Ninth Circuit
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9th Circuit, Eliot Spitzer, Federal Judges, General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Law Professors, Non-Sequiturs, Ted Frank
Non-Sequiturs: 08.22.11
* Does your fledgling company need a full-time general counsel? Lance Levy lays out some considerations. [In-House Blog] * Why is Marc Randazza “the most inappropriate man in the world”? Well, how many briefs have you filed with phallus-filled footnotes? (Say that last part ten times fast.) [Popehat] * New England Patriots defensive tackle Albert […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Fabulosity, Federal Judges, Harry Pregerson, Immigration, Romance and Dating
Citizen Kozinski: A Cool Coincidence, and an Inspiring Story
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit, a longtime friend of Above the Law, shares an inspirational immigrant's story with us. - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
9th Circuit, Cocaine / Crack, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Drugs, Free Speech, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.19.11
* Urging people to kill the president is protected speech, according to the Ninth Circuit. So if you are playing along at home, judges think that talking about killing judges is wrong, but they don’t care if you threaten the executive branch. [Wired] * Did anyone start Dewey & LeBoeuf in their Dodger lawyers fantasy […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.18.11
* The arrest of Rebekah Brooks over the weekend only complicates the investigation into News Corp. phone-hacking. I like her hair. I only have one question. [Bloomberg] * What (and where) becomes of Casey Anthony now that she’s out? Y’know, F. Scott Fitzgerald once opined that “There are no second acts in American lives. But […]
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9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Constitutional Law, Email Scandals, Federal Judges, Media and Journalism, Privacy, Technology
Judge Alex Kozinski and his Famous Law Clerk, Stephanie Grace, Say The Fourth Amendment is Dead
The Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and one of his law clerks have penned a eulogy for the Fourth Amendment. It’s been murdered, Judge Kozinski and Stephanie Grace write in an editorial for The Daily, and you all are the guilty culprits. You’ve put a […] -
9th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Gender, Labor / Employment, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Ted Frank, Ted Olson, Wal-Mart, Women's Issues
Supreme Court Rejects Nationwide Class Action Against Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart: where you can save money and live better, except if you're a woman. Yesterday, SCOTUS reversed the Ninth Circuit in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, and held that class action certification should not have been granted in this case involving claims of pay and promotion discrimination against female employees. -
9th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Benchslaps, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, John Ashcroft, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, War on Terror
Quote of the Day: Well, cherries are delicious....
The [Ninth Circuit] seems to have cherry-picked the aspects of our opinions that gave colorable support to the proposition that the un-constitutionality of the action here was clearly established. Qualified immunity gives government officials breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments about open legal questions. When properly applied, it protects ‘all but the plainly […] -
9th Circuit, Federal Judges, Judicial Nominations, Politics
Breaking: Goodwin Liu Still 'Busted
Reports indicate that cloture has not been invoked for Goodwin Liu’s nomination to the Ninth Circuit. That means the filibuster is still on. That means he’s going to be a law professor, not a judge (at least until the next election cycle). Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and the totally [curse words] Ben […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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9th Circuit, Divorce Train Wrecks, Football, Immigration, Insider Trading, Morning Docket, Sports
Morning Docket: 04.12.11
* Baker & McKenzie is being sued for $600 million. First they were the inspiration for Philadelphia. Then they gave me a cold offer. Now this? Horrific mistakes, all. [Sports Money / Forbes] * Meanwhile, Bingham McCutchen is preemptively suing Frank McCourt for letting them screw him over so badly. [Los Angeles Times] * The […]
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9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Benchslaps, Facebook, Movies, Social Networking Websites, Technology
Chief Judge Kozinski to the Winklevii: Please Go Away Now
If you enjoyed The Social Network, then perhaps you should be grateful to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The lawsuit they filed against Facebook and Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, gave rise to excellent entertainment. The movie wouldn’t have been possible without it. But now the litigation is getting… old. And some people just want the Winklevoss […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Military / Military Law, Movies
More Fun From Chief Judge Kozinski
There’s always something fun going on in the Ninth Circuit. Last week, the Court voted against rehearing en banc in United States v. Alvarez, a case raising the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act (a law that essentially criminalizes false claims of military heroism). A divided three-judge panel struck down the Act on First Amendment […] -
9th Circuit, Document Review, Gender, Labor / Employment, SCOTUS, Technology, Wal-Mart, Women's Issues
Dukes Proving To Be a Hazard to Wal-Mart
In 1995, Betty Dukes took a job at a Wal-Mart near San Francisco, working as a cashier and greeter for $5 an hour. A “greeter” represents the face of the company as consumers walk through the door. Little did Dukes and Wal-Mart know that Dukes would ultimately become a face of Wal-Mart nationally, under much different circumstances. Today, […] -
9th Circuit, Gay, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Musical Chairs, Non-Sequiturs, S.D.N.Y., U.S. Attorneys Offices
Non-Sequiturs: 03.23.11
* Were you skeptical of all the law schools reporting to U.S. News that the median private-sector starting salary for their graduates is $160,000? Forbes explains why your skepticism is warranted. [Forbes via Constitutional Daily] * On a related note, if you want to be a millionaire, you should definitely go to college. Law school? […]
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9th Circuit, Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: Oh, explanation is overrated.
That decision is as inexplicable as it is unexplained. It is reversed. — opinion of the Supreme Court in Felkner v. Jackson, benchslapping the Ninth Circuit through a unanimous, per curiam reversal of an unpublished memorandum disposition. (For more context, see Josh Blackman or read the SCOTUS opinion.) -
9th Circuit, Clerkships, Federal Judges, In-House Counsel, Litigators
Inside Straight: 'Standard of Review Decides Cases'
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. Here are two stories, from nearly thirty years apart. They’re bookends on the subject of why standard of review counts. Travel back with me, if you will, to the summer of 1983. I’m ten […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Movies, Television
A Movie Recommendation from Chief Judge Kozinski
Were you disappointed by James Franco and Anne Hathaway as Oscars hosts? If so, you weren’t alone. PopEater described their hosting efforts, especially Franco’s, as “a disaster.” The New York Times declared the proceedings to be “downright painful” at points. Next year, the Academy Awards should go in a different direction. Enough pandering to the […] -
9th Circuit, ACLU, Barack Obama, Gay, Gay Marriage, Politics, Ted Frank
Obama Directs DOJ to Stop Defending DOMA
President Obama has directed the Department of Justice to stop defending Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Attorney General Eric Holder’s letter explaining the decision to Speaker of the House John Boehner appears here. In other marriage-equality-related news, the American Foundation for Equal […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Judicial Nominations, Legal Ethics, Politics
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski Defends Free Speech for Judges
Given my prior stewardship of Underneath Their Robes, it should come as no surprise that I like my judges to exhibit some humanity. My favorite judges are those with personality, spunk, and a sense of humor, not the judicial automatons who just crank out dry opinions. Sometimes judges can be, well, all too human. They […] -
7th Circuit, 9th Circuit, Clerkships, Federal Judges, Frank Easterbrook, Old People
What Is To Be Done About Super-Old Judges?
When I clerked on the Ninth Circuit years ago, one of the judges on the court at the time was extremely old — and didn’t seem very “with it.” His law clerks seemed to take on a large amount of responsibility. One of his clerks that year, a law school classmate of mine I’ll call […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Pictures
A Thank You from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski
Thanks to all the Above the Law readers who responded to the request from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Chief Judge Kozinski sends his gratitude, along with an update….