Congress
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Politics
Congress Got A Taste Of Martin Shkreli And Found It Very Gross
Mr. Shkreli went to Washington... It sucked. -
Crime
Martin Shkreli Can't Shut Up About Shutting Up
Maybe M-Shkrels should make "Pleading The Fifth" into a lifestyle. - Sponsored
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Constitutional Law
Having Conquered Finance And Pharma, Martin Shkreli Is Basically A Constitutional Law Expert Now
If you need help with Con Law, this pharma bro has you covered.
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Trivia Question of the Day
Congress Can Be Filled With Real Jerks
Why did Congress invoke its contempt powers? -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.06.15
* The Supreme Court announced today it will take up yet another challenge to the Affordable Care Act, this time on the contraceptive compromise. [Wall Street Journal]
* You know all those Special Lawyer lists? Yeah, they’re silly and meaningless. [Attorney at Work]
* Rut-roh. Did Congress screw up and make the latest appropriations bill end a day sooner than they intended? I mean would Congress ever screw up?!?! [Notice & Comment]
* Oh no they didn’t! Law & Order: SVU takes on the Duggars and it is glorious. [Slate]
* When Mexican Donald Trump gets going he cannot be stopped. [Funny or Die]
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Religion, SCOTUS
Stats Of The Week: Catholicis Ubique Sunt
Catholics, who make up just under a quarter of the U.S. population, enjoy outsized representation at the highest levels of law and government. -
Technology
Law Enforcement's Cluelessness On Display In Congressional Hearing On Undermining Encryption
Don't you feel safer knowing these people are serving the public? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.21.15
* Nothing is f*cked here, Judge: With first-class flights, alcoholic beverages, and hotel movies already nixed, lawyers who worked on the City of Detroit’s municipal bankruptcy case are now being forced to defend their multi-million dollar billables. [WSJ Law Blog]
* “It’s important to have different perspectives in Congress. It really adds a lot to the mix.” That said, which law schools are the best at producing lawmakers? You may be surprised by some of the schools that made the list. [National Law Journal]
* “Going to law school is still a great option,” says the dean of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, a school whose 25th percentile LSAT scores dropped by six points year over year. Toss UA Law a pity application. [Daily Wildcat]
* Per the defense in the Aurora movie theater massacre case, the prosecutor’s “insistence upon the death penalty certainly seems politically motivated” — that, or maybe James Holmes deserves the death penalty for killing 12 people. [ABA Journal]
* By now, everyone’s heard of the woman who’s planning to “marry” her biological father and move to New Jersey. Believe it or not, incestual adult relationships are actually legal in the Garden State thanks to a legislative screw-up. [NJ Advance Media]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.08.15
* Here’s some JOLTing news: Megon Walker, the Harvard Law graduate who claims her life was ruined because the school accused her of being a plagiarist, just lost her defamation suit against her alma mater. [National Law Journal]
* “You have a party like this and it’s as though you’re handing out hand grenades as party favors.” Jeff Lake, a California lawyer, was arrested and faces social host liability issues thanks to his kid’s Playboy party. [Denver Channel]
* Congress is back in session, and President Obama resubmitted his nomination of Loretta Lynch for U.S. attorney general, along with other judicial nods. She’ll be a “terrific attorney general,” so get this show on the road. [Legal Times]
* “How many clinics do you have to close before the court says, ‘Enough’?” Lawyers for abortion clinics and Texas state attorneys faced off before the Fifth Circuit over the
viabilityconstitutionality of the Lone Star State’s abortion laws. [New York Times]* It’s a new year with new laws in effect, and it looks like 27 states, plus D.C., have made major moves with regard to weed, be it through the legalization medical marijuana or decriminalization of its possession. Do you know your rights? [CNN]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.19.14
* Still looking for a great gift for your assistant? Corporette presents their annual secretary gift guide! [Corporette]
* Marijuana law may be hot, but marijuana legalization may be in hot water: Oklahoma and Nebraska take their case to the Supreme Court that Colorado’s law is damaging them. [The Denver Post]
* Associates are super excited about their shiny — but discretionary — bonuses. Note that base pay hasn’t taken a similar leap. Thanks for throwing a wet blanket on the season. [Law and More]
* Who are the new lawyers in Congress? Mike Sacks profiles them. [National Law Journal]
* The law firm trying to kill the internet is Jenner & Block. That’s unfair — the law firm employed by people trying to kill the internet is Jenner & Block. And they’re willing to write a whole letter and make a state Attorney General just sign it! That’s some pull. [The Verge]
* At this special time of year, let’s remember who this season is all about: pagans. [What About Clients?]
* U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley just resigned to settle an ethics probe. Not as a federal judge of course, but as a trustee to THE Ohio State University. The Ohio Ethics Commission raised issues with Judge Marbley serving as a trustee while simultaneously teaching as an adjunct at the law school. [Columbus Dispatch]
* Brad and Da Boyz with a nice little ditty about copyright infringement and fair use. [YouTube]
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Akhil Amar, Constitutional Law, Jeffrey Toobin, Law Professors, New Yorker, Noah Feldman, Orrin Hatch, Politics, Quote of the Day, Sanford Levinson
We The People... Can Do Better?
Is the Constitution to blame for the current political dysfunction? -
Antonin Scalia, Federal Government, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Justice Scalia Doesn't Give A 'Merda' About The Shutdown
What are Justice Scalia's thoughts on the shutdown? -
Biglaw, Crime, Death Penalty, Department of Justice, Eric Holder, Federal Government, General Counsel, Google / Search Engines, In-House Counsel, Jury Duty, Law Professors, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Politics, Small Law Firms, Technology, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 07.29.13
* When it comes to the U.S. Congress — especially the current one, said to be the least productive and least popular in history — and federal lawmaking, “action isn’t the same as accomplishment.” [Boston Globe]
* The Department of Justice won’t seek the death penalty against Edward Snowden, but only because the crime he’s charged with doesn’t carry that kind of punishment as an option. But oh, Eric Holder can wish. [CNN]
* Sorry to burst your bubble, but Biglaw as we know it is on a respirator, so be prepared to recite its last rites. The New Republic’s Noam Scheiber responds to the critics of last week’s hard-hitting piece. [New Republic]
* The grass isn’t greener on the other side right now. Revenue per lawyer rose at Biglaw firms in 2012 (up 8.5 percent), but small firms struggled (with RPL down 8.1 percent). Ouch. [National Law Journal]
* Let me Google that for you: Hot new technology startups have been looking to lawyers who hail from the innovative internet company’s ranks when staffing their own legal departments. [The Recorder]
* If you’re wondering why more financial crimes haven’t been prosecuted since the Wall Street meltdown of 2008, it’s probably because they’re too just difficult for most juries to understand. Comforting. [NPR]
* In a recent interview having to do with all of the problems that law schools are currently facing, from shrinkage to joblessness, Professor Paul Campos sat down to politely say, “Told ya so.” [Denver Post]
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American Bar Association / ABA, B for Beauty, Bar Exams, Cellphones, Department of Justice, Eric Holder, Federal Judges, Health Care / Medicine, Insider Trading, Job Searches, John Edwards, Kasowitz Benson, Kids, Morning Docket, Privacy
Morning Docket: 06.06.13
* AG Eric Holder sat down and had a little chat about what’s been going on at the Justice Department. He’s not impressed with his agency’s work, but he claims he’s not stepping down just yet. [NBC News]
* “Can you hear me now?” Oh, Verizon, what an apropos slogan you’ve got considering the latest government scandal. The NSA has been spying on you through your phone records since late April. [Guardian]
* Lawyers for Matthew Martoma still want more time to comb through millions upon millions of documents in their client’s insider trading case, but it seems rather pointless after a judge’s kiss of death. [Reuters]
* Looks like she got her wish: thanks to Judge Michael Baylson, a little girl with terminal cystic fibrosis may have a better chance at getting a longer lease on life in this donor lung transplant case. [CNN]
* Being a politician didn’t really work out so well for him, so John Edwards is going to try his hand at being a lawyer again. Just think of all of the lovely ladies he’ll be able to pick up as clients. [USA Today]
* Speaking of former public servants who are getting back into the law, Ken Salazar will be opening the Denver office of WilmerHale — and when it comes to pay, he’s got a “very good package.” [Denver Post]
* And not to be forgotten, famous flip-flopper Joe Lieberman will be taking his services to Kasowitz Benson. We certainly hope the firm will appreciate his superior legal mind. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* The ABA is considering law school job data collection 10 months after graduation, instead of nine, because bar exam results come out so late. Like that extra month will help… [National Law Journal]
* Erika Harold, a Harvard Law grad and ex-Sidley associate known for her reign as Miss America, is running for Congress in Illinois. What will she she do for the talent portion of the competition? [Politico]
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Abortion, Federal Circuit, Intellectual Property, Law Professors, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Politics
Non-Sequiturs: 02.14.13
* Sadly, Ronald Dworkin has died at 81. [The Faculty Lounge] * Oracle really really hopes the Federal Circuit has read Harry Potter. But of course they have, because… nerds. [Groklaw] * A 16-year-old girl is suing her parents to keep her unborn baby, claiming her parents are forcing her to have an abortion. I’m sure she’s just hoping to get on the next season of Teen Mom. [KPLR 11] * Snake-handling pastor has his snakes confiscated by Tennessee cops. I had to read this twice because I assumed it was a recap from last night’s Justified. [WSJ Law Blog] * An interesting look at the false dichotomy between teaching and practice. It’s probably unfair, but all I kept thinking was, “those that can, do; those that can’t…” [PrawfsBlawg] * Jeff Kurzon is taking a break from suing law schools to run for Congress. If elected, Staci expects an invitation to the next State of the Union. [Jeff Kurzon Blog] * Overlawyered cites, presumably with disdain, a school district banning the use of a piece of playground equipment. I’m sympathetic to the school for two reasons: (1) when I was a kid, I broke my arm on a piece of playground equipment; and (2) take a look at the death trap of a machine they’re banning. [Overlawyered] * TestMasters claims that individual posters have been sharing their materials for free. This case sounds an awful lot like what brought down Litchfield Law School. [Courthouse News Service] -
Books, Breasts, Contests, Crime, Federal Government, Health Care / Medicine, Insurance, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Politics, Romance and Dating, Video games
Non-Sequiturs: 08.28.12
* Sorry, Rob Portman, while you’re very good at making law students flee from commencement ceremonies, you don’t get to be Mitt’s running mate. Instead, you get to pretend to be the president. Dreams do come true. [Recess Appointment] * Just because there was an undergrad rankings scandal at our school doesn’t mean that our law school data isn’t sound. ::pout:: Oh Emory, that’s so precious. [TaxProf Blog] * Breast implants don’t make women healthier?! Damn you, Congress! [New York Magazine] * Scamming insurance companies > scamming dying AIDS patients. [Dealbreaker] * Scott Greenfield is running a book giveaway contest. Well, here’s my submission: The law doesn’t suck; it’s just the week before Labor Day, so writing about the law sucks. [Simple Justice; Legal Blog Watch] * Given the number of men who ignore their girlfriends in favor of video games, it’s surprising that more women haven’t been charged with misdemeanor battery. [Legal Juice] -
Abortion, Antonin Scalia, Birthdays, Books, Federal Government, Jeffrey Toobin, Non-Sequiturs, U.S. News
Non-Sequiturs: 06.19.12
* Another year, another survey that shows prospective law students care more about the U.S. News Law School Rankings than anything else when applying to law school. In fact, it’s the exact same number from 2010. Kids are dumb. [Kaplan] * Everybody is worried about what will happen when computers replace attorneys. I’m much more interested in what will happen when computers replace hookers. [The Atlantic] * If watching our Congress ask idiot questions of Jamie Dimon doesn’t make you feel like we need vastly more intelligent Congresspeople, maybe watching them fawn over Jamie Dimon will do the trick. [Dealbreaker] * I really hadn’t thought of this — in addition to your huge educational debts, your parents are most likely out there spending your inheritance. I swear, if I ever spend money on more education, it’s going to be on a post-apocalyptic survivalist class. [Law and More] * Former TSA lady gropes current TSA lady after inappropriate groping from TSA. [Threat Level / Wired] * In real life, unlike Monopoly, a bank error is never really in your favor. [Legal Blog Watch] * Do the Republicans have an abortion problem? [New Yorker] * Happy Birthday, Lat! Check out the very cool gift (affiliate link) that he received in the mail today — signed by one of the authors. [Twitpic via Twitter] -
Career Alternatives, Election 2012, Law Schools, Politics
Is A Law Degree Still The Best Way To Get Into Politics?
And now we come to the real reason I, and so many others, went to law school: I wanted to go into politics. Before I was married, before my father’s name recognition spiked, before I was in debt, before I realized I had no talent asking people for money, I thought elected office was in […] -
Contracts, Immigration, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Pro Se Litigants, Technology
Morning Docket: 01.17.12
* How many one percenters do you think are members of the 11%? According to this poll, Congressional approval ratings have hit an all-time low. Looks like it’s time to occupy Congress. [CNN] * Wikipedia is planning a site-wide blackout this Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act. At least they’re giving some advance […]
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Antitrust, Basketball, Celebrities, David Boies, Money, Morning Docket, Pregnancy / Paternity, Sports, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 11.22.11
* You know what, screw the neighborhood. There goes the freakin’ country. Congress’s bipartisan, not-so-super committee has failed to reach an agreement for a deficit reduction deal. [CNN] * “When the government takes action . . . there are legal limits to what they can do.” And one of those limits is that they can’t […]