University of Iowa College of Law
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 06.30.15
* Justice Kennedy’s writing style… maybe it’s a little over the top. [PrawfsBlawg]
* If you’re looking for representation at the Supreme Court, go small. [Law360 (sub. req.)]
* Marriage equality is only one more step for activists. Next up, fair housing and overall equality. Perhaps on the housing case, we’ll get to hear Justice Thomas make some tone-deaf claim about how there’s no need for protection from housing discrimination because gays are overrepresented on Bravo. [RH Reality Check]
* Don’t like the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell? Why propose a constitutional amendment when you can propose a new constitutional convention? Runaway Con-Con! [Ab Initio]
* A linguistic analysis of jiggery-pokery and the prose of Antonin Scalia. [The Chronicle of Higher Education]
* A jury cleared the University of Iowa College of Law of “political discrimination” when it passed over conservative Teresa Manning’s application to join the faculty.[Associated Press via ABC News]
* Everyone in New York received an Amber Alert over their phones earlier today. Did anyone crash their cars when their phone started screeching with sounds it had never blared before? [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]
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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]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.10.15
* “A senior Queens judge allowed a bawdy Viagra-themed light-switch cover to remain in his courtroom for at least a year — even after a female lawyer complained that it was inappropriate for court.” Obviously, there will be a contingent trying to write this off as “just a joke” and asking everyone to “relax,” but seriously, how is ANY joke lightswitch cover appropriate in a courtroom? Let alone a penis switch. [NY Post]
* Teen burglars started sniffing the powder they stole thinking it was cocaine. Instead, it was cremated ashes. It’s part Cocaine Cowboys and part Six Feet Under. [The Smoking Gun]
* No one can predict how much tuition will rise over the next several years. But this offers the next best thing: an interactive tool to chart how much each school’s tuition has changed over the last few years. [Bar Exam Stats]
* We’ve featured some of Richard Hsu’s interviews in this space. The Recorder sat down with the Shearman & Sterling partner to discuss his podcast. [The Recorder]
* Elie went on HuffPo today to discuss the phenomenon of law schools dropping the LSAT. [HuffPo Live]
* Former Wilmer litigator and 10th Circuit clerk John Ford has a new book out called The Cipher (affiliate link). It’s about the NSA harassing an innocent American citizen. Or as the rest of us call it, “a Tuesday.” [Amazon]
* In sad news, Dave Frohnmayer, former Oregon Attorney General, dean of Oregon Law School, and President of the University of Oregon passed away at 74. On a personal note, he was extremely supportive when I resuscitated the South Eugene debate program (where his daughters had earlier debated) before I went off to law school. Rest in peace. [The Oregonian]
* Have you ever wondered about litigation finance and thought, “if only someone would make a cartoon to explain it all to me” then you’re in luck. [LFC360]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQklMvyuOM
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Law Schools, Student Loans
THIS Is What It Looks Like When A Law School Actually Cuts Tuition
Actual tuition reduction at a major law school! -
Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Deaths, Insider Trading, Law Professors, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Patents, Trials
Morning Docket: 11.22.13
* Former U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride will be joining Davis Polk as a partner in the firm’s white-collar defense practice. Nice work, DPW — he’s actually kind of cute. Earn back that rep! [DealBook / New York Times]
* Matthew Kluger, most recently of Wilson Sonsini, was disbarred in D.C. following his insider trading conviction. His criminal career apparently began while he was still in law school. Sheesh. [Blog of Legal Times]
* Kent Easter, he of the “I am but a spineless shell of a man” defense, was just on the receiving end of a mistrial. It seems the jury was totally deadlocked. Guess they felt bad for him. [Navelgazing / OC Weekly]
* The Iowa Law Student Bar Association supports the school’s decision to cut out-of-state tuition by about $8,000 because to stand against such a measure would be absolutely ridiculous. Congratulations on not being dumb. [Iowa City Press-Citizen]
* Apple won more than $290 million from Samsung in its patent infringement retrial. Siri, tell me what the fifth-largest jury award in the U.S. was in 2013. OMG, I didn’t say delete all my contacts. [Bloomberg]
* The trial for James Holmes, the shooter in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre, was delayed by a judge until further notice. A hearing has been scheduled to reassess the situation in December. [CNN]
* Myrna S. Raeder, renowned expert on evidence and criminal procedure, RIP. [ABA Journal]
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Law Schools
Are '3 + 3' Programs A Good Idea?
Is this new initiative a "reform" to legal education, or just more of the same? -
Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Crime, Fashion, Federal Judges, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Morning Docket, Murder, Patton Boggs, Politics, Religion, Shoes, Texas, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 10.16.13
* Stop bullying the judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. They don’t cave to just any government data request — they make changes to about 25 percent of them. But uh… they don’t like to talk about the other 75 percent. [Bloomberg] * Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the number of Biglaw firms with […]
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Drinking, DUI / DWI, Law Professors, Law Schools
Conservative Law Professor Who Sued School Busted For Drinking And Idling
Allegedly drinking and driving one block dogs a would-be law professor. - Sponsored
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How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Admin, Bankruptcy, Clerkships, Federal Judges, Holidays and Seasons, Law Schools, LSAT, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Politics, Privacy, Technology
Morning Docket: 11.22.12
* We’ve discussed this trend before, and it continues: administrations of the LSAT plunge further, reaching their lowest level since 1999. [Economix / New York Times]
* We’ve discussed this trend before, and it continues: judges are still offering unpaid clerkships (even though the days of law firm deferrals are behind us). [Salon]
* We’ve discussed this trend before, and it continues: law schools sometimes discriminate against conservatives, as jurors from the Teresa Wagner trial told Iowa’s leading newspaper. [Des Moines Register]
* Are you mooching off of someone else’s wireless internet? If so, consider yourself warned. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Are you a lover of Twinkies? If so, consider yourself warned (although it’s possible that a buyer might snap up the Twinkies brand). [DealBook / New York Times]
* Seven Am Law 200 firms are saying YES to work on a billion-dollar deal. [Am Law Daily]
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Law School Deans, Law Schools, Politics
Liberal Bias In Law School Lives To Fight Another Day
Do we need affirmative action for conservatives in higher education? -
Biglaw, Department of Justice, Federal Judges, Football, Insider Trading, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Patents, Politics, Sentencing Law, Sex, Sports
Morning Docket: 10.25.12
* Covington, Skadden, and Proskauer really like representing professional sports leagues: from 2010 to 2011, the NHL paid a combined total of $8.8M to all three, and Covington received $16.3M from the NFL over the last three years. [Am Law Daily]
* The Department of Justice sued Bank of America yesterday for doing the “hustle.” No, not the popular disco disco dance, but rather, a supposed elaborate scheme to defraud the government out of billions of dollars. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Rajat Gupta was sentenced to a whole two years behind bars for insider trading, but my colleague Elie Mystal thinks that the more appropriate punishment would’ve been to force him to reenact the seminal 80s film, Trading Places. [HuffPost Live]
* Unfortunately, Siri wasn’t able to be helpful with this one. A federal judge had to recuse himself in a patent case involving the Siri voice assistant app because of his “interest” in Apple (likely stock ownership). [CNET]
* Was Wednesday the day of departing deans? NYU’s Richard Revesz said farewell, and so did Sydney Beckman of Duncan Law, but the latter flat out quit amid accreditation uncertainty. [Knoxville News Sentinel]
* “We’ll fight another day. This is not over.” While a jury declared that Teresa Wagner wasn’t a victim of Iowa Law’s political bias, a mistrial was called as to her equal protection claim against the school. [Press Citizen]
* Somebody really should’ve told Lawrence Taylor that when testifying in an underage sex trafficking case, it’s probably not a good idea to mention that your accuser was “very, very pretty” and “very sexy.” [Associated Press]
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1st Circuit, 2nd Circuit, Bar Exams, Biglaw, Gay, Job Searches, Law Professors, Law Schools, Litigators, Morning Docket, Old People, Partner Issues, Politics, Trials
Morning Docket: 10.23.12
* “Whether or not the law is dictating it right now, the people are dictating it.” In light of First and Second Circuit DOMA decisions, in-house counsel are considering benefits for same-sex spouses and domestic partners. [Corporate Counsel]
* “I’m a woman of integrity. My emotions got the best of me.” A Dish Network executive had to publicly apologize for accosting a Gibson Dunn litigation partner’s elderly father outside of a courtroom after the Cablevision trial. [Am Law Daily]
* A potential farewell to the typical liberal bias in education: at the end of the day, Teresa Wagner’s political bias case against Iowa Law could alter hiring nationwide in higher education. [Iowa City Press-Citizen]
* Not prepared for the bar exam, and currently without a law job? Let’s give that school a “B” rating. The results of this survey pretty much conclude that recent law school graduates are out of their minds. [WSJ Law Blog]
* A soon-to-be high school graduate wants to know if he can “go into a creative career” with a law degree. You silly little boy, the law is where creativity goes to die. Hope that helps! [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]
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Non-Sequiturs, Old People, Sex, Sex Scandals
Non-Sequiturs: 10.19.12
* There’s a lot going on here: an Iowa Law prof suing over alleged discrimination for her conservative views, inexplicable sexual noises at work, strange unnamed health problems… just read the damn article. [ABC News] * An 80-year-old woman was arrested for taking down posters comparing Obama to Hitler, because she lived through WWII and was “angry that someone would portray the president as a Nazi.” What a great use of law enforcement resources. [Yahoo!] * I am never buying soda again. Ever. [Kansas City Star via Legal Blog Watch] * Could the secret to upholding the Defense of Marriage Act lie in… the Obamacare ruling? Paul Clement, are you listening? [Tumblr / John Carney] * A former district attorney in Texas (who is now a judge) could get disbarred for intentionally withholding favorable evidence from a man who spent 25 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Errbody in the club put your hands up and scream, “Brady violation!” [Austin American-Statesman] * A Malaysian law student is in trouble for putting his sexy times on a public blog. I strongly recommend you resist the urge to look up the NSFW blog on Google. If you just can’t help yourself, don’t say I didn’t warn you. And you will probably need this, too. [Roll On Friday]
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Boalt Hall, Career Files, Law Schools, Pre-Law
Behold! ATL Launches Definitive Law School Research Resource
Check out the new ATL Law School Research Directory! -
American Bar Association / ABA, Biglaw, Federal Government, Job Searches, Kids, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Prostitution, Real Estate
Morning Docket: 07.17.12
* “Many organizations have people who do dumb things.” Members of the Secret Service aren’t the only suits getting secretly serviced. Apparently Treasury Department officials like hookers, too. [New York Daily News]
* The cool cats at WilmerHale arrived for their first day of work yesterday at their hip new downtown location. Their library has a Wii, but who are they kidding, it’s probably just for show. [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)]
* On the other side of the fence, we’ve got some signs of the impending lawpocalypse. Soon Biglaw veterans will be forced to say goodbye to the corner office and hello to the glass-walled cubicle. [WSJ Law Blog]
* George Zimmerman: alleged murderer, and now an alleged child toucher (though he was still a child himself). Witness 9 claims Zimmerman abused her for a decade while they were both underage. [CNN]
* “We want to have a bar pass standard that really works. And it’s clear it doesn’t work now.” Oh boy, would you look at that. The ABA is trying to make it look like it’s doing something to improve law schools! [ABA Journal]
* Emory Law received a record donation, and more than half will fund minority student scholarships. Little do these kids know that they’ll soon be condescendingly told to move to Nebraska. [National Law Journal]
* But then again, maybe Nebraska isn’t so bad, considering three law schools are shipping students to neighboring Iowa. The towns are tiny, and the surroundings are rural, but come on, the state’s got jobs. [NPR]
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8th Circuit, Law Professors, Law Schools
Conservative Law Profs: Just Say You Need 'Affirmative Action' for Intellectual Diversity and We'll End Hiring Discrimination Against You
Conservative law professors need help. They don’t want to admit it because conservative orthodoxy holds that the only people who can ask for help in this country are small businessmen and the institution of marriage, but make no mistake, conservatives who want to get a tenure-track job in legal academia need a leg up. That’s […] -
8th Circuit, Art, California, Copyright, Law School Deans, Morning Docket, Small Law Firms, Twittering
Morning Docket: 12.29.11
* Here’s a nice round-up of some of the most controversial laws that will be enacted in 2012. Looks like California is going to have some fabulously multicultural litigation. [Associated Press] * What do you get when you cross an artist with a penchant for Rastafarians with the son of a Boies Schiller name partner? […]
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Blogging, Constitutional Law, Fat People, Food, Insider Trading, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Money, Morning Docket, Pro Bono, Violence
Morning Docket: 11.16.11
* One of the reasons that members of Congress are so filthy rich is because they’re only technically breaking the law, but Scott Brown wants to try to curb Congressional “insider trading.” [CBS News] * In other Congressional news, pizza is now considered a vegetable. And fat people the world over rejoiced by stuffing their […]
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Law Schools, Rankings, Student Loans, U.S. News, UNC Law, Vanderbilt
Open Thread: 2012 U.S. News Law School Rankings (16 - 30)
And now things get interesting. As we continue to run through the U.S. News 2012 law school rankings, we get to a crucial set of schools. The schools in this batch are certainly top tier, but they’re not “top 14”; for the most part, though, they charge like top 14 schools (especially the private ones). […]