Citizenship

  • Morning Docket: 07.08.19
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 07.08.19

    * The 2020 Census case is officially moving forward as the DOJ attempts to “re-evaluate all available options,” and the judge on the case is allowing plaintiffs to focus on whether the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question was “steeped in discriminatory motive.” [NBC News]

    * And the lawyers who had been representing the administration in the case are being swapped out — which could mean that some of them were having legal or ethical concerns about their continued involvement. [Washington Post]

    * “You know that woman is lying, don’t you?” According to a new book written by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino, that’s what Melania Trump allegedly said to Donald Trump of Christine Blasey Ford’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. [New York Post]

    * ““I do not regret my vote in the least,” says Senator Susan Collins in reference to her controversial vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. She might regret it if that’s what gets her kicked out of her Senate seat… [The Hill]

    * Billionaire playboy Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on Saturday and charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors, crimes which could could put him behind bars for up to 45 years. [New York Times]

    * Reed Smith counsel Mark Goldstein imagined the worst case scenarios that could have happened after he told the legal world about his depression, but he was “heartened” by all of Biglaw’s progress in terms of lawyers’ mental health. [American Lawyer]

  • Morning Docket: 07.05.19
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 07.05.19

    * Okay, fine, whatever, the Trump administration is apparently going to look for a way to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. We’re governing by tweet these days, and this is the latest information on this debacle. [Washington Post]

    * And it looks like the way President Trump is thinking of adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census is through an executive order. The Justice Department has until this afternoon to straighten this out. [ABC News]

    * Nope, you still can’t use money that was supposed to go to the Defense Department to build a border wall. The Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction on the use of these military funds just before the holiday. [Los Angeles Times]

    * Which Biglaw firms have received the most money from presidential candidates’ 2020 election campaigns? As you might have guessed, lawyers from Jones Day have gotten a lot to Republicans, and lawyers from Perkins Coie have gotten a lot to the Democrats. [National Law Journal]

    * Prosecutors have dropped the manslaughter charge filed against an Alabama woman who was five months pregnant and lost her unborn child after being shot in the stomach. Congratulations, Alabama! Way to be normal! [CBS News]

    * If you’re interested in going to law school, you should know that the average debt for the class of 2018 was pretty hefty at $115,481 — that’s $130,900 for private school graduates and $89,962 for public school graduates. Good luck paying it off! [Nerdwallet]

    * Matthew Benedict, a student at Buffalo Law, RIP. [New York Law Journal]

  • Morning Docket: 04.27.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 04.27.17

    * Guess who gets to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s new tax plan? Lawyers and their law firms — which are largely organized as pass-through entities — will likely benefit greatly, as they’ll be able to reduce their tax rate from 39.6 percent to 15 percent. [ABA Journal]

    * The Charlotte School of Law may be on the brink of collapse, but the school is heading to court to try to shake off three of the four federal class-action lawsuits that were filed by current students and recent graduates with motions to dismiss. We’ll have more on this later today. [Law.com]

    * The Trump administration didn’t seem to fare very well during oral arguments in an immigration case yesterday. Chief Justice John Roberts certainly wasn’t impressed, and Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed even less so, dropping this benchslap: “It seems to me that your argument is demeaning the priceless value of citizenship.” [Reuters]

    * Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will propose a rollback of the Obama-era net-neutrality rule that regulated broadband internet providers as common carriers. Critics aren’t pleased: “It makes no sense. We cannot keep the promise of net neutrality openness and freedom without the rules that ensure it.” [Big Law Business]

    * Four third-year students at Harvard Law have demanded that the administration provide clarification as to how it assesses applicants who have been accused or convicted of sexual assault. “We put forth a call for transparency and affirmative efforts demonstrating the school takes sexual assault seriously.” [Harvard Crimson]

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  • Morning Docket: 11.23.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 11.23.16

    * Thanks for ruining the holidays for millions of hard-working Americans, Your Honor: Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas has granted a nationwide injunction to block a rule proposed by the Obama administration that would have extended mandatory overtime pay to 4.2 million people who make $47,500 per year or less. The rule was to take effect as of December 1. [Reuters]

    * Desperate times apparently call for desperate measures? The European and Middle Eastern arms of King & Wood Mallesons may seek to merge with another firm after their partners failed to raise enough capital, a move that would sever those branches from the rest of the firm as a whole. Consultants fear that “if a bunch of people desert the sinking ship, all bets are off and the run on the bank will be coming.” [Big Law Business]

    * Sure, President-elect Donald Trump says that his Supreme Court nominees will overturn the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, but it may be a feat that’s easier said than done. While some of the jurists on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist have come out on the record as being firmly against abortion, others don’t have public records of any kind showing how they feel about abortion rights. Will this go his way? [Bloomberg]

    * Last week, during a citizenship ceremony over which he was presiding, Judge John Primomo of the Western District of Texas informed newly sworn-in Americans that if they didn’t like President-elect Donald Trump, they should find a new country to live in. Judge Primomo has since been sanctioned by Chief Judge Orlando L. Garcia, and as a “permanent resolution,” can no longer oversee citizenship ceremonies. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * “This is his first return to the silver tube. Going on the Netflix platform is a win-win for both Netflix and for Dave.” Fresh off of an awesome performance on Saturday Night Live, and thanks to Frederick Nance, the incoming U.S. managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs, the world will be be able to see three Dave Chappelle standup specials on Netflix. The deal has been valued at about $60 million. Congrats! [Am Law Daily]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 09.18.15

    * The outcomes of misconduct complaints against members of the federal judiciary will now be posted online for your viewing pleasure to “provide for greater transparency” — and schadenfreude. This could wind up being entertaining, so keep your eyes peeled. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Apparently there are people out there who don’t know that law schools are in trouble and have been for a while, which is certainly news to us. See how the dean of UNLV School of Law explains the “new normal” to a human interest writer. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

    * The White House just launched a nationwide movement to encourage legal immigrants in America to become U.S. citizens. What a happy coincidence that this campaign will likely add millions of voters to the rolls just in time for Election 2016. [New York Times]

    * Per a report from The Real Deal, real estate practices are heating up in Biglaw firms across New York City. Firms like Fried Frank, Skadden, and Proskauer are expanding their real estate groups, so be on the lookout, laterals. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

    * Harvard Law is supposed to be overseeing the rollout of a new Title IX program for the reporting of sexual harassment, but so many of the administrators who were in charge of its implementation have left that its come to a standstill. Oopsie! [Harvard Crimson]

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    Morning Docket: 05.18.12

    * Rob me once, shame on you; rob me twice, shame on me? Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed for a second time, but this time as the victim of a burglary on May 4. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

    * Dewey know when this ship is finally going to capsize (so we can stop making these puns)? Two of D&L’s Hong Kong partners have decided to defect to DLA Piper, and more may be joining them soon. [Asian Lawyer]

    * He might’ve been a “bad husband,” but that doesn’t mean he’s guilty. The jury in John Edwards’s campaign finance trial will begin deliberating today. Let’s see if they convict him of being more than an adulterer. [CNN]

    * After his citizenship stunt, Eduardo Saverin can look forward to being defriended by the United States — not like that’s a bad thing, because to be honest, the movie version of him is much cuter. [New York Daily News]

    * And this is why lawyers shouldn’t try to be funny. Safeway’s General Counsel, Robert Gordon, is being branded a sexist for telling a recycled joke about pigs and D.C.’s most powerful women. [Corporate Counsel]

    * A three month suspension has been recommended for a former Treasury Department attorney who attempted to steal ties from Nordstrom. What, he couldn’t spring for a Neiman’s run? [National Law Journal]

    * If you bought those stupid ass Skechers Shape-Up shoes in the hope that your booty would look like Kim Kardashian’s, you can get a piece of the $40M settlement. Not bitter, not at all. [Los Angeles Times]