Politics
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.25.16
* Orin Kerr isn’t persuaded by Larry Lessig’s argument in favor of the Electoral College picking Hillary Clinton as president. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]
* What do people think of President-elect Donald Trump’s appointments so far? Survey says…. [Instapundit]
* If the justice(s) Trump appoints to SCOTUS end up overturning Roe v. Wade, what would happen next? [New York Times via How Appealing]
* Speaking of the Donald, not everything is his fault. [Guile is Good]
* No, this wasn’t said by Trump: “I am not a racist and my voters are neither. They are people who want their country back and who are sick and tired of not being listened to.” [Althouse]
* Congratulations to the 177 lawyers from 76 firms who were just named Law360’s 2016 MVPs! [Law360]
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Larry Lessig, Law Professors, Law Schools, Politics, Quote of the Day
A Harvard Law Professor's Call To Derail The Trump Train
Professor Larry Lessig argues that there's no good reason for electors to veto the people's choice: Hillary Clinton. - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Politics
Why Trump Won And Why It Will Work Out Great For Democrats
Trump won because he was the better candidate and he ran the better campaign.
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Justice, Law Schools, Racism
Apparently 'The Swamp' Now Extends To Jews At Harvard Law School
A visiting professor at Harvard Law gets some vile hate mail. -
Quote of the Day, Religion, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Where The Supreme Court Could Use More Diversity
The Founders surely never imagined we'd reach this point. -
Holidays and Seasons, Job Searches, Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
Thanksgiving Family Talk On The Job Search, Solo Practice, And The Election
Advice for solo and small-firm lawyers on how to handle the holiday. -
Department of Justice, Federal Government, Politics
The Biglaw Attorneys On Trump's DOJ Transition Team
Biglaw attorneys will play a key role in this jacked-up circle of life. -
Boutique Law Firms, Small Law Firms
Beyond Biglaw: 3 Tips For Healing Wounds
How a firm deals with adversity is a good barometer of its resilience and strength. - Sponsored
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Crime, Immigration
Criminal Immigrants -- They've Got It Bad Already
Deportation laws are already harsh. What will happen under Trump's presidency? -
Marijuana, Politics
ICYMI: 'Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan.' -- Jeff Sessions And Marijuana
Recreational marijuana states and those who participate in recreational marijuana businesses should remain cautious. -
Donald Trump, Federal Judges
Federal Judge Tells New Citizens To Leave The Country If They Don't Like Trump
Get out ASAP if you don't like Trump. -
Biglaw, Racism
In Time Of Political Unrest, Former Biglaw Managing Partner Told To 'Go Back To [His] Own Country'
This is incredibly troubling. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.21.16
* Despite the fact that President-elect Trump has called for the cast of “Hamilton” to apologize to Vice President-elect Pence for delivering a message to him after the show, Pence handled it well, saying he “wasn’t offended,” and that he reminded his kids that the mixture of boos and cheers from the audience as he took his seat was “what freedom sounds like.” [PLAYBILL]
* President-elect Donald Trump may be able to get a pretty hefty tax write-off for settling the Trump University fraud case for $25 million, since according to tax lawyer Robert Wood, most business settlements are fully tax deductible. Perhaps the president-elect — or his legal team — really does know the tax code better than anyone else. [Forbes]
* Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld is settling back into private practice after the election. The former Massachusetts governor has returned to the Boston office of Mintz Levin as a partner in the firm’s government relations practice, says that being back is a “pure pleasure because you get to sit at a desk and think.” [Am Law Daily]
* In an effort to slash their legal bills, rival fantasy sports rivals DraftKings and FanDuel will be merging in the second half of 2017. As the two sites are market leaders and their union would likely create a monopoly, there will be some antitrust issues to review before the merger closes. We wonder which firms are working on the deal. [Reuters]
* Kaplan’s Concord Law School, an unaccredited, for-profit, online-only institution, is petitioning several states to allow its students to sit for the bar exam. California is the only state that allows Concord graduates to sit for its bar exam, and their passage rate for first-timers on the July 2015 administration of the exam was 25 percent. [ABA Journal]
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Law Professors
Professor Dershowitz's Response Still Misses My Core Argument
Professor Dershowitz provided a lot of context, but still doesn't get to the core of our disagreement. -
Politics
11,000 Lawyers Sign Letter In Opposition To Stephen Bannon’s Appointment
Lawyers against Bannon. -
Law Professors, Racism
A Response To Joe Patrice
The Harvard Law professor responds to an earlier Above the Law article. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.18.16
* Siding with prosecution and without explaining its reasoning, the Seventh Circuit has delayed the release of “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey, ordering that he remain incarcerated “pending the outcome of the appeal” in his case. Dassey’s conviction was overturned in August; he was set to be released today. [Reuters]
* According to some sources, we may have a full Supreme Court bench by the end of the current term, but at this point, it’s really a matter of “who President Trump nominates and what kind of ‘payback’ the Democrats decide to exact for having lost the election and for the Senate’s having held up the Merrick Garland nomination.” [Big Law Business]
* For the first time, the ranking Republican and Democratic lawmakers leading the Senate Judiciary Committee will be non-lawyers. Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein will not only review judicial appointments, but they’ll also have Department of Justice, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security oversight. [Wall Street Journal]
* Rather than issuing a grant or denial, the ABA will continue to review the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law’s application for accreditation. What does this mean for the school’s third-year students? The administration hopes the Texas Supreme Court will allow them to take the state bar exam in July 2017. [Dallas Business Journal]
* “[University leadership] need to be ashamed of themselves. … [They showed a] total lack of consideration for the lives of the staff and faculty.” People are pretty angry about the impending closure of Indiana Tech Law School, including its benefactors, and some of them want refunds. We may have more on this at a later time. [Indiana Lawyer]
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Continuing Legal Education / CLE, Donald Trump
The Circuit: Educating Trump's Lawyers
December is coming very quickly -- be sure to check that you have fulfilled you required CLE education for your upcoming deadlines. -
Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners
There Are Puppies in SmallLaw
What do you do if you need puppies to handle stressful situations? Try SmallLaw. -
Politics
What Are You Doing To Make A Difference?
If you are concerned about the future of our country under the leadership of this incoming administration, now is the time to step up to the plate and take action.