Law Schools

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.27.18

* Barbara Jones, a former federal judge who now serves as a partner at Bracewell (a firm where Rudy Giuliani was once a name partner), has been appointed as a special master in Michael Cohen’s case to decide which materials that were seized from his office are protected by attorney-client privilege and which materials can be reviewed by prosecutors. [New York Post] * This just got really interesting: The anonymous Proskauer partner who is suing the firm in a $50 million gender bias case has come forward and revealed her name. Jane Doe is better known as Connie Bertram, head of the firm’s labor and employment practice in D.C. and co-head of the firm’s whistleblowing and retaliation group. [American Lawyer] * Veteran Supreme Court advocate Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter received a rare honor at the high court earlier this week during oral arguments in Trump v. Hawaii when Justice Stephen Breyer mentioned her as the author of an amicus brief. This almost never happens. Congratulations on a job well done! [National Law Journal] * The Stanford Law Class of 1998 has the special sauce for producing female deans at top law schools. Kimberly Yuracko of Northwestern, Kerry Abrams of Duke, and Gillian Lester of Columbia all graduated in the same year. [The Recorder] * Cooley Law School is back in compliance with ABA accreditation standards. Apparently the school is now admitting candidates who appear capable of finishing law school and gaining admission to a state bar (even though recent bar exam pass-rate statistics seem to strongly disagree with that assessment). [ABA Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.26.18

* Rudy Giuliani is reportedly in talks with Robert Mueller over a Trump interview again. Because whenever you have a loose cannon for a client it's important to get them talking to federal investigators as soon as possible. [CBS News] * A quick primer on today's Michael Cohen hearing. [Courthouse News Service] * Looks like Geoffrey Berman gets to stay on the job at the SDNY. A little-known quirk of the system is that an interim U.S. Attorney, like Berman, can only stay in that role for 120 days and if the White House fails to confirm someone to the role by then, the district court gets to choose who will act as the U.S. Attorney. Judge McMahon says they'll choose Berman. It's an anticlimactic conclusion for those of us hoping the judges would put Preet back on the job. [Law360] * Charlotte Law may be gone, but it has managed to live on as a whistleblower suit, though that may be coming to an end soon and Staci Zaretsky and Kathryn Rubino are partially to blame according to the judge's opinion. [Daily Business Review] * The Cosby jury asked the judge to explain the legal definition of consent. How was that not a jury instruction? [Vulture] * Sally Yates, who lost her job over Trump's original Muslim ban, offers her take on the latest version. [PBS Newshour] * That story making the rounds about the golf course that called the cops on black golfers for golfing too slow? Well, one of those golfers is a lawyer. [Legal Intelligencer]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.25.18

* The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today on the Trump travel ban case. What's at stake here, aside from the high court potentially allowing the travel ban to become permanent? The legacy of the Roberts Court also hangs in the balance. A decision upholding the ban could very well be the next Dred Scott, Plessy, or Korematsu, and forever marring this Court's record. [Take Care] * Is AG Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the investigation into Michael Cohen, or isn't he? According to the DOJ, Sessions isn't involved in any investigations "related in any way to the campaigns for president," but according to news sources, he hasn't decided to recuse himself from the Cohen probe quite yet. [Politico; Bloomberg] * Judge John Bates of the District of Columbia has ruled that the Trump administration's decision to end the DACA program was "arbitrary and capricious" and "virtually unexplained," and therefore "unlawful." Judge Bates ordered that the government must not only continue DACA, but accept new applicants. He stayed his ruling for 90 days to give DHS a chance to explain itself. [Washington Post] * Kyle Duncan, President Trump's fifteenth federal appeals court nominee who's known for litigating disputes involving voter ID requirements, same-sex marriage bans, transgender bathroom access, and the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate, was very narrowly confirmed to the Fifth Circuit. [Big Law Business] * According to the Harvard Law Women's Law Association, there's a glass ceiling at the school. The faculty is "overwhelmingly male," and the administration is "turning a blind eye" to the success of women once they're enrolled. Something has to change so women can achieve as much success as their male classmates. [Harvard Law Record]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.24.18

* The long, drawn out saga of the "Monkey Selfie" case has crossed another milestone with the Ninth Circuit ruling that the monkey can't sue for copyright violations. Reached for comment, the monkey's attorney expressed disappointment in the decision and hurled feces. [Courthouse News Service] * Jones Day loses more partners to the lateral market. We assume they saw the Above the Law Law Firm Rankings and decided they had to get out. [American Lawyer] * Colorado passes "secret prisons" reform bill... in secret. Hurray irony! [9News] * Kimberly Yuracko named the new dean of Northwestern Law. [Northwestern University NewsCenter] * Good news for DLA Piper: the Second Circuit upholds their malpractice victory. [Law360] * K&L Gates adds firepower in Asia. That should serve them well until Trump hears a scary Pokemon Go story on Fox and cuts off all trade to Japan. [International] * Checking in on the finale of the Global Legal Hackathon. So if you got a suspicious request for money from your practice management software the other day, it was probably hacked. [Legaltech News]

By Joe Patrice