Trayvon Martin
-
Crime, Minority Issues, Racism, Violence
Florida Lawmaker Stands His Ground Against Me Over 'Stand Your Ground' Law
I stand my ground for the maligned duty to retreat. -
Gender, Movies, Non-Sequiturs, O.J. Simpson, Patents, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Non-Sequiturs: 07.16.13
* The Zimmerman verdict allows us to sit back and reflect on how bad Atticus Finch really was at his job. [Criminal Defense Blog] * In case you’d forgotten about the shenanigans at Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law, here’s your update: a former employee has been charged for promising students more scholarships than the school had. Rick Pitino needs to show the law school how to work within scholarship limits. [Courier-Journal] * State licensing boards are trying to put the kibosh on advice columnists. Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to shut down Dr. Demento. [Lexington Herald-Leader] * Fun with patents: Monkey Dog Saddle! [Lowering the Bar] * Transgendered workers are successfully challenging workplace discrimination using the Civil Rights Act. These sound like cases Justice Alito will get right on overturning. [Buzzfeed] * McDonald’s is trying to show how it provides its employees a living wage. It just requires working a second job for a total of between 62-74 hours. No biggie. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Celebrities, O.J. Simpson, Quote of the Day, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Trials, Twittering
#NoJustice: Kim Kardashian Forgets Her Father Represented O.J. Simpson
It's so easy to be a hypocrite in Hollywood.
-
Books, Guns / Firearms, Jury Duty, Trials
The Rise and Fall of Juror B37 and How Verdicts Are Made
Juror B37 has had a crazy couple of days, and her story tells us a lot about how juries behave. -
Book Deals, Books, Defamation, General Counsel, Health Care / Medicine, In-House Counsel, Labor / Employment, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.15.13
* The role of lawyers in America’s Syrian policy. Everyone always tries to throw the lawyers under the bus. [Lawfare] * Pippa Middleton has some lawyers trying to crack down on a parody Twitter account. Thankfully, the law exists to protect wealthy socialites from being mocked. [IT-Lex] * GCs are not happy with the rates charged by outside counsel. I, for one, am shocked that GCs don’t like paying upwards of $1000/hour for “further work.” [Consero] * Honestly, we should have seen this coming: a Zimmerman juror already signed a book deal. This is the juror who assumed black people had rioted over the shooting and called Trayvon a “boy of color,” so you can tell the prosecution was doing a bang-up job with its jury selection procedures. [AlterNet] * Conservatives rejoice after several unions complain about Obamacare. Oh, the irony! Except the unions’ complaint is not that Obamacare is bad, but that it doesn’t go far enough in providing incentives to non-profit insurance plans and penalizing companies that are cutting back on hours to avoid the law. [The Volokh Conspiracy] * The Top 50 Legal Innovators, Techies, Visionaries, and Leaders. And we at ATL were snubbed again. [FastCase via TaxProf Blog] * After the jump, a short video about . I understand that people are miffed that the most recent film version of Superman takes a laissez-faire view of saving lives, but Superman’s always been a dick… -
Crime, Law Schools, Quote of the Day, Trials
If George Zimmerman Attends Law School in Florida, Will His Case Be Taught in Class?
Attending law school would be just punishment for this acquitted defendant. He better get a good grade in criminal law... -
Crime, Media and Journalism, Minority Issues, Racism, Trials
It Was Just Another Criminal Case: Why The Outrage Over George Zimmerman's Acquittal?
Why do we want the Zimmeman trial to mean something beyond the trial itself? Is it because it’s safer to talk about race and ethnicity this way? -
Airplanes / Aviation, Biglaw, Billable Hours, California, Crime, Disasters / Emergencies, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Patents, Pranks, SCOTUS, Sexual Harassment, Supreme Court, Television, Trials
Morning Docket: 07.15.13
* Size matters when it comes to hourly rates. Because when you work in Biglaw, it’ll be all the more odious for your poor clients when you “churn that bill, baby.” [Corporate Counsel]
* Would you want this Cadwalader cad, a former mail room supervisor, at your “erotic disposal”? The object of his affections didn’t want him either, and she’s suing. [New York Daily News]
* In the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict, the NAACP is pressing for federal charges and a civil suit may be in the works. This trial isn’t over in the court of public opinion. [Bloomberg]
* This experience inspired George Zimmerman, fresh off his acquittal, to go to law school to help the wrongfully accused. If it makes you feel better, when he graduates, he’ll be unemployed. [Reuters]
* Here’s the lesson learned by Prop 8 proponents: If at first you don’t succeed at the Supreme Court, try, try again at the state level and base your arguments on technicalities. [Los Angeles Times]
* You do not want this patent troll — one of the most notorious in the country — to “go thug” on you. Apparently this is just another danger of alleged infringement in the modern world. [New York Times]
* Asiana Airlines is considering suing the NTSB and a California television station over the airing of “inaccurate and offensive” information (read: wildly racist) about the pilots of Flight 214. [CNN]
* Ariel Castro was slapped with an additional 648 counts in the kidnapping case against him, bringing the total to 977. Prosecutors are not yet seeking the death penalty. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
- 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… -
Crime, Jury Duty, Minority Issues, O.J. Simpson, Racism, Trials, Violence
Will George Zimmerman Join O.J. Simpson In The Hunt For Real Killers?
As George Zimmerman walks free, who is happy about it? -
Crime, Jury Duty, Minority Issues, Racism, Trials, Violence
George Zimmerman: NOT GUILTY
George Zimmerman has been found not guilty. UPDATE (10:16 p.m.): Here are more details and commentary on the Zimmerman trial verdict. -
9th Circuit, Barack Obama, Bracewell & Giuliani, Football, Guns / Firearms, Politics, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, Sanford Levinson, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Vault rankings, Williams & Connolly
5 Stories of the Week: Ginsburg, Football, and More
Looking at five notable stories of the week that was. -
Crime, Minority Issues, Racism, Trials, Violence
The Zimmerman Trial: What Legal Ground Are We Standing On?
What will the Zimmerman jury actually be trying to decide? -
4th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, California, Constitutional Law, Crime, Gay Marriage, Health Care / Medicine, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, Music, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, State Attorneys General, Supreme Court, Trials
Morning Docket: 07.12.13
* You’ve seen Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg give Justice Antonin Scalia the finger in prose, but now you can hear what it would sound like in operatic form as composed by a recent law school graduate. [NPR]
* The Fourth Circuit upheld Obamacare’s employer mandate against Liberty University, calling it a constitutional tax, just like the individual mandate. Now’s a perfect time for a sip of Campari. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The Fried Frank toner bandit was sent to the slammer, but alas, it’s unlikely that the firm will be able to recover any of its losses. Too bad, it could use the cash after its 2012 performance. [Am Law Daily]
* Crisis? What crisis? The dean of UC Davis Law refuses to trim class size, but that doesn’t really matter — the application cycle is handling the situation quite nicely. [Sacramento Business Journal]
* Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane won’t defend the state against a lawsuit seeking to overturn its ban on same-sex marriage. She’s choosing the people over politics. [New York Times]
* With his trial quickly drawing to a close, George Zimmerman is growing increasingly worried about his future. Let’s face it, even if he’s acquitted, living in hiding isn’t a very good look for him. [ABC News]
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
-
Crime, Murder, Quote of the Day, Rudeness, State Judges, Trials, Videos
George Zimmerman's Lawyers Too Exhausted To Go On, But Judge Is Too Pissed To Care
Judge Nelson's been logging 12-hour days behind the bench, too, you know... -
Barack Obama, Federal Judges, Law Schools, Layoffs, Morning Docket, Murder, Old People, Politics, Privacy, Prostitution, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Trials
Morning Docket: 07.08.13
* No, silly, Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t “too old” to be a Supreme Court justice. So what if she uses the SOTU address as her personal naptime? She’s brilliant, and everyone loves her. [Los Angeles Times]
* “Justice delayed due to overworked judges can … mean justice denied,” and Obama’s got a lot of work ahead of him due to a “uniquely high” amount of judicial vacancies on his watch. [National Law Journal]
* After the SCOTUS ruling on the Voting Rights Act, Southern states have rushed to push out voter ID laws. But isn’t that discriminatory? “Not true, not true,” as Justice Alito would say. [New York Times]
* It turns out the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s redefinition of the word “relevant” is what has allowed the NSA to collect anything and everything. Say au revoir to privacy! [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* Layoffs: they aren’t just for Biglaw firms anymore! McGeorge Law School is downsizing its staff and student ranks due to an “unprecedented drop” in applications. Another one bites the dust; which law school will be next? [Sacramento Bee]
* Client 9, aka Eliot Spitzer, announced his candidacy for NYC comptroller. He’ll run against Kristen Davis, the woman who once set him up with escorts. That’ll be an awkward debate. [New York Times]
* As the prosecution rests its case and the defense’s acquittal motion is denied, a nation is left wondering whose voice it was on that 911 recording — Trayvon Martin’s or George Zimmerman’s? [CNN]
-
Constitutional Law, Guns / Firearms, Privacy, Technology
3 Notable Legal Stories From The Short Week
Looking back at three interesting legal stories from the short holiday week. -
Baseball, Holidays and Seasons, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Sports, Texas
Non-Sequiturs: 07.03.13
Ed. note: In honor of the July 4th holiday, we do not expect to publish tomorrow. We will be back on Friday, July 5th, although on a reduced publication schedule. * These are the five cases likely to come up after Fourth of July weekend. The “boating accidents” case reminds me of a poor teen clerk telling Homer Simpson that he couldn’t operate a boat while drunk and he responded, “Sounds like a wager to me!” [The Expert Institute] * This lawyer is also a professional at shooting off fireworks. In this job market, it’s good to have a career to fall back on. [Indiana Lawyer] * This is the holiday to go take in a baseball game. If you’re in Michigan, you can watch the Lansing Lugnuts vs. the Lake County Captains at Cooley Law School Stadium. Wait, Cooley has a stadium? [Battle Creek Enquirer] * The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association is planning a series of readings of the Declaration of Independence. You know, in case you have absolutely nothing to do in Texas tomorrow. [KLTV] * On a similar note, in Massachusetts, there was an annual reading of Frederick Douglass’s famed take on the Fourth of July from the perspective of abolitionists. [Cape Cod Daily] * In non-holiday news, the George Zimmerman trial ground to a halt today when Skype testimony was bombarded by pranksters constantly pinging the witness's account. Video after the jump... [The Smoking Gun] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Attorney Misconduct, Deaths, Divorce Train Wrecks, Gay, Gay Marriage, Health Care / Medicine, Law Professors, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Tax Law, Trials, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Video games
Morning Docket: 07.03.13
* The Obama administration has decided to delay the employer health care mandate until 2015. What does that mean for you? Well, since you’re not a business, you still have to purchase health insurance by 2014. Yay. [Economix / New York Times]
* Untying the knot is harder than it looks: Gay couples stuck in loveless marriages they’ve been unable to dissolve due to changing state residency may be able to find new hope in the Supreme Court’s recent DOMA decision. [New York Times]
* Clinical professors are pushing the ABA to amend its accreditation standards to require practical skills coursework. Amid faculty purges, they’re committed to do whatever it takes for additional job security. [National Law Journal]
* If you’re heading to a law school recruitment forum and want to get ahead in the applications process, make your mark by acting professionally, not by dressing like a d-bag. [U.S. News & World Report]
* “As a parent we’re not always proud of everything they do.” Of course there’s a prosecution inquiry being made into the Don West ice cream cone picture that ended up on Instagram. [Orlando Sentinel]
* Lawyerly lothario Zenas Zelotes has been suspended from practicing law for five months. He should take his own advice, find an ethics attorney, and make her his girlfriend. [Connecticut Law Journal]
* When you’re arguing about a video game — online or anywhere — you should probably leave talk of murdering children out of the conversation. You could wind up in jail for months like this guy. [CNN]
* John Tiley, one of the United Kingdom’s most preeminent tax law professors, RIP. [The Telegraph]
-
Abortion, Alan Dershowitz, Blogging, Constitutional Law, Football, Guns / Firearms, Law Schools, Layoffs, Media and Journalism, SCOTUS, Sports, Supreme Court
Five Stories That Made This an Exhausting Week of Legal News
My this was a busy week. Here's a list of the big-ticket stories that struck my fancy this week. -
Alex Kozinski, Clarence Thomas, Guns / Firearms, Law Reviews, Law Schools, Non-Sequiturs, Religion, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Videos
Non-Sequiturs: 06.25.13
* A company is selling pork-laced bullets to “keep Islamics from going to Heaven.” Ever since Denny’s, they’re putting bacon in everything… [CBS Seattle] * Justice Thomas is really terrible. This is probably why #UncleThomas is trending on Twitter. [Jezebel] * A feminist critique of law reviews based on the Russell Crowe film, Gladiator. This sounds intriguing. [TaxProf Blog] * If you wanted to know how the judge decided the audio expert issue in the Zimmerman trial, we’ve got you covered. If you wanted to know when attorney Don West will compile his collection of Greatest Opening Statement Jokes, we have no idea. [The Expert Institute] * TNT has a new show dropping teams in Tasmania and forcing them to endure… a knockoff of The Amazing Race and Survivor. But an L.A.-based attorney is on this Friday trying to win $100,000, or what we used to call “a year-end bonus.” [TNT Newsroom] * Ken White breaks down all the charges against Edward Snowden. To avoid these charges, Snowden is holed up in the transit zone of the Moscow airport, which I hear has a really terrible TGI Friday’s where Snowden will get to eat for the indefinite future. [Popehat] * Anonymous Partner isn’t the only one with advice for summer associates. Here are tips from Grover Cleveland, author of Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks (affiliate link), and Katherine Larkin-Wong, president of Ms. JD. [The Careerist] * Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz debate an upcoming Supreme Court case, Bond v. United States, concerning the treaty power. [Cato Institute]