Baseball

These Congresspeople want to codify that minor leaguers are not entitled to minimum wage or overtime.

So this whole Libor rigging thing has come as a surprise.

The famed horror author likened Fenway Park's new netting to sitting in a cage.

* Gawker asks judge to reduce or set aside the $140.1 million Hogan verdict. That’s nice to offer the judge avoid a humiliating reversal on appeal. And yet I’ve seen Wrestlemania, so expect the doomed judge to hit Nick Denton over the head with a chair while he isn’t looking before this gets better. [Capital New York]

* Ramon Fonseca assures the world that all of its operations were legal. Sure. I mean, cockfighting is still legal in Panama so this might not be the most ringing affirmation. [NBC News]

* The Stoli trademark battle may be headed to the Supreme Court. That’s absolut-ly crazy. [Law360]

* There’s an unauthorized Walking Dead theme restaurant out there in case you had a hankering for some possum and cheese whiz and there’s no Carl’s Jr. nearby. [Litigation Daily]

* Which Biglaw firms are making big bucks off baseball season? [The Am Law Daily]

* Eric Conn, dubbed “Mr. Social Security” arrested on federal charges that his immense success is due less to his legal acumen than “paying a doctor and a judge to rubber-stamp false disability claims using phony medical evidence.” Remember when he hired Miss Congeniality USA as a PR flack? Those were happier days. [ABC News]

* North Carolina releases its February bar exam results. So we know of at least 201 people who couldn’t let the championship game spoil their high. You may say, “well Duke students weren’t going to be devastated by the game.” Silly rabbit, Duke kids aren’t taking the February exam. [Bar Exam Stats]

Did John Stumpf fall for the bloody sock routine as well?

It's February, so why not defrost via a doubleheader: catch up on the latest e-discovery tools and strategies (and garner continuing legal education credits), and cheer for your favorite baseball team!

* Will it ever be easier to meet the challenge of proving you’ve got an undue hardship so you can discharge your law school student loan debts in bankruptcy? Your fate may rest in the hands of this indebted Florida Coastal Law grad and his petition for certiorari at the Supreme Court. [US Law Week Blog / Bloomberg]

* Hate crimes still happen, even at this prestigious law school: Amid increased racial turbulence on campus, the Harvard University Police Department is now investigating the defacing of black law professors’ portraits as a hate crime. [ABC News]

* UVA Law recently joined the minority of law schools that have women serving as dean. Pop your collars with pride, because legal historian Risa Goluboff will take over as the school’s first female dean this July. Congratulations! [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

* Gordon Rees has settled its lawsuit against Alex Rodriguez over the baseball player’s outstanding legal bills, totaling more than $380,000. The terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but we have a feeling that the firm hit it out of the park. [NBC New York]

* Try before you buy or a bid to increase tourism? Alaska is making bold moves now that it’s legalized marijuana for recreational use. It’ll be the first state to allow the social use of the drug “in public,” i.e., inside pot dispensaries that have yet to open. [Cannabist]

Who decided baseball wasn't interstate commerce?

Clerks behaving badly.

Canada columnist Steven Dykstra interviews Matthew Shuber, legal counsel to the Toronto Blue Jays.

* Donald Trump’s lawyer responds to the flap over his spousal rape comments. Sort of. Not really. [Funny or Die]

* Does the Supreme Court need an ethics code? And yes, yes it does. [The Faculty Lounge]

* James Woods is suing a Twitter troll for claiming the actor is a “cocaine addict.” They probably just misspelled “hypersensitive blowhard.” [Gawker]

* In baseball, does the “tie go to the runner”? Are you sure? [PrawfsBlawg]

* Tom Brady provides that rare opportunity for sports fans to care about forum selection clauses. But the best part of this story is the comment: “Out of habit, the NRA filed an amicus brief on behalf of the NFL when they heard ‘Clinton’ & ‘Brady’ in the same sentence.” It’s refreshing when commenters are funny. [Deadspin]

* Keeping up with Supreme Court is hard. Even the Fifth Circuit struggles with it (though they’ve since seen the error of their ways). [Huffington Post]

* If you think academia can be a cushy job, you should see what retiring from academia looks like? [TaxProf Blog]

* Can you quit your job without another one lined up? Leigh Abramson has thoughts. [CNN Money]

* A comprehensive snapshot of the business record of the Roberts Court. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

Baseball has long held a special place in American jurisprudence. And by special, I mean a place exempt from modern notions of decency and fair play.

Ed. note: Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday, May 25, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

* The settlement deal between Target and Mastercard over the 2013 data breach is dead after failing to garner the requisite issuer support. Proposed settlement: $19 million. Years of protracted litigation: Priceless. [Credit Union Times]

* High school teacher who admitted she and another teacher had a threesome with a 16-year-old student got off — well, legally — with a slap on the wrist. Folks are starting to wonder if her dad being a sitting district judge had anything to do with that. [Times-Picayune]

* On a similar note, Mama June of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo… fame? Is she famous? Whatever. The point is Mama June is toying with suing the TLC Network because they canceled her show over a child molester, but haven’t nuked 19 Kids and Counting in the wake of its brewing molestation scandal. When you consider these hit shows starring inbred hillbillies with molestation issues, remember that TLC stands for “The Learning Channel.” [TMZ]

* Lawmakers pushing back against Governor Cuomo’s proposal to appoint an independent monitor to investigate police-related civilian killings. One skeptical State Senator proclaims, “What I do know is that it treats police officers different than other citizens.” Yes, because right now the police get the same kid gloves grand jury presentations the rest of us do. [Capital New York]

* Texas prosecuted 115,782 truancies in a year, levying hefty fines and doling out jail time to kids as young as 12. Well hello there prison-industrial complex! [Al Jazeera America]

* Are the Yankees and A-Rod gearing up for arbitration… or settlement? I don’t know, why wouldn’t you want to put a warm, likeable guy like him in front of a panel? [Concurring Opinions]

* Judges must be the loneliest people on social media… [The Daily Record]

* Merely complaining to your boss is enough to trigger anti-retaliation provisions according to the Second Circuit. So feel free to call up that partner you hate… [JD Supra]

* “The top is eroding and the bottom is growing.” Even as class sizes get smaller and tuition gets lower, the law school brain drain continues. America’s best and brightest won’t be fooled into studying law when the job market is still so unstable, but others have been. [Bloomberg]

* Attorneys for California’s sex workers have filed suit to overturn the state’s ban on prostitution, claiming that “[t]he rights of adults to engage in consensual, private sexual activity (even for compensation) is a fundamental liberty interest.” Yeah, okay. [AP]

* “The simple story is that $160,000 as a starting salary at large law firms is less prevalent than it was immediately prior to the recession.” You can scream “NY TO 190K!” all you want, but starting salaries have remained flat. Sowwy. [DealBook / New York Times]

* U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York has involved himself in an “escalating war of words” with members of the federal judiciary that he may come to regret. Will this “petulant rooster” be able to kiss and make up? [New York Times]

* Per a recently filed lawsuit, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees still hasn’t paid a single law firm for their representation in the Biogenesis case. He allegedly owes Gordon & Rees $380,059 in unpaid fees. Come on, A-Rod. You’ve got the cash. [New York Daily News]

* Infamous plaintiffs’ attorney Steven Donziger of the $9.5 billion Chevron / Ecuador kerfuffle decided that if he can’t win his case in a court of law, he might as well try to win it in the court of public opinion. Check out his side of the story. [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* Freshly exonerated, the Dersh is going after his accusers in court. [The Telegraph]

* A lawyer prays… [Mormon Cartoonist]

* This gal got married 10 times. Simultaneously. To different dudes. That’s mighty big of her. [New York Times]

* Speaking of marriage, here’s a profile of Doug Hallward-Driemeier of Ropes & Gray, half of the dynamic duo arguing for marriage equality this month. [BuzzFeed]

* Today is also the anniversary of the argument in Loving v. Virginia. [Louisville Courier-Journal]

* Judge gives pedophile a break claiming the girl — who was THREE by the way — caused her own rape. [Addicting Info]

* Going to Coachella? Planning to get arrested? This is your website. [Arrested at Coachella]

* Oakland is sad. We’re talking about the baseball team specifically, but that sentence works generally. [The Legal Blitz]

* Sad news: Foley & Lardner partner Marc Marotta, a basketball star who turned down the NBA to go to Harvard Law, has passed away at age 52. [Breitbart]

* As the World Series draws to a close, be sure to salute Miami-based lawyer Laurence Leavy, who will be sitting front and center behind home plate tonight wearing a garish Miami Marlins jersey. Troll so hard, buddy! [CBS Sports] * Speaking of the World Series: Do you think you know the law? How about baseball? Here’s a Law and Baseball trivia competition in the form of a crossword. Act fast because the first one with a completed entry is declared the winner. [Dewey B Strategic] * Thomas Jefferson School of Law restructures its debt and manages to stay alive! Oh happy day! [TaxProfBlog] * Selling yourself is important, but NOT selling yourself may be more powerful. [Law and More] * I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising, but there’s a hefty hiring and pay gap between the sexes in the expert witness industry. [The Expert Institute] * Donald Trump’s “Trump University” can add “RICO defendant” to its list of accomplishments after a federal judge grants class certifications to students suing the school. [Law 360] * A discussion of the lack of diversity on the Court cites our list of Supreme Court clerks and notes that Justice Clarence Thomas practices what he preaches about expanding opportunity beyond Harvard and Yale. [Los Angeles Times] * Elie joined Daniel Gershburg on his podcast to discuss legal education, Vegas, and the phenomenon of Walmart Law, Inc. Podcast embedded below…. [I Am The Law Podcast]

Biglaw and Derek Jeter

It's apparently really important to protect AUSAs from having to do the same basic work that the rest of the legal community does routinely.

The Ninth Circuit did not have much sympathy for federal prosecutors.

It's not shocking to believe that any obstacles she encountered stemmed from incompetence in the front office and on the field. What is shocking are the allegations detailing the verbal and emotional abuse Castergine took from Wilpon and those acting under his management....