Rutgers University

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 11.30.15

    * While you were feasting upon turkey this Thanksgiving, Dentons — otherwise known as the largest Biglaw behemoth in the world — was busy gobbling up yet another law firm. The megafirm will combine with 33-lawyer OPF Partners out of Luxembourg. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * According to a survey from AlixPartners, over the past 12 months, GCs have reported more “bet the company” lawsuits compared to last year. Don’t get too excited, though, because growth in litigation spend hasn’t quite caught up yet. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

    * You really can do anything with a law degree — including things that have absolutely nothing to do with the law! Patrick Hobbs, dean emeritus of Seton Hall Law, has been tapped to become the athletics director at Rutgers University. [NJ Advance Media]

    * What would happen if one of the largest publicly traded plaintiffs firms in the world went under? Ever since its stock price plummeted by 52 percent, industry analysts have started to wonder whether Slater & Gordon is on the verge of collapse. [ABC News]

    * In the wake of the defacement of black faculty portraits and the administration’s apparent “ongoing failure” to address racism on campus, Harvard Law alumni are being asked to stop making donations to the school until changes are made. [Boston Globe]

    * One of 92-year-old Sumner Redstone’s exes filed a probate suit questioning his mental competence and ability to run Viacom and CBS. His attorney from entertainment law powerhouse Loeb & Loeb essentially called her client’s ex a gold digger. [CNBC]

  • Biglaw, Commencement, Crime, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Morning Docket, Murder, Sentencing Law, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns, Trials

    Morning Docket: 05.10.13

    * Growth was “steady” for New York’s top firms, with Latham & Watkins and Skadden Arps leading the pack in terms of gross revenue — which wasn’t surprising, considering their Am Law 100 gross revenue ranking. [New York Law Journal]

    * Dewey know when we’ll be able to stop using this pun? Hmm, at this rate, probably never. Steve Otillar and Citi recently settled their dueling suits over the ex-D&L partner’s capital contribution loan to the failed firm. [Am Law Daily]

    * Cahill Gordon was supposed to investigate the Rutgers basketball scandal, but the firm cited a conflict of interest, so Skadden Arps stepped in. [Insert the joke of your choice here. I don’t like or watch this sport.] [Reuters]

    * Surely you’ve heard about Justice Orie Melvin’s sentence by now. As it turns out, shaming a judge like you’d shame your dog online might not be enforceable… which is too bad. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

    * When we last spoke about “controversial” commencement speakers, we didn’t bring up the fact that Nancy Pelosi would be pulling double duty at UC Davis and Baltimore. Thoughts? [National Law Journal]

    * She’s got a death wish: the aggravation phase of the Jodi Arias trial was postponed at the last minute yesterday, and some think it’s because of the interview she gave after the verdict was announced. [CNN]

  • 2nd Circuit, Abortion, Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Election 2012, Gay, Job Searches, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Lesbians, Morning Docket, Religion, Southern New England School of Law/Umass, Suicide

    Morning Docket: 10.08.12

    * Should Biglaw firms bill by the result instead of by the hour? When some of the results-oriented strategies involve reading less and writing faster to improve work efficiency, we’re not sure how well this would work in a law firm setting. [New York Times]

    * Roller coaster of employment: after losing 1,400 jobs in August, the legal sector added 1,000 jobs in September. Alas, there are way more than 1,000 new bar admittees gunning for all of those paralegal and secretarial positions. [Am Law Daily]

    * “They were throwing furniture at both of us.” Both sides on the Jacoby & Myers non-lawyer firm ownership case took a beating before the Second Circuit during oral arguments, but who won? [New York Law Journal]

    * Come November, Floridians will vote on constitutional amendments that deal with abortion and separation of church and state. Meanwhile, half the voters won’t even read the entire ballot, so there’s that. [New York Times]

    * A love triangle + an Arkansas Wal-Mart = a judicial suspension for Circuit Judge Sam Pope after an all-out brawl with… Bill Murray? Hey, at least this guy’s estranged wife got three punches in. [National Law Journal]

    * Tyler Clementi’s family won’t file suit against Rutgers University and Dharun Ravi — instead, they’ll use the publicity from their son Tyler’s suicide for “positive purposes,” like supporting gay and lesbian youths. [CNN]

    * “This guy is a bully, and he uses the court system to do it.” Robert V. Ward Jr., the former dean of UMass Law, had to deal with Gregory Langadinos, a serial law school litigant, and it wasn’t exactly pretty. [Boston Globe]