Like It Or Not, The Left Still Loves The Supreme Court
Possible Hillary slogan: "It's the Supreme Court, stupid!"
First Monday Musings By Dean Vik Amar: Reflections On Judge Posner’s ‘Divergent Paths’
Some of Judge Posner's points are clearly correct; in other cases, the situation is more complicated than he seems to appreciate.
AI Is Killing Legal’s Billable Hour. It’s Also Repeating Its Worst Mistake
Law firms and legal departments are writing the future of the profession in separate rooms. What happens when they actually work together?
Should Judges Write Their Own Opinions Or Leave Drafting To Their Law Clerks?
With all due respect to Judge Posner, there's nothing wrong with judges delegating drafting to their clerks.
Judging The Judges: Who Are the Most-Cited New Jurists On The Federal Bench?
Which federal judges get the most attention from their bench-mates: the prodigies born in the ‘70s, or the late bloomers approaching their own seventies?
Confused Law Student Applies For Job With Federal Court That Doesn’t Exist
Holy crap. This is embarrassing.
Morning Docket: 03.16.15
* Last week in court, a murder suspect in Louisiana apparently pooped his pants during a case status hearing, wiped said poop all over his face, and muttered to himself that "life is like a box of chocolates." Sorry about that crappy candy, dude. [New Orleans Advocate] * According to early Am Law 100 data, New York's most elite and prestigious firms have once again broken away from the rest of the pack when it comes to both revenue and partner profits. Biglaw's best may be back to models and bottles. [Am Law Daily] * Michelle Lee, the first woman to ever serve as director of the USPTO, was sworn in on stage at SXSW Interactive. Michelle Lee, who worked with the Girl Scouts to issue a patent patch (instead of more makeup and sewing patches), is pretty damn awesome. [Mashable] * The federal judiciary has plans to decrease the word limit of appellate briefs from 14,000 to 12,500, and lawyers are pissed. Lawyers from Brown Rudnick say it could result in more acronyms, confusing construction, and less "punctilious citation,” oh my! [WSJ Law Blog] * Lee Smolen, the ex-Sidley Austin partner who faked $69,000 in travel expenses while at the firm (and possibly $379K more), has been suspended from practice for one year and will have to undergo psychiatric treatment. [Legal Profession Blog via ABA Journal] * Taking New York's lead, California is considering requiring all would-be attorneys in the state to complete 50 hours of pro bono work within one year of being admitted. Leave it to people who don't know what they're doing yet to close the justice gap. [Los Angeles Times]
Schenck Price Competes Smarter With Lexis+ With Protégé
LexisNexis sat down with John Ursin, Managing Partner at Schenck Price, to learn how the firm is using legal AI to strengthen client service and daily legal work.
Non-Sequiturs: 12.18.14
* 3D printing and lightsabers and intellectual property. [Concurring Opinions] * Speaking of IP law, let's talk Santa Claus and intellectual property. [Trademark & Copyright Law Blog / Foley Hoag LLP] * "ExamExtensionGate" stirs up conservatives, but also a lot of liberal to moderate Boomers, because... "Lazy Millennials!" Forgetting of course that law students in the 1960s did the exact same thing. But those were mostly white kids talking about Vietnam, so it's like... different, man. [PrawfsBlawg] * If you're excited to hear this year's annual report on the federal judiciary and can't hardly wait until Chief Justice Roberts unleashes it upon the world, perhaps you can sate your appetite with this prebuttal. [Fix the Court] * The Texas judge who kicked a lawyer out of court for thoughtlessly appearing with a broken leg has earned the ire of the Dallas legal community. [Legal Juice] * More than 70 years later, a judge concludes that South Carolina shouldn't have executed a 14-year-old based on a one-day trial. Took ya long enough. [WTOP] * Interesting academic piece on Muslims in the Antebellum South. In other news, there were Muslims in the Antebellum South. [The Faculty Lounge]
Morning Docket: 12.05.14
* A former Cleary Gottlieb associate will be a very rich man after The Lending Club, the company he founded post-Biglaw, completes its IPO. [American Lawyer] * Marriage equality won't arrive in Mississippi just yet. [How Appealing] * The federal civil rights investigation into the death of Eric Garner could complicate Loretta Lynch's nomination to serve as attorney general. [New York Times] * In other news about excessive use of force by police, the U.S. Department of Justice just blasted Cleveland's department for abysmal record-keeping about such incidents. [Cleveland Plain Dealer] * And what does possible 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton think about police abuses? [New York Times] * Non-random appellate panels in the federal courts are far more common than you might think, reports Alison Frankel. [Reuters via How Appealing] * A smart and thoughtful review by Rosemarie Yu of my new book, Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link). [New York Law Journal] * Eugene Ingoglia, one of the S.D.N.Y. prosecutors who helped send Harvard Law cheater Mathew Martoma to prison, will be joining Morvillo LLP as a partner. [DealBook / New York Times] * Former federal government lawyer Michael Richter: "It’s Not Top-Secret If You Can Google It." [Wall Street Journal] * Congratulations to eBrevia, a legal technology company we've previously profiled, on raising $1.5 million in seed funding. [Law Technology News]
Morning Docket: 03.27.14
* The federal judiciary is hiring for staff and public defender positions lost during the government’s sequestration throughout the better part of last year. Ready, aim, fire those résumés! [Legal Times] * New York Biglaw firms always manage to find their way to the top of the Am Law 100 rankings. When all’s said and done, being so close to Wall Street definitely has its perks. [Bloomberg Businessweek] * Absolutely no one should be alarmed about the fact that Kasowitz Benson’s profits per partner have dropped by 15 percent — well, no one but the equity partners, that is. Have fun with that. [Am Law Daily] * The managing partner of Jacoby & Meyers is worried people will think his personal injury firm is going under, not Jacoby & Meyers Bankruptcy. Either way, those commercials won’t die. [New York Law Journal] * A professor at George Mason University Law was pepper sprayed IN THE FAAAAAACE by an unknown assailant in his classroom yesterday afternoon. We’ll obvious have more on this story later. [ARLNow] * La Verne is the first law school to offer flat-rate tuition. There will be no scholarships and no discounts. Students will pay $25K/year, nothing more, nothing less. This is, dare we say, wise. [National Law Journal] * “Passion over pension.” Mekka Don, the Weil Gotshal corporate lit attorney turned rapper, just released his first CD, and it’s all about leaving Biglaw to follow his dreams. Go buy it here (affiliate link). [MTV]
‘Give This Man A Federal Judgeship’: A Review Of ‘The Nominee’ By Leslie Southwick
Want an inside look at the judicial confirmation process? Tamara Tabo reviews Judge Southwick's new memoir.
Opus 2 Steps Up Its AI Game With Acquisition Of A Legal Tech Startup
With the addition of Uncover’s technology, the litigation software is delivering rapid innovation.
Marco Rubio Single-Handedly Blocks Nomination Of Black, Gay Federal Judge
Forget the filibuster; there are other ways to block judicial nominees.
Morning Docket: 01.02.14
* In his year-end report, Chief Justice Roberts politely asked Congress to make it rain on the federal judiciary in fiscal year 2014, because “[t]he future would be bleak” without additional funding. [Reuters] * Utah finally asked for Supreme Court intervention in its quest to stop gay couples from marrying, but Justice Sotomayor wants a response from the other side before she weighs in. WWSSD? [BuzzFeed] * Perhaps Justice Sotomayor saw the humor in this: she just gave a group of nuns a temporary reprieve from having to give out birth control to a bunch of women who have taken vows of chastity. [Bloomberg] * Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Steven Davis? Oh boy, Dewey have some news for you! The failed firm’s former chairman is now the chief legal representative for Ras al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. [WSJ Law Blog] * “The Second Amendment does not preclude reasonable regulation.” A judge upheld the majority of New York’s new gun laws as constitutional. Opponents are ready to lock and load on appeal. [New York Times] * Just because your law school isn’t ranked, it doesn’t mean you can’t dream big. Case in point: one of this year’s Skadden Fellows will graduate from John Marshall (Chicago) this spring. [National Law Journal] * Reema Bajaj, the attorney who pleaded guilty to a prostitution charge, decided that she wasn’t in the mood to ride this Johnson any longer. Like her panties, the case has been dropped. [Daily Chronicle]
Morning Docket: 12.31.13
* Barack Obama is trailing George W. Bush when it comes to leaving his mark on the federal courts, but that’s probably because Senate Democrats didn’t go nuclear quickly enough. [Blog of Legal Times] * When it comes to 2013, one thing’s for sure: it wasn’t boring. Many of this year’s movers and shakers hailed from top Am Law 100 law firms — like Ted Cruz (formerly of Morgan Lewis). [American Lawyer] * John Ray III isn’t going to sit back and allow a jury to shut down his discrimination and retaliation case against Ropes & Gray. He filed a notice of appeal last week, and he’s pissed off. [National Law Journal] * Utah has until the end of January to figure out how it’s going to go about defending its same-sex marriage ban before the Tenth Circuit. Just a thought: the “it's still gay, even if the balls don’t touch” theory of law isn’t going to cut it. [Deseret News] * A lawyer for the Texas judge accused of strangling his girlfriend is offering media outlets a superb defense story on behalf of his client. He wasn’t trying to kill her, he was trying to save her! [New York Daily News] * Here’s some advice on how to submit your law school application on time. If you don’t know how to meet a deadline, you’re going to make a great lawyer. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
And Was His Honor ‘Stoked’ As Well?
What does a prominent federal judge think of the end of the filibuster for most presidential nominees?
Underneath Their Robes, Indeed
Would you "rat out" your daughter to obtain a federal judgeship?