* Professor Laurence Tribe on “the constitutional inevitability of same-sex marriage.” [SCOTUSblog] * You can sleep when you’re dead — and you can prevail against the IRS in litigation, too (as the late Ken Lay just did). [TaxProf Blog] * Speaking of the dead, just because someone is burglarizing your business doesn’t mean you can […]
Here in the great state of New York, marriage equality is the order of the day — as it is in five other states, plus D.C.. But due to the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal tax code does not recognize same-sex unions. As a result, as explained by the law firm of McCarter & […]
Legal work isn’t slowing down, and the firms that win won’t be the ones working harder — they’ll be the ones working smarter.
Now that our assistant editor, Staci Zaretsky, is a member of the bridal class of 2012 (or 2013, we shall see), she can commiserate with the woes of her fellow brides-to-be. And in this case, she can't even begin to imagine what she would do if she was denied the dress of her dreams simply based on the person she loves....
Dharun Ravi's legal team has moved to dismiss the criminal charges against Ravi stemming from the suicide of Tyler Clementi. As many of you know, Clementi committed suicide after Ravi streamed video of Clementi hooking up with another guy. And now, Ravi's lawyers have discovered comments from Clementi that his family likely wishes would have remained private. Read on to find out what was said....
* Should the police be able to use mobile-phone location data in order to locate a charged defendant? Kash reports on a recent decision. [Not-So Private Parts / Forbes] * More importantly, should Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street get “gay married”? [Althouse] * The ABA takes a lot of blame for the inadequacy of […]
* Shocker: tenured law professors are well-paid (check out their median salaries), and they enjoy high job satisfaction. [TaxProf Blog] * Congratulations to David Boies and Ted Olson on winning the American Bar Association Medal, for their remarkable work on Perry v. Schwarzenegger (aka the Prop 8 case). [American Foundation for Equal Rights] * In […]
Law firms and legal departments are writing the future of the profession in separate rooms. What happens when they actually work together?
* Is a Ropes & Gray attorney behind a shell company that gave $1 million to the Romney campaign? [The Docket / Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly] * Working on the matter pro bono, Skadden wants greater cooperation from the NYPD in the case of a missing eight-year-old boy. [WSJ Law Blog] * Breaking down the Alex […]
Remember John J. O'Brien? Back in April 2009, we wrote about his mysterious departure from Sullivan & Cromwell, where he was a well-regarded and well-liked partner in the M&A department. Yesterday brought news that O'Brien was hit with federal tax-related charges....
* Cozen O’Connor is caught between the parents and lesbian partner of a deceased attorney in a death benefits war. Lawyers’ fees will eat through that profit-sharing plan in no time. [Philadelphia Inquirer] * Because everything’s bigger in Texas, they’ve got the seventh-largest lawyer surplus in the country. Wrangling a job at the employment rodeo […]
Given the significance of diversity, it's not surprising that several organizations and news outlets focus on it, especially with respect to large law firms. Vault compiled a list of 25 best law firms for diversity. Which firms made the cut, and is yours on the list?
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.
For years, the anti-gay-marriage crowd has been railing against unelected judges “imposing” marriage equality on a people not yet ready for social progress. But New York’s gay marriage bill was approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor last month, and marriages began yesterday. As we mentioned in Morning Docket, it was really […]
As the first openly gay man to be confirmed as a federal judge, he will be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in just the last few decades. And importantly, he will give hope to many talented young lawyers who until now thought their paths might be limited because of […]
This is the Final Countdown. Exactly a week from now, many of you will be stuck at desks for upwards of two days, working to finish that little formality they call the Bar Exam. This is the last time we’ll hear from our Bar Review Diarists before they cross the threshold. They are leaving behind […]
* Ja Rule, another resident of Lat’s hometown, was sentenced to 28 months in jail, for failing to pay taxes. Rather than making some joke about him not being Always On Time with his tax payments, let’s instead just celebrate the existence of this hilarious picture. [Associated Press] * J. Paul Oetken was confirmed to […]
* To be clear, hiring a legal secretary who doubles as a personal prostitute is not okay. Yes, we finally have a punishment for Samir Zia Chowhan’s “adult gigs” legal secretary ad. [Legal Profession Blog] * Is it time to start getting civilly disobedient with the TSA? [WSJ Law Blog] * It’s possible that the […]