Gay Marriage
-
Biglaw, Billable Hours, David Boies, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Email Scandals, Facebook, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Patton Boggs, SCOTUS, Student Loans, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
Morning Docket: 03.27.13
* With SCOTUS justices questioning standing in the Prop 8 case, and one even stating that gay marriage is newer than cell phones and the internet, you can guess where the decision is headed. [New York Times]
* “This badge of inequality must be extinguished.” With men like Ted Olson and David Boies representing the plaintiffs in Prop 8, at least we can say that they fought the good fight. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* OMG, remember when DLA Piper allegedly overbilled a client and got dragged through the mud over scandalous emails? Now the firm says they were totally joking. So cray. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Less than a month after handing out pink slips across multiple offices, Patton Boggs named a new managing partner in New York who just so happens to be a Dewey defector. Ominous. [Am Law Daily]
* These are great tips on negotiating financial aid, but try this: tell admissions you’ll happily enroll elsewhere, and watch them throw cash at you. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]
* It looks like Paul Ceglia’s zany misadventures in being fired as a client by Biglaw firms and suing Facebook may finally be at an end thanks this scathing 155-page recommendation of dismissal. [CNET]
-
Anthony Kennedy, California, Constitutional Law, David Boies, Gay, Gay Marriage, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, Solicitor General's Office, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
The Proposition 8 Supreme Court Arguments: Standing and Standing
How early did Supreme Court bar members have to arrive to make it into the courtroom for the Prop 8 arguments? What was the atmosphere like before the arguments began? - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
California, Constitutional Law, Gay, Gay Marriage, Pictures, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
The Proposition 8 Supreme Court Arguments: A Photo Essay
What was the scene like at the U.S. Supreme Court for today's arguments in the Proposition 8 case? Here are some photos.
-
Antonin Scalia, Benchslaps, California, Constitutional Law, Gay, Gay Marriage, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
One Supreme Benchslap, Coming Right Up!
Did you seriously think you could get away with asking Justice Scalia a rhetorical question during oral arguments? -
Gay, Gay Marriage, Morning Docket, SCOTUS
Morning Docket: 03.26.13
* Amanda Knox is free, but could be retried. Can’t wait to see her Craigslist roommate ad. [New York Times] * The budget deal still screws over the courts. [National Law Journal] * You know, in 20 years, Republicans are going to be telling us that the federal government’s pot taxes are too high. [Washington […]
-
California, Gay, Gay Marriage, John Roberts, Lesbians, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Even Supreme Court Justices Have Lesbian Cousins
But which justice is it? -
Abortion, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, California, Constitutional Law, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 03.25.13
* Many have compared the possible outcome of the gay marriage cases to the Roe v. Wade decision, saying that constitutionalizing the right to gay marriage will create a similar culture war. Relax, bro, your bigotry is showing. You won’t be any less married if everyone has equal rights, promise. [New York Times]
* Everyone thought Justice Kennedy was going to be the deciding voice in the Obamacare case, and that didn’t happen, but when it comes to the future of gay marriage, in the words of RuPaul, Kennedy’s got the right amount of “charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent” to save the day (at least as far as California’s Proposition 8 is concerned). [Sacramento Bee]
* Meanwhile, people waiting in line outside of the Supreme Court in the hopes of grabbing one of the 50 seats reserved for the public like it’s a Black Friday sale outside of Walmart. Unemployed law grads, just think, you could be getting paid to sleep outside in a tent right now! [The Caucus / New York Times]
* Modern-day legal education is a “failure” in the eyes of this Supreme Court justice. Now don’t get it twisted, Scalia wasn’t referring to the post-graduate employment crisis that we’ve all come know and loathe — he just thinks we need fewer “law and [insert bullsh*t here]“ classes. [Portsmouth Herald]
* Dewey know when we’ll be able to retire this punny phrasing? Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight because more than a dozen former partners (including John Altorelli of spy-shagging fame) are still clinging to their claims that the failed firm’s estate owes them money. [Am Law Daily]
* Seeing as Widener’s motion to dismiss as to its allegedly deceptive job statistics was denied, it looks like there’s still time to rally behind the law school litigation cause. Someone on Team Strauss/Anziska needs to go all William Wallace and inspire more would-be plaintiffs to sue. [Law 360 (sub. req.)]
-
Gay, Gay Marriage, Religion, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
And Stick Pins Into Voodoo Dolls of Ted Olson and Don Verrilli
Praying for a miracle: that both Ted Olson and Don Verrilli have a bad day in court next week. - Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Biglaw, Elena Kagan, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Professors, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms, Morning Docket, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Securities and Exchange Commission, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 03.20.13
* OMG! Get ready to have a lawgasm, because the Supreme Court is going to be releasing same-day audio recordings from oral arguments during next week’s gay marriage cases: Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. [National Law Journal]
* “Way to go, Justice.” Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan work out with a personal trainer who’s got a client list that would make Article III Groupie swoon — and he just so happens to be a records manager at D.C.’s federal court. [Washington Post]
* Debevoise & Plimpton’s littlest litigatrix, Mary Jo White, sailed her way through the Senate Banking Committee with a vote of 21-to-1. Her nomination to lead the SEC will now head to the full Senate. [DealBook / New York Times]
* “Our 2012 numbers aren’t as good as we would have liked.” Gee, ya think? From attorney headcount to gross revenue to profits per partner, just about everything was down in 2012 for Fried Frank. [Am Law Daily]
* Eckert Seamans will be merging with Sterns & Weinroth, adding 17 partners and seven associates to its ranks. Someone please come up with the semen joke so I don’t have to. [Philadelphia Business Journal]
* As if Inside the Law School Scam weren’t candid enough, Professor Paul Campos sat down for an interview to discuss how to make an informed decision when considering law school. [U.S. News & World Report]
-
American Bar Association / ABA, Antonin Scalia, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Civil Rights, Department of Justice, Election Law, Federal Government, Gay, Gay Marriage, Gender, Labor / Employment, Lindsay Lohan, Loeb & Loeb, Money, Morning Docket, Paul Clement, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Olson, Trusts and Estates, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 03.19.13
* President Obama nominated Thomas Perez, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, to be the next secretary of labor. Republicans, of course, are all butthurtt, calling this a “needlessly divisive nomination.” [New York Times]
* Let’s get ready to RUMBLE! Be prepared to see some legal heavyweights next week when the Prop 8 and DOMA cases are argued before the Supreme Court, including Paul Clement and Ted Olson. [National Law Journal]
* How appropriate that Justice Scalia should break out the Spanglish for an Arizona voter registration law that requires proof of U.S. citizenship. Our beloved Wise Latina probably wasn’t too thrilled by this. [New York Times]
* To promote pay equity in law firms, the ABA is encouraging bar groups to hold conferences on the topic. The question on everyone’s minds, of course, is whether those conferences are billable. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Law schools aren’t the only places where transparency is lacking. Jeh Johnson, the DOD’s former general counsel, thinks the secrecy swirling around drone strikes is bad for the government. [At War / New York Times]
* The members of Debevoise’s displaced trusts and estates practice team have been picked up by Loeb & Loeb. Enjoy your new home, and your new — presumably lower — compensation package. [Am Law Daily]
* Lindsay Lohan took a plea deal yesterday, and instead of going to jail, she’ll be going to rehab to be kept under lock and key for 90 days. I’d say this is bad for her career, but who are we kidding? [Los Angeles Times]
* Casey Anthony’s trustee just answered my prayers. He wants the ex-MILF to sell her story to pay off her debts. I demand that LiLo be cast in the role! She’s the only one broken enough to pull it off. [Washington Post]
-
Gay Marriage, Guns / Firearms, Law Professors, Non-Sequiturs, Police
Non-Sequiturs: 03.15.13
* Republican Senator Rob Portman announces his support for gay marriage after learning that his son is gay. Yay! Let’s all celebrate him for meeting the lowest threshold of human decency once he found a purely selfish reason to change. [ABC News] * Wait, they can declare martial law in Brooklyn? I thought they could only do that in terrible movies. [Before It's News] * A Southern District of Florida clerk is named one of Southern Florida’s most eligible bachelors. Our bachelor “claims to be the other white meat” and to “have a lot in common with Christian Grey.” He doesn’t sound douchey at all. [Brickell Magazine (jump to page 91)] * Comparing Chicago Law faculty to Game of Thrones characters produces surprisingly accurate results. [UChilawgo] * With law schools raising tuition and the profession shrinking… more people need to rush to law school. Keep sipping that sweet, sweet Kool-Aid, buddy. [Daily Princetonian] * GW Law’s Barrister’s Ball — $2500 fee for vomiting! [GW Law SBA] * Watch Elie talk about Wayne LaPierre and guns. [HuffPost Live] * University of Oregon Property professor doesn’t understand “property,” snatches student’s phone. Click through the jump to see more video of what happens when law professors and hippies clash! [Photography Is Not a Crime] -
Biglaw, Contract Attorneys, David Boies, Gay Marriage, Job Searches, Law Schools, Layoffs, Lindsay Lohan, Money, Morning Docket, New Jersey, Public Interest, Rankings, SCOTUS, Student Loans, Supreme Court, U.S. News
Morning Docket: 03.14.13
* Celebrated litigator David Boies thinks the Supreme Court is going to rule in favor of gay marriage in a united front — which is helpful, since in March he’s arguing in favor of gay marriage in the Prop 8 case. [USA Today]
* “What we had to do was do more with less.” Archer & Greiner had to lay off 14 attorneys and 27 staffers thanks to the firm’s rapid overexpansion via mergers. This is why we can’t have nice things. [New Jersey Law Journal]
* In New York / Concrete jungle where dreams are made of / There’s nothing you can’t do / Now you’re in New York / Law deans will try to inspire you / But rankings will ruin you / Hear it for New York! [New York Law Journal]
* If you’d like to save the world by working a public-interest job, you’d better consider Penn Law. Its LRAP now covers all IBR loan payments over 10 years for a total savings of up to $140,000. [National Law Journal]
* But then again, if you’re not interested in public-interest work, you can always get a temp job, where you’ll allegedly make as much as “a mid-level associate at a small or medium firm.” [U.S. News & World Report]
* Because Lindsay Lohan’s lawyer was called out by a judge for a performance that was almost as piss poor in his client’s in Liz & Dick, he contacted a local firm to step in and assist him. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times]
-
Biglaw, Gay, Gay Marriage, Quote of the Day
Not All Bingham Staffers Will Be Getting Lucky in Kentucky
This Biglaw firm supports gay marriage, but the state where its new global services center is located does not. Thoughts?
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
-
Biglaw, California, Department of Justice, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Layoffs, Military / Military Law, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Patton Boggs, Romance and Dating, SCOTUS, Secretaries / Administrative Assistants, Staff Layoffs, Student Loans, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 03.01.13
* In the nick of time, lawyers for the Obama administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging the justices to strike down California’s ban on gay marriage. Let’s hope their views have evolved. [BuzzFeed]
* As the lawyers and administrative staff who just got laid off at Patton Boggs can attest to, it sucks to be on the wrong side of “rightsizing.” We’ll have more on this developing story later today. [Reuters]
* Lanny Breuer is leaving the DOJ today, and he’s doing it with a bit of “swagger.” He’s shrugging off rumors that he’ll retreat to Covington, insisting he’ll interview at many firms. [DealBook / New York Times]
* It’s time for the changing of the guard over at Milbank Tweed. Mel Immergut, the longest serving chair of any Am Law 100 firm in New York, is passing the reins to Scott Edelman. [New York Law Journal]
* Michigan Law has a new “Debt Wizard” program that’s extremely useful in that it will allow you to see what you’re getting yourself into. Or, in my case, how poor I’ll be for the rest of my life. Yay! [National Law Journal]
* All he wanted to do was “make the world a better place,” but that didn’t work out so well. In a plea deal, Bradley Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of the charges against him in his WikiLeaks case. [Los Angeles Times]
* Of all of the words that are used to describe Cory Booker, one of them is now “matchmaker.” The Newark mayor assisted a young Seyfarth Shaw associate with his engagement proposal earlier this week. [TIME]
-
9th Circuit, California, Football, Gay, Gay Marriage, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court
NFL Players File Amicus Brief in Prop 8 Case
NFL players Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo take their opposition to Prop 8 to the Supreme Court. -
Biglaw, California, Department of Justice, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Trademarks, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 02.28.13
* Like any lawyers worth their salt, attorneys for the Obama administration are wasting precious time and procrastinating on whether they’ll weigh in on the Supreme Court’s Prop 8 case. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* The nation’s largest companies, on the other hand, filed a brief with the Supreme Court concerning the DOMA case. Of course, they care more about money than people, but that’s beside the point. [New York Times]
* Lanny Breuer took his sweet time turning in his resignation from the top post of the DOJ Criminal Division, but his acting successor was named quite quickly. Welcome aboard, Mythili Raman. [Blog of Legal Times]
* Francine Griesing, the ex-Greenberg Traurig partner who alleged the firm was a “boys club,” agreed to mediate her claims. Too bad, we hoped something would actually happen with this case. [Legal Intelligencer]
* Hoping to get all your law school applications out before that looming March 1 deadline? Not gonna happen. LSAC’s site has been borked since Tuesday. Take this for the obvious sign that is is! [National Law Journal]
* Surprisingly not from The Onion: the Vatican wants to call the retiring pontiff “Pope Emeritus,” but a California rapper that no one’s ever heard of is threatening trademark litigation to stop it. [Borowitz Report / New Yorker]
-
Anthony Kennedy, Gay, Gay Marriage, John Roberts, Politics, SCOTUS, Seth Waxman, Supreme Court, Ted Olson
Leading Republicans Send a Valentine to Justice Kennedy on Gay Marriage
Who are some of the prominent Republican politicians signing an amicus brief in support of gay marriage? And which major law firm is behind the effort? -
Divorce Train Wrecks, Family Law, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lesbians, Money, Romance and Dating, Weddings
The Gay Divorcees: From Marriage Equality to Divorce Equality
Gay marriage brings with it gay divorce. And when same-sex unions fall apart, things can get especially complicated.... -
Antitrust, Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Biglaw, California, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Education / Schools, Election Law, Football, Gay, Gay Marriage, Mergers and Acquisitions, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms, Morning Docket, Nude Dancing, Rape, Sports, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 02.21.13
* Even though Obama wants to “make sure that [he’s] not interjecting [himself] too much into this process,” the DOJ may still suggest that the Supreme Court overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage. [Associated Press]
* Anheuser-Busch InBev and the Department of Justice are cracking open a couple of cold ones to settle their differences over antitrust concerns with regard to the company’s planned purchase of Grupo Modelo. [DealBook / New York Times]
* It looks like Steve DiCarmine is being forced to take a break from his rigorous class schedule at Parsons to testify at a Dewey bankruptcy hearing next week. He’ll be happy to hear orange is in this spring. [Am Law Daily]
* Represented by Steptoe & Johnson, Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to misusing $750,000 of his campaign funds for personal use. Most interesting purchase: Michael Jackson memorabilia. [Blog of Legal Times]
* When it comes to recruiting new talent, the ability to maintain a “collegial culture” is apparently a selling point for midsize law firms. And here we thought douchebaggery was the way to go. Sigh. [National Law Journal]
* Protip: do not flash your prosecutor’s badge to bypass cover charges and lap dance surcharges at the local strip club. You’re going to get fired. We’ll probably have more on this later. [Riptide 2.0 / Miami New Times]
* Don’t worry ladies, if you’re about to be raped, just pee or puke all over your attacker — or better yet, tell him that you’re on your period. Yeah, that’ll work. These tips are almost as good as “don’t dress like a slut.” [CNN]
* “[T]his is a ridiculous sideshow that’s horribly unbecoming to the parties involved.” The NCAA is now suing over a new Pennsylvania law designed to keep PSU’s Sandusky fines in the state. [San Francisco Chronicle]
-
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Career Alternatives, Crime, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Tax Law
Morning Docket: 02.11.13
* “You just sit there, looking stupid.” The justices of the Supreme Court aren’t required to show up and look like “potted plants” at the State of the Union address, but some of them do every year. [CNN]
* Well, thanks to the DOJ’s fraud lawsuit filed against ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, it’s starting to look a lot like a litigation gang bang up in here as far as the states are concerned. [Bloomberg]
* Dewey know whether D&L’s retirees are still kicking (legally speaking) or if they’ve decided to send their claims to hospice? We certainly do, and we’ll have more on this later. [Am Law Daily]
* That “death and taxes” thing may be true, but when you’re trying to navigate the U.S. tax code as a married same-sex couple and the government won’t even recognize your union, there’s an uncomfortable air of uncertainty. [New York Times]
* “Have we seceded already? The execution is faster than I thought.” Guess which state in the Deep South accidentally raised a Confederate battle flag over the building that houses its Supreme Court. [Clarion-Ledger]
* Mama said knock you out: if you’re trying to figure out how to get a job after graduating from New England Law School, moonlighting as a champion boxer will help you beat down the competition. [Boston Herald]