United Kingdom / Great Britain
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Family Law
Deceased Son’s Genetic Material Used To Create Grandchild -- Is That Even Legal?
In the US, like many countries, there's no clear law when it comes to posthumous conception or postmortem gamete retrieval. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 09.06.18
* Could this be the year that law firms break out of their cycle of tepid growth? [American Lawyer]
* In ordinary times, Roy Moore’s laughable lawsuit against Sacha Baron Cohen would be bigger news. We do not live in ordinary times. [Law360]
* One would have thought “independence” would be “having a lifetime job with no oversight and an impossibly onerous removal process.” But, “independence” really means “only answering hypotheticals that don’t raise potentially serious questions about a guy’s fig leaf of a judicial philosophy.” This is why it’s so important to be a textualist! [Courthouse News Service]
* It makes for a nice, vapid buzzword, but there actually is an “I” in “Team of Nine.” [National Law Journal]
* A federal judge has banned the Texas “bury your zygote” law. Don’t worry Texas, your boy Brett’s will make sure you don’t have to worry about this ever again. [NPR]
* Shocking no one, lawyers think Brexit was a bad idea. [Legalweek]
* Oh, and we’re going to “open up libel laws” now. [CBS]
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Law Schools
Law School Graduate Is First Black Woman To Be Crowned Miss Universe Great Britain
Even more exciting? She recently passed the UK bar exam.
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.16.18
* A White House spokeswoman claims that Judge Brett Kavanaugh “had never heard any allegations of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment” made against Judge Alex Kozinski prior to last year when everyone else found out, and an extern who worked in Kozinski’s chambers while Kavanaugh clerked is backing him up. [Washington Times]
* The art of the
dealdon’t: United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May says that President Trump told her she should sue the European Union instead of negotiating when it comes to Brexit options. There’s no real cause of action, so she says that won’t be happening — not like that’s something that has ever stopped Trump before. [Vox]* President Trump leaned heavily on Biglaw partners for his latest nominations to the federal judicary. Perkins Coie, K&L Gates, and Barnes & Thornburg could soon see representation on the Ninth Circuit, the Western District of Washington, the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Northern District of Indiana. [The Recorder]
* After months of debate, a panel has finally recommended that Florida State rename the law school building via legislative action. It currently recognizes former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice B.K. Roberts., a ” staunch segregationist” who once tried to deny a black student’s admission to U. Florida’s law school. [Tallahassee Democrat]
* “For better or worse, I have become an agent for hope for those that are opposing this president.” Michael Avenatti is famous for being President Trump’s biggest critic, but he’s “using that platform for good.” In addition to Stormy Daniels, he now represents parents whose children were separated from them at the border. [AP]
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Biglaw, Sponsored Content
Book Of Business: Kirkland Is Killing It
What does K&E's success in the lateral market mean for the rest of Biglaw -- and can it continue? -
Law Schools
Law School Marks Down Grades For Single-Breasted Jackets Or If 'Bra Shows'
There's just something creepy about the way the law school talks about women's fashion. -
Family Law
Government Advises Openness, Confidence, And Transparency (In Surrogacy)
The UK -- not the US, sorry -- has a very thoughtful and vocal stance on surrogacy. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.26.18
* As it turns out, Joe diGenova — the lawyer who’s convinced that the Justice Department is trying to frame Trump with its Russia investigation — won’t be joining the president’s personal legal team after all due to conflicts of interest. DiGenova’s wife, Victoria Toensing, has been conflicted out as well. Oopsie! [New York Times]
* President Trump tweeted this weekend that “[m]any lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case,” and that his difficulty in finding lawyers to join his defense team is “Fake News.” Meanwhile, at least four defense attorneys at separate Biglaw firms have been approached, and most have turned down the offer. [CNN]
* In her 60 Minutes interview, Stormy Daniels says she was once physically threatened to keep quiet about her affair with Donald Trump and was later pressured into signing a false statement denying the affair because she believed that Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, would “make [her] life hell.” Cohen has denied threatening Daniels. [Washington Post]
* In the summer of 2014, Bracewell & Giuliani warned Cambridge Analytica that foreign citizens shouldn’t have “substantive management” roles running U.S. election campaigns, and yet, that’s exactly what the company did in its work with the Trump campaign, and now Robert Mueller is on the case. [Washington Examiner; TIME]
* Some law firms in the U.K. have started including information on partners’ salaries in their mandatory gender pay gap reporting. The first firms to do so were Norton Rose Fulbright, with a 27 percent pay gap for all employees (including partners), and Reed Smith, with an 8 percent pay gap among only partners. [Financial Times]
* Law student Jordan Crewe has already filed suit against the soon-to-be-closed Savannah Law School, accusing the school of committing fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty. She’s requesting punitive damages from the school, and wants a jury trial too. [WSAV]
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Litigators
I Do Not Have The Racial Bona Fides To Analyze This Law Firm Ad, So I'm Just Going To Leave It Here
This seems... problematic, but I don't know. -
Biglaw
Why Are British Partners Fleeing The Magic Circle To Join U.S. Firms?
It's the money, obviously. -
Biglaw
Finally, A Biglaw Firm With A Gender Pay Gap That Favors Women
Male associates are being paid less than women at this firm. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.14.18
* Ever since Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit, who had been accused of sexual harassment by 15 women, retired, a working group within the federal judiciary has been trying to come up with reforms to be made as far as sexual harassment is concerned. Thus far, they’ve come up with about 20 reforms, and Chief Justice John Roberts is confident the group’s work will “ensure an exemplary workplace for every court employee.” [National Law Journal]
* Time’s up, UK: The Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales has warned law firms not to use nondisclosure agreements to cover up sexual harassment and assault scandals. After all, these are instances of professional misconduct, so of course a professional regulatory agency wants to know about that. [American Lawyer]
* Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be turning 85 later this week, and she says she’s “feeling fine.” Many hope that the self-described “flaming feminist litigator” continues to feel that way until we find a way to turn her into a little RBG judicial bot that will never, ever short-circuit — or until there’s a Democrat in office. [USA Today]
* Nichole Ashley Collins, the Pennsylvania lawyer who was fired for allegedly stealing money from her firm and then returned to the firm to allegedly steal more money to buy sex toys, has been disbarred. Who would’ve expected such a thing… [FOX 43]
* Prosecutors in Florida will seek the death penalty against Nikolas Cruz for his role as the accused gunman in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. Last week, Cruz was indicted by a grand jury on 17 counts of premeditated murder in the first degree and 17 counts of attempted murder in the first degree. [CNN]
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Biglaw
Former Biglaw Partner Under Fire For Allegedly Making Racist, Sexist Comments
Find out about the scandal that has ended an illustrious legal career.
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Biglaw
Another Biglaw Firm Reports Dismal Gender Pay Gap
At Allen & Overy, average bonuses for men are 42.1% higher than for women. -
Biglaw
The First Biglaw Firm In The U.K. To Cover Gender Affirmation Surgery For Lawyers
Congratulations to the firm for offering this major benefit to its transgender employees. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.30.18
* Just in time for the State of the Union, the Ninth Circuit ruled that immigrant children can be railroaded out of the country without access to a lawyer. Maybe they’ll avoid Trump’s ire tonight. [The Hill]
* Have you read about the Presidents Club dinner? If not, then you can read here, but it’s basically Tailhook for rich people. Now read about the law firm partners who may or may not have shown up including a Fried Frank partner who “did not attend the dinner and left shortly after arriving” which is an Escher painting of a statement. [Legal Cheek]
* New study from ALM Intelligence and Harvard Law School suggests part of the reason women are underrepresented at the partnership level is a propensity to selecting lower risk paths earlier in their career, locking them out of greater opportunities. Of course, this fails to answer what happens in the law that tends to encourage women to step off the path, but it’s valuable for diagnosing the problem. [American Lawyer]
* Money laundering with the Russians… yeah, lawyers aren’t supposed to do that. [Daily Business Review]
* Texas judge blocks law requiring respect for unborn children, provoking a fierce outcry from politicians worried about the sanctity of life. Texas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, but who really cares about that? I mean, once they get past negative 8-and-a-half months they stop being cute. [Dallas Morning News]
* Sad news, the former shadow attorney general of the UK, media lawyer Arthur Davidson, has passed at 91. [The Guardian]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.24.18
* Now that special counsel Robert Mueller has interviewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for hours on end, he’s getting closer to interviewing the president himself, and it looks like the focus will be on the ouster of Michael Flynn and James Comey (i.e., obstruction of the Russia investigation). [Washington Post]
* After the federal government shutdown ended, Justice Neil Gorsuch dined with Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn and other Republican senators and Trump administration officials. Ethics violation? Nah. “Justices don’t take vows to be hermits. Nothing here remotely suggests ethical issue.” [National Law Journal]
* More than one million corporate email addresses from the United Kingdom’s top law firms were found on the dark web, and 80 percent were associated with passwords, which puts those firms at a very significant risk of being hacked. Be wary about cybersecurity breaches in the future thanks to this. [Infosecurity Magazine]
* The University of Windsor Faculty of Law in Ontario, Canada, suffered a major data breach earlier this month after a law school staff member accidentally posted confidential information — names, GPAs, LSAT scores, the works — about current applicants to a blackboard accessible by current students. Oops! [Lawyer’s Daily]
* If you’re thinking about applying to law school, make sure you keep in mind that anything you include (or neglect to include) in your application can and will be used against you during your character and fitness evaluation when you apply to take the bar exam after graduation. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]
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Family Law
Ultra-Orthodox Community Versus Transgender Parent, Kids In The Middle
It’s nice to see another country struggling with the balance between religious freedom and the right to be treated equally and without discrimination. -
United Kingdom / Great Britain
An Epidemic Of Knife Attacks, And The Outrage Of $12,000 Per Year For College
When you view these things with cross-cultural eyes, they look different -- and quaint. -
Family Law
Surrogate Tries To Keep Baby, Court Doesn’t Care About Genetics
This case would have been much less of a struggle in the US...