State Judges
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.15.15
* Bill Cosby files suit against 7 women who accused him of sexual assault, because accusers say the darnedest things. [BBC News]
* NY to 193!!! If you’re a state judge. Maybe. [NY Daily News]
* Bowe Bergdahl faces court-martial for desertion. It’s like Saving Private Ryan meets Earnest Goes To Fort Leavenworth. [NY Times]
* Jury convicts the Bryan Cave attorney accused of fraud in an effort to take over Maxim magazine. [NY Post]
* A Missouri lawmaker proposes a bill to strip athletes of scholarships if they refuse to play because one possible scrap of power for black people hasn’t been regulated yet. [Huffington Post]
* Rather than accept the $200 million judgment against Andrews Kurth, a Texas judge orders the parties back to mediation. [Law360]
* Putin signs law allowing Russia to overturn international human rights decisions in a move that, frankly, I’m surprised wasn’t taken years ago. [Reuters]
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Legal Ethics
A Judge Should Really And Truly Know Better
This judge has some... control issues, and he tends to take them out on women. - Sponsored
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Rudeness, State Judges
Judge Fined $10K For Using 'One Of The Worst Profanities Known To The English Language'
This judge just learned that cursing can be pretty expensive.
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Public Interest, State Judges
Unprofessional Judge Calls Public Defender Unprofessional
Condescending judge goes viral... again. -
State Judges
Judge Gets Whimsical When Dealing With A Dumb Argument
We've all heard arguments that were dumb, or even just plain wrong. This is how one judge deals with it. -
Legal Ethics, State Judges
You Have To See The Shocking Allegations Against This Judge
Ever wonder what Lex Luthor would do if he were a state judge? -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.17.15
* A true model of what political discourse should look like in this country: West Point cadets and Bard College students squared off in a debate over individuals’ right to privacy over national security concerns. [Huffington Post]
* The debate over bail reform in New York gets real, and some judges get angry. [Wise Law NY]
* Oof! Which Massachusetts law school saw a 14% drop in its bar passage rate? And other trends from the latest states to release its bar exam results. [Bar Exam Stats]
* Lawyers fighting the good fight, and standing up for your right to wear a pasta strainer over your head in your driver’s license photo. [Boston Globe]
* So it looks like the Supreme Court will be revisiting the reproductive choice rights set forth in Roe, but how did we get here? [RH Reality Check]
* Tom Hanks plays a lawyer that can predict the future. [Guile is Good]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.11.15
* A person of interest in the shooting of Texas Judge Julie Kocurek has been apprehended and arrested — not for the shooting, mind you, but for a completely unrelated crime. Judge Kocurek continues her steady recovery after being seriously injured not by a bullet, but by shrapnel and glass. [Austin American-Statesman]
* Barnes & Thornburg partner Vincent “Trace” Schmeltz may be sanctioned for tweeting pictures that he took of the evidence that was presented during a trial. He claims he didn’t see the huge sign outside the courtroom prohibiting “photographing, recording or broadcasting.” [Chicago Tribune via ABA Journal]
* Schneiderman, Schneiderman! Bans sports-betting wherever he can! New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a cease-and-desist order against DraftKings and FanDuel, saying the daily fantasy sites constituted illegal gambling. [New York Times]
* Dentons finally formalized its merger with Dacheng Law Offices yesterday, thus making it the official largest law firm in the world. At 6,600 lawyers strong, just think about how many scandals we’ll be able to cover in 2016. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* According to the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance, more women are being welcomed into the ranks of partnership at major firms. Out of 118 firms, women made up 34.4 percent of new partner classes. Let’s celebrate that less-than-50-percent benchmark! [WSJ Law Blog]
* Fred Auston Wortman III, the Tennessee attorney who tried to murder his estranged wife, Staci, by lacing her toothpaste with poison, and later hired an inmate to do the deed after his plan failed, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. [Commercial Appeal]
* Here are three ways you can balance your law school applications with your college responsibilities, but to be honest, if you’re having trouble balancing these things, then perhaps you don’t belong in law school. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]
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Crime, State Judges
Judge Shot In Her Driveway, Retaliation Suspected
Was this judge shot in retaliation for a case before her? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.09.15
* On Friday night, Judge Julie Kocurek, the presiding felony judge for Travis County, Texas, was shot outside her home. Her condition has been upgraded from critical to stable, and some say that she may have been a target of retaliation. We may have more on this terrible news later today. [American-Statesman]
* Apparently it takes podcast stardom to get a post-conviction hearing these days: A Maryland judge has agreed to reopen the case against Adnan Syed, the man whose murder conviction received an in-depth look during the first season of “Serial.” [CNN]
* Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector added 700 jobs in October, bringing the industry to its highest level of employment all year. Don’t get too excited — we’re still a long way from reaching pre-recession era glory. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* It took almost 10 years without putting anyone to death, but California has finally proposed a one-drug alternative to its three-drug lethal injection protocol after it was struck down as unconstitutional in 2006. Was this worth the wait? [WSJ Law Blog]
* Following a much-deserved public excoriation from our very own Elie Mystal, Mizzou Law’s Student Bar Association has decided to do away with its absurd social media policy. In a media statement, the SBA even agreed that it was “poorly written.” [Huffington Post]
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Bad Ideas, State Judges
'You're On A Kill List': At Least 5 Judges Receive Death Threats
We hope that whoever sent these death threats is apprehended before something terrible happens. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.05.15
* Seton Hall Law Professor Michael Simkovic — he of the million-dollar law degree study — is back with a vengeance. Pay no attention to that law school scam op-ed in the New York Times; very few law school graduates are actually defaulting on their crushing loan debt. [ABA Journal]
* The U.S. Senate is finally looking into what’s going on with predatory pharmaceutical pricing at companies like Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Turing Pharmaceuticals, both of which have recently hiked up the price on lifesaving drugs to an absurdly exorbitant degree. [Reuters]
* Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II, a North Carolina state court jurist, has been accused of attempting to bribe an FBI agent with “a couple of cases of beer” in exchange for information. It better have been some damn good beer, Your Honor. [News & Observer]
* Complaints about tuition be damned, because law schools are still churning out pricey LL.M. programs like its their job. Fordham Law’s compliance program may be useful for some, but it comes with a $53,000 price tag. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]
* Law schools have been in a “death spiral” since applications started to drop along with admissions standards and student debt started to increase exponentially, but some will survive if the ABA steps in and polices accreditation and gainful employment. [Forbes]
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Benchslaps, Litigators
A Lawyer Way Out Of Her League Gets Benchslapped By Frustrated Judge
An Indiana Court of Appeals judge takes an attorney to task for her failure to adhere to... any of the appellate rules.
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Biglaw, Divorce Train Wrecks, Quote of the Day
When Biglaw Attorneys Get Divorced, The Results Aren't Pretty
A divorce battle between two Biglaw associates gets ugly -- very ugly. -
Fashion, State Judges
State Supreme Court Objects To Judges Making Fashion Statements On The Bench
This is like taking away RBG's signature collar collection. Don't do this to judges on state courts! -
Litigators, Small Law Firms
We Call Trial Judges 'The' Court For A Reason
At oral argument on a motion, a trial judge's view of the law is pretty much the only one that matters, as columnist John Balestriere explains. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.27.15
* Should town clerks opposed to gay marriage be required to issue licenses to all couples? The Sixth Circuit says…. [How Appealing]
* John H. Ray III, the African American ex-associate at Ropes & Gray who claimed the elite firm discriminated against him, loses in court again, this time before the First Circuit. [National Law Journal]
* Vester Lee Flanagan aka Bryce Williams, the Virginia television broadcaster who killed two colleagues on-air before killing himself, was also no stranger to the legal system: he filed multiple lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. [New York Times]
* Why are in-house lawyers more likely than their non-attorney corporate colleagues to fall for phishing emails? [ABA Journal]
* Dewey know when the prosecution will rest in this seemingly endless trial? Probably today. [Wall Street Journal]
* State judges get nasty with each other in Oregon. [Oregonian]
* Federal judges around the country are advocating for a second look at how defendants get sentenced. [New York Times]
* The Dilly in Philly: Paul Clement v. Ted Olson. [Am Law Litigation Daily]
* A T14 law graduate turned “traveling artist” gets charged with criminal sexual assault in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune]
* Speaking of sexual assault laws, Emily Bazelon explains how the St. Paul’s Rape Case shows why these laws must change. [New York Times]
* Update: convicted Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes didn’t get just a life sentence, but 12 life sentences — plus 3,318 years on top of that. [CNN]
* Linda Hirshman, author of the forthcoming book Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World (affiliate link), explains how Justices O’Connor, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor brought wisdom to SCOTUS (but where’s the love for Justice Kagan?). [Slate via How Appealing]
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Clerkships, Feeder Judges, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks
Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Ranking The Non-Traditional Feeder Judges
Which state-court and federal district judges send their clerks to the U.S. Supreme Court? -
Sexual Harassment, State Judges
Clerk Alleges Judge Sexually Harassed Her, Has Semen-Stained Dress To Prove It
Someone is taking a tip from Monica Lewinsky's playbook.... -
State Judges
Virginia Legislature Kicking Woman Off State Supreme Court
A political hissy fit in Virginia is costing a good judge her job.