SCOTUS
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.05.15
* “There are no bathrooms, no air-conditioning, no good food. You don’t usually get good cellphone reception, either, and you can’t just quit and go somewhere comfortable.” Surprisingly, this Biglaw partner isn’t talking about his firm’s working conditions. [Miami Herald]
* It’s going to be difficult for U.S. authorities to prosecute Walter Palmer, the dentist who killed Zimbabwe’s beloved lion, Cecil. Bringing this guy down under the Lacey Act is going to be a real task. If only this were a Pixar movie with a happy ending. 🙁 [Reuters]
* SCOTUS justices are jet-setting across the world this summer, with RBG in South Korea and Vietnam, Roberts in Japan, Scalia in Italy, Kennedy in Austria, and Breyer in England. Let’s hope no one has to evacuate a plane via emergency chute. [National Law Journal]
* If you’re considering applying to law school and you decide to visit one this summer, aside from students huddled in dark corners of the library who are crying over their employment prospects, there are a few things you should be looking for. [U.S. News]
* The mother of Sandra Bland, the woman who hanged herself in a Texas jail cell last month, has filed a wrongful-death suit, alleging that her daughter shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place and was improperly supervised by guards. [New York Times]
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Department of Justice, SCOTUS, Solicitor General's Office, Supreme Court
A Great Legal Job, Or The Greatest Legal Job?
A wide-ranging discussion about the post of U.S. Solicitor General, which some consider to be the best legal job in the United States. - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.03.15
* According to this former Supreme Court clerk, Justice Scalia’s judicial zingers are just like porn in that they’re “titillating, but over time they coarsen the culture of which they are a part.” (Plus, for what it’s worth, the jurist’s audience usually never gets a money shot.) [Washington Post]
* Better late than never? The ABA dropped the hammer on law schools trying to game their employment stats with a new rule that’ll force them to report school-funded jobs as part-time unless certain length and salary reqs are met. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The largest of D.C.’s largest law firms grew even larger over the past year, and thanks to a merger, an outsider firm — Morgan Lewis — managed to infiltrate the capital’s Big Four. Sorry, WilmerHale, but maybe 2016 will be your comeback year. [National Law Journal]
* In other ABA news, the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar rejected a plea for academic credit for paid externships, because we apparently want to keep students as indebted as possible before they begin their professional legal careers. [ABA Journal]
* A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Richard Lee, a known conspiracy theorist, who sought the release of the Seattle police department’s death-scene photographs from Nirvana star Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Hey! Wait! He’ll file a new complaint. [Seattle Times]
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SCOTUS
Stat Of The Week: SCOTUS Popularity At All-Time High, Low
Public approval of the Supreme Court is both more volatile and more polarized than it's ever been. -
SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Justice Alito Doggedly Holds Onto Logic Of The Past, Elites
Justice Alito just hasn't changed on Citizens United. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.21.15
* Because sometimes the application of the law seems like an indecent proposal: Demi Moore is “in absolute shock” because she may be facing a lawsuit for negligent supervision due to a pool drowning that occurred at her home while she was out of the country. [Fox News]
* “The bow tie is a manifestation of my unwillingness to become part of the rabble.” Male lawyers face harsh criticism about their fashion choices, too, and these New Jersey attorneys will wear their bow ties with pride, no matter what. [Bergen Record]
* In a recent interview, Justice Alito critiqued his SCOTUS colleagues for adopting a seemingly limitless interpretation of the 14th Amendment: “I don’t know what the limits of substantive liberty protection under the 14th Amendment are at this point.” [Legal Times]
* If you’d like to be a federal appellate judge by the age of 35, then Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit has some advice for you. First and foremost, know where to “peddle your wares” — get a job in Washington, D.C., ASAP. [Concurring Opinions via ABA Journal]
* Managing partners, repeat this mantra: Don’t do a Dewey! Thanks to the D&L financial disaster, Biglaw firms have decided to cut back on or ditch bank loans completely and get by with a little help from their
friendspartners in times of need. [Wall Street Journal] -
Caption Contests
Caption Contest Winner: If These Walls Could Talk... About SCOTUS Justices
Find out who chose to decorate his home with wall art featuring the "hotttttest" SCOTUS justices of all time. -
Books, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Summer Reading For Supreme Court Justices
Columnist Tamara Tabo offers customized reading recommendations for each member of the Court. - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Caption Contests
Caption Contest Finalists: If These Walls Could Talk... About SCOTUS Justices
Would you be willing to hang these artsy images of SCOTUS justices on your wall? -
Music, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Theater
ATL Opera Review: Scalia/Ginsburg
Legal nerds and Supreme Court devotees will enjoy Scalia/Ginsburg, Derrick Wang's new comic opera about the two iconic SCOTUS justices. -
Gay Marriage, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
After Obergefell: A Conversation About The Supreme Court's Ruling
What lies ahead in the LGBT community's battle for legal equality? -
Antonin Scalia, Erwin Chemerinsky
With All Due Respect, Dean, Justice Scalia Probably Doesn't Give A Damn About What You Think
This law school dean thinks Justice Scalia is a bad influence on young attorneys. -
Caption Contests
Caption Contest: If These Walls Could Talk... About SCOTUS Justices
Whether you love to love them or love to hate them, Justices Scalia and Ginsburg have changed America.
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.15.15
* After closing arguments in the Dark Knight movie massacre trial, the case against accused shooter James Holmes now goes to a jury. He’s facing 165 criminal charges, and if found guilty, he may be sentenced to death. [NBC News]
* A federal magistrate judge ordered the NCAA to pay almost $46 million in legal fees and costs to lawyers representing student-athletes in their antitrust suit against the organization, and he even likened the case to Game of Thrones in his decision. This is a monumental win. [Reuters]
* Last night, SCOTUS denied a stay of execution for Mississippi death row inmate David Zink, even though his lawyers cited Justice Breyer’s recent death penalty dissent in Glossip with high hopes that the Court would act in their client’s favor. [National Law Journal]
* For your information, the gender gap in the legal profession extends far beyond pay and partnership prospects. According to a recent study by the American Bar Association, about two-thirds of all attorneys who appeared in federal civil trials were men [WSJ Law Blog]
* Going to law school in an underserved community that isn’t overflowing with lawyers is great for résumés, because the University of New Mexico School of Law is seriously bucking the trend of its students having difficulty finding jobs after graduation. [KOB 4]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.13.15
* Has America been duped by the greatest double agent in history? That’s one take on Eric Holder’s return to Covington & Burling (they even kept his office waiting for him). [Rolling Stone]
* The merger between Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs may have had a rocky first year, but the merged entity looks to get its lobbying game back on fleek. [Washington Post]
* It’s fairly unlikely Abigail Fisher has experienced discrimination a day in her life, but white privilege means this mediocre student will have yet another day in front of the Supreme Court. [For Harriet]
* One lawyer’s quest against the Commission on Presidential Debates and their implicit perpetuation of the two-party duopoly. [Law360]
* An issue near and dear in the hearts of many of our readers: how do you stay married to a lawyer? [Lawyerist]
* The top 4 funny [boo hoo] moments from the Dewey trial. [American Lawyer]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.10.15
* Aww man, nothing’s going right for this firm: After facing mass defections that forced it to move to a smaller office, struggling law firm Gordon Silver is locked in a legal battle with its former landlord to the tune of $786,000 in rent that allegedly went unpaid. [VEGAS INC.]
* Ted Cruz isn’t the only person Ted Olson has a bone to pick with. Justice Scalia thinks the Obergefell decision is a “threat to American democracy,” but Olson disagrees: “[W]ith respect to Justice Scalia, who I do have great respect for, he is wrong.” [National Law Journal]
* Brooklyn Law School is selling off buildings left and right, and one of its prime pieces of real estate could sell for up to $30 million. According to Dean Nick Allard, its sale will serve as a “better advantage for the future of the law school.” [New York Daily News]
* Lawyers, make sure to draft your documents carefully, or else you could wind up getting screwed by an errant comma (or the lack thereof). An Ohio woman got out of a summons because she pointed out a missing comma in a local ordinance. [Lexicon Valley / Slate]
* From the sound of it, not all Uber drivers want to become Uber employees; some of them are perfectly content to be classified as independent contractors. That’s probably going to screw up that whole typicality requirement for this would-be class-action suit. [Forbes]
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Benchslaps, Richard Posner, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Judge Posner Defends His Benchslap Of Chief Justice Roberts
Judge Posner's harsh critique of the Supreme Court raised eyebrows; what does His Honor have to say for himself? -
Constitutional Law, R. Ted Cruz, Ted Olson
Legal Luminary Wonders If Ted Cruz Learned A Single Thing At Harvard Law
Did this presidential candidate skip his Constitutional Law classes? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.09.15
* According to Justice Jeanette Theriot Knoll of the Louisiana Supreme Court, the SCOTUS decision in Obergefell was not only “horrific,” but it was also “a complete and unnecessary insult to the people of Louisiana.” Gee, tell us how you really feel. [Slate]
* The First Church of Cannabis filed a discrimination suit against Indiana and Indianapolis, claiming laws against marijuana use and possession are infringing upon its members’ beliefs. We’re sTOKEd to see the outcome here. [Indianapolis Star]
* In case you missed it yesterday, a federal judge upheld the TTAB’s prior ruling on the Washington Redskins’ name, and ordered that the team’s trademark registrations be canceled. The team is going for a Hail Mary at the Fourth Circuit. [Washington Post]
* Ex-associate Elina Chechelnitsky’s sexual harassment and gender bias lawsuit against McElroy Deutsch, filled with allegations of better bonuses for men and creepy flirtations, was settled out of court. You go, girl. [New Jersey Law Journal via ABA Journal]
* Crowell & Moring recently dropped a suit against a former client that had allegedly failed to pay almost one million dollars in legal fees. There’s no word on whether the conflict was ever resolved, but if it wasn’t, it’s nice to see the firm isn’t hurting for cash. [Legal Times]
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Clerkships, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Who Is NOT Retiring From SCOTUS?
Check out the latest Supreme Court clerk hiring action -- which offers a window into the justices' retirement plans.