U.S. Sentencing Commission
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.04.17
* “Judge Garland is respected on both sides of the aisle. That he did not even get so much as a hearing will be a stain on the legacy of the Republican Senate.” After languishing for a total of 293 days, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court officially expired yesterday at noon with the formal adjournment of the 114th Congress. [Wall Street Journal]
* Following eight years at the helm of one of the most prestigious schools in the county, Dean Martha Minow of Harvard Law will be stepping down from her position at the end of the academic year. Minow plans to return to teaching a full course load this summer, and according to inside sources at the school, a search for her successor will begin “soon.” We’ll have more on this news development later today. [Harvard Crimson]
* Judge William Pryor (11th Cir.) was named acting chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Pryor, who is under consideration to be President-elect Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, says he looks forward to “developing federal sentencing policies that further the goals of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.” [U.S. Sentencing Commission]
* President-elect Trump has chosen Skadden Arps partner Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative. Lighthizer served as deputy U.S. trade representative in the Reagan administration, and Trump believes he “will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity.” [USA Today]
* As days go by without word of a resolution as to the school’s federal loan issues, lawsuits continue to pile up against the Charlotte Law. Students now claim the school has sentenced them “to years of indentured servitude” by saddling them “with crushing, non-dischargeable debt that will take literally decades to pay off.” [Charlotte Observer]
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Crime, Prisons, Sentencing Law
Criminally Yours: The Prisoners Are Coming
Let's hope the follow-through on the sentence reductions will be as good as the build-up to it. - Sponsored
How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
Findings from the "Future of Professionals Report," based on a survey of 1,200 professionals from North and South America and the UK. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.07.15
* Dewey know what Justice Robert Stolz will do now that the jury has declared itself deadlocked on most charges? Tune in later today. [American Lawyer]
* A case brought by law student turned privacy activist Max Schrems has triggered a European court ruling that Facebook won’t “like.” [How Appealing]
* King & Spalding associate Ethan Davis talks about how he prepared for his argument yesterday before the U.S. Supreme Court. [National Law Journal]
* Thanks to sentencing reform, the Justice Department will release about 6,000 inmates from prison starting later this month. [New York Times]
* Speaking of the DOJ, BP will settle Deepwater Horizon oil spill claims with the feds for a whopping $20 billion. [ABA Journal]
* Elsewhere in news of embattled companies, Volkswagen is turning to Mayer Brown for help in dealing with the emissions scandal that stinks to high heaven. [American Lawyer]
* 50 Cent’s malpractice suit against his ex-lawyers seeks 7.5 billion cents. [Law360]
* When legal recruiters sue each other, things can get ugly — fast. [American Lawyer]
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Crime, Federal Judges, SCOTUS, Sentencing Law, Supreme Court
Today at the Supreme Court: Moving The Starting Point
What happened at the U.S. Supreme Court today? Our SCOTUS correspondent, Matt Kaiser, offers an eyewitness report. -
Airplanes / Aviation, Basketball, Biglaw, Blogging, Contracts, Douglas Berman, Education / Schools, Environment / Environmental Law, Federal Government, Intellectual Property, Law Professors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Politics, Sentencing Law, State Judges, Trademarks, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 02.15.13
* What to do when your federal agency’s website has been hacked by Anonymous and you’re unable to post a major report online for public dissemination? Well, just ask a law professor to do it for you on his blog; that’s not embarrassing, not at all. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The many victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster can now rejoice, because yesterday, Transocean pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, and will pay the second-largest environmental fine in United States history to the tune of $400 million. [CNN]
* Money takes flight: eleventy billion Biglaw firms are behind the beast that is this awful airline merger, but taking the lead are lawyers from Weil Gotshal for AMR and Latham & Watkins for US Airways. [Am Law Daily]
* After questioning the validity of one of the NBA players union’s contracts, Paul Weiss is withholding details about it thanks to the government’s intrusion. Way to block nepotism’s alleged slam dunk. [New York Times]
* “When is the last time you took the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street to trial?” Elizabeth Warren took the Socratic method to the Senate Banking Committee and she was applauded for it. [National Law Journal]
* If you liked it, then perhaps you should’ve put a ring on it, but not a Tiffany’s diamond engagement ring that you’ve purchased from Costco, because according to this trademark lawsuit, it may be a knockoff. [Bloomberg]
* “We feel very badly for Megan Thode.” A Pennsylvania judge ruled against the Lehigh student who sued over her grade of C+ because let’s be serious, did ANYONE AT ALL really think he wouldn’t do that?! [Morning Call]
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Attorney Misconduct, Bankruptcy, Bar Exams, Department of Justice, Football, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Politics, SCOTUS, State Judges, Supreme Court, Technology, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 01.28.13
* So, this happened over the weekend: Anonymous hacked the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s website and is threatening to release government secrets about the DOJ (and possibly all nine of our Supreme Court justices) unless the legal system is reformed. [CNET]
* A spoonful of sugar makes the lawyering go down? Apparently the best way to remind lawyers that they need to act civilly is through song. Or through Above the Law posts, but we aren’t in the habit of hosting sing-a-longs like the New York Inn of Court did. [Wall Street Journal]
* “[U]nless there are major changes in the legal industry,” law school administrators shouldn’t expect people to apply in droves, especially when they’re now fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. [National Law Journal]
* Arizona’s Supreme Court will allow people to take the bar exam after two years of study, but come on, the justices don’t want to jump the shark by allowing online law grads take the test, too. [East Valley Tribune]
* Tim Tebow got to trademark Tebowing, so why shouldn’t Colin Kaepernick get to trademark Kaepernicking? All the San Francisco 49ers quarterback wants to do is sell some inevitably overpriced t-shirts. [NBC Bay Area]
* An appeals court threw out two of Casey Anthony’s convictions, but her legal drama is far from over. The ex-MILF filed for bankruptcy to escape nearly $1 million in liabilities, including Jose Baez’s legal fees. [CNN]