Guns / Firearms

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.16.16

* Former Berkeley Law dean Sujit Choudhry is suing the school, claiming that Berkeley discriminated against him by punishing him more harshly for alleged sexual harassment compared to white professors. [Law.com] * The family of Sandra Bland settles its lawsuit over her death for $1.9 million. [New York Times] * The Sixth Circuit, sitting en banc (and rather splintered), rules that the mental-health ban on gun ownership could violate the Second Amendment. [How Appealing] * Congratulations to Miami corporate partner Ira Coleman, who will replace Peter John Sacripanti and Jeffrey E. Stone as chair of McDermott Will & Emery in January. [Big Law Business] * Ashurst remains in a tailspin, with five partners (including two office heads) leaving in the span of 24 hours. [Ashurst] * In other U.K. law firm news, Freshfields is replacing "Dear Sirs" with gender-neutral salutations in all communications and legal documents. [The Lawyer via Big Law Business] * More exciting news for Bancroft: recognition for its pro bono work, which partners pledge will continue after they move over to Kirkland. [Law360] * Paging parents who left Davis Polk to raise their kids: here's a program to bring you back into Biglaw. [Law.com via ABA Journal]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.04.16

* Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father of a deceased Muslim soldier who offered a stern rebuke for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the Democratic National Convention, has taken his law firm's website offline in the face of incredibly harsh criticism from many of Trump's supporters. [RT] * This brings a whole new meaning to the term "gunner": Earlier this week, a campus carry law went into effect at public schools in Texas, and law students at UT Law, Texas Southern Law, Texas Tech Law, Texas A&M Law, U. Houston Law, and North Texas Law may now bring concealed weapons with them to school. [Law.com] * Yesterday afternoon, President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 214 prisoners, the most in a single act since at least 1900. According to White House counsel Neil Eggleston, the president's work is "far from finished," and he expects that clemency will continue to be granted through the end of his final term. [Big Law Business] * After a week of voter ID laws being struck down in battleground states, Texas has agreed to weaken its own voter ID law. Citizens without proper identification will now be able to present a government document with their name and address and sign an affidavit to vote. This will "open the door to voting" for many people. [New York Times] * In response to Freedom of Information Act requests, the Clinton Library has released more than 1,300 pages of files on Supreme Court nominee Chief Judge Merrick Garland. It's really interesting to see what people who refuse to hold a vote for him now had to say when they voted on his D.C. Circuit nomination almost 20 years ago. [POLITICO]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.21.16

* Only two firms issued raises yesterday. Congrats to associates at Alston & Bird and K&L Gates. [Above the Law / 2016 Salary Increase] * A profile of James Hamilton of Morgan Lewis whom Hillary Clinton recruited to find her running mate. As the story notes, he led the searches that picked Joe Lieberman and John Edwards so... yeah. [Washingtonian] * Concerns over the looming Brexit vote leads UK attorneys to register in Ireland in big numbers. So much for St. Patrick driving all the snakes out. [Law360] * Judge sentences elderly woman to prison who billed the government millions in hospice care for people who weren't dying. In a way, aren't we all always in the process of dying? [Courthouse News Service] * The Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments over Florida's "Docs vs. Glocks" law in an en banc hearing later today. Expected to rule that it's the coolest name for a law. [CBS Miami] * A look at the wild events sponsored by D.C. summer associate programs. [National Law Journal]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.17.16

* A plea to strike down Mississippi's "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act," which gives special privileges to opponents of gay marriage. [Bloomberg View] * Not every litigation financier is Peter Thiel, and I think we are all pretty happy about that. [Wall Street Journal] * What can Judge Maryanne Trump Barry teach her brother about the federal judiciary? [Real Clear Politics] * Musings on why some law firms still haven't matched the Cravath pay bump. [Law and More] * These are the facts people need to know about gun laws. [Slate] * This is what estate planning attorneys wished you knew about death and dying. [Forbes]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.15.16

* Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is leading a filibuster to demand Congress actually act on gun control. Many Democrats and Republican Senator Pat Toomey have all spoken on the issue. [Slate] * Music is the first order of business in a copyright trial -- well, when the subject of the complaint is Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, it is. [Courthouse News Service] * An analysis of the role of a human rights worker. [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * Gawker is under more legal threats, this time for writing an article about Donald Trump's hair. [Law and More] * But Nick Denton assures us, despite legal threats and filing for bankruptcy, the business will be just fine. [Gawker]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.14.16

* A whopping ten firms announced raises after 5 p.m. last night. Texas boutique Yetter Coleman had the common decency to announce during the day, but Locke Lord, Hogan Lovells, MoFo, Paul Hastings, Wilson Sonsini, Gibson Dunn, Akin Gump, Baker & McKenzie, Ropes & Gray and Bracewell all waited until after regular business hours to let their associates off pins and needles. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law] * As fate would have it, the Supreme Court will get its first opportunity to consider post-Sandy Hook gun laws on Thursday. [National Law Journal] * In this Breitbart News podcast, Donald Trump explains that his judicial appointments "will be picked by the Federalist Society." FedSoc immediately cringed at being brought into the conversation. [Soundcloud] * One law school cancels classes on election day to promote civic duty, five-day weekends. [Bloomberg / Big Law Business] * Ziff Davis intends to buy Gawker, but isn't sure whether or not it will respect the collective bargaining agreement. It did seem hard to believe we lived in a world where unions were on the upswing again. [Law360] * A challenge to Indiana's new abortion law will go before a judge today. [IndyStar] * Speaking of abortion, here's an account of a law student's struggle upon learning she was pregnant during 3L year. [Forward] * In the wake of the Supreme Court's opinion in Bryant striking a blow for the legitimacy of tribal courts, it's worth remembering the tremendous access to justice problems that plague reservations. [The Marshall Project]

By Joe Patrice