Ninth Circuit

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.17.16

* Ding ding ding, we have a winner: with a bid of $135 million, Univision has prevailed in the auction to buy Gawker Media's assets (held at the offices of Gawker's bankruptcy counsel, Ropes & Gray). [Politico] * The Ninth Circuit rules that the feds can't spend money to prosecute people whose actions comply with state medical marijuana laws. [How Appealing] * Protip for millennial law students: don't call your law professor by her first name. [WSJ Law Blog] * "Is $88,500 Salary Too Much for a Deputy General Counsel?" (Hint: no.) [Big Law Business] * Is it time to rethink antitrust enforcement, especially when it comes to Big Tech? [DealBook / New York Times] * Judge Timothy Dooley has been censured by the Alaska Supreme Court for his rude remarks in open court. [Alaska Dispatch News] * Hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen can't trade in CFTC-regulated commodities markets until 2018, as part of a settlement with the commission. [Bloomberg] * Sigfredo Garcia, one of the two men accused of killing law professor Dan Markel, isn't getting bond just yet. [Tallahassee Democrat; WCTV]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.10.16

* "NEW CIVILITY WATCH: Dem Senate candidate and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland: Scalia's death 'happened at a good time.'" [Instapundit] * A Skull and Bones society for top NYC law firms? Professor Rick Swedloff discusses a secretive group whose membership includes some of Biglaw's biggest names. [SSRN] * A notable new petition (filed by Professor Orin Kerr and Marcia Hofmann) in a high-profile appeal about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Donald Trump's infamous "Second Amendment" quip is protected by the First Amendment -- but just barely, according to Professor Noah Feldman. [Bloomberg View via How Appealing] * Jury consultant Roy Futterman of DOAR wonders: is concern about prejudicing jurors actually driving them to using the internet for decision-making? [Big Law Business] * Could the ABA someday lose its power to accredit law schools? Steven J. Harper thinks its day of reckoning is coming closer. [The Belly of the Beast]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.13.16

* "Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one." The House was successful in its suit over the improper funding of an Obamacare subsidy program, but this victory may serve as a setback to those who have come to rely upon it. You can expect the Obama administration to appeal. [POLITICO] * The Ninth Circuit will allow attorneys who secured a victory in the Stetson BARBRI antitrust case to get a second chance to score the nearly $2M in attorneys fees they originally requested before Judge Manuel Real shot them down. Due to his prior "erroneous findings and conclusions," the Ninth Circuit has essentially removed Judge Real from the case. [Courthouse News Service] * “People are turned off on legal education because of a lack of suitable paying jobs." Even while facing a dearth of applicants, Minnesota Law has decided to scale back on the size of its first-year class -- taking in less of the tuition income that it needs to survive -- in order to preserve its standing as a top law school. [DealBook / New York Times] * Former partners of the dearly departed Dickstein Shapiro will no longer have to worry about that $8.4 million sublease lawsuit filed by Sullivan & Worcester after they left the firm's New York office to lateral en masse to Blank Rome. Both sides have amicably resolved their dispute, but we wonder how much it cost to do so. [Big Law Business] * A grand jury has upgraded the charges against Ryan Petersen, the man alleged to have shot 23-year-old law firm clerk Chase Passauer to death in his office chair. Peterson had been charged with second-degree murder in Passauer's death, but now faces a charge of premeditated first-degree murder for the commission of the crime. [Star Tribune]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.12.16

* Howrey doing with all those profit clawbacks for unfinished business? The bankruptcy trustee for this defunct firm filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit to determine whether his method of collecting cash for the insolvent firm's estate was legal, and in an amicus brief, the ABA has sided with the law firms being bilked for funds, saying such efforts must be nixed. [ABA Journal] * The Tenth Circuit dismissed a challenge to Utah's ban on polygamy that was brought by TLC's "Sister Wives" family, saying they didn't have standing to sue as they were no longer subject to a credible threat of prosecution. This will probably add fuel to the rumors that the show is on the verge of cancellation before Season 7. [WSJ Law Blog] * The SEC has charged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in connection to a stock scam involving tech company Servergy. Paxton allegedly assisted the company with raising investor funds, but never disclosed his commissions. With three pending criminal indictments and a bar complaint, this guy is batting 1000. [Dallas Morning News] * Reclaim Harvard Law protestors who have been occupying the school's student center claim that they found a voice-activated recording device in "Belinda Hall," and have interpreted this as an "intentional effort to surveil [their] movement." If your goal was to get people to listen to your message, consider this an achievement unlocked. [Observer] * If you're uncertain about your law school decision, you can certainly put down multiple seat deposits, but we're not sure why you would want to. By all means, start your legal education by putting yourself into debt -- you'll be off to a great start for the six figures of loans you'll have accumulated by graduation. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

By Staci Zaretsky