Sexism

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.04.16

* "[G]reed is not a component of the law of fiduciary duty anywhere." Donald Trump's campaign may have claimed he has "a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required," but legal experts found that assertion pretty laughable, seeing as there's no such thing as a fiduciary duty to oneself. [DealBook / New York Times] * An attorney who serves as an advisor to the ABA's Standing Committee on Gun Violence says he accidentally shot and killed his wife when his gun went off after hitting a speed bump. He claims he had the gun out because they were in an area where Black Lives Matter protests had been held and was afraid they were about to be carjacked. [People] * For the first time since the days of Abraham Lincoln, the Supreme Court opened its new term with a vacancy on the bench certain to be filled in the upcoming presidential election. Without the late Justice Antonin Scalia's voice, the Court is left split along ideological lines, with four conservative justices and four liberal justices. [Reuters] * According to Chief Justice John Roberts, "judges are not politicians, even when they come to the bench by way of the ballot," but that doesn't mean elected judges behave as judicially as they're expected to when retention elections are near. In fact, "[a]ll judges, even the most punitive, increase their sentences as re-election nears." [New York Times] * The EEOC has filed a suit against Denver Law, alleging that female full-time professors are paid less than their male counterparts. Nine female professors work at the school full-time, and on average, they're paid about $20K less than full-time male professors. Denver Law says it stands by its "system of evaluation and merit pay." [Denver Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.30.16

* According to a labor relations suit filed in 2012, Donald Trump allegedly wanted to fire female employees of Trump National Golf Club in California, who he didn't think were pretty enough. The suit was settled without any admission of wrongdoing. [Los Angeles Times] * Biglaw mega-merger alert: Word on the street is that London-based firms CMS and Olswang will join with international firm Nabarro for a three-way merger that would create a combined entity with more than 3,000 lawyers. If the merger were to go through, the firm would have more than $1.5 billion in revenue. [LegalWeek] * According to the results of this survey, corporate counsel don't think too highly of millennials when it comes to loyalty. Almost 70 percent of baby boomers and Gen Xers thought millennial lawyers in their legal departments would leave in less than five years, potentially causing "major problem[s]" in terms of turnover rates. [WSJ Law Blog] * How many women serve as lead counsel in New York state and federal courts and in mediation and arbitration? That's what a new study being conducted by the New York State Bar Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section hopes to find out, because "[o]nce you have a diagnosis, you can get to a solution." [New York Law Journal] * "Something is going wrong at this bank, and you are the head of it. You should be fired." Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf may be forfeiting $41 million in pay, but lawmakers were still pretty darn upset with him when he testified before the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing yesterday. [DealBook / New York Times] * Phil C. Neal, former dean of University of Chicago Law School, RIP. [UChicago News]

By Staci Zaretsky