Lawyerly Lairs

  • Morning Docket: 03.31.21
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.31.21

    * A lawsuit alleging that a company conspired to fix the price of pork has settled. Guess their actions didn’t sound kosher and they were allegedly acting piggish… [Meat+Poultry]

    * Check out this profile of a retired lawyer who found a new calling as a writer. [Post and Courier]

    * Bigelow Aerospace is suing NASA for around a million dollars for purportedly not paying for work. That number doesn’t seem out of this world… [CBS News]

    * Representatives of Dominion Voting Systems have not ruled out suing President Trump over remarks he made over alleged fraud in the 2020 election. [Independent]

    * Since Above the Law has not had a “lawyerly lairs” segment in a while, wanted to relate that a well-known Chicago attorney is selling his posh mansion. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

  • Morning Docket: 02.12.21
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 02.12.21

    * A Florida lawyer who became famous dressing up as the “grim reaper” on beaches to warn about COVID-19 may face discipline for an appeal he filed. Hope he didn’t wear the “grim reaper” outfit to court… [ABC News]

    * Megan Markle won a lawsuit against a company that published portions of a private letter she wrote to her father. [Harper’s Bazaar]

    * Check out this group of Harvard Law grads who are trying to eliminate harassments and discrimination in the legal profession. [New York Times]

    * Bruce Springsteen has hired a New Jersey legal eagle to defend himself in a DWI case. [New York Post]

    * Since Above the Law hasn’t had a “Lawyerly Lairs” segment in a while, just wanted to relate that a lawyer just bought a multimillion-dollar waterfront mansion in Jupiter, California. Check out the sweet digs in the article. [Real Deal]

  • Morning Docket: 12.21.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.21.20

    * A company that claims its app is “the world’s first robot lawyer” is facing a class action. Wonder if the class representative is named John Connor… [Tech News World]

    * The top lawyer for the City of Chicago has resigned over a botched police raid. [Guardian]

    * A new lawsuit alleges that an inmate in a St. Louis County jail died of treatable leukemia despite asking his guards to see a doctor. [NBC News]

    * Rob Gronkowski and Floyd Mayweather are facing a class action for allegedly endorsing a supposedly fraudulent teeth-whitening brand. [Yahoo News]

    * Since Above the Law has not had a “Lawyerly Lairs” segment in a while, wanted to note that David Boies has put his $23 million California ranch on the market. [Fox News]

  • Morning Docket: 12.16.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.16.20

    * A Long Island City lawyer has been eliminated from The Bachelorette. Guess he needs to work on his advocacy skills… [Patch]

    * Michael Jackson’s estate has won an appeal over the HBO’s series “Leaving Neverland.” [NBC News]

    * A San Diego strip club is staying open and is vowing legal action despite California’s stay-at-home orders. What patriots… [ABC News]

    * A Maryland lawyer is in hot water for allegedly padding expense reports. [Daily Record]

    * Since Above the Law has not had a “Lawyerly Lairs” segment in a while, wanted to relate that a Florida lawyer has sold his exquisite mansion for $13 million. [Real Deal]

  • Morning Docket: 11.30.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 11.30.20

    * A new lawsuit alleges that a beer manufacturer falsely claimed its brew was made in Mexico instead of Holland. Would be amazing if free beer is part of any settlement… [Fox Business]

    * Carter Page has filed a lawsuit against the FBI and others for allegedly illicit surveillance during the Russia investigation. [USA Today]

    * The legal challenges facing the Attorney General of Texas may impede the state’s antitrust claims against Google. [Wall Street Journal]

    * A man sought in the slaying of an Illinois lawyer is on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. [Fox News]

    * Since Above the Law hasn’t had a “Lawyerly Lairs” feature in a while, wanted to share that a top Las Vegas attorney has placed his multimillion-dollar mansion on the market. [Review-Journal]

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  • Morning Docket: 05.28.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.28.20

    * Three members of a $31.7 million fraudulent slip-and-fall ring have been sentenced to prison. Wonder if they got the idea from Slippin’ Jimmy. [Insurance Journal]

    * Former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has abandoned her short-lived defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. [CNN]

    * A Louisiana attorney who was suspended from practice for chest bumping a prosecutor has been reinstated as a lawyer. Apparently the chest bump was not like the kind seen in football. [Advocate]

    * The Los Angeles City Attorney has sued a company for selling allegedly fake COVID-19 tests. [Orange County Register]

    * There is some hope that a TV series based on The Lincoln Lawyer will be produced after all. Thought I already saw the reboot, but realized it was just a Matthew McConaughey car commercial. [Hollywood Reporter]

    * Since this website has not published a Lawyerly Lairs article in a while, just wanted to report that a top Chicago criminal lawyer has listed his posh pad for sale. [Crain’s Chicago]

  • Morning Docket: 03.12.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.12.20

    * Michael Avenatti’s lawyer is afraid to visit him in jail over coronavirus fears. And Avenatti has a substantial need for legal counsel right now… [New York Post]

    * A District Attorney is launching a price gouging investigation over price increases related to coronavirus. [NBC News]

    * Since Above the Law no longer has a regular lawyerly lairs segment, I feel it is my duty to convey that the house of a founder of 1-800-LAWYERS has hit the market. [New York Post]

    * The California Attorney General is dropping a lawsuit over the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. [LA Times]

    * The New York GOP has filed an attorney ethics complaint against Senator Chuck Schumer for making alleged threats against Supreme Court justices. [New York Post]

    * Check out this piece on an attorney who decided to open up a doughnut shop. That’s one way to make dough… [NBC News]

  • Non Sequiturs: 04.21.19
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non Sequiturs: 04.21.19

    * What’s the future of Elizabeth Prelogar, the beauty queen turned Harvard Law School grad turned Supreme Court clerk turned Team Mueller member? Not clear, except that it’s blindingly bright. [Ozy]

    * How often do you see this? A federal judge praises counsel — specifically, J. Christian Adams of the Election Law Center, Douglas R. Cox of Gibson Dunn, Michael E. Rosman of the Center for Individual Rights, and local counsel Mun Su Park — for their “conscientious billing practices.” [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

    * Another Lawyerly Lair of Jonathan Schiller, of Boies Schiller Flexner fame: a stunning modern retreat on Martha’s Vineyard, designed by his son, architect Aaron Schiller (whose firm also did the new BSF offices in Hudson Yards). [Martha’s Vineyard]

    * Amicus brief of the month: a compelling — and, sadly, entertaining (see the Appendix) — analysis of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s utterly incoherent approach to supposedly “immoral or scandalous” trademarks, filed by William Jay and Goodwin Procter on behalf of law professors Barton Beebe and Jeanne Fromer. [Supreme Court of the United States]

    * Here’s a clear and concise explanation of the “Rule of 80,” taking “senior status” as a federal judge, and what this all means for the ideological balance of the judiciary, courtesy of Ed Whelan. [Bench Memos / National Review]

    * How should we think about President Donald Trump’s branding of the press as “the enemy of the people”? Negatively, to be sure — but let’s also keep in mind that the media is not a monolith, as First Amendment lawyer Charles Glasser helpfully reminds us. [Daily Caller]

    * Stephen Cooper survived a stabbing — then went on to defend violent criminals for many years as a federal public defender. [Alabama Political Reporter]

    * Cooper argues that we need to be less punitive and more thoughtful in our treatment of offenders — and Joel Cohen seems to agree, defending an unusual but wise sentence recently handed down by Judge Valerie Caproni (S.D.N.Y.). [New York Law Journal]

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