Education / Schools

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.11.15

    * As we mentioned, U.S. News is giving law schools less credit for hiring their own grads. Rumor has it that a few schools would’ve done better in the rankings but for their high percentage of school-funded jobs. Which ones? [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Two students in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity from Oklahoma University were expelled after a video of their racist chanting was leaked online. Lawyers want to know: was their expulsion a First Amendment violation? [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

    * UC Irvine Law debuted on the 2016 U.S. News law school rankings at No. 30, missing Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s goal of starting out as a Top 20 school. Not to worry, Dean, there are still ways to game the rankings. Keep your head up! [National Law Journal]

    * Don’t bother delaying your law school education just because the economy’s bad. The professors who told us that a law degree is worth $1 million think that its value will only drop by about $30K in times when unemployment is high. Yeah, okay. [ABA Journal]

    * The grisly murder of DLA Piper associate David Messerschmitt, who was found stabbed to death in a Washington, D.C., hotel, remains unsolved. Police are still searching for the “person of interest” who was seen on video from the hotel’s security camera. [Legal Times]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 02.06.15

    * Records show that Case Western Law bought former dean Lawrence Mitchell’s house for $575,000. Was it still furnished with the Chinese silk sheets? [The Observer]

    * Judge Posner explains that ALJs are basically working a conveyor belt. To wit, here’s a visual representation of Social Security ALJs at work. [Valpo Law Blog]

    * Um, what’s the charge for “acting like you’re in Fast and Furious”? [Legal Juice]

    * Republicans making moves to stop net neutrality. Netflix needs to start showing more Bible documentaries to sap this movement’s political will. [Bloomberg Politics]

    * Professor Campos reviews a new paper on the future of higher education funding. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

    * The law dean at the University of New Brunswick is accused of “sexism, harassment, and, in one case, threats of violence by two of his former law school colleagues.” That’s some very un-Canadian behavior. But Levitt used to be the dean at Florida A&M, and that does sound like some very Floridian behavior. [CBC] UPDATE (2/23/16 12:57 p.m.): Checking back in on this story we have a LOT to add. Since we first linked to this, the CBC has had to retract its stories about Professor Levitt. It turns out he was not a party, witness or even deposed in the law suits even though CBC was giving off the impression that he was the central figure in criminal cases. It seems he wasn’t even a party to the civil cases when they were reporting that! CBC has had to report that Levitt was absolved or ‘cleared’ of any wrongdoing not once, but twice. The whole saga seems, from what we know today, to have been pretty egregious and raises troubling questions about race and media bias in Canada, as discussed in this piece about the matter.

    * How to make your shoes last longer. [Corporette]

    * Michael Cannon and Professor Jonathan Adler use some pretty compelling evidence in their amicus brief decrying King v. Burwell. Unfortunately, they kind of made up a quote. When the woman they quoted tries to clear the record, Cannon tells her he understands what she clearly said better than she did. In a sense this is a microcosm for the whole case. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 01.29.15

    * An interview with Judge Paul Cassell, the former jurist representing the woman accusing Professor Alan Dershowitz. Will this be the face of Dershowitz's reversal of fortune? (See what I did there?) [The Careerist] * Indiana is making moves to end litigation financing. If you want to see a naked attempt by deep pockets to influence the law, read this story. Or, you know, any story about lobbying ever. [LFC 360] * For people who kvetched that their precious feelings get hurt when Staci writes about sexism in the legal industry, it may warm your hearts to learn that, according to a UC Hastings Law study, STEM careers are just as bad. Yay? [Mashable] * Oh and finance is the same way. [Law and More] * Elementary school conducting poop inspections. Holy s**t. [Huffington Post] * Anti-vaccination parents have brought measles roaring back to ruin Disneyland vacations. Is it time to start suing them for turning their kids into plague vectors? [Forbes] * SpaceX drops its lawsuit against the Air Force. [Slate] * If you're interested in Sports Law, Penn Law is hosting a symposium on February 13. Get your tickets at this link. [Penn Law Sports Law Symposium] * Practice alert: The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution has issued a new set of rules. For any general counsel out there plagued with cross-border business-to-business disputes, check them out. [What About Clients?] * Our friend Sidney Powell's book, Licensed to Lie (affiliate link), earned a starring role at the Loretta Lynch confirmation hearings. Check out the questioning below. [YouTube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54uoOH_qh7U&feature=youtu.be
  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 01.27.15

    * Dumb person suing the NFL over its entirely correct (though the rule is pretty stupid) no-catch call in the Cowboys/Packers game. For $88 billion. Oh, because Dez is number 88. I get it. To read the whole hand-written complaint, head to the next page…. [Sports Illustrated]

    * The feds charge a bumbling Russian bank employee with trying to spy on America. Viewed in light of the details of the Anna Chapman ring, I think maybe Russia should just give up trying to spy. [Huffington Post]

    * “Judge Feels That Chris Brown’s Tour Doesn’t Count as Community Service.” Well then. [Defamer]

    * More of how the LSAT is supremely important to getting into law school. [Law and More]

    * College suspends a student for selling video of a campus brawl. School says the sale was a code of conduct violation… though it can’t explain how. [Chronicle of Higher Education]

    * The government’s brief in King v. Burwell tries desperately to show that conservatives themselves understood the plain meaning of the Affordable Care Act and anticipated states opting out of creating exchanges. Thankfully, the conservative justices obliged by writing exactly that in their NFIB v. Sebelius dissent. Between this and the marriage equality cases, Justice Scalia is just getting torched by his own dissents. [Talking Points Memo]

    https://www.scribd.com/doc/253504322/Terry-Hendrix-NFL-Lawsuit

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 01.20.15

    * Fried Frank is closing down its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices because they were costing the firm more money than they were bringing in. What’ll happen to the lawyers who work there? Most of them will be huòdé dìyù. [Am Law Daily]

    * Not everyone can match the New York market when it comes to Biglaw bonuses. According to disputed rumors, associates in some practices of at least one Chicago law firm didn’t receive any bonus at all. Which firm? [Crain’s Chicago Business]

    * We often complain that women are getting the short end of the stick in Biglaw, but today we’ve got a nice little caveat. At some large law firms in at least one city, more women are making partner than their male counterparts. [National Law Journal]

    * UVA hired Pepper Hamilton to consult on its inept handling of sexual assault cases while O’Melveny & Myers deals with its Rolling Stone gang rape allegations. Collars shall be half-popped until the school gets serious about these issues. [Newsplex]

    * Whittier Law, home to one of the worst full-time, long-term employment rates in the country, hopes to give grads a “legal leg-up” with its new solo incubator program — because “[e]ducation and training doesn’t end when they graduate.” [Daily Pilot]

    * Wet Seal joined the ranks of teen retailers like Deb and Delia’s when it dumped lots of locations and filed for Chapter 11. New code provisions might’ve sped things along, but like, being a debtor-in-possession is totally uncool. [DealBook / New York Times]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.16.14

    * “If you can’t disagree on the law without taking it personally, find another day job. You shouldn’t be an appellate judge.” You’ve really got to admit that sometimes, Justice Scalia has an absolutely wonderful way of putting things. [Associated Press]

    * David Boies sent everyone and their mother and their dog a letter asking them to destroy all docs leaked from the Sony hack, lest they face legal consequences, but there’s just one problem with that pesky First Amendment. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * The law students who requested exam delays due to unfair grand jury decisions claim they’re not “coddled Millennials” — no, they’re members of the new regime of lawyers who are willing to ask, “If not us, then who?” [National Law Journal]

    * Please keep in mind that these students are likely the same ones who may be missing out about learning the intricacies of rape law because they want their professors to “protect them from causing or experiencing discomfort.” [New Yorker]

    * Well, this is an interesting round of musical chairs: Vice Media just poached James H. Schwab, the chairman of the media and entertainment practice group at Paul Weiss, to join the company as co-president. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * Undergrad students at Boston University are trotting out the latest edition of the school’s pre-law review. Feast your eyes upon the genius of future gunners, or don’t, because it’ll help them learn early that no one actually reads law reviews. [BU Today]

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  • Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, Celebrities, Drugs, DUI / DWI, Education / Schools, Law Schools, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Supreme Court

    Morning Docket: 09.30.14

    * “[T]he ‘superstar’ model of Supreme Court advocacy marketing is prevailing”: recent Supreme Court litigation has been dominated by Biglaw and boutiques, and five of them handled about half of last term’s cases. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * It’s not a “done deal” yet, but Albany Law School is in serious talks with the University at Albany to form an affiliation by the end of the year. There’s been no word on whether Albany Law would remain a stand-alone school under the yet-to-be inked arrangement. [Albany Business Review]

    * The dismissal of lawsuits concerning allegedly deceptive employment statistics at several Chicago-area law schools was affirmed by an Illinois appeals court. ::insert sad trombone here:: [National Law Journal]

    * If you’re still thinking about applying to law school for some reason, you might find these tips on what not to write in a personal statement to be useful. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]

    * Amanda Bynes, one of our favorite fading starlets who was already on probation, was arrested this weekend on a DUI charge after stopping her car in the middle of an intersection. [Los Angeles Times]

  • Biglaw, Drugs, Education / Schools, Gambling / Gaming, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Professors, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Trials

    Morning Docket: 09.11.14

    * The justices of Supreme Court of the United States will discuss gay marriage cases from five states during their “long conference” at the end of the month. Which ones will they decide to take? Help us, Justice AMK! [National Law Journal]

    * This law school is having some troubles adjusting to the “new normal.” Not only is its administration planning back-to-back tuition hikes, but it’s asking the state for help with its deficits. Yikes, that’s not good. [The Republic]

    * This Gonzaga Law professor thinks that playing poker is part of having a balanced life. He might not come home with much after his games, but “it’s better than a kick in the head.” [Spokesman-Review]

    * Remember Kent W. Easter, the Biglaw partner who was accused of planting drugs in a school volunteer’s car? During his recent retrial, he was convicted of false imprisonment by fraud and deceit. [OC Weekly]

    * Following a “marathon trial marked by screams, tears, vomit, anger,” Oscar Pistorius has been found negligent, but not guilty of premeditated murder. Expect a final verdict tomorrow, perhaps. [USA Today]

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