University of Denver Sturm College of Law

  • Morning Docket: 06.20.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 06.20.17

    * Martin Shkreli’s attorney is frantically trying to undo the damage his client caused on social media. Shkreli is looking to get his bail reduced because of financial hardship… and offering big rewards on social media. For his part, attorney Benjamin Brafman is arguing that the judge just shouldn’t believe Shkreli’s social media claims. I guess this is the “seriously not literally” thing we’ve heard so much about. [Law360]

    * With the addition of yet another attorney, this time Elizabeth Prelogar — a former Miss Idaho actually — Robert Mueller’s investigation of Donald Trump is now officially a Biglaw firm. [National Law Journal]

    * Are firms giving clients a good deal… or just a better deal than the inflated prices they advertise? [Corporate Counsel]

    * More professors join the gender discrimination suit against Denver Law School. [Law.com]

    * Norton Rose Fulbright tries to get its mind of the troubled Chadbourne merger… by executing another merger. [Legal Week]

    * On that note, should Biglaw generally step back and question the wisdom of mergers? [Am Law Daily]

    * What are you willing to wager that the FTC blocks the daily fantasy sports merger? [Litigation Daily]

  • Morning Docket: 10.04.16
    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]

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  • Morning Docket: 03.31.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.31.16

    * William Shatner has found himself at the center of a $170 million paternity lawsuit that was filed by a radio DJ who claims the actor had a fling with his biological mother. If we’d been able to reach him for comment, we imagine Shatner would’ve said something like this for himself: “Oh my… God I am… not… the father.” [People Magazine]

    * Judge Rosemary Collyer of the D.C. District Court may not have the name recognition some of her colleagues do, but she’s had a hand in some of the most newsworthy cases we’ve seen in recent years. The “systemically important” judge just added another notch to her high-profile belt by stripping MetLife of its “too big to fail” label. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * “When your basic human needs are at stake, you should have a lawyer to protect those needs. The consequences are too great.” Eighteen states are considering bills that would ensure legal representation for low-income people in certain civil cases, such as matters involving eviction, foreclosure, child custody, and involuntary commitment. [ABC News]

    * Earlier this week, Debevoise & Plimpton launched the Debevoise Women’s Review, a site that will aim to focus on the achievements of women lawyers and business professionals. The site will concentrate on “the development, retention and promotion of female professionals.” Way to go, Debevoise! [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

    * More and more law schools are completely overhauling their coursework in an effort to put more butts in seats, and make sure those butts are prepared for law practice after graduation. Some schools have even significantly reduced tuition costs. For example, students can now attend Elon Law for the low, low flat rate of $100K. [U.S. News]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.20.15

    * Thus far, five law schools — Hawaii, Iowa, St. John’s, Drake, and Buffalo — have decided to drop the LSAT for top-performing applicants, and it’s no surprise that all five law schools have watched their enrollment numbers take traumatic tumbles. [Bloomberg Business]

    * “[E]veryone calls colleagues for advice, particularly when we get gnarly jury notes.” As it turns out, judges in the Southern District of New York are big proponents of the “phone a friend” lifeline for their trickier cases. FYI, those friends are never law profs. [New York Times]

    * Well, that was incredibly quick! Josh Seiter, the 2013 graduate of Chicago-Kent Law who’s built a successful career stripping, working as an escort, and appearing on reality TV shows, didn’t even make it past the first rose ceremony on The Bachelorette. [Heavy]

    * Without WARNing? Butler & Hosch, one of the largest foreclosure firm’s in the country, decided to abruptly close up shop, leaving hundreds of attorneys and staff members of out work. Sources have told us that the firm was unable to make payroll. [Orlando Sentinel]

    * Sorry, boutiques, but according to Lexis/Nexis CounselLink’s Enterprise Legal Management Trends report, the biggest of all Biglaw firms are controlling the market when it comes to performing specialized IP litigation work. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * As we mentioned previously, Sam Kamin of Denver Law is the first professor to hold a pot law professorship. Here’s an interesting Q&A with the law firm partner who came up with the idea. See Prof. Kamin at our marijuana law event in June. [National Law Journal]

  • Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 12.03.14

    * Everyone’s “BFF” Anthony Elonis, of the Elonis v. U.S. case that’s currently before the Supreme Court, is facing additional scrutiny over a snarky note he sent to an ADA last year about burning a cross on the prosecutor’s lawn. Wow, he sounds like really a “fun” guy. [WSJ Law Blog]

    * I was gonna go to class, but then I got high: DU Law is teaching a class about how to sell lots and lots of weed. Just kidding. According to the professor, the class is actually about the legal issues that come up when selling lots and lots of weed. [Cannabist]

    * The HRC’s 2015 Corporate Equality Index is out, and noticeably absent from the list of Biglaw honorees is Boies Schiller. We suppose the firm forgot one of its name partners is helping to overturn gay-marriage bans across the country. [Am Law Daily]

    * The University of Iowa College of Law is asking — nay, begging — the Supreme Court to block a retrial of Teresa Wagner’s claims of political bias discrimination. This is just one of the things law schools will do to keep their faculties liberal. [Associated Press]

    * From Yale to Wayne State, law students are getting involved in protests to spread the word about social injustice in Ferguson in the wake of Michael Brown’s death. If you have a problem with this, someone from NYU might too. [National Law Journal]

    * Winter break is the perfect time for undergraduate students to start working on their law school applications, but we’re more than willing to bet the future gunners out there have already sent all of theirs in. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

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