Chuafeld

  • 9th Circuit, Biglaw, Books, Crime, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Eugene Volokh, Gay, Gay Marriage, Guns / Firearms, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Screw-Ups, Violence

    Morning Docket: 02.14.14

    * Virginia is for lovers — gay and straight alike. Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen (E.D. Va.) just struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage (but stayed her ruling pending appeal). Happy Valentine’s Day! [Washington Post]

    * The Ninth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, issued a major Second Amendment ruling. Is it correct, and what will happen next? Professor Eugene Volokh shares his thoughts. [Volokh Conspiracy; Volokh Conspiracy]

    * Which leading law firms are trying to make the Comcast/Time Warner Cable monstrosity into reality? [American Lawyer]

    * Did a Biglaw firm make a big-time mistake by blowing a deadline to appeal a $40 million verdict? [Law360 (sub. req.)]

    * Speaking of screw-ups, making them in the e-discovery realm can be costly — a lesson that California is learning the hard way, to the tune of $32 million. [ACEDS]

    * Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin thought he’d be acquitted; he thought wrong. [ABA Journal]

    * George Washington wasn’t a member of the one of the 8 magic groups — but his story still illustrates the truth of The Triple Package (affiliate link), according to Washington biographer Logan Beirne. [Fox News]

    * Authorities have made an arrest for the package bombing that killed a retired Tennessee lawyer and his wife. [CNN]

  • 7th Circuit, Antitrust, Benchslaps, Books, Free Speech, Gay, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Non-Sequiturs, Richard Posner

    Non-Sequiturs: 02.13.14

    * O.J. Simpson is pursuing a hunger strike because he’s looking to die. If only he knew who the real killers were, they could help him out. [Radar Online] * Dean I. Richard Gershon of Ole Miss Law thinks Elie is just wrong. [Law Deans on Legal Education Blog] * In continuing Seventh Circuit benchslappiness, Judge Richard Posner got feisty with an attorney for Notre Dame who kept interrupting him. If this lawyer keeps it up, Posner’s going to treat his client like Alabama did a year ago. [Chicago Tribune] * Comcast wants to buy Time Warner, pending DOJ approval. The DOJ wants to talk to Comcast, but they’re only available to talk between 10 and 10:15 on alternating Wednesdays. [ATL Redline] * California and New Jersey have banned gay conversion therapy programs. Is that the best way to combat these schemes? [New York Times] * A look at getting started as an entrepreneur. See, there’s hope after bailing on practicing law. [Big Law Rebel] * Daria Roithmayr of USC Law thinks The Triple Package (affiliate link), the new book by Yale’s Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, doesn’t hold water. I mean, since when are we holding academics to writing “scholarship” as opposed to “controversy bait”? Professors need to eat, after all. [Slate] * A cop who got in trouble for bashing Obama online thought he was protected by the First Amendment. The court disagreed. [IT-Lex]
  • Asians, Books, Cass Sunstein, Celebrities, Drinking, Drugs, Elena Kagan, Jed Rubenfeld, Kids, Law Professors, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Racism, SCOTUS, Student Loans, Supreme Court, Tax Law

    Non-Sequiturs: 02.03.14

    * Woody Allen’s lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, responds to Dylan Farrow’s account of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her famous father. [Gawker; Gothamist] * Sound advice from Professor Glenn Reynolds on how not to increase applications to your law school. [Instapundit] * What is a “nitro dump,” and will it provide information about who (or what) killed Philip Seymour Hoffman? [ATL Redline] * “Is Elena Kagan a ‘paranoid libertarian?’ Judging by [Cass] Sunstein’s definition, the answer is yes.” [Reason via Althouse] * A petition of possible interest to debt-laden law school graduates: “Increase the student loan interest deduction from $2,500 to the interest actually paid.” [WhiteHouse.gov] * Vivia Chen wonders: Is Amy Chua, co-author of The Triple Package (affiliate link), being attacked as racist in a way that it itself racist? [Time] * Yikes — journalists around the country have been receiving “a flurry of subpoenas in recent months,” according to Jeff Kosseff of Covington & Burling. [InsideTechMedia] * Congratulations to Orrick’s 15 new partners — an impressively diverse group, from a wide range of practice areas and from offices around the world. [Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe]