Barack Obama

  • Morning Docket: 02.19.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.19.16

    * According to Harry Reid, Obama should have a Supreme Court nominee within the next three weeks. As everyone knows, the senior Senator from Las Vegas sets the official line on these things. [Huffington Post]

    * Cravath people bitching about their jobs is now the leading cause of insider trading. [Law360]

    * Students using the moniker of “Reclaim Harvard Law School” have occupied the student center to protest the school’s continued use of the family crest of a slave trader and the lack of faculty diversity. I’d be sympathetic, but it was Harvard’s terrible diversity policy that brought some of my favorite professors to NYU Law so it worked out pretty well for me. [Daily Princetonian]

    * Sir Nigel Knowles is stepping down as the global co-chair of DLA Piper. I would say it’s time to relax and take a cruise, but that sounds like work for DLA Piper people. [Am Law Daily]

    * The ABA has pulled out of its joint venture with Rocket Lawyer to provide a cheap initial consult service. [Am Law Daily]

    * Hey, hey, hey. Lawyer claims that Bill Cosby comes off as a bully for suing his accuser. [Associated Press via Trib Live]

    * The ACLU is challenging a Kansas voter suppression law requiring proof of citizenship. Seems like now is a good time to bring that case. [New York Times]

  • Morning Docket: 02.18.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.18.16

    * How low can you go? For the first time in years, enrollment is up at Cooley Law — by three students. That’s the only thing the school will be able to brag about, because the average GPA and LSAT scores of its most recent entering class are the lowest the school has seen in at least a decade. Yikes. [Lansing State Journal]

    * President Obama has to make quite the decision when it comes to choosing who will be his next SCOTUS appointment. He already faces an uphill battle, so if he were to pick any these five candidates (even the one who was recently confirmed 97-0), it’d likely make things even harder than they already are. [The Fix / Washington Post]

    * “I’ll stay as long as necessary.” Activists from Reclaim Harvard Law are occupying a lounge to create a safe space for minorities, and they plan to remain there indefinitely. Armed with blow-up mattresses and blankets, they mean business. [Harvard Crimson]

    * Charlotte Law launched a compliance certificate program, and anyone who can pay can receive training. Since compliance is booming right now, as InfiLaw graduates, they’re better equipped than most for jobs that don’t require a law degree. [Charlotte Observer]

    * A New York judge who prosecuted drunk driving cases earlier in her career was arrested for allegedly driving drunk… while on the way to work to handle arraignments. It’s unlikely that she’ll return to the bench any time soon. [Democrat and Chronicle]

  • Morning Docket: 02.17.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.17.16

    * “There’s no unwritten law that says it can only be done in off years. That’s not in the constitutional text.” Angering armchair constitutional scholars, President Obama vowed to appoint someone to replace Justice Scalia following his death, despite the fact that it’s an election year. [New York Times]

    * “My gut tells me there is something fishy going on in Texas.” The fact that Justice Scalia was found dead with a pillow over his head has made conspiracy theorists come out in droves. Some are “stunned” that an autopsy wasn’t performed on the late justice. [Daily Intelligencer / New York Magazine]

    * Dickstein Shapiro partners were informed via letter that they’d face “the almost certain loss of all firm capital.” For some equity partners, that’s more than $1 million — and the letter wasn’t even signed “sincerely.” How rude! [National Law Journal via ABA Journal]

    * Justice Scalia’s passing could have an impact on the anti-marijuana legalization suit filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma against Colorado. The Court was supposed to discuss it this week, but the justices may not want to overpack their bowls, so to speak. [Guardian]

    * Troubled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane will not be seeking reelection after her term expires in January 2017. With her license to practice law suspended and criminal charges pending, we’ll see if she’s even able to make it that far. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Vigilante justice on the internet swift: Despite Google listing the firm as “permanently closed” and its brutal one-star Yelp rating, “Making a Murderer” prosecutor Ken Kratz assured reporters his law firm was still open, contrary to appearances. [Post-Crescent]

    * Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former U.N. Secretary General, RIP. [New York Times]

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  • Non-Sequiturs: 02.10.16
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 02.10.16

    * Nope, Black History month still isn’t racist. Here’s an explanation one more time for those that need it. [Popehat] * Hey! Now there is science to back up what we all knew: Voter ID laws suppress the vote. [Talking Points Memo] * Not everyone gets access to the same justice: non-prosecution agreements are reserved […]

  • Morning Docket: 02.10.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.10.16

    * Uh-oh! Martin Shkreli may have gotten more than he bargained for when he bought the one and only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” An artist whose work appears on the album’s packaging has filed a copyright infringement suit against the smug pharma bro. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * A Texas ADA was arrested this weekend for DWI after crashing into a parked car. According to police, it appeared as if she was trying to leave the scene. She’s been a prosecutor for almost a year, and hasn’t been put on a leave of absence for her alleged transgressions (yet). [FOX 7 Austin]

    * “I don’t understand why donors should not donate money to the Law School because some moron, some racist decided to put black tape on some portraits.” Some alumni (not this guy) are uncertain if they’ll continue to donate to Harvard Law. [Harvard Crimson]

    * President Obama has proposed a cybersecurity plan that’ll cost $19+ billion. Americans will learn how to better secure their accounts to prevent illegal hacks. That’s a lot of cash to teach people not to use “123456” as their password. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

    * Have your birthday cake and eat it too, because the terms of Warner Music Group’s “Happy Birthday to You” settlement have been disclosed, and up to $14 million is up for grabs for those who’ve had to pay licensing fees to use it. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times]

  • Morning Docket: 02.01.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.01.16

    * Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz has pledged to “spend whatever political capital is necessary” to create the most conservative Supreme Court in our country’s history. Uh-oh! Voters better elect him, or else we’ll be “one justice away from … unlimited abortion on demand.” [ThinkProgress]

    * A shakeup at the top? More than 20 Schiff Hardin partners — including the firm’s former managing partner, practice group leaders, and an executive committee member — are leaving to start their own firm thanks to an apparent leadership dispute. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

    * On the seventh anniversary of his signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, President Obama took action to address the gender pay gap. Companies with 100 employees or more must now include salary info on their annual EEO reports. [New York Times]

    * Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s legal team filed the first of what’s sure to be many appeals: They’ve asked the First Circuit to overturn his conviction and death sentence, as well as an order that he pay more than $101M to his victims. [Reuters]

    * For some reason, people are highly opposed to the ABA’s proposal to lift its ban on law students receiving pay for their credit-bearing externship positions. Yes, let’s continue to make indebted students pay for their experiential learning opportunities. [ABA Journal]

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