Harvard Law School

Please, hate this lawyer -- it's what he deserves.

* We know all about the ridiculous lawyer with three Harvard degrees who is apparently considering suing a mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant over a $4 overcharge. We’ll have more on this absolute absurdity later. [Boston.com]

* An English court ruled that a girl with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder couldn’t be awarded damages against her mother because the harm occurred in utero. Remember folks, the unborn aren’t people, only corporations are. [Daily Beast]

* A Foley & Lardner IP partner may be facing sanctions for a rather unorthodox petition for a writ of certiorari that he submitted to the Supreme Court. [Legal Times]

* Someone at Harvard Law taped fliers containing the last words of unarmed African-Americans who shot by police over portraits of their law professors. [ABC News]

* Per a recent study, the vast majority of law students have suffered from some sort of mental health issue while in law school. This isn’t at all shocking. [Yale Daily News]

* The NAACP Legal Defense Fund took to Twitter to name every unarmed person of color killed by the police since 1999. Gawker compiled short bios on each. [Gawker]

* Texas planning to ban the “affluenza” defense. [Lowering the Bar]

* Pillsbury just moved into a cozy little office. Emphasis on “little.” [The National Law Journal]

* Georgetown Law students of color raise similar concerns as Columbia students. Again, I don’t understand emotional trauma and I definitely think extensions should be measured in days and not weeks, but it strikes me all the people complaining about the extensions are just exposing themselves as bad students. If you think your neighbor getting 2 more days will hurt your grade, you’re the one with the studying problem. [Georgetown Law Coalition]

* And now Harvard. [Harvard Law Coalition]

* If you rent a refrigerator, you consent to an arbitrator hearing your case after a repairman robs and beats you. Sounds about right. [Public Justice]

* Uber ban after rape allegations. [Redline]

* The Supreme Court told BP that no matter how much it tried, it can’t slip out of its settlement agreement like an oil-soaked seagull. [Think Progress]

* Finally, in the wake of the Eric Garner case, it’s worth looking back at what Justice Marshall told us about police chokeholds. [Mother Jones]

* ADA complaint filed by former TV anchor fired for drunkenness. On behalf of the ATL staff, we’re watching this one closely. [Chicagoland Radio and Media]

* Some of these made their way into the pages of Above the Law before, but this is an excellent compilation of “12 Unbelievable Courtroom Moments Caught on Tape.” [Robert Reeves Law]

* Rhinos, sharks, and the Secretary of Commerce walk into an Elie post… [Redline]

* A look back at FedSoc’s 2014 National Lawyers Convention. It sounds like it ended with Bailey’s and hot chocolate with Justice Don Willett, so that can’t be bad. [Wonkette]

* Butthurt police detective suing defense lawyer for criticizing the investigation. [Washington Post]

* BP argues that fining them more than they’re willing to pay for poisoning the Gulf of Mexico would be “legal chaos.” As opposed to that regular chaos of dumping millions of barrels of oil into the water and getting a slap on the wrist for it. [Breaking Energy]

* Banker with ties to Linklaters, Skadden, and Latham & Watkins awaiting trial for murdering two prostitutes in Hong Kong. Just go ahead and put whatever American Psycho joke you think of here. [Roll on Friday]

* Should litigation financing be disclosed? [Litigation Funding Central]

* A collection of stories about the diversity issues at Harvard Law School. Sounds like a delightful place if you’re white, male, and heterosexual. [Socratic Shortcomings]

After a little hiatus, Legal Eagle Wedding Watch is back -- with a vengeance....

A student response to the Harvard Law professors who complained that the university's sexual harassment policy was an affront to the law school's institutional independence.

Elie thinks the professors are right. Elie has been duped. This law professors' letter is really kind of offensively dumb...

* Looks like someone took a lesson from ATL’s Worst Law School bracket and put out a Worst Colleges in America list. We provide a very important service. [NPR] * Converse is suing over 31 alleged Chuck Taylor imitators. Are they mounting a “full court press”? Get it? Yeah there was pretty much no way around that one. [Fashionista] * Lawsuit reveals that struggling business couldn’t keep stores open but could shell out to keep CEO in her 4,560-square-foot home. [Seattle Times] * Harvard Law faculty members join a statement protesting the university’s new sexual harassment policy. [Boston Globe] * Is a sheath dress acceptable interview attire? Asking for a friend. [Corporette] * An interesting review of Lat’s upcoming novel Supreme Ambitions viewing the characters through the lens of William Deresiewicz’s Excellent Sheep (affiliate links) [Huffington Post Books] * Which is more galling? That the magistrate tried to weasel out of performing a legal same-sex marriage or that the newspaper felt this worthy of a poll? [The Virginian-Pilot (Hampton Roads)]

* City Attorney Pete Holmes is dropping all Seattle marijuana tickets for public smoking. Apparently most of them were issued by a single officer who just disagrees with the new pot law in Washington. I mean, respecting “laws” is certainly not a prerequisite for being a cop, right? [KOMO] * With the premiere of Gotham last night, The Legal Geeks have added the show to their regular list of pop culture phenomena that they examine though a legal lens. This should be hard, because I’ve never understood the Gotham Penal Code and the insistence on placing recidivist mass murderers in a revolving door asylum like Arkham. At some point isn’t it time for Supermax? [The Legal Geeks] * The SEC hands out a $30 million whistleblower award. Toot toot. [Fortune] * State Senate candidate accused by his old firm of falsifying his bills to the tune of $2 million. Sounds to me like he’s ready for higher office. [NY Daily News] * More follow-up to Elie’s piece on the Harvard kid who is so sure that making tons of money makes the world a better place. [Washington Post] * A comprehensive infographic of expert witness fees gathered from more than 5,000 experts. Spoiler: if you’re concerned about cost you want your case in Montana. [The Expert Institute] * Apple isn’t really trying to fight the U.S. government. Really. [Slate] * IP Lawyer/Rapper — whom we’ve profiled before — produces an ode to Australians to the tune of Fancy. Yeah there’s not much to add to that.

Harvard law student argues that making as much money as possible is good for the world.

* David Letterman and CBS got smacked with the latest internship class action. To think, poor Paul Shaffer’s been working for free all those years. [Deadline] * Class action could be on the horizon over high-frequency trading. [Wall Street Journal] * Frankly, I don’t know what the problem is. [Washington Post] * You may have been following the story of Justice Ginsburg’s officiating a wedding in New York this weekend. Well, if so, here’s the Times write-up. [New York Times] * The federal courts are looking at tightening the word limits on appellate briefs. How do you feel about this move? I’m with the author that “The number of cases where attorneys think they need a word extension is greater than the number of cases that actually warrant one.” [New Mexico Appellate Law Blog] * Scott Brown, formerly of both Massachusetts and the Senate, is threatening to sue Harvard’s Larry Lessig after Lessig labeled the Nixon Peabody “advisor on governmental affairs” a “lobbyist.” Lessig asks if the campaign preferred he write the more technical, “sold his influence to a DC lobbying firm.” Ha. [Time] * Fordham professor Susan Scafidi, founder of the Fashion Law Institute and designer Narciso Rodriguez make the case for strong legal protection for fashion designs. [Room for Debate / New York Times] * On Friday, Keith Lee wrote about a lawyer who billed a client for sanctions. We’ve written before about lawyers billing for the time spent boning their clients. A law professor who teaches professional responsibility asks: “Is billing for sanctions better or worse than billing for sex. I say sanctions. Can we have a survey on this?” Of course you can. Poll after the jump….

* The Oakland Raiders have settled their cheerleader lawsuit for $1.25 million. Here’s to a season of crippling losses! [SF Gate] * The death of law schools requires observing the 5 stages of grief. It’s DABDA right? Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Debt, AGAIN! [TaxProf Blog] * You don’t need permission to change careers… though many law […]

* Suit filed questioning the parentage of Blue Ivy Carter. Plaintiff claims to be the real… mother? Hm. You’d think that would be pretty easy for everyone to remember. [International Business Times] * The Washington D.C.-area NFL team has filed suit to get its trademark back. They think the USPTO are Indian Givers. [DCist] * The ACLU is asking courts to define “freedom of the press” in the wake of Ferguson. I understand their impulse, I just don’t think they’re gonna like the answer. [Fox2Now] * A 71-year-old lawyer allegedly called two escorts over to his house and they asked for more money. Even for rich lawyers it’s the principle of the thing. [South Florida Lawyers] * Sad to see Professor Larry Tribe join the “let’s blame the teachers instead of funding public schools” parade. But now that he’s become a high-profile supporter of ending tenure for those teaching the young, perhaps he’ll renounce his own tenure. Or at least fight to revoke it from all his colleagues. [National Law Journal] * A Colombian lawyer is suing FIFA for $1.3 billion over bad officiating. Of all the things FIFA deserves to get sued over, this isn’t making the list. [Washington Post] * Congratulations to Rob Manfred, a Harvard Law grad formerly of Morgan Lewis, on his promotion to MLB Commissioner. He will continue the proud tradition of keeping us bored all summer long while we wait for football to come back. [New York Times] * New lawsuit says Google kept records of plans to infringe intellectual property… on Post-Its. Unwise. Office supplies are for back-to-school shopping, not writing down wrongful acts. [Valleywag] * If you’re a current 3L or a law grad about to come off a clerkship, NOAA has a job opportunity for you. Imagine how exciting it will be when the next Sharknado happens! [USAJobs via NOAA]

Should the Obama Administration be sued under RICO? A prominent young pundit makes the case.

How Harvard encourages summers to not burn bridges.

* Donald Trump slapped with sanctions. [South Florida Lawyers] * The very, very, very long arm of Canadian jurisdiction. [Slate] * Alafair Burke, author of All Day and a Night (affiliate link), lists her favorite “lawyers are people too” books. In other words, fiction. [Omnivoracious] * The latest assault on Hillary Clinton — dusting off an old story about a particularly nasty case where she served as a court-appointed attorney — is the latest in a string of political attacks on the foundation of the criminal defense system. [Washington Post] * Tomorrow, the Family Violence Appellate Project is throwing a battle of the bands! “Banding Together To End Domestic Violence” features bands from law firms and businesses competing at San Francisco’s 1015 Folsom club. Voting is “Chicago-style,” with each vote $1. Buy tickets and submit “votes” at their website. [Family Violence Appellate Project] * Professor Glenn Cohen of Harvard Law appeared on Rachel Maddow last night to discuss whether or not doctors should participate in executions. I guess no one would be around to complain about the six-month-old issue of People in the waiting area. Video below. [Rachel Maddow Show]

You can understand a lot about the World Cup when you realize every team is basically a law school.

U.S. News releases its findings on the most successful law schools when it comes to placing grads in clerkships.

Time for another romp through the New York Times wedding pages to survey the latest and most impressive lawyer nuptials.

The celebrated litigator and law professor looks back on his life and career.