Florida International University College of Law

  • Morning Docket: 03.23.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.23.17

    * “You have been very much able to avoid any specificity like no one I have seen before. And maybe that’s a virtue, I don’t know. But for us on this side, knowing where you stand on major questions of the day is really important to a vote.” Despite hours of questioning, Senate Democrats were unable to get Judge Neil Gorsuch to commit to any response beyond researched generalities. At this point, his confirmation seems inevitable. [New York Times]

    * Sure, Biglaw associates want their firms to be more progressive when it comes to flexible working arrangements, but that doesn’t mean they feel comfortable taking advantage of the programs being offered. Per a survey conducted by the Diversity and Flexibility Alliance, only 8.8 percent of lawyers at firms with reduced hours policies actually work reduced hours. We’ll have more on this later today. [Big Law Business]

    * Is this the end of the Swiss verein? While the legal structure has been adopted in almost every major cross-border law firm merger in recent memory, both of the last two transatlantic Biglaw tie-ups opted to use an entity called the company limited by guarantee (CLG). Apparently this legal structure is being favored for new law firm combinations because there are still questions about vereins’ proper use. [Am Law Daily]

    * Dean Alex Acosta of Florida International University School of Law, a man who is better known these days as Trump’s nominee to be the Secretary of Labor, not only says the fiduciary rule requiring retirement investment advisers to put their clients’ interest first goes too far, but indicated that he may decline to defend a rule doubling the salary ceiling under which employees would be eligible for overtime pay. Ouch. [Reuters]

    * Now that Harvard Law has decided to accept applicants’ GRE scores in lieu of their LSAT scores for admissions purposes, other law schools have decided to try the alternative exam on for size. Suffolk Law, for example, launched a study last week and offered students $100 to take the GRE. Suffolk’s dean says that “the mad dash for the GRE is not being driven by declines in applications.” Bless your heart. [Boston Globe]

  • Morning Docket: 09.22.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 09.22.16

    * It’s not always the best law schools whose grads perform the best on the bar exam: For the third year in a row, FIU Law posted the greatest passing percentage out of all Florida law schools. Which one did the worst? We’ll have more on this later. [Miami Herald]

    * “[T]he court will be looking for cases that don’t break along traditional partisan lines. IP cases fit that bill.” With only eight justices, the Supreme Court has shied away from dealing with any hot-button political or social issues this term, instead choosing to deal with business-related cases like intellectual property disputes. [Reuters]

    * According to court documents, New York and New Jersey bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami now has an attorney. David E. Patton, a Sullivan & Cromwell alum who leads the Federal Public Defenders of New York and is known as a “vigorous critic of the criminal justice system,” will be representing the 28-year-old alleged terrorist. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * “We believe there’s really an unmet need here in El Paso to have a law school.” Now that UNT Dallas Law School is struggling to be accredited by the ABA, it’s high time that we open yet another Texas law school. Right now, El Paso Law is just a poorly conceived idea, but it could be a poorly conceived diploma mill in the future. [Texas Lawyer]

    * “We’re competing with people who have been laid off and have five to 10 years of experience.” With loan debt looming large as “the tax you pay for not having a college fund,” law students are slowly but surely adapting to the realities of the “new normal” when it comes to their post-graduation employment options. [Cleveland Scene]

  • Antonin Scalia, Non-Sequiturs, Patents, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Tax Law, Technology

    Non-Sequiturs: 04.08.14

    * Justice Scalia was asked, “Why should society be bound by laws that were passed only by white male property owners?” If you guessed he’d eschew a substantive response in favor of a condescending sarcastic quip, you’re right! [Wall Street Journal] * 2L who based his student government bid around a self-made rap video failed to secure election. He was probably screwed the moment Dr. Dre entered the race. [Daily Business Review] * Nursing home sued for hiring male strippers for patients. Lawsuit aside, wasn't it a bit much to make them dress up like Matlock for their act? [NY Post] * A firm is handing out pairs of Google Glass to clients to record how their injuries impact their daily lives. Next up: a firm specializing in the injuries caused by wearing Google Glass to record how injuries impact daily lives. [Slate] * Big corporations are filing junk patents. Will anyone put a stop to them? Of course not. [Politix] * It’s time to put a stop to shady tax preparers ripping off low-income families. That way low-income families can go back to being ripped off by every other avenue of American society. [New York Times] * Managing your Facebook account can give rise to spoliation. So you’d better be happy with all those pictures you’re tagged in before you get in a legal scrape. [IT-Lex]
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    Non-Sequiturs: 03.31.14

    * A surefire way to make your mom proud of you is to file a funny amicus brief with the Supreme Court, get called out for it in the New York Times, and be lauded by us at Above the Law as having filed the “best amicus brief ever.” [Daily Beast] * Cynthia Brim, a state judge who’s been declared legally insane, wants to return to the judicial bench she’s been suspended from. Hey, you could look at it this way: at least she’d be working for her $182K salary. [Chicago Tribune] * Our readers will be thrilled to know that beginning this year, lawyers will become obsolete. Artificial intelligence will start taking over your jobs within the next six months or so. [Wired] * Join the Fordham OUTLaws for a Transgender Law symposium, co-sponsored by Skadden and the LGBT Bar. One of the panelists, Erin Buzuvis, is an amazing professor from my school. [Fordham Law School] * If you care at all about how well women and minority law students are represented on law reviews, then you’ll want to come to this important event. I’ll be there, and I hope to see you there, too! [Ms. JD] * In case you were wondering, Penn Law successfully beat the crap out of Wharton (in terms of head to head win-loss record) during the 10th annual Wharton vs. Law Fight Night. [Wharton vs. Law: Fight Night] * Meet Anthony Halmon, the second-year student at FIU Law who’s relying on his coolness to rock the vote for the SBA presidency. Check out his rap video, after the jump. [Daily Business Review (reg. req.)]
  • Bar Exams, Breasts, California, Divorce Train Wrecks, Family Law, Kasowitz Benson, Morning Docket, Nancy Grace, Perks / Fringe Benefits, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Women's Issues

    Morning Docket: 09.28.11

    * Not a wardrobe malfunction, my ass. Nancy Grace would sooner allow Casey Anthony to babysit her kids than admit that she had a nip slip on live television. [New York Post] * When you have a “superior legal mind,” it’s easier for your feelings to get hurt. Gregory Berry now claims that Kasowitz Benson […]