Bail

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 11.17.15

    * A true model of what political discourse should look like in this country: West Point cadets and Bard College students squared off in a debate over individuals’ right to privacy over national security concerns. [Huffington Post]

    * The debate over bail reform in New York gets real, and some judges get angry. [Wise Law NY]

    * Oof! Which Massachusetts law school saw a 14% drop in its bar passage rate? And other trends from the latest states to release its bar exam results. [Bar Exam Stats]

    * Lawyers fighting the good fight, and standing up for your right to wear a pasta strainer over your head in your driver’s license photo. [Boston Globe]

    * So it looks like the Supreme Court will be revisiting the reproductive choice rights set forth in Roe, but how did we get here? [RH Reality Check]

    * Tom Hanks plays a lawyer that can predict the future. [Guile is Good]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 09.04.15

    Ed. note: Due to the Labor Day holiday we will be on a reduced publication schedule today, and observing the holiday on Monday. Hope everyone has an enjoyable, restful and long weekend.

    * Oh yay! An attorney hits something with his car, doesn’t stop, and uses the “I’m an attorney!” line, complete with F-bombs. And he was drinking, because of course he was. [Legal Profession Blog]

    * You shoot for the stars Utah! Utah Law announced a new initiative to have 100 percent bar passage and 100 percent professional employment. [Tax Prof Blog]

    * Burn! Not only did the Ninth Circuit overturn Judge Robert Jones’s decision, they reassigned the case. [Election Law Blog]

    * A war between Harvard Law professors! Okay, it’s just a war of words, but Cass Sunstein really takes it to former Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren and law prof turned presidential candidate Larry Lessig. [American Thinker]

    * Lessons on being a lawyer you can get from watching Peggy Olson. [Careerist]

    * Here’s a horrifying fact: “Defendants who can’t make bail, regardless of their crime, are four times more likely to be sentenced to time in prison.” [Pacific Standard]

    * This is fun! A 1947 anti-union propaganda comic put out by General Electric. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

    * Food in exchange for legal advice. Seems like a good deal. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

    * Moving ever closer to the day when a marriage license for a same sex couple is just a matter of paperwork — even in Kentucky. [Huffington Post]

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  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket 05.21.15

    * Modern Family star Ariel Winter wants to go to law school. Aw, that’s a shame — she seems so smart. [E!]

    * Five major banks will plead guilty to felony charges over allegations they illegally manipulated the dollar/euro exchange rate and pay over $5 billion in fines. Attorney General Loretta Lynch described the scheme as “brazenly illegal.” [National Law Journal]

    * Preet Bharara is making the rounds as a law school commencement speaker, find out why Lat calls him, “surprisingly entertaining for a prosecutor.” [Wall Street Journal]

    * Despite release of several hundred pages of the report on CIA abuse and torture a federal judge will not require the disclosure of the full report citing evidence that Congress intended to “retain control” over it. [Legal Times]

    * Stay at home moms with JD are now commanding “bonuses” from their spouses —  at least on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. [American Lawyer]

    * Bail is set at $1 million for each of the bikers arrested in Waco after the deadly brawl. [CNN]

    * ConAgra Foods will plead guilty to criminal charges over a 2007 outbreak of salmonella that was traced back to peanut butter. [NPR]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.01.15

    * Floyd Mayweather’s lawyer says that his client will post Suge Knight’s insanely high $10 million bail if he wins his fight against Manny Pacquiao. Suge says he was “really going to pull for him to win, but now [he’s] going to have to pray for him to win.” [Los Angeles Times]

    * Northwestern University School of Law is launching a first-of-its-kind loan repayment assistance program to help grads in “modestly salaried private sector jobs” — that is, if you make less than $85,000, the school will pay your loan interest for up to a year. [National Law Journal via CBS]

    * If you haven’t heard, the class of 2014 was much more employed than the class of 2013 by a factor of a few percentage points. Apply to law school right now! (No, don’t do that. The class of 2014 was smaller, so it looks like the job stats were better.) [ABA Journal]

    * “[T]he jury is out and the only sane thing you can say about Dentons is check back in three years.” Hot on the heels of the announced merger between Dentons and McKenna Long, many lawyers are running for the exits. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

    * If you’re interested in going to law school on the east coast, then you may want to take a look at this list of schools, ranked by total employment of the class of 2014. We’d shudder to see what this list would look like if only long-term, full-time jobs were used. [BostInno]

    * A lawyer who’s suing former U.S. Representative Aaron Schock on behalf of a campaign donor says he’s been unable to locate the disgraced politician to serve him. What will happen now? We bet you can find out on the next episode of Downton Abbey. [ABC News]

  • Biglaw, California, Celebrities, Crime, Gender, Insurance, Job Searches, Lateral Moves, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Morning Docket, NALP, National Association for Law Placement (NALP), Plaintiffs Firms, Rape, SCOTUS, Silicon Valley, Supreme Court, Television, Women's Issues

    Morning Docket: 12.13.13

    * “Those of us from the Midwest think it’s actually easier to hide a child in New York.” Many of the current Supreme Court justices are from New York. How does it affect their jurisprudence? [Washington Post]

    * The percentage of women associates in law firms may be down nationally, but in California, the demographic is on the rise — except in Silicon Valley, which is really hardly surprising. [The Recorder]

    * Megyn Kelly, who’s been compared to a “brilliant supermodel,” is now considered the brightest star on Fox News, with more than 2.5 million viewers. Albany Law School must be so proud. [Washington Post]

    * Class action powerhouse Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll hired Matthew S. Axelrod of DOJ fame (most recently as Associate Deputy Attorney General) to join the firm as a partner. Congrats! [Law360 (sub. req.)]

    * “The fact that rape insurance is even being discussed by this body is repulsive.” Yep. Rape insurance. Apparently that’s a thing in Michigan now, which is pretty unbelievable. The more you know. [MSNBC]

    * Here’s a helpful hint for our readers: when you’re trying to get released on bail prior to your jewel heist trial, you probably shouldn’t list your occupation on a court form as “jewelry thief.” [Los Angeles Times]

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  • 2nd Circuit, American Bar Association / ABA, Bail, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Copyright, Department of Justice, Enron, Google / Search Engines, Jeffrey Skilling, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.09.13

    * Right about now, the Second Circuit is wondering why authors are suing Google and crying infringement over the Internet company’s e-book project, especially since digitization could benefit so many of them. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

    * This is the end of an era of legal battles: Jeffrey Skilling, Enron’s former chief executive officer, is getting a little shaved off the top of his 24-year prison sentence thanks to a deal with the Department of Justice. He’ll be out in 2017. [CNBC]

    * Biglaw expected to have a slow start in 2013, but no one expected it to be this slow. The latest Citi report wasn’t exactly encouraging; on average, firms saw a 0.2% increase in revenue during the first quarter. [Am Law Daily]

    * In the past decade, the American Bar Association has created six task forces to explore changing the face of legal education as we know it. Funny… nothing’s really changed. [National Law Journal]

    * Bail for Ariel Castro, the accused Cleveland kidnapper, has been set at $8 million. “Just think of how many ribs and salsa albums could be bought with that, bro,” said Charles Ramsey. [Chicago Tribune]

    * Casey Anthony had a bankruptcy hearing yesterday, but that news was overshadowed because everyone cared more about the girl who wasn’t going to get away with murder. [Orlando Sentinel]

  • Bail, Biglaw, Bonuses, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Education / Schools, Job Searches, John Osborn, John Roberts, Law Schools, Magic Circle, Money, Morning Docket, Murder, Scott Rothstein, SCOTUS, Sun Microsystems, Supreme Court, Texas, United Kingdom / Great Britain

    Morning Docket: 07.06.12

    * Chief Justice John Roberts might “enjoy that he’s being criticized,” but that’s probably because he’ll get the chance to show his true conservative colors this fall when issues like affirmative action and same-sex marriage are before SCOTUS. [Reuters]

    * Dewey know why this failed firm thinks a bankruptcy judge is going to allow it to hand out $700K in “morale” bonuses? You better believe that Judge Martin Glenn is going to tell D&L where it can (indicate). [Bankruptcy Beat / Wall Street Journal]

    * It seems like attorneys at Freshfields may actually need to get some sleep, because it was the sole Magic Circle firm to report a decline in in revenue and profitability in its latest financial disclosure statements. [Financial Times (reg. req.)]

    * Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. didn’t do George Zimmerman any favors when he set his bond at $1M. Watch how quickly the defense fund Zimmerman concealed from the court disappears as he struggles to post bail. [CNN]

    * Whatever it takes (to count you as employed): 76% of law schools report that they’ve now changed their curriculum to include more practical skills courses in light of the dismal job market. [National Law Journal]

    * Texas Christian University is expanding its graduate programs, but a law school isn’t necessarily in the works, because TCU is only interested in “programs that promote employability.” Well, sh*t, y’all. [TCU 360]

  • Attorney Misconduct, Bail, Biglaw, Constitutional Law, Drinking, DUI / DWI, Intellectual Property, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain

    Morning Docket: 07.05.12

    * Who needs a Declaration of Internet Freedom when the government supports protesting citizens who go buckwild in the streets? The European Union voted against ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. [Associated Press]

    * Kenneth Schneider, the former Debevoise & Plimpton associate serving a 15-year sentence for forcing a Russian teenager to be his sex slave, was suspended from practice pending further disciplinary proceedings. [New York Law Journal]

    * Glenn Mulcaire, the investigator who intercepted voicemail messages on behalf of News of the World, lost a bid to remain silent about who commissioned his services. Rupert’s gonna be sooo pissed. [New York Times]

    * Congratulations to the team from the University of Chicago Law School that won the United States Supreme Court Prediction Competition. They won $5K for betting on their Con Law nerd-dom. [SCOTUS Competition]

    * Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. is expected to rule on George Zimmerman’s motion for bond today, and perhaps he won’t be so quick to forget that the defendant already lied to the court to get out of jail. [Orlando Sentinel]

    * “You can’t just arbitrarily add anything you want to a sentence.” Well, it looks like you can, because in addition to jail time, a judge in South Carolina tacked on a Biblical book report to this woman’s sentence. [Daily Mail]

  • 8th Circuit, Bail, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Health Care / Medicine, John Roberts, Law Firm Mergers, Morning Docket, Religion, SCOTUS, Sentencing Law, Supreme Court

    Morning Docket: 06.29.12

    * You don’t necessarily have to agree with what Chief Justice John Roberts did with respect to his health care opinion, but you’ve got to admit that it was an act of statesmanship that will forever define his legacy on the Court. [New York Times]

    * CNN, one of the world’s most reliable news networks, reports that no many legal scholars were surprised unsurprised by yesterday’s Supreme Court decision to strike down uphold the Individual Broccoli Mandate Affordable Care Act. [CNN]

    * Word to the wise: don’t get cocky over in the Eighth Circuit, because apparently boosting the length of a prison term based on whether or not a defendant is smiling at sentencing is not considered an abuse of discretion. [National Law Journal]

    * Dewey know why the number of law firm mergers and acquisitions in the United States dropped during the second quarter? Truth be told, they’re all scared, because “[n]obody wants to wind up with a lemon.” [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

    * George Zimmerman, the man charged in Trayvon Martin’s death, is returning to court today to try to get himself released on bond… again. Let’s give him some credit, because he sure is tenacious. [ABC News]

    * Listen, it’s not an easy thing to perform an exorcism these days. Sometimes a priest really just needs to kiss and caress the demon out of your body — a sexorcism, if you will. Nothing to sue over, nothing at all. [MSNBC]

  • American Bar Association / ABA, Bail, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, LSAT, Morning Docket, S.D.N.Y.

    Morning Docket: 06.19.12

    * Dewey know how many professional services firms it takes to wind down a Biglaw firm? According to new D&L bankruptcy filings, there are at least eight of them — including Togut Segal & Segal, a leading law firm that reportedly charges $935 an hour. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Despite Barack Obama’s pledge of support, Brett McGurk has withdrawn his name from the White House pool of ambassadorial candidates amid much salacious controversy. Apparently this man knows a lost cause when he sees one. [Washington Post]

    * So many DOMA lawsuits, so little time: what’s happening in the six major cases on this statute? The majority are in various stages of appeal, and the world at large is currently awaiting a cert filing to get a final take from the Supreme Court. [Poliglot / Metro Weekly]

    * LSAC will now vet incoming law students’ GPAs and LSAT scores. The ABA won’t do it because they need the insurance policy of someone else to blame in case something happens to go wrong. [National Law Journal]

    * Oh, my sweet little Mittens, you’re making it really hard for moderates like me to consider voting for you in November. Protip: you went to law school, so you should probably stop telling people that you didn’t. [Ology]

    * Stephen McDaniel’s lawyers are expected to ask a judge to reconsider his $850K bond today. If he’s released, it seems like there’s a high probability that he’ll become an ATL commenter. [Macon Telegraph]

    * Remember the legal fight over the Tyrannosaurus bataar? Well, now Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the S.D.N.Y., is on the case, and he wants to be seized for return to Jurassic Park Mongolia. [New York Observer]