Free Speech

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.31.16

* The ABA Forum on Communications Law will publish First Amendment lawyer Susan Seager's Donald Trump "libel bully" article, despite its reservations about doing so -- reservations that resulted in a media firestorm. The ABA said the following: "Hopefully, this matter will shine a light on the problem of frivolous lawsuits that turn the justice system into a weapon that has a chilling effect on free speech." [ABA Journal] * Uh-oh! Following the abrupt departure of four of its senior partners, King & Wood Mallesons has opted to pause its partner recapitalization plan in order to reassess its financial footing. The firm believes it will take about four weeks to complete that process. "If I was a partner there I would be pretty worried," said a former partner. [Legal Week] * "I never thought that my restroom use would ever turn into any kind of national debate." The Supreme Court has taken up its first true transgender rights case. Many fear that the justices may return a 4-4 deadlock decision that will not create a nationwide precedent, but in that case, the Fourth Circuit's decision would be left in place. [Reuters] * "If these guys think they’re going to stonewall the filling of that vacancy..., then a Democratic Senate majority will say, 'We’re not going to let you thwart the law.'" Vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine says that should he and his running mate win the election, then his party will try to eliminate SCOTUS filibuster rules. [Huffington Post] * The Justice Department and "election year sensitivities": Some people are wondering why FBI Director James Comey decided to announce he'd essentially reopened the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails -- but had he waited to disclose the information, the FBI's credibility could have been called into question. [WSJ Law Blog] * James Gilliland Jr., Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton intellectual property litigation partner, RIP. We'll have more on his untimely death later today. [CBS San Francisco]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.14.16

* A useful new resource for journalists, media lawyers, and anyone else interested in libel law -- from Charles Glasser, another lawyer who successfully called Donald Trump's bluff (as the New York Times just did). [LexisNexis] * Relatedly, Marc Randazza discusses the phenomenon of the libel-proof plaintiff. [Popehat] * The Florida Supreme Court just declared the death penalty unconstitutional. So that's a thing. [NPR] * The duty to warn in the Marvel Universe -- does Luke Cage need to tell his attackers that they're about to break their hands punching him? [The Legal Geeks] * Interesting... law schools have really cut back on the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference. Almost 60 fewer schools in attendance. [PrawfsBlawg] * Using algorithms for sentencing? Just in case you wanted to introduce flash crashes to criminal justice. [Medium] * Meticulous deep dive into the Apple v. Samsung oral argument. If Samsung paid this much attention to detail they probably may not have exploding phones. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Mike Papantonio's got a new show coming to RT next month: America's Lawyer. [RT]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.29.16

* “The ballot-selfie prohibition is like 'burn[ing down] the house to roast the pig.'" Just in time for Election 2016, the First Circuit has struck down New Hampshire's ballot selfie ban as unconstitutional, citing the fact that it curtailed voters' free speech, and on top of that, the state was unable to identify any complaints of vote buying or intimidation. [POLITICO] * Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed probate judges to adhere to the state's ban on same-sex marriage, even after the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling, says the ethics charges he faces are "ridiculous" since he never "encourage[d] anyone to defy a federal court or state court order." [WSJ Law Blog] * Wiley Rein lost two practice group leaders to DLA Piper this week. The firm, known for its media, telecom, government contracts, and IP practices, no longer has partners in charge of its telecom group or its wireless group, but it claims these departures were anticipated, and the practice groups were merged ahead of time. [Big Law Business] * Cha-ching! The Caesars bankruptcy is ending, which means the "fee frenzy" for lawyers who were working on the case is about to dry up as well. Nine law firms have been involved in the case since the company first filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and hundreds of millions of dollars of legal fees have already been assessed. [Am Law Daily] * Many jurisdictions adopted the Uniform Bar Exam for the July 2016 administration of the bar exam, and it seems like it may have had the opposite effect on test-takers than what was intended. Graduates of this law school saw their bar exam passage rate drop by 13 percent since last year. We'll have more on this later today. [Albequerque Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 09.15.16

* A considered case for pardoning Edward Snowden by Timothy Edgar, who was on the team responsible during the George W. Bush administration for determining that most of the secret surveillance programs had a firm basis in law. [Lawfare] * The Virginia Supreme Court denied an effort by Republican legislators to find Governor McAuliffe in contempt over an effort to restore voting rights to felons. [Richmond Times-Dispatch] * The "Urban Cowboy" threatens to sue New York City. Most importantly, he's lawyered up with Richard Luthmann, the Staten Island lawyer who previously sought trial by combat. This should be fun. [Gothamist] * An omnibus look at what the election means for the courts. Beyond Justice Peter Thiel, of course. [Law.com] * Many University of Chicago professors have denounced the "no safe spaces" publicity stunt from a few weeks ago, but the law school has largely missed the point of the dispute stayed out of the fray. [WSJ Law Blog] * You don't see many paeans to the Lochner era, but here's one. [Library of Law and Liberty] * Oregon has settled with Oracle over the state's troubled health exchange. [Oregonlive] * Walking meetings improve productivity. Yeah, I've watched West Wing reruns too. [TaxProf Blog] * ATL Editor Kathryn Rubino talks politics on the latest Today's Verdict. [BronxNet]

By Joe Patrice