Deaths
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Antonin Scalia, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Top 10 Scalia Zingers
A topical sampling of some of Scalia’s most memorable prose moments. -
Antonin Scalia, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justices Remember Antonin Scalia
Most can only hope to be spoken of with such love after their passing. Rest in peace, Justice Scalia. - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Antonin Scalia, Deaths, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Justice Scalia And Me: A Love Story
Some reflections from David Lat, Above the Law's founder and managing editor, on the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
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Antonin Scalia, SCOTUS
Justice Antonin Scalia Reported Dead Of Natural Causes In West Texas
Antonin Scalia was found dead -
Deaths, Kids, State Judges
Judge Arrested And Charged In Son's Hot-Car Death
This is so incredibly sad. -
Guns / Firearms, Violence
Two Dead After Shooting Spree That Began At Law Firm
There are still many unanswered questions in this case. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.08.16
* Remember Kent and Jill Easter, the married lawyers who planted bags of weed and pills in the car of Kelli Peters, a PTA volunteer at their son’s school? Kent’s law license was suspended, Jill was disbarred, they’re now divorced, and to top it all off, a jury recently awarded Peters $5.7M in her case against them. [Orange County Register]
* The horror! The horror! Not only did Marco Rubio get his ass handed to him during this weekend’s Republican debate, but it turns out he’s accused of having been a law firm lobbyist for Florida firms Becker & Poliakoff and Broad and Cassel. [BuzzFeed News]
* A proposed ABA resolution that local bar groups think has to do with non-lawyer ownership of law firms — they’re not entirely sure, of course — is making the hair stand up on the back of attorneys’ necks. What could possibly go wrong? [WSJ Law Blog]
* Career alternatives for attorneys law school deans: David Yellen, dean of Loyola Law – Chicago for more than a decade (and former ATL columnist), will be leaving the law school game to assume the presidency at Marist College. [Poughkeepsie Journal]
* Applications may be down at Yale Law School when compared to prior years, but administrators aren’t exactly concerned about it. Come on, get real: It’s Yale, and the law school “still [has] more qualified applicants than [it] can accept.” [Yale Daily News]
* According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal profession celebrated the New Year by shedding 1,400 jobs. Don’t worry, 2016 graduates, there’s still a chance the job market could improve, but we’ll have to wait it out. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Miriam Cedarbaum, longtime federal judge of the S.D.N.Y., RIP. [New York Times]
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Attorney Misconduct, Deaths, Sex Scandals
Lawyer Accused Of Trading Legal Services For Sexual Favors Found Dead In Apparent Suicide
This was not his first experience with allegations of ethical improprieties and attorney misconduct. - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Deaths, Facebook, Quote of the Day
Lawyer Says He's Sorry For Rude Remarks About A Fatal Traffic Accident
Another cautionary tale about a lawyer's ill-advised use of social media. -
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Politics
When The White House Left America's Best Behind
Here are five questions about Benghazi that an effective cross-examination would address. -
Police, Politics
Sandra Bland And What No One Seems To Know About Their Rights
Traffic stops are among the most common encounters with law enforcement that most Americans will have; if the average citizen has no clue what her rights or duties are during these encounters, then we’re doing it wrong. -
Deaths, State Judges
Judith Kaye, First Woman To Serve As New York's Top Judge, R.I.P.
The legal profession just lost one of its great leaders. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.05.16
* If you haven’t been watching Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, then you’re missing Dean Strang’s turn on the catwalk. The compassionate defense attorney has turned into an “unlikely sex symbol.” Are you part of the #StrangGang? [The Guardian]
* Sometime later today, President Barack Obama will announce a sweeping package of executive actions related to gun restrictions. Stay tuned, grab your popcorn, and get ready for some hardcore constitutional litigation. [Washington Post]
* Happy New Year! We’re not even a full week into 2016, and the first Biglaw merger has already been announced. Lewis Roca Rothgerber has picked up Christie Parker & Hale, a 40-lawyer Southern California IP boutique. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Hipsters, thou shall be avenged sevenfold: The Justice Department has filed suit against Volkswagen in the wake of the automaker’s massive emissions scandal. The DOJ is seeking billions in damages over VW’s air-pollution violations. [New York Times]
* According to Ethan Couch’s lawyer, it may be weeks or months before the affluenza teen returns to the United States. A judge issued a temporary stay in his case after Couch argued that being deported from Mexico would somehow violate his civil rights. [CNN]
* Robert Wonsch, an Oklahoma process server, was arrested after allegedly coercing his female clients into performing sex acts in exchange for lowering his fees. He’s now facing several criminal counts. Good Lord, talk about ineffective service of process… [Reuters]
* Dale Bumpers, President Clinton’s impeachment defense lawyer, RIP. [New York Times]
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.04.16
* In his annual report on the state of the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts asked that lawyers stop treating each other like garbage and do their best to “avoid antagonistic tactics, wasteful procedural maneuvers and teetering brinksmanship.” [New York Times]
* Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court’s “lightning rod for controversy,” recently said during a small speaking engagement that the government not only can, but should, support religion. After all, “God had been very good to us.” [AP]
* Albany Law’s dean says don’t believe the horror stories you hear about law school, especially since “[t]his is a really good time to apply.” It’s worth noting that she wasn’t able to pay off her loans until she was a tenured law professor. [Albany Times Union]
* The Arkansas Law (Little Rock) professor who’s suing his school over access to public records has added a retaliation claim to his complaint thanks to the “allegations of two rogue, race-baiting professors.” Ooh, that sounds juicy! [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]
* Is your favorite music streaming service screwing your favorite musicians out of their hard-earned cash? Spotify may soon be facing yet another multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit over artists’ royalty payments (or the lack thereof) in 2016. [Billboard]
* Michael G. Oxley, co-sponsor of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, RIP. [New York Times]
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Deaths, Technology
The Passion And Passing Of Litéra's CEO And Founder, Deepak Massand
Many legal professionals can testify to the rich legacy that Massand left them in Litéra products, and he will be deeply missed in the worlds of law and technology. -
Deaths, Guns / Firearms, Law Schools
Law Student Tragically Shot To Death During Winter Break
This law student was shot twice in the neck and torso after repeatedly banging on the wrong door. -
Deaths, Plaintiffs Firms
R.I.P. To A Billionaire Lawyer
By a lot of measures, Joe Jamail was the most successful lawyer of all time. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.24.15
* It’s a Christmas miracle! It may still be too early to tell, but it’s beginning to look a lot like there’s going to be an increase in law school applicants. Per LSAC, almost 3 percent more people have applied to law schools than last year at this time. [WSJ Law Blog]
* This is why more firms don’t hold IPOs: Slater & Gordon, the first firm to go public, may face two shareholder class-action suits — one for allegedly misleading investors and the other for its terrible performance on the market. [Guardian]
* As 2015 draws to a close, it’s very obvious that Dentons had a “transformative” year as it gobbled up law firms left and right, and 2016 will be no different. The firm has its eyes set on Japan, Korea, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Africa. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]
* A Bahamian hacker almost released a celebrity sex tape, naughty photos, and television and movie scripts for an obscene price, but not to worry, because U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (S.D.N.Y.) was busy saving the world, one sex tape at a time. [New York Times]
* UC Hastings College of Law has appointed an acting chancellor and dean in Frank Wu’s wake. Let’s welcome David L. Faigman to the world of law school administration. Hopefully he can ease the school out of its current bar exam passage funk. [UC Hastings]
* Joe Jamail, richest lawyer in America, King of Torts and depos, RIP. [New York Times]
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Crime, Politics, Texas
Does It Matter That Waco DAs Charged 100+ Bikers In A 'Murder' That May Never Have Happened?
District Attorney Abel Reyna may not be able to get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, but he could probably get a grand jury to indict defendants for the murder of a ham sandwich. -
Crime, Law Schools
2-Year-Old Dies Tragically; Law Student Arrested For Murder
Allegations that have shocked a law school community.