Harper Lee

Harper Lee was a luminary in the legal world, even though she was not a lawyer.

Harper Lee, the woman who launched a million legal careers, is reportedly dead at 89.

* A jury has ruled that rapper 50 Cent must pay an additional $2 million in punitive damages to a woman whose sex tape he posted online, on top of the $5 million he already owes her. This wanksta better hope the judgment gets discharged in bankruptcy. [Associated Press]

* California is America’s breeding ground for unaccredited law schools, and “[m]ost jurisdictions simply don’t allow [these] kind of law school[s] to exist at all. Period.” Nearly all students (about 9 out of 10) drop out before graduation. How much money is being wasted? [Los Angeles Times]

* Since 2007, the pay gap between the highest- and lowest-paid positions in many specialized fields has widened — but that isn’t the case when it comes to the legal profession. Unfortunately, not as many people are making it rain. [New York Times]

* “[M]aybe legislation should fix this. Not the court.” A San Diego judge has suggested that he’ll likely dismiss a right-to-die lawsuit filed by Christy O’Donnell, a civil rights attorney who’s fighting a battle against lung, brain, spine, rib, and liver cancer. [NBC San Diego]

* You’ve seen reactions to Harper Lee’s portrayal of Atticus Finch as a racist in Go Set A Watchman (affiliate link) from everyone and their mother and their dog, but maybe you haven’t seen reactions from law professors yet, so have a look. [National Law Journal]

* Doesn’t the increasingly bloated Republican presidential primary field seem like a plot from Veep rather than real life? Well, take a break from the world’s insanity and break down the election law quandary from the season finale of the hit show. [Law.com]

* Spoiler alert: the performance art defense doesn’t work. [Dealbreaker]

* Good news for New York Bar Exam takers — don’t stress about grabbing lunch on the day of the exam. [Custom Gourmet]

* This… is not going to end well. China arrested more than 100 human rights lawyers for inciting trouble. [Christian Science Monitor]

* I think it’s entirely possible Harper Lee never intended to publish “Go Set A Watchman” and that makes me hesitant to read the novel, but Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy’s call to “abandon the immature sentimentality ingrained by middle school lessons about the nobility of the white savior” has me itching to buy the book. [New York Times]

* Speaking of the incredibly sketchy circumstances under which Harper Lee’s novel was published, maybe it’s time to blame the lawyer? [New Republic]

* Remember that viral video about cat-calling on NYC streets from last year? Yeah, the woman featured is suing the makers of the video (along with Google, YouTube, and TGI Fridays). Only problem? She got nothing in writing. [Slate]

* I sure hope no attorneys were sucked into this M&A fraud. [Forbes]

* OIL AND HEAVY WATER FOR EVERYBODY — a take on the Iran deal. [Breaking Energy]

Why nobody should care if Harper Lee made Atticus Finch racist now.

Is Atticus Finch portrayed as too much of a paragon of moral virtue?

* The Supreme Court is going to strike down bans on marriage equality folks. And the tea leaves aren’t that hard to read. [Slate]

* Even if the Court proclaims marriage equality the law of the land, discrimination will march on. On that note, can American law schools like Liberty continue to follow Canada’s controversial Trinity Western in functionally barring homosexuality? [Tax Prof Blog]

* Law students f**king love Atticus Finch. Um, you know he lost right? Start looking up to winners, like Dan Fielding or something. [Slate]

* Who else is jumping from the hulk that was once Patton Boggs? [Legal Times (sub. req.)]

* Our old friend George Mason Assistant Dean Richard Kelsey, who we last saw Tweeting about black people and the lack of reason, is back explaining that abortion is genocide… because it leads to immigrants coming to America. Or something. [CNS News]

* Meanwhile, there’s a new casebook out covering reproductive rights law that challenges the conventional classification of the subject as a subset of women’s issues. [RH Reality Check]

* Harvard Law 3L, soon-to-be Clifford Chance associate, rapper. [J.KO]

* A senior litigation associate at Paul Hastings, Ryan Nier, has decided to participate in something called the Death Race, and it has nothing to do with the drive for partnership. This Death Race is 50-mile mountain endurance/obstacle race that takes somewhere between 24 and 48 straight hours to finish. Only a handful complete the race every year, and Nier is determined to be one of them. From what we’re told, Paul Hastings has been entirely supportive of Nier, which is cool because he’s using it as an opportunity to raise money for charity. But who knows how supportive they’ll be when they realize he won’t have Blackberry access on top of the mountain for 48 hours. For more information about the Death Race, check out the website. [The Death Race] * Law student golfing across the U.S. So, I take it summer associate gigs are still scarce? [Golf.com] * “Guess What the Air Force’s Chief of Sexual Assault Prevention Was Just Arrested For…” Hard to top that headline. [Lowering the Bar] * Harper Lee suing over “To Kill a Mockingbird” (affiliate link), alleging that the son-in-law of her literary agent botched the copyright. *Insert cheap Atticus Finch joke here* [Washington Post] * Gigi Jordan case gets even uglier with misconduct charges flying around. [Thompson Reuters News & Insight] * Dr. Phil is suing Gawker alleging that the website posted a video of the pop psychologist’s interview with Manti Te’o, stifling ratings. So Dr. Phil thinks his audience strongly overlaps with Gawker’s. I’m incredulous. [Yahoo! Sports] * This is why an over-aggressive cease and desist letter can get you into more trouble. Enter the world of the “miniature war-gaming community.” [Popehat] * A guide to the questions applicants need to be able to answer at OCI. The best? “Describe a situation when you had to think on your feet to extricate yourself from a difficult situation.” This provides insight into how the applicant will deal with virtually every situation that ever comes up in Biglaw. [Ms. JD]

K&L Gates managing partner Peter Kalis shares insights and experiences about the legal profession and careers in law, as well as about himself.

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