Ninth Circuit
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9th Circuit, Federal Judges
Tell Us How You Really Feel, Judge Bybee!
"Bybee, Circuit Judge... frustrated with the whole endeavor." -
Federal Judges, Politics
Circuit Court Nominees In The Trump Administration: The Latest News And Rumor (Part 2)
These highly qualified women and men should be swiftly confirmed to the federal bench. - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Federal Judges, Social Media, Technology
Did This Judge's Tweeting Constitute Reversible Error?
The Ninth Circuit has spoken.
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.14.17
* The Second Circuit vacates the corruption convictions of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Congratulations to his counsel, the high-powered litigation boutique of MoloLamken (which handled the appeal as well as the trial). [How Appealing]
* And congrats to federal judicial nominees John K. Bush (Sixth Circuit) and Kevin Newsom (Eleventh Circuit), who just got voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Washington Examiner]
* In other nomination news, the White House seems to be taking its time in announcing a Ninth Circuit nominee from Oregon. Delay may strengthen the case for frontrunner Ryan Bounds; his main competition, Chief Judge Michael Mosman, gets older by the day (turning 61 later this year). [Portland Tribune]
* Meet Michael Murray, an ex-SCOTUS clerk and Jones Day alum, who is the Justice Department’s new point person on pot. (Fun fact: Kevin Newsom, Ryan Bounds, and Michael Murray all clerked for my former boss, Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit.) [U.S. News]
* Former Ropes & Gray COO Hugh A. Simons wonders: “Are Law Firms Too Sophisticated for Their Own Good?” [Am Law Daily]
* Will law school applications see a “Trump Bump,” as idealistic aspiring attorneys seek law degrees to join the resistance? We might have more on this later. [Law.com]
* Yes, lawyers should stand up for their beliefs — but they also can (and must) understand the arguments on the other side, as new Yale Law dean Heather Gerken explains. [Time]
* The Ninth Circuit has ruled in the Case of the Tweeting Judge. We might have more on this later as well. [How Appealing]
* Congratulations to Stephen Kane, an alum of O’Melveny & Myers and Lex Machina, on securing $1.8 million in funding for his FairClaims startup — which he describes as “a virtual Judge Judy.” [TechCrunch]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.07.17
* Another day, another notable immigration ruling from the Ninth Circuit (by the great liberal lion, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, joined by his brilliant ideological protégé, Judge Marsha Berzon). [How Appealing]
* The sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, which previously ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, will be retried in November. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* Why do associates leave Biglaw, and what can be done to reduce attrition? Insights from NALP and from Major Lindsey & Africa’s Tina Cohen and Jennifer Henderson. [ABA Journal]
* Law firm merger mania continues — and much of the action is taking place abroad. [Law.com]
* Senator Kamala Harris, prominent prosecutor turned politician, might get interrupted on occasion — but she will not be stopped. [New York Times]
* Linda Greenhouse wonders about Justice Neil Gorsuch: “How could the folksy ‘Mr. Smith Goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee’ morph so quickly into Donald Trump’s life-tenured judicial avatar?” [New York Times via How Appealing]
* Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledges that the Republicans might not be able to repeal Obamacare right now — and that an interim solution might be needed. [The Hill]
* For interested readers, here’s the “origin story” of Above the Law, which turns 11 next month. [Yale Alumni Association of New York]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.13.17
* Professor Ann Althouse wants to know: What’s the theory that take-home exams redress gender inequity? [Althouse]
* Legal analytics versus legal research: what’s the difference? Owen Byrd of Lex Machina explains. [Law Technology Today]
* Professor Noah Feldman is not a fan of the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling on Trump Travel Ban 2.0. [Bloomberg View via How Appealing]
* And Professor Sam Bray is not a fan of nationwide injunctions in the travel ban litigation. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]
* My colleague Elie Mystal yesterday offered an ideological critique of Justice Ginsburg’s opinion in Morales-Santana; Professor Will Baude has a technical one (and I think he might be right). [PrawfsBlawg]
* Mollie Hemingway respectfully dissents from the James Comey lovefest.
[The Federalist] -
Immigration, Justice, Politics
Trump's Travel Ban, Trounced Again
The latest legal loss for the Trump administration's travel ban. - Sponsored
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.02.17
* Michael Bloomberg has offered to pay the United States’ share to the United Nations as part of the Paris climate agreement that Trump is trying to stop. It’s a nice gesture, but it also feels like how Old World oligarchs used to pay people to look the other way instead of overthrowing the incompetent king. [Forbes]
* Former Penn State officials, including former president Graham B. Spanier, have been sentenced to jail time in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. [New York Times]
* Evergreen State remains on lockdown due to threats related to its “Day of Absence.” Massa don’t like it much when you lock him out. [KIRO 7]
* Thief stole a backpack off one of the dying heroes in the Portland attack. Looks like they caught him. [Gizmodo]
* You’re still not allowed to protest at the Supreme Court. [Courthouse News Service]
* Wasn’t there a Law and Order about a fertility specialist who used his own sperm instead of the donor sperm people thought they were getting? [Slate]
* Time for some promos: If you are interested in Loving, there’s a great event centered around it at the WNYC Green Space on Monday, June 12th. [Greene Space]
* If, on the other hand, you happen to be in San Francisco, join us on June 13th for Better Know A Circuit. We’ll be discussing the Ninth Circuit… which has been in the news recently, for some reason. [Above the Law]
* Now for our weekly check-in with White Pride media. … Oh God, they’re still on the Kathy Griffin story. When it comes to having a persecution complex, right-wing media makes Jesus on the Cross look like a brother crying over a splinter. [Breitbart]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.02.17
* Let’s get ready to rumble: the Trump administration seeks Supreme Court review — and rescue — of its travel ban. [New York Times]
* In other federal judicial news, the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, held that courts cannot routinely shackle defendants during proceedings; Judge Alex Kozinski wrote the majority opinion, and former Kozinski clerk Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote the dissent. [How Appealing]
* Judge Nicholas Garaufis (E.D.N.Y.) — who isn’t shy about telling lawyers how he really feels — has a new bee in his Article III bonnet: “I’m sick and tired of lawyers from white-shoe law firms marching into my courtroom and getting a deferred-prosecution agreement for their clients.” [ABA Journal]
* Why did President Donald Trump hire Marc Kasowitz to represent him in the Russia inquiry — and could DJT already be second-guessing that decision? [Weekly Standard]
* Speaking of the Russia probe, Robert Mueller is getting some high-powered help: outgoing Justice Department official Andrew Weissmann joins his former boss’s team. [Law360]
* Interesting new data from our friends at NALP: the $180K starting salary might not be as widespread as you think. [Law.com]
* President Trump plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate deal — but withdrawal can’t be finalized until near the end of his term because of the accord’s legal structure and language. [Washington Post]
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Justice, Police, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court Makes It Even Easier For Cops To Shoot You
What we deem reasonable from the police has become absurd. -
Events, Sponsored Content
Join Us In San Francisco For Our 'Better Know A Circuit' Event
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9th Circuit, Federal Judges, Litigators
R-E-S-P-E-C-T(ing) The Denial Of Rehearing En Banc
Paging all legal nerds....
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Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
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Events, Sponsored Content
Join Us In San Francisco For Our 'Better Know A Circuit' Event
Request your RSVP now. -
9th Circuit, Immigration, Justice, Politics
Ninth Circuit Goes Full 'Korematsu' On Muslim Ban Lawyer
Can we really legally distinguish the Muslim Ban from Korematsu? -
Gender, Justice, Labor / Employment, On The Job, Women's Issues
Court-Sanctioned, Gender-Based Pay Discrepency? Say It Isn't So!
Employment lawyers fear gender-related wage claims because these complaints are so often valid. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 05.05.17
* What does Biglaw firm Cozen O’Connor share in common with Brooklyn hipsters? [Philadelphia Business Journal]
* Glenn Reynolds offers concise commentary on Comey. [Instapundit]
* “Kozinski, circuit judge, ruminating” — yeah, you know you want to click…. [Volokh Conspiracy]
* Professor Ann Althouse does not “like” punishing high school students for their Facebook activity. [Althouse]
* And Professor Orly Lobel questions the use of noncompetes, especially in terms of low-wage workers and women. [New York Times via PrawfsBlawg]
* How many Jewish justices have we had in Supreme Court history? [U.S. National Archives via How Appealing]
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Federal Judges, Politics
Circuit Court Nominees In The Trump Administration: A Nationwide Round-Up
Names, names, and more names, for federal judgeships around the country. -
Gender, Justice, Labor / Employment, On The Job, Women's Issues
You Can Pay Women Less Than Men For The Same Job, As Long As She Was Making Less In Her Old Job
The glass ceiling is protected by circular logic. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.01.17
* Checks and balances, how do they work? President Donald Trump seems to be looking for anyone and anything to blame for his first 100 days in office being bungled, and he’s finally settled on the rule system that controls the Senate, calling it a “very rough system,” an “archaic system” that’s “really a bad thing for the country.” [The Guardian]
* In other news, according to Reince Priebus, President Trump’s chief of staff, something that the White House has looked into is changing libel laws to make it easier to sue news organizations, but “[h]ow it gets executed or whether that goes anywhere is a different story.” Wow. [CNN]
* One things for sure — there’s no Supreme Court retirement watch here: Described as “exuberant,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently exclaimed that she “love[s] her job,” and that Justice Elena Kagan must be absolutely thrilled about Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation, since that means she’ll no longer have to suffer through the incredibly boring tasks typically given to the high court’s junior justice. [National Law Journal]
* “The logic of the decision is hard to accept. You’re OK’ing a system that perpetuates the inequity in compensation for women.” In a disheartening opinion, the Ninth Circuit said employers may legally pay women less than their male counterparts for the same work based exclusively on differences in their prior salaries, even though those differences were recently ruled discriminatory under the Equal Pay Act by a lower court. [CBS News]
* A second suspect has been arrested in the fatal April 10 shooting of Cook County Associate Judge Raymond Myles. Earl Wilson, 45, a man who is “no stranger to the criminal justice system,” was charged with first-degree murder. Per prosecutors, this was a robbery gone wrong, and Myles was not supposed to be killed. Myles is the first Chicago-area judge to be fatally shot in more than three decades. [Chicago Tribune]
* Late last week, the Hollywood Reporter released its annual ranking of the best attorneys who serve the nation’s most glamorous celebrities — the Hollywood 100 — which is always celebrated like “lawyer Christmas in Hollywood for a day.” How many Biglaw attorneys made the list in the tenth edition of the rankings, and how well represented are each of their firms? We’ll have more on this later. [Big Law Business]