NYU Law School

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.03.15

* Who's the meanest Supreme Court justice of all time? Science has the answer and it's not Justice Scalia... [Eric Posner] * Harper Lee is publishing a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird (affiliate link). We hope for the best, but the circumstances of this announcement should make everyone a little worried. [Jezebel] * Following the ridiculous arrest of a public defender for the egregious act of defending her client, some California lawyers are raising money to send copies of the Constitution to the SFPD. Silly lawyers, the cops understand the Constitution, they just don't care. But still a commendable protest set piece that could keep the local media on the case. [Indiegogo] * An interview with Steven Browne of Morgan Lewis on how the merger/non-merger with Bingham McCutchen is working out. The answer is pretty well except for some associates expecting a decent bonus. [Forbes] * Uh oh. Emails suggest that Silk Road boss Ross Ulbricht hired a Hell's Angels hitman. The takeaway here is that there are Hell's Angels running on Bitcoin now. [Gawker Internet] * Are you learning how to speak Arabic? Then you're probably a terrorist. [Lowering the Bar] * In a mind-blowingly stupid move, Florida's legislature legalized teen sexting while trying to ban it. It's almost as dumb as that time they legalized just shooting people on the street if you get scared. [Slate] * Mary Holland, a "Graduate Legal Skills Program Research Scholar" at NYU Law, goes on CNN as their representative anti-vaxxer. As an NYU Law alum, this worried me until I noticed she got her law degree from Columbia. Now it all makes sense. [YouTube] * A bitter rejection of corporate-speak. Ha. Good luck. I'm at LegalTech and expect to hear the word "synergy" about 20,000 times over the next 48 hours. [What About Clients?] * Yes, Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link) is fun, but it tackles important issues too, as noted by Howard G. Franklin in this review. [Howard G. Franklin]

By Joe Patrice
11th Circuit

Non-Sequiturs: 10.20.14

* Eric Holder gave millions to Nazis! Or at least that’s how Darrell Issa will put it. But seriously, the Department of Justice has a long-standing policy of allowing Nazi war criminals to collect Social Security payments if they agree to get the hell out of the U.S. [Associated Press via New Europe] * A Cleveland attorney, Peter Pattakos, is not worried about contracting Ebola, even though he was in a room with a current Ebola patient, because Pattakos is neither a crazy person nor a cable news producer and realizes that he never exchanged bodily fluids with the patient. As he points out, “I’m much more likely to be mistakenly killed by a police officer in this country than to be killed by Ebola, even if you were in the same bridal shop.” [Cleveland.com] * Chanel is suing What About Yves for trademark infringement. The question Professor Colman asks is whether “we really want a trademark ‘protection’ regime in which mark ‘owners’ can prevent creative, non-confusing uses of ‘their property.'” [Law of Fashion] * One for the career alternatives file: Miami lawyer who ranks local restaurants opens his own restaurant. At ATL we rank law schools, maybe we should open our own law school. [Southern District of Florida Blog] * Academic publishers fighting the war on common sense by charging an arm and a leg for access to research that is written and peer reviewed by other people for free scored a victory on Friday when the Eleventh Circuit rejected the lower court’s articulation of educational fair use in the digital age. [The Chronicle of Higher Education] * Balancing parenthood and the “jealous mistress” that is the practice of law. [Jed Cain] * An amazing symposium on campaign finance reform from the NYU Law Review and the Brennan Center for Justice. It’s a wealth of content. [NYU Law Review] * Josh Gilliland from The Legal Geeks gave a presentation on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Law at the San Diego Comic Fest, which sounds much more fun than any “and the Law” class I ever took. He’s provided his slideshow presentation…

By Joe Patrice
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 04.21.14

* When asked whether she thought Edward Snowden was “a whistleblower or a traitor,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg politely declined to answer — justices of the Supreme Court don’t just give previews of their opinions. [CNN] * Ed Siskel recently left his role as deputy counsel in the Office of White House Counsel. It’s anyone’s guess which Biglaw firm added Gene Siskel’s nephew to its practice. Hopefully it’ll get a thumbs-up. [Politics Now / Los Angeles Times] * It’s a “tale of two law schools”: the kind that place their students in jobs and the kind that let them languish in unemployment or underemployment. More on this tomorrow. [National Law Journal] * Two NYU Law students’ emails were subpoenaed after they denounced the business activities of one of the law school’s trustees. Now, we’re not going to say that the school picked a side, but… [DNAinfo] * Congrats, you can “Like” General Mills all you want without fear of arbitration. The company was so overwhelmed by negative consumer response that it withdrew its new legal terms. [New York Times]

By Staci Zaretsky