Eric Posner

  • Morning Docket: 05.24.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.24.16

    * “Next thing I know he knocks me over backwards, puts the pillow over me and he cuts my throat and stabs me.” Law firm partner Leo Fisher testified yesterday in the trial against Andrew Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of abducting and maliciously wounding him. We’ll have more on this horrifying testimony later. [Washington Post]

    * In a move that’s sure to attract attention (and ire) from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Bayer has offered to buy Monsanto for $62 billion. This may be the largest all-cash takeover in history, so we wonder which law firms will have the pleasure of reaping all the rewards that come with so huge of a deal representation. [Reuters]

    * “Can citizens sue the government over climate change?” Great legal minds are divided over the answer to this question. Constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky says yes, but international law savant Eric Posner says no. Whatever you think is the right answer, it’s time we get more aggressive on this issue. [Room for Debate / New York Times]

    * With Ted Olson quarterbacking Tom Brady’s request for an en banc hearing of his four-game Deflategate suspension before the Second Circuit, perhaps this case has a fighting chance. Patriots fans should be praying, because an en banc hearing could result in their QB’s suspension being stayed for the start of the season. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Victims of the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood attack have filed suit against the clinic, claiming the shooting was both “predictable and preventable.” They say that given the past history of threats of violence against places where abortions are performed, patrons should’ve been alerted that they were at risk of injury or death. [Denver Post]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 12.23.15

    * Yup, this is STILL happening — rape victims being charged for he cost of their rape kits. [Slate]

    * What happens to a university when its law school keeps dragging it down? [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

    * Here come the legal scholars defending the constitutionality of Donald Trump’s dumb ideas. [NBC News]

    * Are you going to get work dumped on you right before the holidays? You are going to get work dumped on you right before the holidays. [Daily Lawyer Tips]

    * NYU is getting a new president — and a $1.1 million renovation to the president’s penthouse. [New York Times]

    * NYPD officer is charged for arresting a man that tried to film him. [Gawker]

    * Being convicted of a felony hasn’t made Dinesh D’Souza love Obama more. [Wonkette]

    * The stigma of mental health issues when you are a lawyer. [Law and More]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 12.17.15

    * Fresh off the heels of a lawyer that was trying to sneak a gun into Disney World, the Mouse has tightened up security measures. I told you he was going to ruin everything. [Chip and Co.]

    * Chicago Law Prof. Eric Posner proposes limiting the First Amendment — no, not over campaign finance reform, but because of ISIS. Ummm, okay? [Slate]

    * What will happen in the legal profession in 2016? Here are 41 guesses. [Business of Law Blog]

    * Overcoming the anxiety of starting at a new firm. [Attorney at Work]

    * Did the 11th Circuit screw up this rule limiting doctors’ ability to speak with their patients about guns? [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

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  • 6th Circuit, Bankruptcy, Gay Marriage, Immigration, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Prisons, Racism

    Non-Sequiturs: 11.07.14

    * U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes approved the deal tossing about $7 billion of Detroit's debt. He declared that it was now time to restore democracy to Detroit. We'll see how that turns out. [The Detroit News] * How many law schools are in dire economic straits? Try 80. [TaxProf Blog] * Professors Eric Posner and Glen Weyl think the answer to global income inequality is low-paid migrant labor. It’s not entirely as crazy as it sounds. But it’s still kinda crazy. [The New Republic] * On the other hand, economic inequality could be greatly exacerbated by technology anyway. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Life imitates Shawshank. [Clarion-Ledger] * Attorney and author Lawrence Otis Graham explains how no amount of economic or educational privilege can fully shield African-Americans from racism. [Washington Post] ** A women's group pledges to stand up for victims of harassment on Twitter. Not to discount some of the vile stuff women are subjected to on Twitter, but it's possible that Twitter is rife with gender-neutral horribleness. [What About Clients] * That Sixth Circuit marriage equality opinion is… well, fundamentally wrong about how constitutional democracy works. [Detroit Free-Press]
  • 2nd Circuit, Billable Hours, Non-Sequiturs, Privacy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shira Scheindlin, Supreme Court

    Non-Sequiturs: 11.07.13

    * The trial of a Utah doctor accused of murdering his wife-to-be with a mistress 20 years his junior has kicked off a battle of medical experts trying to guide the jury through the competing theories about the cause of death. See, this was all easier when you could just introduce a new sister wife into the equation. [The Expert Institute] * Is it acceptable to interrupt Justice Ginsburg’s dinner to show her something on your phone? [Slate (second item)] * Case against Iowa law school for barring a student training a service dog will go forward. They should have just been happy it wasn’t a llama. [Des Moines Register] * This week in clever footnoting: citing The Chairman of the Board in Footnote 2 (page 17). [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit] * Professor Eric Posner reviews Professor Rahul Sagar’s new book, Secrets and Leaks (affiliate link), which posits that people may be overreacting when they call for tearing down the NSA. [The New Republic] * Jay Edelson and his associate Chandler Givens explain why the billable hour is the first thing that must go. Don’t they mean “Reason Number 1″ to reform the legal profession? [Reuters Legal Solutions] * Judge Scheindlin is lawyering up, and Bloomberg looks at the various legal experts — including our own David Lat — who have spoken out about the case. Video embedded after the jump… [Bloomberg Law via You Tube]
  • Elena Kagan, Fashion, Labor / Employment, Mergers and Acquisitions, Non-Sequiturs, Patents, Securities and Exchange Commission, Supreme Court

    Non-Sequiturs: 06.13.13

    * How often are you sitting around wondering about all the legal ins-and-outs of the assassination of James Garfield? Wonder no more. [The Legal Geeks] * A love poem with citations to the U.C.C. You know, if you never plan on getting laid again. [Law Poetry] * Justice Kagan dials 867-5309. [Slate] * Underage models in New York are now covered by child labor laws. In related news, American Apparel stops making any ads whatsoever. [Fashionista] * When a bank nixes your merger, just go ahead and do it another way and bury the bank’s opinion. There’s not much the SEC can do about it anyway. [Dealbreaker] * Pepper Hamilton’s Nina Gussack is making it rain. [The Careerist] * Eric Posner has no beef with the NSA. [Constitutional Daily] * States: The New (Patent) Troll Slayers [Slate]