American Bar Association / ABA

Three experts in technology and security discuss the challenges we'll face going forward.

Technology columnist Bob Ambrogi discusses the new ABA report with Eddie Hartman of LegalZoom.

Casting a ballot takes a lot of hard legal work.

Will this end sexism in the legal profession? That's doubtful, but it's a step in the right direction.

* I climbed the Republican presidential nominee’s building using suction cups and all I got were these lousy handcuffs: Stephen Rogata, the Virginia teenager who attempted to scale Trump Tower earlier this week, has been criminally charged with reckless endangerment and trespassing. [New York Times]

* “We adopt policy that will be beneficial to all lawyers — we don’t adopt things just to be politically correct.” Many attorneys are up in arms about the new ABA professional conduct rule which prohibits discriminating against and harassing colleagues during the practice of law, but it was something that needed to happen. [Big Law Business]

* Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has predicted “with some degree of credibility” that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will nominate Judge Merrick Garland if she wins the White House this fall. He doesn’t think Clinton will “rock the boat” with a new pick for Donald Trump’s “minions” to block. [Associated Press]

* Given the fact that 36.4 percent of lawyers surveyed qualified themselves as problem drinkers, attorney-counselor Patrick Krill has opened a consulting firm that will cater specifically to law firms, providing assistance for lawyers dealing with addiction and mental health issues. If you need help, please seek it out. [Law.com via ABA Journal]

* Who are 11 of the most successful graduates of Stanford Law School? Two are SCOTUS justices, one is a former Ninth Circuit judge, one is the executive director of the ACLU, four are business executives (one of whom invented “revenge litigation finance” to sue Gawker into bankruptcy), and the rest are public figures in politics. [Business Insider]

A short talk about career, diversity, and advice for current and future law students with the ABA's outgoing president.

Bar leaders are finally telling lawyers to reconsider the way they deliver legal services given the changing demands of 21st century legal clients.

* “NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Dem Senate candidate and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland: Scalia’s death ‘happened at a good time.'” [Instapundit]

* A Skull and Bones society for top NYC law firms? Professor Rick Swedloff discusses a secretive group whose membership includes some of Biglaw’s biggest names. [SSRN]

* A notable new petition (filed by Professor Orin Kerr and Marcia Hofmann) in a high-profile appeal about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Donald Trump’s infamous “Second Amendment” quip is protected by the First Amendment — but just barely, according to Professor Noah Feldman. [Bloomberg View via How Appealing]

* Jury consultant Roy Futterman of DOAR wonders: is concern about prejudicing jurors actually driving them to using the internet for decision-making? [Big Law Business]

* Could the ABA someday lose its power to accredit law schools? Steven J. Harper thinks its day of reckoning is coming closer. [The Belly of the Beast]

Technology columnist Monica Bay's monthly round-up of upcoming events -- with some decidedly cranky commentary.

Are you ready for the world of driverless cars?

* “If the LSAC is willing to include GRE scores in the [credential assembly services], then this may be an easy way for the LSAC to continue to certify the accuracy of standardized test scores reported to law schools.” In response to the tantrum LSAC threw over the future certification of LSAT scores, Educational Testing Service, the organization that administers the GRE, has offered to share its exam results with LSAC. [ABA Journal]

* “It is time for the ABA to catch up.” The hotly contested rule proposed by the American Bar Association that would make behavior “[a] lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination” a form of professional misconduct was “resoundingly adopted” by the House of Delegates earlier this week. Well done, ABA. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Sorry, investment advisers, you make think it’s “unfair,” but according to a recent decision from a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s controversial in-house courts are constitutionally sound because the agency’s ALJs don’t make “final” decisions on behalf of the SEC. [Big Law Business]

* Husch Blackwell, which completed a combination with Whyte Hirschboeck in the middle of last month, now not only has bragging rights on finalizing the largest law firm merger of 2016, but it can also claim to have one of the largest real estate practices in the entire country. Congratulations on all of your success! [Midwest Real Estate News]

* Who are eight of the most impressive graduates of Columbia Law School? Would you be surprised to learn that the list includes two former presidents, two Supreme Court justices (one of whom has a law school named after him), a U.S. Attorney General, and various political figures? If you’re interested, check out the list here. [Business Insider]

The ABA drive for diversity ignores one area of advancement right under their noses.

Solving Zika in the U.S. requires cash and competent politicians.

* Did Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court commit judicial misconduct when he instructed probate judges that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was still in effect despite the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell? The state’s Court of the Judiciary has set a date for a trial-like proceeding on the ethics charges Moore faces for late September. [ABC News]

* If you want to go to law school and you’ve got your heart set on a particular institution, it may be in your best financial interests to apply early decision. A few law schools are now offering significant scholarship opportunities to early applicants — in some cases, full tuition scholarships are being handed out. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* “Even innocent clients may not benefit from the fraud of their attorney.” Chevron Corp. has prevailed in a long-running environmental law case set in an Ecuadorian rainforest. Lawyers for the oil and gas company convinced the Second Circuit that an $8.65 billion judgment was obtained through attorney Steven Donziger’s bribery and fraud. [Reuters]

* The family of slain Florida State law professor Dan Markel has accepted a $40,000 settlement from the Consolidated Dispatch Agency in connection with a wrongful death case. Due to an “error by dispatchers,” it took approximately 19 minutes for ambulances to arrive at Markel’s home as he lay dying after being shot. [Tallahassee Democrat]

* This is why indebted law students can’t have nice things: while the American Bar Association may have changed its tune when it comes to law students earning pay for credit-bearing externships, it will allow law schools to be the ultimate arbiters on whether academic credit will still be offered for these job placements. [Law.com]

Significant change is not just an option, but a necessity, and it will require innovative delivery models and technologies.

* Today, the ABA will vote on a proposed change to the model rules of professional conduct that would prohibit harassment and discrimination by lawyers while practicing law. This may put an end to sexism in the law, but critics say it will chill zealous representation. [DealBook / New York Times; Seattle Times]

* “[I]f the polls continue to show that vulnerable Republicans are experiencing backlash, there will be greater momentum to give Garland a hearing during the lame duck.” If Donald Trump continues to return unimpressive poll results, some say that Supreme Court nominee Chief Justice Merrick Garland could receive a hearing after all. [The Hill]

* “Changing our state’s election laws close to the upcoming election … will create confusion for voters and poll workers.” Last week, the Fourth Circuit struck down North Carolina’s voter ID law, and now, North Carolina plans to ask the Supreme Court to allow that law to stand via stay in light of the upcoming presidential election. [Reuters]

* Who are fourteen of the most successful Harvard Law School alumni of all time? Would it surprise you that five of them are Supreme Court justices, two of them are U.S. presidents, three of them are would-be U.S. presidents, two of them are business magnates, and only one is actively practicing law as an attorney? [Business Insider]

* Julie Kay, intrepid reporter on the business of law, RIP. [Daily Business Review]

Giving them exorbitant debt sentences won't diversify the legal profession, either.

Are you going to be in San Francisco this weekend?

Wow. Are you surprised by this?

* “This feels like an agency that is out of step with a crisis in its profession.” The transcript from the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity is finally out, and those who voted to suspend the ABA’s power to accredit law schools sought to “send a signal” about student loans and accreditation enforcement. [ABA Journal]

* “Having a woman reach this milestone opens the door for us. We are allies in the struggle and we can’t do this by ourselves.” Women in the law fight to break through the glass ceiling every day, and Hillary Clinton’s nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate has served as an inspiration to continue the battle. [Big Law Business]

* Which are the best law schools for getting federal clerkship a after graduation? Aside from the incredibly obvious ones, you may actually be surprised by some of the schools that made the list. For those of you who are interested in getting a clerkship bonus when you head to your firm, we’ll have more information on this later. [Business Insider]

* Sorry, but your law review note might get preempted… Thanks to a split between the First and Second Circuits, in its upcoming term, the Supreme Court will decide what type of benefit must be provided to prove a quid pro quo arrangement, which could likely redefine insider trading law as we’ve come to know it. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Talk about some expensive beauty queen drama: Genesis Davila, who was crowned as Miss Florida USA last month and then stripped of the title for allegedly using professional hair and makeup stylists in violation of the competition’s rules, has filed a $15 million defamation lawsuit against the pageant’s owners. [ABC Local 10 News]