Harvard Law School

Anthony Scaramucci Fired By White House, Killed Off By Harvard Law School

Life comes at you fast. So does death.

Morning Docket: 07.31.17

* After the spectacular failure that was the "skinny repeal" bill, President Trump has called for the filibuster to be abolished to prevent Senate Republicans from "look[ing] like fools." Sorry, but a bipartisan majority has already opposed eliminating the filibuster for legislation, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no desire to do away with it. [CBS News] * "If we are not careful, when we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition." Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who refused to enforce President Trump's travel ban, wrote an excellent op-ed piece for the newspaper of record on the need to protect the Justice Department -- and the rule of law -- from Trump. [New York Times] * A preemptive congratulations? Word on the street is that Deputy White House counsel Gregory Katsas is currently leading the pack when it comes to consideration for the vacancy on the D.C. Circuit. As mentioned previously here at Above the Law by my colleague David Lat, "If Greg Katsas wants it, then he’ll probably get it" -- and right about now, it seems like Greg Katsas wants it. [NPR] * White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci's expletive-laced public meltdown has people wondering what he was really like when he went to Harvard Law. Aside from the "leaked tapes" from Professor Laurence Tribe's constitutional law class, we bet you didn't know that Scaramucci once fouled President Obama on a basketball court before he graduated. [Law.com] * "Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA." Jury deliberation begins today in Martin Shkreli's fraud trial. Will the disgraced pharma bro be sent to jail for his alleged crimes, or will he be set free into the wilds of Manhattan to relish in his own douchebaggery? We suppose we'll soon find out. Best of luck to Mr. Shkreli, as he may need it. [DealBook / New York Times]

Anthony Scaramucci Answers Socratic Questions at HLS

To be a fly on the wall of Scaramucci's Con Law class.

Harvard Professor Has Bone To Pick With Anthony Scaramucci About Constitutional Law

Hmm, perhaps the Mooch didn't jot this crucial point down in his notes.

Judge Merrick Garland For President — Of Harvard University

The former Supreme Court nominee would make a perfect leader for the great university.

Morning Docket: 07.05.17

* While it's taken most justices about three to five years to get adjusted to life on the Supreme Court, it seems as if Justice Neil Gorsuch has already hit his stride over the course of just a few months. This gunner wrote one majority opinion, three dissents, three concurrences, and one statement during his first two months on the bench. [New York Times] * DLA Piper -- the first Biglaw firm to fall to a cyberattack -- has finally restored its email service after five days of going without it thanks to being the victim of the worldwide Petya ransomware attack. The firm still claims no client data was compromised by the hackers who gained access to their systems. [ABC News] * Ty Cobb of Hogan Lovells will reportedly be brought on to attend to Russia-related issues within the Office of White House Counsel. Cobb met with Trump last week, but wouldn't offer any comment on his prospective role except to say that he was on vacation. Enjoy your time off while it lasts -- working on Russia-related matters at the White House will certainly be no vacation. [Reuters] * Harvard Law School has established an endowed professorship to honor the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who graduated from the school in 1960. According to outgoing Dean Martha Minow, the professorship is "especially meaningful" because the justice "had a great love of learning." [Harvard Law Today] * Overworked and underpaid never paid? Public defenders working as independent contractors in Massachusetts aren't being paid in a remotely timely fashion. They sometimes go up to two months without receiving paychecks, and say that this has been going on for at least five years. [WWLP 22News]

The First Women Of Harvard Law

Know this milestone?

Harvard’s Accepting The GRE — How Much Should You Freak Out?

Is this a cynical dumbing down of law schools or a reasonable academic accommodation?

Need Biglaw To Get To alt.legal? (Raj Goyle Didn’t)

Meet Harvard Law grad Raj Goyle, a high-end lawyer turned legal entrepreneur who never bothered with Biglaw.

John Manning Named New Dean Of Harvard Law School, White Men Rejoice

Women and minority groups wanted a different guy.

Non-Sequiturs: 05.30.17

* Harvard law students go all out in everything they do -- and lying is no exception. [New Yorker] * If you're looking to purchase ancillary legal services (e.g., business or litigation support), check out the Buying Legal Guide, just launched today by the Buying Legal Council and Legal.io. [Buying Legal Guide] * Joshua Matz explains how and when the Supreme Court might review the Trump travel ban (aka "Muslim ban"). [Take Care via How Appealing] * Speaking of the courts, here's Professor Carl Tobias's advice to President Donald Trump on how to fill those 100+ vacancies in the federal judiciary. [Washington and Lee Law Review Online] * Why is flying such a miserable experience? Blame not just the lawyers but also the index funds, as Matt Levine explains. [Bloomberg View] * A prominent professor sues Columbia Law School, alleging age discrimination. [TaxProf Blog] * Professor Eugene Volokh explains the First Amendment to government officials: "no, the government may not deny permits for speech because it views the speech as promoting 'bigotry or hatred.'" [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Additional thoughts on what TC Heartland means for venue in patent cases, from IP columnist Gaston Kroub. [On the Docket / George Washington Law Review]

Sally Yates Explains Why She Defied Trump On The Travel Ban

Yates reflected on one of her 'defining moments' during a speech given at Harvard Law.

Tiffany Trump Has Picked Her Law School

Where's Tiffany Trump going to law school?

Morning Docket: 05.04.17

* Harvard Law wants students to defer admission. Tuition deferral program still a no go apparently. [New York Times / Dealbook] * Trump signing executive order to let the IRS choose when to enforce the Johnson amendment. I'm old enough to remember when conservatives had a meltdown over exaggerated allegations of IRS selective enforcement. Now it's actually going to be legal and I doubt I'll hear anything about it. [CBS News] * Want to know how much a Sullivan & Cromwell partner takes home? Thankfully Donald Trump can tell us. [National Law Journal] * Alabama enacts law allowing adoption agencies to reject gay couples. Alabama has one of the worst economies in America, but this was the issue that they really needed to address. Roll Tide. [Alabama] * ABA President Linda Klein testifies on behalf of Legal Services Corporation. funding. Question: Is the ABA President job more or less difficult today? One could say "more" because she has to devote considerable energy to fighting a hostile government. Or you could say "less" because the most difficult argument she has to make is, "please don't be monsters." [ABA Journal] * FAMU fired its dean. [Orlando Sentinel] * New trend in litigation finance: buying portfolios of cases instead of investing in individual matters. We've reached the fund stage people! [Law.com] * Former Guinea mining minister convicted of taking bribes. How did they know? Perhaps they thought he was a Dickensian throwback when he kept saying "Guinea" all the time. [Law360]

Morning Docket: 04.27.17

* Guess who gets to take advantage of President Donald Trump's new tax plan? Lawyers and their law firms -- which are largely organized as pass-through entities -- will likely benefit greatly, as they'll be able to reduce their tax rate from 39.6 percent to 15 percent. [ABA Journal] * The Charlotte School of Law may be on the brink of collapse, but the school is heading to court to try to shake off three of the four federal class-action lawsuits that were filed by current students and recent graduates with motions to dismiss. We'll have more on this later today. [Law.com] * The Trump administration didn't seem to fare very well during oral arguments in an immigration case yesterday. Chief Justice John Roberts certainly wasn't impressed, and Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed even less so, dropping this benchslap: "It seems to me that your argument is demeaning the priceless value of citizenship." [Reuters] * Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will propose a rollback of the Obama-era net-neutrality rule that regulated broadband internet providers as common carriers. Critics aren't pleased: "It makes no sense. We cannot keep the promise of net neutrality openness and freedom without the rules that ensure it." [Big Law Business] * Four third-year students at Harvard Law have demanded that the administration provide clarification as to how it assesses applicants who have been accused or convicted of sexual assault. "We put forth a call for transparency and affirmative efforts demonstrating the school takes sexual assault seriously." [Harvard Crimson]