF ‘NO!’ DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?” Lawyers are still deeply opposed to non-lawyer ownership of and investment in law firms, and they’re apparently not afraid to stand up and let the ABA know how they really feel about it. [On the Case / Reuters]
* After only two days of trial, a judge has dismissed the ultra-salacious case filed by Manuela Herzer challenging 92-year-old Sumner Redstone’s mental competence. The media mogul’s lawyers now intend to sue Herzer and another of his former flames to recover $150 million in cash and gifts he gave to them. [Los Angeles Times; Variety]
* “Thank you, Mr. Boies, that was an unadulterated pleasure.” You might have missed the finale of The Good Wife this weekend, but this Biglaw celebrity made time to appear on the show for a cameo role as himself. David Boies of Boies Schiller appeared as an expert witness for about 30 seconds in the first half of the episode. [Big Law Business]
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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.04.16
* At long last, the ABA has released the final version of its employment statistics for the law school class of 2015. Ten months after graduation, 59.2 percent of the class was employed in long-term, full-time jobs where bar passage was required, but there’s been a sharp decline in the number of those jobs since 2014. We’ll have more on this later. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called probate: Earlier this week, Judge Kevin Eide appointed Bremer Trust National Association as the special administrator of music icon Prince’s estate. Prince is said to have died without a will, but all of his presumptive heirs agreed to the appointment. [Big Law Business]
* “[I]n all 50 states, gay couples are allowed to adopt kids, as it should be.” Since Mississippi failed to timely appeal a ruling striking down its ban on same-sex adoption as unconstitutional, same-sex adoption is now permitted across America. Let’s celebrate all of the children who will soon be welcomed into good, loving homes. [BuzzFeed News]
* Australian law firm Slater & Gordon, the biggest firm Down Under and the world’s first law firm to be publicly traded, narrowly avoided going under after a $700 million loss thanks to a deal with its bankers. Beware, stock market bidders, because the firm still remains a “high-risk investment” due to its “uncertainty.” [Sydney Morning Herald]
* The University of Tulsa John Rogers Hall College of Law is deciding whether or not it should change its name to remove a founder who had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Law school administrators have already recommended that Rogers’s name be removed, and after some discussion, trustees will vote on the proposal later today. [Associated Press]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.28.16
* ASS Law is back in the news: Earlier this week, professors on the George Mason University Faculty Senate voted 21-13 to reopen the naming process on the already twice-renamed Antonin Scalia Law School. These professors must know that their actions have no impact on the administration’s decisions… right? [BuzzFeed News]
* Thanks to allegations of sexual harassment brought forward by courthouse personnel, Judge José A. Fusté of the District of Puerto Rico was allegedly forced by the First Circuit to “retire” from his position, effective June 1. If you’re unable to read in Spanish, Google Translate has a version in broken English that may be slightly helpful. [El Nuevo Día]
* Attention intellectual property attorneys, because your practice area just got a little more exciting. The Defend Trade Secrets Act passed in the House yesterday by a vote of 410-2, and that means the “most significant expansion of federal law in intellectual property since the Lanham Act in 1946” will likely soon become law. [WSJ Law Blog]
* “Transitioning at a Biglaw firm, are you crazy?” Not only is it possible to transition in Biglaw, but it’s possible to thrive as a transgender woman in Biglaw, and Sara Schnorr of Locke Lord had the full support of her firm. In fact, she was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Congrats! [Big Law Business]
* “Is nonlawyer ownership of law firms long overdue? Or a bad idea?” The U.K. and Australia are already doing it, and now the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services is seeking comments for an issues paper on the risks and benefits of nonlawyer law firm ownership. Email us or tweet us and let us know what you think. [ABA Journal]
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Religion, Social Media
Vatican A Role Model On Social Media For Legal Profession
Leaders of the legal profession could learn a thing or two about social media from leaders of the Catholic Church. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.20.16
* Puff, puff, pass the vote! In honor of today’s nationwide holiday for cannabis aficionados, these are all of the states that have legalized marijuana, be it for either recreational or medical use. This year, at least 10 more states may legalize weed by ballot referendum for recreational use, and pot could be rescheduled by the Drug Enforcement Agency depending on the outcome of the upcoming election. [Refinery 29]
* Members of student activist group Reclaim Harvard Law have demanded that the prestigious law school eliminate tuition completely. They propose that the school dip into its endowment to cover tuition, or cut costs like faculty salaries to make debt-free legal education a reality. This won’t happen, but it’s a nice thought. [Harvard Crimson]
* The ABA is investigating Brigham Young Law’s policy of expelling ex-Mormon students. Per ABA guidelines, law schools can’t discriminate on the basis of religion, and yet the BYU honor code requires students to get annual endorsements from LDS Church members — endorsements for which former Mormons aren’t eligible. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Pharma bro Martin Shkreli was dropped from a lawsuit related to his purchase of the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s latest album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” It’s likely plaintiff Jason Koza, who claims his art was used for the album without his approval, dumped Shkreli due to a purchase-agreement indemnity clause. [New York Post]
* Because a judge reduced his manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide at the last minute, former NYPD Officer Peter Liang will not serve jail time for the 2014 shooting death of Akai Gurley. Liang once faced up to 15 years in prison, but instead he was sentenced to five years of probation and 800 hours of community service. [CNN]
Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.12.16
* Howrey doing with all those profit clawbacks for unfinished business? The bankruptcy trustee for this defunct firm filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit to determine whether his method of collecting cash for the insolvent firm’s estate was legal, and in an amicus brief, the ABA has sided with the law firms being bilked for funds, saying such efforts must be nixed. [ABA Journal]
* The Tenth Circuit dismissed a challenge to Utah’s ban on polygamy that was brought by TLC’s “Sister Wives” family, saying they didn’t have standing to sue as they were no longer subject to a credible threat of prosecution. This will probably add fuel to the rumors that the show is on the verge of cancellation before Season 7. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The SEC has charged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in connection to a stock scam involving tech company Servergy. Paxton allegedly assisted the company with raising investor funds, but never disclosed his commissions. With three pending criminal indictments and a bar complaint, this guy is batting 1000. [Dallas Morning News]
* Reclaim Harvard Law protestors who have been occupying the school’s student center claim that they found a voice-activated recording device in “Belinda Hall,” and have interpreted this as an “intentional effort to surveil [their] movement.” If your goal was to get people to listen to your message, consider this an achievement unlocked. [Observer]
* If you’re uncertain about your law school decision, you can certainly put down multiple seat deposits, but we’re not sure why you would want to. By all means, start your legal education by putting yourself into debt — you’ll be off to a great start for the six figures of loans you’ll have accumulated by graduation. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools
The Fall Of Systemic Deception At Law Schools
We long ago declared victory for law school transparency. Here's why. -
Conferences / Symposia, Technology
Today's Tech: #ABATECHSHOW -- Announcements, Experiments, And Interviews With Experts
What did you miss at ABA TECHSHOW this year? Find out the latest and greatest news about legal technology here.