Politics
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.27.16
* “Every school has had to make choices, even at the top. This has been upheaval for everyone.” With a significant drop in applicants, the crisis in legal education has reached the members of the T14, the very best law schools in the country. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * Another lawyer has filed […]
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Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
President Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist: 5 Possible Nominees
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.26.16
* Harvard Law professor Larry Lessig is now depending on a future President Trump to enact the campaign finance reforms he built his failed presidential bid upon. He’ll be waiting for a while. [The Crimson]
* Ted Cruz has pretty much always been a douche. [Funny or Die]
* The People v. O.J. Simpson explores racism, sexism, and more — all through costume. [Fashionista]
* U.S. Senators: They’re just like us! Claire McCaskill live-tweets her jury duty experience. [The Slot]
* How can you avoid burnout as a lawyer? [Associate’s Mind]
* Why are embattled public defender offices actually excited about the lawsuits against them? [Christian Science Monitor]
* Practical advice for taking advantage of the opportunities that are staring you right in the face. [Guile is Good]
* Get the inside scoop on why Rudy Giuliani jumped ship to Greenberg Traurig. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dso0lnNsoRA&feature=youtu.be
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Politics
Michael Bloomberg Thisclose To Having To Come Down There And Run For President
Do you want Mike Bloomberg to be your president? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.25.16
* “I have standing to sue. Can you imagine if I did it? Should I do it just for fun?” Republican front-runner Donald Trump is floating a possible lawsuit against Ted Cruz over the senator’s eligibility to run for POTUS — because litigation is so much fun! [The Hill]
* Everyone likes to think Justice Antonin Scalia is a crazy curmudgeon, but one of his former SCOTUS clerks knows there’s a softer side to the man people love to hate. In reality, he’s “an incredibly warm and generous man” with a “wonderful sense of humor.” [Columbus Business First]
* A federal judge who’s had a change of heart about a lengthy sentence he gave to an admitted murderer says he and his colleagues need a way to give “second-look reviews” to adjust sentences for deserving prisoners. Would this work? [New York Times]
* If the ruling in this case catches on, New York attorneys may soon be able to serve people via Facebook. Of course, if your lawsuit winds up in a defendant’s “Filtered Messages,” he’ll never see it, but it’s still a pretty cool concept. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Charleston Law launched a new admissions program that will allow students to begin classes in the spring and graduate in two and a half years instead of three. Perhaps the goal here is to graduate students before the school closes for good? [ABA Journal]
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Trivia Question of the Day
To Forgive Is Divine
A controversial decision doesn't always derail a career. -
Politics
8 Actual Frankenstein Quotes That Could Be About Donald Trump
Trump is the Frankenstein Monster of the GOP. - Sponsored
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.22.16
* Pharma bro Martin Shkreli was subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, so of course he took to Twitter like a mature adult to bemoan the encroachment upon his constitutional rights. [Washington Post]
* Jell-O pudding pops for all! A judge dismissed a defamation suit filed against Bill Cosby and his lawyers, ruling that denials made in response to accusations are protected by the First Amendment. [Reuters]
* “For him to be arguing now that there ought to be tort reform is completely hypocritical.” It looks like Ted Cruz’s record for winning large damages awards for clients in personal injury cases may be coming back to haunt him. [Wall Street Journal]
* U.S. states aren’t permitted to declare bankruptcy, but some say it’s a better option than a taxpayer bailout. Puerto Rico, on the other hand, doesn’t need to file bankruptcy — it just needs “an orderly process to restructure its debts.” [Bloomberg Businessweek]
* Because everyone needs a Hail Mary: As DraftKings and FanDuel take on state attorneys general in the fight to remain in business, both daily fantasy sports websites have started lobbying Congress in the hopes of changing state gambling policies. [CNBC]
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Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Politics
When The White House Left America's Best Behind
Here are five questions about Benghazi that an effective cross-examination would address. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.21.16
* The Supreme Court may undo President Obama’s legacy… of executive actions. [Talking Points Memo]
* Speaking of United States v. Texas, it just may be Chief Justice John Roberts’s worst nightmare. [Slate]
* Today is a special anniversary: six years, the Supreme Court issued its Citizens United decision, and democracy hasn’t looked the same since. [Huffington Post]
* Interesting data analysis from Professor Derek T. Muller: as full-time law faculty numbers shrink, law school administrator numbers grow. [Excess of Democracy]
* Benghazi is getting a Michael Bay movie — and the congressional hearing is still raging on. [Rolling Stone]
* Attorneys for Daniel Holtzclaw, the Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping eight women while on duty, have filed a motion seeking a new trial; they suspect discovery shenanigans on the part of the prosecution. [Gawker]
* Nope. Hillary Clinton may not be a radical, but she also isn’t a moderate Republican. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]
* Seven legal tech considerations for 2016, from lawyer and legal-tech enthusiast Steven J. Best. [Legal Tech Blog]
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Politics
Is Bernie Sanders Black Enough To Be President?
If you want to understand why Bernie is doing poorly among African-Americans, you need to understand code-switching. -
Constitutional Law, Politics, R. Ted Cruz
Birthers Beware: Why Court Challenges To Ted Cruz’s Citizenship Can't Win
They can't win in federal court because they shouldn't even be heard in federal court, according to columnist Tamara Tabo.
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Biglaw, Money, Politics
Biglaw Firm Going Viral For Its Political Leanings
One Biglaw firm gets right into the middle of the Democratic fight. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.19.16
* The New York Times editorial board believes SCOTUS justices “already have all the evidence they need to join the rest of the civilized world and end the death penalty once and for all” — and they may get the chance to do so this Term (but won’t). [New York Times]
* A Texas lawyer has filed the first “birther” lawsuit against Republican candidate Ted Cruz, seeking a declaratory judgment that the Canadian-born senator isn’t eligible to run for president. The filing is a pretty entertaining read in that it’s completely insane. [KHOU 11 News]
* Just when ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf chair Steven Davis thought his legal troubles were over, Citibank swooped in to slap him with a suit seeking repayment of a $400,000 loan for his capital contribution to the failed firm. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal]
* The U.S. Copyright Office has formed an academic partnership with George Mason University School of Law. We bet students and law school administrators alike are probably hoping it’ll turn into an employment partnership as well. [IP Watchdog]
* Lower-ranked law schools ought to thank their lucky stars that U.S. News “ranking competition” exists, because if not for fear they’d sink in the rankings, higher-ranked schools would’ve enrolled students typically bound for unranked schools. [Forbes]
* Not only has Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s first bid to get a new trial been rejected, but in what’s been called a “symbolic gesture,” the convicted Boston Marathon bomber has now been ordered to pay more than $101 million in restitution to his victims. [Boston Globe]
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Hillary Clinton, Politics
Hillary Clinton: Criminal Prosecution, Or The Presidency?
It is quite an odd scenario when your 12-month outlook contains the following possibilities: criminal charges and potential imprisonment, or holding the nation's highest office. Such is the fate of Hillary Clinton. -
Finance, Politics
Ted Cruz’s Wall Street Hypocrisy Now Valued In The Seven Figures
It turns out that Ted Cruz’s convoluted relationship with Goldman Sachs (GS) is even more transactionally opaque than we previously imagined. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.14.16
* If you were a Biglaw partner at a troubled firm who managed to escape before the sh*t really hit the fan, and you now feel bad for those you left behind, don’t worry. We know you might not be familiar with emotions, but “[i]t’s a legitimate human feeling.” [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Just when you thought Ted Cruz was eligible to run for president, some renowned legal scholars have crawled out of the woodwork to state the complete opposite — and some have even published law review articles about it. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Those contract attorneys who sued for overtime pay at their doc review jobs made an impact, but it might not have been the kind they were hoping for. Many law firms and staffing agencies have stopped offering overtime work at all. [New York Law Journal]
* Florida’s death row inmates are stuck in legal limbo now that SCOTUS invalidated the state’s capital punishment sentencing regime as unconstitutional. Maybe the state where people go to die should consider repealing its death penalty altogether. [Reuters]
* Oh my God (but not his): An atheist lawyer is suing to remove the phrase “In God We Trust” from all U.S. currency because he says it violates the separation between church and state. He’s filed God-related lawsuits in the past, and lost them all. [Cleveland.com]
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Politics
Are Lawyers Terrible Presidents?
As the primaries approach, one Republican candidate has some pointed criticism of a rival. -
Politics
The State Of The Union Address: Let's Get Irresponsibly Drunk
Some people watch the State of the Union Address as a point of civic duty. Others like to get drunk. This is for the latter demographic.