Mark Geragos

  • Morning Docket: 05.08.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.08.17

    * President Trump included a signing statement when approving the funding legislation that will keep the government running through the end of September. In it, he questioned the limits of his spending power and suggested he’d ignore advance notice requirements for Congress when taking foreign policy and military actions, amid other troubling stances on legal matters. [Bloomberg Politics]

    * In other news, sometime this week — possibly even later today — President Trump is expected to announce some of his picks for the more than 120 vacancies in the lower federal courts, all of whom are known for their “scholarly credentials and ‘intellectual boldness.'” As luck would have it, we already scooped predicted the names of many of the nominees. [New York Times]

    * #NoFilter necessary for this case: The End, a Brooklyn coffee shop, has filed suit against Starbucks, claiming the coffee giant copied its Unicorn Latte with its highly Instagrammable Unicorn Frappuccino. The End registered the name of its whimsical drink with the Patent and Trademark Office in January, and seeks all profits Starbucks made from its sale of its mythical sugar bomb. [Newsweek]

    * Even if you’re a passenger in a car, you’ll have no reprieve from police searches in this state. The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that police may ask for passengers’ identification and run background checks on them — without any suspicion of wrongdoing — during traffic stops, and that doing so will not stand as a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights. [FOX 13 Salt Lake City]

    * Think you’ve found the perfect person to write you a law school rec letter? Think again. “Like in the world of dating, it helps if your partner/prospective partner is supportive of your plans.” Here are some red flags to look out for that may indicate your reference isn’t going to meet your deadlines, isn’t going to remember who you are, and isn’t going to write you a glowing letter. [U.S. News]

    * Celebrity trial attorney Mark Geragos has filed a $100 million class-action lawsuit against rapper Ja Rule and entrepreneur Billy McFarland, the organizers of the ill-fated Fyre Festival, an event marked by “incompetence on an almost inconceivable scale.” In an interview with Variety, Geragos referred to the disastrous event as a “Petri dish of fraud, incompetence and hubris.” [Variety]

  • Morning Docket: 05.02.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.02.17

    * Fewer than 18 percent of federal appeals have oral arguments because federal judges think your argument is just as dumb as the rest of us. [Law.com]

    * Mark Geragos files $100 million lawsuit against Ja Rule and the other organizers of Fyre Festival because rich people can’t be forced to live like poors without consequences. [Variety]

    * Former Acting Solicitor General Ian Gershengorn says, “I feel like I am standing on the shoulders of giants,” which is just a tad sly considering he’s returning to the firm he worked at for 12 years. [National Law Journal]

    * Speaking of the exodus to the private sector, the “Government to Debevoise Pipeline” rolls on with SEC Enforcement’s FCPA chief Kara Brockmeyer joining the firm. For those keeping track this pipeline has now officially created more jobs than the Keystone Pipeline promised. [Corporate Counsel]

    * Maybe we’ll make this whole roundup about moving to private practice! Crowell & Moring adds former Homeland Security Chief of Staff Paul Rosen. [Politico]

    * Fox Rothschild does what anyone else who spends time in Los Angeles does: moves to Seattle. [Legal Intelligencer]

    * The Supreme Court made it harder to sue a foreign government that seizes American assets. Good thing America’s leadership is focused on sound diplomacy and doesn’t needlessly provoke countries by describing them as “a mess.” This should work out well. [Law360]

    * The folks behind the Bar Exam Stats blog have opened a Law School HQ, a new site with a broader focus. [Law School HQ]

  • Morning Docket: 03.23.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.23.16

    * International Biglaw firms in Brussels are “just trying to soldier on” in the wake of the terror attacks that rocked the city yesterday morning. A White & Case secretary was on the metro train that was bombed, but she managed to escape from the wreckage unscathed. All lawyers and staff members have been accounted for and are alive and well. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

    * Singer Kesha has appealed the decision of a judge who declined to void her contract with Sony Music, a record label where she claims she’d be forced to work with a producer who allegedly raped her. This time, her lawyer, Mark Geragos, has likened the pop star’s situation to slavery. Hmm… let’s see how well that goes over for her in court. [Reuters]

    * “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” For the first time since Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, the Supreme Court issued a 4-4 split decision along ideological lines. That very sentence could have a huge impact on some of the high court’s more significant cases for a year or more if Merrick Garland isn’t confirmed. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Professor Melissa Murray of UC Berkeley Law has been tapped to stand in as the school’s interim dean in the wake of Sujit Choudhry’s resignation following the news that he’d been named as a defendant in a sexual harassment suit. Law students chose Murray as their “overwhelming choice” for dean in a poll. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times]

    * Since the GRE is regarded as an easier test than the LSAT, and at least one school will no longer require it for admission, some pre-law students may be wondering whether they should bother to take the LSAT at all. Don’t be silly. Much like the word “fetch,” the GRE isn’t going to happen. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]

  • 8th Circuit, Cars, Clerkships, Education / Schools, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Music, Non-Sequiturs, Politics, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns

    Non-Sequiturs: 08.16.13

    * Chris Brown might buy his lawyer Mark Geragos a Lamborghini. Brown is quite an automotive expert. The upswinging doors make it sooo much easier to throw a girlfriend out of. [TMZ] * Politics is all about figurative whoring, but a county board has dumped its lawyer for soliciting a crack whore. Actually, maybe politics is literal whoring. [Badger Pundit] * Gourmand’s Grater, the kitchen product created by a former lawyer we mentioned a couple weeks ago, has opened its crowdfunding campaign. [Indie GoGo] * Finnegan is ditching its Belgium office and moving to London. How can a firm turn its back on a city classy enough to have a urinating child as a symbol? [The Lawyer] *Access online today’s nude dancing decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. And you’re interested because this is the audience that went crazy for a post about a Playmate from 1994. [How Appealing] * Did you fall for the new U.S. News rankings? Silly readers. Paul Campos breaks down exactly how Rutgers-Newark gamed the system. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * In a New York state case, “[a] calendar call in the courthouse would require the clerk to shout out ‘JesusIsLord ChristIsKing’ or ‘Rejoice ChristIsKing.’” See, now THAT is a name that’s sacrilegious — not having a baby named Messiah. [NY Times] * Yet another reason students should steer clear of law school: most of them have no critical thinking or argumentation skills. [Huffington Post] * We’ve mentioned NYU Law grad and former S.D.N.Y. clerk Eli Northrup and his band Pants Velour before. Now they have a new jingle for Dial 7 car service. Check it out after the jump….
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    Morning Docket: 04.11.13

    * “I don’t believe judges should be filibustered.” Tell that to the rest of your Republican pals, Senator Hatch. D.C. Circuit nom Sri Srinivasan faced little drama at the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. [Bloomberg]

    * A bipartisan gun regulation deal has been reached in the Senate, and of course the NRA is opposing it — well, except for the parts that expand gun rights. The group really likes those parts. [Washington Post]

    * Trolling for patent partners? Bingham recently snagged five IP partners from DLA Piper’s Los Angeles office, including the former co-chair of DLA patent litigation department. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

    * Time well spent: while Detroit hangs on the precipice of bankruptcy, local politicians are worrying about whether retaining Jones Day poses a conflict of interest for their emergency manager (formerly of Jones Day). [Am Law Daily]

    * NYLS — or should we say “New York’s law school” — is revamping its clinical program to kill two birds with one stone (e.g., fulfilling pro bono hours and boosting job prospects). [National Law Journal]

    * For all the talk of his being a hard ass, Judge Rakoff is a nice guy after all! The judge gave an ex-SAC trader permission to go on a honeymoon after his release from prison. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * If you’ve ever wondered how Lat spends his free time, sometimes he’s off writing book reviews for distinguished publications. Check out his review of Mistrial (affiliate link) here. [Wall Street Journal]

    * “Lindsay Lohan is the victim.” What the Heller you talking about? LiLo’s lawyer thinks there’s a conspiracy among the prosecutors on her case that’s resulted in leaks of information to TMZ. [CNN]