Arizona

One of these states' new laws has a number of potential constitutional problems.

thankfully, Franks has resigned from Congress, so we’ll never have to unravel the weird details behind this story.

Courts continue to explore the intersection of marriage equality and parental rights.

Congratulations to the lawyers behind this major win!

This law school's overall passage rate was 22.7 percent.

Unfortunately for Theranos, a third legal ruling came in late on Tuesday.

Arizona cactus Embattled diagnostics company Theranos is about to be in more legal hot water.

It's time to briefly visit each marijuana ballot initiative, especially since legalization or medical marijuana reform in one state can greatly impact other marijuana-friendly states and even federal marijuana policy.

Holy crap.

The results of this state's July 2016 bar exam are truly frightening.

* David Mourey, the former assistant dean for bar preparation and academic success at Barry Law, was fired after students continued to fail the bar exam, but in a recently filed gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, he claims he was discriminated against because he was “singled out for discipline by an all-female management team.” We may have more on this later. [Orlando Sentinel]

* Despite the wishes of the public and rumors of his firing in the face of the Baylor University coverup of reports of rape and sexual assault by football players, “Ken Starr is [still] president and chancellor of Baylor University.” According to a university spokeswoman, the school has not yet finished reviewing Pepper Hamilton’s report on the matter, but Baylor will likely make an announcement by June 3. [Associated Press]

* “We are willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to.” Eleven states have filed suit against the Obama Administration in an effort to get around its guidance on transgender rights for children in schools, calling the policy a “massive social experiment.” The states suing are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. [Reuters]

* Sumner Redstone turns 93 years old tomorrow, and he’s been in and out of court for the past few months in a battle to prove he’s mentally competent. The salacious case filed by his former female companion may have been dismissed, but now he’s attempting to fend off claims from Viacom directors who were ousted from a trust that will control his media holdings if he dies or is found incompetent. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Now that the world knows that PayPal’s co-founder provided funding for Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy suit against Gawker, it’s time to take a look at the lawyer who’s been representing the wrestler. Charles Harder is no stranger to Hollywood cases, and may be a longtime fan of litigation finance since he “[tries] to win and do so in a way that’s cost effective for a client, so they don’t lose when they’re winning.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Since revenge litigation finance’s recent invention, what’s there to keep billionaires from destroying you with lawsuits? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not much, especially when “there is no obligation to disclose the litigation financing arrangements” that have been made. Ethical issues aside, we really hope the super-rich wield their new power to ruin lives through rented lawsuits carefully. [Fortune]

* Well, this warms my calloused heart: Chief Justice Roberts learned some sign language to swear 12 deaf and hard of hearing lawyers into the Supreme Court. [Washington Post]

* An enlightening interview with an attorney that proves lawyers can have entrepreneurial spirit, Richard Nacht. [Law and More]

* Professor Rick Hasen’s analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Arizona redistricting case. [Election Law Blog]

* An interview with Matt Delmont, author of Why Busing Failed (affiliate link), on the continued segregation of schools. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Did lawyer Linda Shi just help design a revolution in air conditioning? The product is being funded through Kickstarter, and the size of the unit makes me think it’d be welcomed in many NYC apartments this summer. [Kickstarter]

* Economists and tax law professors are getting behind Elizabeth Warren’s tax filing simplification bill. [MassLive]

* An in-depth look at black sites — CIA secret prisons, used in the U.S.’s War on Terror. [Slate]

* Our very own David Lat shares cybersecurity tips with host David Lesch on “Today’s Verdict.” [BronxNet]

* It’s official: Justice Clarence Thomas hasn’t asked a question during oral arguments at the Supreme Court in a decade. No other justice in history has ever done something like this, but Justice Thomas is “confident enough in his own skin not to care.” [MSNBC]

* Who would make a better SCOTUS justice, Judge Sri Srinivasan of the D.C. Circuit or U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara? President Obama may be wondering when deciding whether to appoint the high court’s first Asian-American justice. [New York Daily News]

* Judge H. Russel Holland was presiding over the DOJ’s action against two allegedly discriminatory polygamous cities on the Utah-Arizona border when he was rushed away in an ambulance. He had a terrible case of bronchitis. Feel better, Your Honor! [AP]

* Gowlings, Canada’s second-largest firm, merged with UK-based Wragge Lawrence Graham to form an international firm with 1,400+ lawyers in 10 countries. Accept our cautionary congratulations, since layoffs usually follow mergers of this size. [Reuters]

* Aww, how cute! After working as a fully integrated firm for almost two years, Squire Patton Boggs has announced its first-ever merger with another firm. Welcome San Francisco-based firm Carroll Burdick & McDonough to the party. [Plain Dealer]

* Mayer Brown is relying on a lateral associate to help its Cuba practice shore up client relations on the island through all of her connections there, which have been described as “hot property.” She even got her own press release. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

Lots has happened since the largest judicial circuit was created.

Will this latest effort to break up the Ninth Circuit get better traction than past attempts?

* “This is, since the recession, the most robust job growth we’ve seen.” Nearly all students who worked at Biglaw firms this past summer as associates received offers of full-time employment. Offer rates haven’t been this high in more than a decade. [National Law Journal]

* Mommy, wow! I’m a big kid now! Affluenza teen Ethan Couch was finally deported from Mexico and booked into a juvenile detention center. Today, we’ll see if he’ll be moved to a big-boy jail, and in February, we’ll see if his case is moved to the grown-up court system. [Associated Press]

* Sorry, Hillary Clinton, but President Obama has no desire to be on SCOTUS. According to White House press secretary Josh Earnest, while Obama “would have plenty of ideas for how he would do a job like that,” he “may have other things to do.” [The Hill]

* It’s so hard to get execution drugs that Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is asking state legislators for alternative methods for carrying out death sentences, like death by firing squad, electrocution, and hanging. Seems reasonable? [Reuters]

* Arizona is so eager to kill people it hired Alston & Bird to go up against the Food and Drug Administration in the state’s quest to obtain the release of a shipment of execution drugs that it had imported to the country from India this summer. [BuzzFeed News]

* How Planned Parenthood’s aggressive legal strategy launched them from the defensive to the offensive. [Reuters]

* David Boies just saved Natalie Portman’s ass. Yes, you read that correctly. [The Hollywood Reporter]

* Don’t be cute and try and violate a restraining order via Facebook. [Associate’s Mind

* Arizona wants out of the Ninth Circuit. Good luck with that. [AZ Governor]

* Not recommended judicial behavior: hanging a portrait of Adolf Hitler in the courthouse’s Hall Of Heroes. Looks like Oregon’s Judge Vance Day is learning that the hard way. [Raw Story]

* You can’t skirt defamation laws by complaining to a disciplinary committee — a doctor files a complaint against an attorney who blogged about him. [New York Personal Injury Attorney Blog]

* Writing fiction was “liberating” for this attorney. Check out the new crime novel, A Stirring in the North Fork (affiliate link), to see what he’s talking about. [Teamster Nation]

* Despite how sensationalized they can be, the insanity defense is really quite rare. [Huffington Post]

* Even if you aren’t rich, you still need a prenup. [My Bank Tracker]

Do extensive research before investing in a law school education -- you might be able to uncover ugly facts like these.

* Gun control advocates finally seem to have the monetary resources to take on the NRA. [New Yorker]

* This is how to deal with Biglaw induced rage. [Daily Lawyer Tips]

* A commentator’s take on the double standard pervading the cases against misleading law school advertising [The Legal Watchdog]

* Colorado and Arizona bar results are in, still more bad news. [Bar Exam Stats]

* That’s a no-go on copyrighting yoga poses. [Overlawyered]

* Let the countdown to the unsealing of Bill Cosby’s latest deposition begin! [Gawker]

* Reforming the world of debt collection. [Pacific Standard]

* All work and no play makes summer associates sad, but they had a really great time this year, what with the lucky law students attending Broadway shows, sporting events, and Russian cabarets. Sounds like fun! [Am Law Daily]

* Alas, not everyone was getting wined and dined this summer. Some lawyers can’t even find a place to work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal services sector lost ~200 jobs during the month of July. [WSJ Law Blog]

* It may be the “worst time in the history of legal education to go to law school,” but because of new programs being launched, at least some of our recent graduates will be less screwed. [New York Times]

* “The ABA is used as a whipping boy for standing in the way of innovation,” but soon it’ll vote on revisions to its accreditation standards. Welcome to the party, ABA, thanks for being late. [National Law Journal]

* It took 15 doses of lethal injection drugs to execute Joseph Wood when it should’ve taken one. Don’t worry, it wasn’t cruel and unusual punishment — the Arizona Department of Corrections says so. [CNN]