Barack Obama
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Supreme Court
The Pros And Cons Of Potential Supreme Court Nominees
Tongue-in-cheek look at potential SCOTUS nominees. -
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]
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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]
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SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Obama Skipped The Scalia Funeral -- Let's All Overreact!
Is it really out of the ordinary for President Obama to skip Justice Scalia's funeral? -
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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Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Ronald Reagan Thinks The SCOTUS Vacancy Should Be Filled Now
What does the patron saint of conservatism think about a SCOTUS vacancy? -
Politics, Supreme Court
Who Will Obama Nominate To Replace Scalia -- A Gambler's Guide
We place odds on the potential nominees for Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court seat. -
Barack Obama, Immigration
Obama’s Lawlessness Endangers National Security
The realism of national security is being sacrificed at the altar of immigration. And it’s costing American lives. - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
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 […]
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Supreme Court
Supreme Court Issues Unheard Of Ruling To Block Environmental Regulations
Supreme Court blocks Obama's climate plan. Is this the first sign of a new, more aggressive role for the Supreme Court? -
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]
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Email Scandals, Hillary Clinton, Politics
Clinton's 'Get Out of Jail Free' Card
Fortunately for Clinton, criminal indictment will likely never happen because she has a "get out of jail free" card from her Constitution-shredding bedfellow. -
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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Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.29.16
* “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]
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Barack Obama, Constitutional Law, Politics
Obama Chooses Iran Over The Constitution
Another week, another unconstitutional action by President Obama -- and this week's episode features his administration’s favorite state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. -
Supreme Court
Is Sitting On The Supreme Court In President Obama's Future?
It wouldn't be the first time a former president sat on the highest court. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.22.16
* Martha Coakley joins BU Law faculty. A job she will somehow manage to lose in a landslide to an unqualified Republican. [Boston Globe] * You’ve heard all about the Ted Cruz birther controversy, but maybe Cruz is just being trolled for being such a tremendous dick while at Harvard Law School. [Needs Further Review] * […]
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Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Politics
When The White House Left America's Best Behind
Here are five questions about Benghazi that an effective cross-examination would address. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.21.16
* The Supreme Court may undo President Obama’s legacy… of executive actions. [Talking Points Memo]
* Speaking of United States v. Texas, it just may be Chief Justice John Roberts’s worst nightmare. [Slate]
* Today is a special anniversary: six years, the Supreme Court issued its Citizens United decision, and democracy hasn’t looked the same since. [Huffington Post]
* Interesting data analysis from Professor Derek T. Muller: as full-time law faculty numbers shrink, law school administrator numbers grow. [Excess of Democracy]
* Benghazi is getting a Michael Bay movie — and the congressional hearing is still raging on. [Rolling Stone]
* Attorneys for Daniel Holtzclaw, the Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping eight women while on duty, have filed a motion seeking a new trial; they suspect discovery shenanigans on the part of the prosecution. [Gawker]
* Nope. Hillary Clinton may not be a radical, but she also isn’t a moderate Republican. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]
* Seven legal tech considerations for 2016, from lawyer and legal-tech enthusiast Steven J. Best. [Legal Tech Blog]
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Environment / Environmental Law
Obama’s Last-Gasp Climate Proposals
Obama's no Al Gore, but he's doing what he can.