Dewey & LeBoeuf

  • Morning Docket: 01.19.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 01.19.16

    * The New York Times editorial board believes SCOTUS justices “already have all the evidence they need to join the rest of the civilized world and end the death penalty once and for all” — and they may get the chance to do so this Term (but won’t). [New York Times]

    * A Texas lawyer has filed the first “birther” lawsuit against Republican candidate Ted Cruz, seeking a declaratory judgment that the Canadian-born senator isn’t eligible to run for president. The filing is a pretty entertaining read in that it’s completely insane. [KHOU 11 News]

    * Just when ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf chair Steven Davis thought his legal troubles were over, Citibank swooped in to slap him with a suit seeking repayment of a $400,000 loan for his capital contribution to the failed firm. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal]

    * The U.S. Copyright Office has formed an academic partnership with George Mason University School of Law. We bet students and law school administrators alike are probably hoping it’ll turn into an employment partnership as well. [IP Watchdog]

    * Lower-ranked law schools ought to thank their lucky stars that U.S. News “ranking competition” exists, because if not for fear they’d sink in the rankings, higher-ranked schools would’ve enrolled students typically bound for unranked schools. [Forbes]

    * Not only has Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s first bid to get a new trial been rejected, but in what’s been called a “symbolic gesture,” the convicted Boston Marathon bomber has now been ordered to pay more than $101 million in restitution to his victims. [Boston Globe]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.08.15

    * My, but how quickly things change! Manhattan prosecutors might not be retrying the D&L criminal case after all. Instead, they’ve offered all of the remaining defendants plea deals. Dewey know if any of the former execs of this failed firm will take a deal? [WSJ Law Blog]

    * In case you’re wondering what’s going to happen to Zachary Warren after all of this, it looks like Cyrus Vance found it in the goodness of his heart to offer the would-be Biglaw associate a plea deal: he’ll have to plead guilty to a misdemeanor to get 200 hours of community service. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * Law students, get ready to lobby even harder for this, because a proposal to do away with the American Bar Association’s ban on law students receiving academic credit for paid externships is moving forward to a notice and comment period. [ABA Journal]

    * If you’re preparing for a law school interview, you should stop freaking out about it and focus on the things that matter — like showing off your social skills to prove you’ll be employable in some way after graduation. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

    * After having a culpable homicide conviction for which he already served time overturned and turned into a murder conviction instead, Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was granted $688 bail since he’s not considered a “flight risk.” [NBC News]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.07.15

    * “People who have a dream of going to law school should go into it with their eyes wide open.” In case you haven’t heard, not all of the law school lawsuits were dismissed; in fact, one of them filed against Thomas Jefferson School of Law is going to trial in March. [ABC News]

    * Dewey know which D&L defendant will likely be able to escape a retrial? It seems that Steven Davis, the failed firm’s former chairman, may find himself on the receiving end of a deferred prosecution agreement instead. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * At this point, it’s anyone’s best guess as to what the future of net neutrality may be: The FCC’s latest proposal for equal treatment of internet traffic apparently left a bad taste in the D.C. Circuit’s mouth during oral arguments at a recent hearing. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Baker & McKenzie used to be the largest law firm in the world before Dentons arrived on the scene, but now it’s got its eyes on expansion in a territory that the Biglaw behemoth hasn’t completely claimed: the United States. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

    * Give thanks, because according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector added 600 jobs last month. If you’ve got a job on your Christmas wish list, Santa just might deliver one to you this year. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.22.15

    * Brush that dirt off your shoulder: Jay-Z may have 99 problems, but this copyright lawsuit about his song “Big Pimpin'” is no longer one of them. The suit filed against the rap mogul in 2007 was dismissed on standing grounds, but the plaintiff says he plans to appeal. [Los Angeles Times]

    * When it comes to the death penalty, Justice Antonin Scalia says that it “wouldn’t surprise [him]” if the Supreme Court were to strike it down as unconstitutional. It seems that a capital punishment case could become the next SCOTUS blockbuster. [CBS Minnesota]

    * No one is a fan of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house court system, and legislation to give financial defendants the right to opt out will be introduced in Congress later this week. Would you rather face trial before a federal judge or jury? [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Earlier this week, a state-court judge brought a live grenade to the courthouse, but only because he wanted to have it properly disposed of by police. The jurist currently remains unidentified, which is a good thing, because this is pretty embarrassing. [CBS Los Angeles]

    * Jurors in New York are paid $40 per day for their service, so you may be wondering how the confused members of the jury in the Dewey & LeBoeuf (mis)trial were able to survive on only $2,920 after five months spent in the courtroom. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.21.15

    * Arizona Summit Law wasn’t the only law school to post an embarrassing passage rate on the July 2015 administration of the bar exam. Only 28 percent of test-takers from this law school passed, but its dean says that the scores don’t “reflect a problem with the school’s quality.” Hey, whatever helps you get to sleep at night. [Tennessean]

    * Speaking of bar passage rates, if you’re applying to law school, should you care about them? Job statistics are probably a more telling measurement when comparing schools, but then again, it’s harder to get a job when you can’t pass the bar exam. [U.S. News]

    * “It’s a huge blow to his tenure as DA.” The mistrial in the criminal case against Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former executives is putting a major damper on what was supposed to be Manhattan DA Cy Vance’s crackdown on corporate crime. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

    * Thanks to the Department of Education’s “gainful employment rule,” for-profit law schools could be in trouble when it comes to eligibility for federal student loans under the “debt-to-earnings” test. This certainly may put a crimp in Infilaw’s style. [Huffington Post]

    * The vast majority of all class members in the Subway “footlong” lawsuit aren’t likely to see a dime. This is fine because they don’t need to see any “dough,” but a guarantee that the company’s next spokesperson won’t be a child predator would be nice. [WSJ Law Blog]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.20.15

    * “This is the best we can do” doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement on policy change, but at least the bipartisan sentencing reform bill has a chance to see the light of day. [National Law Journal]

    * Corporate scandals feed more and more of the news cycle, and general counsels are key to responding. [Law360]

    * Speaking of corporate scandals, the Petrobras corruption scandal has already cost an estimated $5 billion in losses. [Corporate Counsel]

    * Yup, Republicans are still trying to undo Obamacare via lawsuit. The Obama administration just lost a ruling to immediately appeal the viability of the lawsuit. [Wall Street Journal]

    * The Dewey trial’s hing jury mirrors the dysfunction of the Dewey & LeBoeuf partnership. [American Lawyer]
    * The feds are cracking down on drone registration, which means a bunch of new regulations to follow, you know, if you are into flying drones. [Fortune]

  • Sponsored

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.19.15

    * After a recent vote, the Florida Bar flat-out rejected a supposedly “controversial” proposal for bar reciprocity. Attorneys in the Sunshine State absolutely, positively do NOT want you practicing law there if you haven’t taken the Florida bar. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Tomorrow, Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison after having only served a fifth of a five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend, a law school graduate. He’ll begin a stint of house arrest, and he’s not allowed to have guns there… for very obvious reasons. [UPI]

    * The case of the missing mistrial? After four weeks of deliberation, and after having acquitted the defendants of a slew of lesser charges, the jury in the criminal trial against the ex-execs of Dewey & LeBoeuf will enter a new month without a full verdict. [Reuters]

    * The Nebraska Legislature voted to abolish the death penalty in the state, but supporters of capital punishment have forced a November 2016 referendum vote instead. Not to worry, “[n]obody’s going to be executed in Nebraska anytime soon.” [New York Times]

    * This week, Connecticut’s Appellate Court will hear cases at the state’s most famous — and most prestigious — law school. Don’t get too excited, Yalies, because this has nothing to do with you. In fact, you’ve probably never even heard of this place. [Associated Press]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.15.15

    * Daaaammmmn. Some serious shade as Greenberg Traurig CEO Richard Rosenbaum takes a swipe at Dentons. Video below the jump.

    * Lamar Odom is still technically married to Khloe Kardashian, thereby giving his estranged wife authority when it comes to medical decisions. Good, because I think we were all hoping a man’s tragic health crisis could be fodder for May Sweeps. [Eonline]

    * Linklaters is “internally crowdsourcing” to find a solution to provide a better work-life balance. Jesus. Bring on the necessary resources to cap any individual’s work week at 60 billable hours and move on. Anything less is just an invitation to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic. [Law360]

    * Looks like NPR’s hit podcast Serial is ready for a second season. [The Onion]

    * Dewey think these deliberations will ever end? [The Am Law Daily]

    * Ah, the life of in-house counsel: writing bitchy emails to customers telling them how stupid they are. [L.A. Times]

    * Rand Paul explains how “liberty” works for gay people. [Gawker]

    * Before joining a class action, make sure aren’t advertising your own criminal behavior to authorities. [Times-Picayune]

    * And here’s that Greenberg Traurig-Dentons swipe. This strikes me as an ill-considered decision given that Dentons is known as a firm that doesn’t start fights, but sure as f**k ends them. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.13.15

    * Biglaw leaders aren’t feeling so hot about the future of the profession. What else is new? [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

    * Villanova Law School whining about its fall in the U.S. News rankings after admitting it had artificially inflated its numbers. Listen, it’s this stupid fascination with U.S. News that got Villanova busted in the first place. It’s high time the school stops preening for U.S. News and starts touting its admirable position in the rankings based on what’s best for students. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

    * It’s time for the Supreme Court to hear the important cases! Enough of these poor people railroaded by the system, where’s justice for disgraced former Governor Bob McDonnell? [Washington Post]

    * Everything should be legal! At least when it comes to BS NCAA violations. [Adequate Man / Deadspin]

    * Women make less than men when it comes to in-house work. Sort of like all other work. [Law360]

    * Hillary was hailed as the big winner last night, but her biggest victory was knowing that Bernie Sanders was going to pull his punches. [Redline]

    * Sara Randazzo with the Twitter observation of the day yesterday: lawyer for ex-Dewey chair Steve Davis trolled the jury with his tie pattern. [Twitter]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 10.09.15

    * A biting take on legal system reform. [The Onion]

    * A law school class that actually changed something. [Chronicle of Higher Education]

    * Justin Bieber’s lawyers send around nasty notes after naked pics of the singer go viral. [TMZ]

    * Paid justice? Prosecutors are paid by an insurance company for “handling” their cases. Sounds suspect. [Texas Tribune]

    * Badass Ph.D. coldly takes down lawyer during a deposition. [Medium]

    * Highlights from the Academy for Private Practice. [CodeX]

    * The behavior that got Dewey into so much trouble is still going on. [Big Law Business / BNA]

Sponsored

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.07.15

    * Dewey know what Justice Robert Stolz will do now that the jury has declared itself deadlocked on most charges? Tune in later today. [American Lawyer]

    * A case brought by law student turned privacy activist Max Schrems has triggered a European court ruling that Facebook won’t “like.” [How Appealing]

    * King & Spalding associate Ethan Davis talks about how he prepared for his argument yesterday before the U.S. Supreme Court. [National Law Journal]

    * Thanks to sentencing reform, the Justice Department will release about 6,000 inmates from prison starting later this month. [New York Times]

    * Speaking of the DOJ, BP will settle Deepwater Horizon oil spill claims with the feds for a whopping $20 billion. [ABA Journal]

    * Elsewhere in news of embattled companies, Volkswagen is turning to Mayer Brown for help in dealing with the emissions scandal that stinks to high heaven. [American Lawyer]

    * 50 Cent’s malpractice suit against his ex-lawyers seeks 7.5 billion cents. [Law360]

    * When legal recruiters sue each other, things can get ugly — fast. [American Lawyer]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.06.15

    * While we’re loath to continue giving this woman airtime, it turns out that infamous Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’s law firm, Liberty Counsel, was recently declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This fits the overall narrative here quite nicely, don’t you think? [Salon]

    * After 12 days of deliberation, the jury in the criminal trial of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former execs has shown no signs of reaching a verdict, but instead, signs of exhaustion. In fact, one juror needed medical attention because she deliberated too hard. [Am Law Daily]

    * This seems to be a common phrase lately: law firm mergers are breaking records again. Altman Weil says more firms announced mergers in the first three quarters of 2015 than in the first three quarters of any year in almost a decade. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

    * “I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death.” Thanks to Governor Jerry Brown, California is now the fifth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The End of Life Option Act will take effect sometime in 2016. [Los Angeles Times]

    * If you’re an undergraduate student who’s planning to go to law school, then you better be building relevant lawyering skills. Master the art of bullsh*tting before you graduate and you’ll be ahead of the game. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]

  • Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Supreme Court

    Morning Docket: 10.05.15

    * Today’s the first Monday in October, and we all know what that means. The Supreme Court starts its Term as disapproval of its work reaches a new high for recent years. [Gallup via How Appealing]

    * And here’s Adam Liptak’s excellent overview of the new Supreme Court Term, so you can sound smart at cocktail parties this month. [New York Times]

    * In other SCOTUS news, Senator Bob Menendez is fighting the bribery charges against him by relying upon a high court decision he once condemned — can you guess which one? [The Record How Appealing]

    * Which presidential candidates get the most in campaign contributions from Silicon Valley lawyers? The second-place finisher might surprise you. [The Recorder]

    * Elsewhere in presidential politics, Hillary Clinton will announce new gun-control proposals later today. [New York Times]

    * Don’t rush off to law school just yet, but the legal sector did gain a few thousand jobs last month, layoffs notwithstanding. [American Lawyer]

    * Dewey have any idea of when this jury will reach a verdict? [Law360]

    * Super-mediator Kenneth Feinberg’s latest challenge: pension reform. [National Law Journal]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.01.15

    * Vatican officials confirmed — or rather, didn’t deny — that Pope Francis did, in fact, have a secret meeting with infamous Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. Hmm, apparently all it takes is denying people their newfound civil rights to get an audience with the Pope. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * The ABA Accreditation Committee will recommend that the ABA approve the merger between Hamline and William Mitchell. The merger byproduct could be operational in 2016 if all goes well. Is this something we should be excited about? [Hamline University]

    * On the ninth day of deliberations in the criminal trial of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former executives, jurors were still unable to come to a consensus, and one juror mentioned she’d have to leave early on October 9. Oy vey! Dewey think this jury is hung? [Am Law Daily]

    * Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin stayed the execution of Richard Glossip — you may recognize his name from his recent unsuccessful Supreme Court case — because the drugs the Corrections Department received didn’t match protocol. Figures. [Associated Press]

    * “We are heartened the district attorney has agreed that even a misdemeanor charge would be inappropriate.” Prosecutors will not be charging Caitlyn Jenner with vehicular manslaughter in the fatal car crash she was involved in earlier this year. [USA Today]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 09.30.15

    * Paul Walker’s daughter, 16-year-old Meadow Walker, filed a wrongful death suit against Porsche, alleging the automaker was negligent and strictly liable because the car her father died in had several design defects, namely that it was too fast, too furious. [CNN]

    * The jury on the Dewey & LeBoeuf criminal trial is having a really difficult time this week. Yesterday, on the eighth day of deliberations, jury members asked for the definition of the word “deliberation” and clarification on what their jobs were as jurors. [Am Law Daily]

    * If you’d like to know why Hughes Hubbard likely conducted layoffs last week, then look no further than the commentary of this City Private Bank Law Firm Group analyst. Times have officially changed for litigators at large law firms. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

    * In news that no one should find particularly shocking, Albany Law School has announced an affiliation with the University at Albany. Both schools are struggling with enrollment and hungry for cash, so it’s a match made in heaven. [Albany Times Union]

    * “There are 35,000 museums in the U.S. … [b]ut the great legal profession hasn’t gotten around to establishing one.” Spoke too soon: Say hello to the American Museum of Tort Law, Ralph Nader’s house of personal injury horrors. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]