Fifth Circuit

Names, names, and more names, for federal judgeships around the country.

* An interesting look at the life and career of Gloria Allred — who has litigated groundbreaking civil rights cases as well as TMZ fodder. [Coverage Opinions]

* Lawyer Jose Baez intends to investigate the death of his client Aaron Hernandez, who was found dead in his prison cell after apparently hanging himself. [Deadspin]

* Footnote of the day (gavel bang: Raffi Melkonian aka @RMFifth Circuit). [Twitter]

* Professor Jonathan Adler still has doubts about the Emoluments Clause lawsuit against President Trump (although it’s much stronger now, thanks to some additional plaintiffs). [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* Professor Glenn Reynolds has some doubts about diversity (although I suspect he strongly supports intellectual diversity). [Instapundit]

* Professor Ann Althouse has her doubts about… Democrats (even though she has voted for more Democrats than Republicans over the years). [Althouse]

* And Professor Eugene Volokh has his doubts about the constitutionality of this order. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* In honor of national haiku poetry day, here are some verses from Dean Dan Rodriguez of Northwestern Law. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Congrats to the ACLU of Massachusetts, the national ACLU, the state public defender’s office, and Fick & Marx LLP on a huge and historic win! [ACLU]

There is clearly tension in the Trump administration over LGBTQ rights.

* The Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, rules that Texas’s voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act by having discriminatory effects on minority voters (but remands on the issue of discriminatory purpose). [How Appealing]

* It appears that yes, Roger Ailes is on his way out at Fox News — thanks in part to the work of lawyers from Paul, Weiss. [New York Times]

* Matt and Melissa Graves, the parents whose two-year-old son was killed by an alligator at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort, will not be suing Disney. [Washington Post]

* Congratulations to exoneree Jarrett Adams, who served nearly eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit, on his admission to the New York bar. [ABA Journal]

* Republican VP nominee Mike Pence is a lawyer, and his Democratic counterpart probably will be as well: shortlisters Tim Kaine, Thomas Perez, and Tom Vilsack are all lawyers, and James Stavridis is a law dean. [New York Times]

* A California man gets convicted in a plot to kill two prosecutors, two FBI agents, and federal judge Andrew Guilford — with a wood chipper. [Los Angeles Times via ABA Journal]

* A New York appeals court affirms a ruling in favor of Boies Schiller in a malpractice suit brought by fashion model Mary Anne Fletcher. [Big Law Business]

* A bit more about former Attorney General Eric Holder’s work for Airbnb (a development we noted yesterday). [American Lawyer]

Ted Cruz really argued the important issues while Solicitor General of Texas...

* An in-depth look at Netflix’s most lovable lawyer, Foggy Nelson. [Netflix Life]

* Berkeley Law is not alone in dealing with scandals. Where is Olivia Pope when you need her? [Law and More]

* Wasting time, but churning bills, creating PDFs. [Daily Lawyer Tips]

* Environmental law will never be the same now that Justice Scalia’s dead. Mother Nature, for one, is grateful. [Huffington Post]

* Court rules there is no constitutional right to BDSM. [Slate]

* A battle over Texas’s voter ID law is coming back to the Fifth Circuit, just in time for the 2016 election. And if the Supreme Court stays split in its presumed 4-4 breakdown, the Fifth Circuit could get the final word on the law. [The Atlantic]

* A fascinating look inside the shady business of wrangling amicus briefs. [Chicago Tribune]

* Is Camille Paglia flirting with Donald Trump support? [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Corporate lawyers agree: leaving a vacancy on the Supreme Court is a terrible idea. [Wall Street Journal]

Lawyer tries to get cute in his briefing and gets mocked hard.

This judge is so above partisan reproach that it would be, frankly, embarrassing for the Senate Republicans to stand in the way of holding a confirmation hearing.

Judge Richard Posner is the Republican-appointed judge we need on the Supreme Court. He may not be the one we deserve, and will almost certainly not be the one we get, but it is fun to imagine.

* Which Biglaw firm is going to be changing up the way that it recruits new attorneys? That would be Quinn Emanuel. It’s planning to majorly scale back on summer associates and do something completely different. We’ll have more on this news later today. [WSJ Law Blog]

* An undergrad who once had high hopes for law school decided to ditch his legal aspirations in favor of stand-up comedy. His mom is mad since it’s a “path that has no specific stability.” She obviously hasn’t read up on law school job stats lately. [Indy Channel]

* Justice Kennedy should consider trading in his robes for a superhero’s cape, because he just swooped in to the rescue, again. With a 5-4 vote, SCOTUS stayed the Fifth Circuit’s decision regarding the closure of the majority of abortion clinics in Texas. [NPR]

* Damn you, Dewey leaders! Per recent testimony in the criminal trial of the failed firm’s former top brass, but for news of the criminal probe spreading like wildfire throughout the profession, D&L could’ve merged with any number of firms to save itself. [Am Law Daily]

* Some pretty major firms think they have better things to spend their Biglaw bucks on than donations to legal aid organizations. Only five firms were willing to publicly disclose more than $1 million in donations. [DealBook / New York Times via American Lawyer]

* Everyone’s a winner at Nixon Peabody, especially the millennials! The firm is doing away with the corner-office model in favor of office space reminiscent of that of tech companies, where everyone’s offices — from paralegals to partners — are the same size. [Washington Post]

* A former North Dakota Law student is suing the school, as well as several administrators and professors, because he alleges they dismissed him via email in May due to problems with his application. Man, that’s almost as harsh as a break-up text. [WDAZ]

* Justice Kennedy knows a lot of people who are gay, but that doesn’t mean he’ll recognize a constitutional right to same-sex marriage just because of his circle of friends and colleagues. He’ll likely do it because he knows “how meaningful this is.” [New York Times]

* The Supreme Court is currently considering an emergency appeal out of Texas after the Fifth Circuit refused to stay a decision that would all but close the vast majority of abortion facilities in the state. Give this law the good old coat hanger, SCOTUS. [Associated Press]

* Last week, Justice Kennedy basically invited litigants to challenge the constitutionality of solitary confinement because it “exacts a terrible price.” Step right up and become one of the first to test the power of the SCOTUS swing vote on this issue. [Los Angeles Times]

* “Having a woman leader is no longer exceptional.” The number of women law school deans is on the rise. They make up 40 percent of incoming law school leadership, and currently comprise 30 percent of all law deans. Nice work! [National Law Journal]

* After pleading guilty to a felony count of vehicular manslaughter back in March, California lawyer Hasti Fakhrai-Bayrooti was recently sentenced to four years in prison for killing a cyclist while driving high on prescription drugs Xanax and Suboxone. [Daily Mail]

* A divided Fifth Circuit panel delivered bad news for President Obama on immigration today. [How Appealing]

* Want to track the Dewey & LeBoeuf criminal case in real time? Dewey have a resource for you: the liveblog of Law360. [Law360]

* Benchslap of the Day (from Judge Beth Bloom): “A rose by any other name may smell as sweet…. People, not so much.” [Southern District of Florida]

* Another must-read graduation speech: at Seton Hall, outgoing dean Pat Hobbs surprised each graduate with a gift package: a McDonald’s happy meal gift card, a Mega Millions lottery ticket, and a quarter for calling him if times get tough. (For other graduation gift ideas, see our ATL gift guide.) [Seton Hall Law School]

* Why lawyers shouldn’t take the “kitchen sink” approach to their clients’ affirmative defenses. [Angry Asian Man]

* Is San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe going easy on a sheriff’s deputy accused of wrongdoing? [San Jose Mercury News]

* Need something to listen to for your next commute or trip to the gym? Check out my chat with Shearman & Sterling partner Richard Hsu about Above the Law, Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link), and more. [Hsu Untied]

A high-profile judge prevails against her critics.

* The Fifth Circuit is allowing the Texas voter ID law to be enforced during the upcoming election, even though it was recently struck down by a federal judge. After all, “preserving the status quo” is very important down south. [Bloomberg]

* We suppose that’s why the Supreme Court stepped in to make sure that abortion clinics in Texas were allowed to reopen following their shut down. Take that, Fifth Circuit. [New York Times]

* AG Eric Holder is showing off some fancy legal footwork before he walks out the door. Federal prosecutors can no longer ask defendants to waive their IAC claims when pleading guilty. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Davis Polk & Wardwell is a Biglaw firm where hotties roam, and it looks like this top Justice Department prosecutor who started his career there is returning home there to roost. [DealBook / New York Times]

* It’s the debt: With headlines like “Law school applications plummet – at U of L too,” the University of Louisville School of Law can’t even convince alums from its undergrad school to attend. [Courier-Journal]

* Amal Alamuddin changed her name to Amal Clooney on her firm’s website. It’s as if she wants to rub the fact that she’s a human rights lawyer who just got married in everyone’s face. [New York Daily News]

* Since SCOTUS punted on same-sex marriage, people in states where gay marriage bans still exist are wondering when it will be their turn. It’s just a waiting game from here on out. [USA Today]

* Babies wait for no one: a pregnant lesbian couple fighting the Texas ban on gay marriage filed an usual request asking that the Fifth Circuit hurry up and schedule arguments. [WSJ Law Blog]

* The “puff, puff, pass” defense? Robel Phillipos, friend of accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, claims he was so high during the aftermath he can’t remember a thing. [Bloomberg]

* When should you apply to law school? When you can get into a top school, have clear career objectives, and won’t have to take out loans. You’re preaching to the choir. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* A Burger King customer is suing because he claims the restaurant’s manager attacked him with a knife and a Taser. This all allegedly happened over some cold onion rings, of course. [New York Daily News]

What do abortion and Ebola have in common?

* SCOTUS justices added 11 cases to this term’s docket yesterday following their megaconference earlier this week. Alas, no same-sex marriage cases have been added yet. [New York Times]

* The Fifth Circuit allowed Texas to enforce its new abortion clinic restrictions. The only thing that will stop its “devastating impact on abortion access” is SCOTUS intervention. [MSNBC]

* Two more women just joined the ranks of the highest tier of Biglaw firm leadership. Congrats to Jami Wintz McKeon of Morgan Lewis and Therese Pritchard of Bryan Cave. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Gibson Dunn poached a prominent partner from U.K. firm Ashurst following his fall from grace as its leader last year. He’s thrilled to work for “one of the strongest U.S. firms around.” [Am Law Daily]

* The Thomas Jefferson School of Law may be “California’s worst-performing law school,” but it certainly performs well in terms of providing entertainment for those who are big fans of schadenfreude. [City Journal]

* Many schools pay their grads to count them as employed — but not UNC Law. Its career services office is aware that “jobs don’t grow on trees,” but hey, at least they’re trying to be transparent. [Daily Tar Heel]

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The concept of “critical mass” highlights a weakness in most college admissions policies.

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