Politics

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.27.17

* The untold story behind the Anita Hill hearings. [Highline] * This could be big: a Second Circuit concurrence says Title VII already includes prohibitions against sexual orientation discrimination. [Slate] * How the GOP learned to stop worrying and love regulations. [Politico] * Jeff Sessions makes the first move against sanctuary cities. [Pacific Standard] * What lawyers can learn from watching television. [Law and More] * Pay equity moves to the hockey rink. [The Hill] * Bad laws will cost you. [The Slot]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.26.17

* "I’m guessing they have had a number of long days and potentially sleepless nights." The government lawyers behind the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Health Care Act have had a rough go of things. Who are they, which law schools did they attend, and which Biglaw firms did they work for before becoming Hill lawyers? [National Law Journal] * Don't forget about Merrick: A third of Democratic senators have pledged to vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch. At this time, it remains unclear as to whether there will be a united effort by Democrats to oppose his confirmation when the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on April 3. [Reuters] * Guess who isn't boycotting Hawaii? People who apparently have a vendetta against this federal jurist. Judge Derrick Watson of the District of Hawaii has been receiving death threats ever since he blocked President Donald Trump's revised travel ban on March 15. He is now receiving 24-hour protection from the U.S. Marshals Service. [The Hill] * The Second Circuit has upheld New York's ban on non-lawyers investing in law firms. Personal injury firm Jacoby & Meyers argued that the state's prohibition on non-lawyer investment violated lawyers' First Amendment right to associate with clients, but the court found that connection to be "simply too attenuated." [New York Law Journal] * Ithaca may be gorges, but it can't compete with the Big Apple with it comes to hands-on learning about issues dealing with cutting-edge tech. Cornell Law is launching a semester-long Program in Information and Technology Law at its Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City that's slated to begin in Spring 2018. [WSJ Law Blog] * Judge Edward J. McManus, the longest serving of any incumbent judge in the United States (and third-longest servng in the history of the United States), RIP. [N.D. Iowa]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.24.17

* Are you ready to be tracked online, everyone? Senate Republicans voted yesterday to overturn internet privacy protections for individuals that were created by the Federal Communications Commission in October. "These were the strongest online privacy rules to date, and this vote is a huge step backwards in consumer protection writ large." [DealBook / New York Times] * Being forced to resign from your position isn't so bad when you can land a sweet gig as a law professor. Barbara McQuade and Preet Bharara aren't the only U.S. Attorneys who found new homes at law schools in the wake of their recent ouster by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Paul Fishman, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, is now a visiting fellow at Seton Hall University School of Law. Congrats! [Law.com] * Mary Yelenick, the third Chadbourne & Parke partner to join the $100 million gender bias class-action suit filed against the firm, claims she was pressured to disavow the allegations in a letter signed by fourteen of the firm's then-sixteen female partners. "At least two of the partners who signed the letter subsequently expressed to me that they hesitated, but felt great pressure to sign the letter," she says. [Big Law Business] * Gawker may be approaching a "potential settlement" with Peter Thiel relative to the tech billionaire's vendetta against the website. The feud led to Thiel's funding of several lawsuits against Gawker, including the one filed by wrestler Hulk Hogan which eventually bankrupted the site. Any deal between the parties would likely protect Gawker founder Nick Denton from any future Thiel-funded lawsuits. [New York Post] * Illinois may be getting ready to puff, puff, pass some legislation that will legalize recreational marijuana. Senate Bill 316 and House Bill 2353 will allow adults to possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and regulate its sale, tax, cultivation, and use. The state already allows patients with certain ailments to use medical marijuana and decriminalized possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana last year. [Newsweek]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.21.17

* Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it... especially when it's rumored that you were the inspiration for seminal 80s character Ferris Bueller and you're now under consideration to be Preet Bharara's replacement as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Edward McNally works for Kasowitz Benson now, but he's reportedly a leading contender for the job. [Wall Street Journal] * Preet Bharara, on the other hand, is now considering taking up teaching at a prestigious law school -- like Columbia, Harvard, or NYU -- or going into private practice at a prestigious Biglaw firm -- like Gibson Dunn or WilmerHale. Who knew being fired after refusing to resign could work out so well? [Wall Street Journal] * Sources claim that President Trump will nominate Makan Delrahim to lead the Justice Department's antitrust division. Currently employed as a deputy in the Office of White House Counsel, Delrahim previously served in the DOJ antitrust division from 2003 to 2005 as deputy assistant attorney general under President Bush. [Big Law Business] * "The noise about lawyers is much more positive right now. Before, it was just negative noise." Law schools may be thanking our president for something that's being referred to as the "Trump bump." Some speculate that applications will surge thanks to the legal profession's prominence in the turbulent early days of his reign. [National Law Journal] * "They say a woman’s place is in the house. I say it’s in the courthouse." The lawyers at New York firm Meyer-Kessler & Shulevitz refer to themselves "double trouble," claim they represent the "new feminism," and they wear bright pink designer outfits every time they go to court. We may have more on this dynamic duo later. [New York Daily News]

By Staci Zaretsky