China

  • Non-Sequiturs: 08.14.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 08.14.17

    * In case you were confused with Trump’s position on white supremacy because he condemned Nazis today, Trump is reportedly thinking of pardoning Sheriff Joe. Actions speak louder than two-day late statements read without taking questions. [The Hill]

    * Trump is launching a trade probe of China. Given the general competence of this administration, I expect a full report on Japanese trade practices in a few months. [Talking Points Memo]

    * In light of Ken Fraizer from Merck leaving the service of our Dear Leader over Trump’s response to Charlottsville, maybe it’s time to put pressure on other business leaders to distance themselves from Trump? [Going Concern]

    * The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that it would start providing feminine hygiene products for free. I wanted to put one good news story in here, and I thought this was it. But then I starting thinking, “wait, so before now federal prisoners had to pay for feminine hygiene products? And what about state prisons? What other kind of medieval prison conditions do we still allow to persist?” [Law Street Media]

    * The doxxing of white supremacists continues. This is my good news story. [Jezebel]

    * There’s been a 75% increase in “lawful homicides” in Florida since its “Stand Your Ground” law took effect a decade ago. But there’s also been a 22% increase in straight up murders. So, Florida’s general attempt to kill itself to rid us of their stupidity seems to be going well. [Reuters]


    Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

  • Non-Sequiturs: 03.30.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 03.30.17

    * Thanks to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination now enjoys bipartisan support in the Senate. [The Hill]

    * But the “nuclear option” isn’t off the table — and here’s how to explain it to your non-lawyer friends and relatives. [GQ]

    * Speaking of SCOTUS, how often do you see a separate opinion written by Justice Sotomayor and joined by… Justice Alito? [How Appealing]

    * And don’t look for either justice in Adam Feldman’s discussion of the most powerful Supreme Court justices of all time. [Empirical SCOTUS]

    * Thinking of (debt financing) a law degree? Use this handy student loan calculator to crunch the numbers first. [AccessLex]

    * A big issue in international and maritime law: control over the South China Sea. [Instapundit]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 03.08.17

    * “You care day and night for your children, grandchildren and your family,” the Russian president said in his annual statement. “Even today, on International Women’s Day, you are still caught up in your routine, working tirelessly, always on time. We often ask ourselves, how do they manage it all?” — Vladimir Putin honoring International Women’s Day, or perhaps a very punctual dairy cow. It’s hard to tell. [Quartz]

    * Real estate lawyer Joshua Stein, who thinks Trump shouldn’t be forced to sell his businesses to hold office, instead thinks Trump should run his businesses like a prisoner while in office. [Wall Street Journal]

    * In what I’m sure is totally unrelated news to the prior link, China has provisionally approved 38 Trump trademarks. [The Guardian]

    * Researchers find strong evidence that racism helps Republicans win elections. When reached for comment, Trump supporters said that the researchers were the real racists because they studied racism instead of what makes America great like it was when there was more racism. [Washington Post]

    * Here’s another article about how judges in Kansas are trying to force lawmakers to educate students equally. [The Atlantic]

    * The Constitutional Accountability Center has a new job opening. Maybe there are some people out there who showed up to work wearing red today who might be interested? [Constitutional Accountability Center]

  • Morning Docket: 12.28.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.28.16

    * “Absent a showing that the requested enforcement action could not shake loose a few more emails, the case is not moot.” Because 2016 isn’t over yet and we love kicking horses thought to be dead, the D.C. Circuit has revived a legal challenge regarding Hillary Clinton’s private email server that was once considered to be moot. [Reuters]

    * The Supreme Court may be taking a turn to the conservative side come 2017, but not immediately. It’s expected that shortly after his inauguration, President Trump will announce his nominee in either late January or early February, with confirmation hearings held in March, and a vote sometime in April. By the time a new justice is sworn in, there will be just a few days left of oral arguments for the current Term. [NPR]

    * “This case of cyber meets securities fraud should serve as a wake-up call for law firms around the world.” Three Chinese hackers have been charged with breaking into the servers of several Biglaw firms — firms like Cravath and Weil Gotshal — to illegally trade on stolen information. They made more than $4 million, but only one of them has been arrested thus far and is awaiting extradition to the United States. [Bloomberg]

    * “Providing a profit motive to make arrests gives officers an incentive to make improper arrests.” In counties across the country, those who are arrested must pay “booking fees,” regardless of whether or not they are found guilty of their crimes. Two cases regarding these fees will soon be heard by the Supreme Court in early 2017, and one county was so brazen that it didn’t even bother to submit a brief in opposition. [New York Times]

    * If you’re applying to law school, you may be wondering how you can make the strongest argument for your acceptance in your application. Focus on your essays and make sure that you provide compelling examples of the type of person you are and your career goals. If you can sway just one person on the admissions committee to give you a chance, then you might soon find an acceptance letter with your name on it. [U.S. News]

  • Morning Docket: 12.09.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.09.16

    * President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of labor, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, is a critic of the Obama Administration’s regulation in this area (and he’s a former litigator, interestingly enough). [Washington Post]

    * Judge Bill Pryor (11th Cir.), a top SCOTUS contender in a Trump Administration, is beloved by conservatives — but confirming him could be a battle. [Bloomberg BNA via How Appealing]

    * The Arkansas Supreme Court rules that married lesbian couples can’t put the names of both spouses on their children’s birth certificates. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * SEC enforcement chief Andrew Ceresney will leave the agency by the end of this year; where might he wind up? [Law.com]

    * Governor Andrew Cuomo met with the feds in connection with the corruption case brought against some of his former aides. [New York Times]

    * Michael Jordan’s latest court victory — in an IP case in China. [Bloomberg]

    * Alabama prisoner Ronald Smith is executed after the Supreme Court denies a stay, leaving SCOTUS review of the state’s unique “judicial override” system for another day. [New York Times via How Appealing]

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  • Morning Docket: 12.08.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.08.16

    * Brad Pitt filed a motion to seal the details of his custody arrangement with Angelia Jolie to protect his children’s privacy, but a judge has rejected the actor’s request. A lawyer for Jolie had this to say: “His … request is a thinly veiled attempt to shield himself, rather than the minor children, from public view.” Ouch. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

    * CHECK YOU EMAILS OFTEN, PARTNERS! Several Biglaw firms — including Cravath and Weil Gotshal — were hit by data breaches over the course of last year, and it’s now been confirmed that those data breaches were carried out by Chinese operatives who were successful in stealing about seven gigabytes of data by hacking their way into partners’ email accounts. [Fortune]

    * Each December, Jeffrey Toobin creates a “semi-accurate, semi-serious” list of his predictions for the top legal stories for the coming year. Perhaps most notably, Toobin predicts President Donald Trump will appoint Judge Diane Sykes of the Seventh Circuit to the Supreme Court as the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement. [New Yorker]

    * Which is more prestigious, a judicial clerkship or a first-of-its-kind Capitol Hill clerkship? Earlier this week, four senators introduced a bill to create a dozen yearlong Congressional clerkships for recent law school graduates. The bill would allow law school graduates to “spend a formative year in the legislative branch.” [National Law Journal]

    * Per the most recent Corporate Equity Index survey released by the Human Rights Campaign, more Biglaw firms are doing well when it comes to protecting their lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees. One hundred and twelve firms earned perfect scores for their inclusive policies in the survey, up from 95 last year. [Am Law Daily]

  • Morning Docket: 12.01.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.01.16

    * GCs just keep getting raises. Some reports suggest compensation is up almost 7 percent this year. But don’t worry — they’ll still bitch and moan about Biglaw associates getting a small cost of living bump. [Corporate Counsel]

    * If you haven’t been paying attention, William & Mary Law School has been on FIRE lately. No, literally, the school is on fire. Call 911. [WAVY 10]

    * Seventh Circuit may soon rule en banc to ban sexual orientation bias. You know, until Congress and the President impeach the entire Seventh Circuit to bring it back. Wow that was an absurd sentence and yet it’s entirely plausible right now. [Law360]

    * Kelley Drye enters the Texas market. [The Am Law Daily]

    * Heroic big banks are demolishing patent trolls while everyone else continues to suffer, which sounds about right. [Law.com]

    * China’s got a new cybersecurity law and it’s not good news for foreign businesses. [Fortune]

    * But don’t worry, the U.S. is now just as intrusive with new rules taking effect today that allow judges to order broader government hacking for investigative fishing expeditions. So… yay! [Ars Technica]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 11.14.16
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 11.14.16

    * The legal battle between Snoop Dogg and the Toronto Maple Leafs. [The Fashion Law]

    * A look at what happens to abortion and trans rights under Trump. [Rewire]

    * Mike Pence tries to crush us all under the weight of unimaginable irony. [The Slot]

    * Donald Trump’s way of managing sure has changed a lot, just ask this attorney. [Huffington Post]

    * Picking yourself up after Trump’s win. [Katz Justice]

    * China is pushing back on Trump’s proposed trade policies. [Law and More]

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  • Morning Docket: 10.27.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.27.16

    * Results are out for the July 2016 administration of the South Carolina bar exam, and it appears that the Charleston School of Law is having trouble when it comes to its grads’ ability to pass. Barely half of test-takers from the law school passed (50.9 percent), down from 57.4 percent last year, and 65.3 percent the year before that. Whoops! [FITS News]

    * No matter what Senator Ted Cruz says, when it comes to the Supreme Court, eight isn’t enough. In fact, according to what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said at a recent New York City Bar event, “Eight is not a good number.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor agreed, stating, “I think we hope there will be nine as quickly as possible.” [Washington Post]

    * The Supreme Court bar rarely meets, but when it does, it’s to honor the passing of a deceased justice. On November 4, the Supreme Court bar will convene to honor the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and the ceremony will be live-streamed, and several judges, law firm partners, law professors, and former clerks will give remarks. [Supreme Court Brief]

    * “[T]his appeal presents a situation in which all the justices’ impartiality might be questioned.” Controversial Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore wants his suspension to be lifted, but all of his former judicial colleagues have recused themselves, so several retired judges will be hearing his appeal. [Associated Press via ABA Journal]

    * China’s Ministry of Justice has ordered that all lawyers “support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.” Lawyers are prohibited from making statements that “reject [China’s] fundamental political system,” “endanger national security,” or “attack or slander” the judicial system. They could face disbarment for disobeying. [WSJ Law Blog]

  • Morning Docket: 10.14.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.14.16

    * Senator Mike Lee, an influential member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and a former Supreme Court clerk himself), explains why Republicans won’t confirm Judge Merrick Garland to SCOTUS in the lame-duck session. [Washington Post via How Appealing]

    * Jaroslawa Zelinsky Johnson, former managing partner of Chadbourne & Parke’s defunct Kiev office, wants in on Kerrie Campbell’s sex discrimination suit against the firm. [American Lawyer]

    * In other news about alleged gender bias in Biglaw, it looks like partner Traci Ribeiro’s lawsuit against Sedgwick is bound for arbitration. [Law.com]

    * The latest bad news for Theranos: a hedge fund is suing the company for securities fraud, and it’s represented by a pair of high-powered Gibson Dunn partners, former federal prosecutors Reed Brodsky and Winston Chan. [Corporate Counsel]

    * Kasowitz Benson’s recent legal work on behalf of Donald Trump is just the latest example of the firm representing litigious tycoons. [New York Law Journal]

    * As some firms exit China, others enter the market; Hogan Lovells just announced a strategic alliance with Fujian Fidelity Law Firm in Shanghai. [Big Law Business]

    * In my ancestral homeland of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte poses a threat to the rule of law, but remains very popular with the people. [New York Times]

  • China Stock Option Scams
    China

    China Stock Option Scams

    Foreign individuals and companies should not accept promises of stock options or stock in a Chinese company in place of employment compensation or payment for services.