Wall Street Journal
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Legal Ethics
WSJ Doth Protest Too Much About Law Firms Trying To Play Games With Tax Laws
Protecting the First Amendment doesn't require tax exemptions. -
Courts
Is It Defamation Per Se To Accuse Someone Of Having Sex With Elon Musk? Asking For The Wall Street Journal.
Maybe we should unplug WSJ and plug it back in and see if it fixes anything. - Sponsored
Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
Please help us benchmark your firm against your peers through this (always) brief and anonymous survey and enter for a chance to win a $250… -
Politics
Republican Media Is Already At The 'Trump Is Too Dumb To Fail' Stage
The Wall Street Journal editorial page does its thing again.
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.05.18
* Don McGahn may be leaving the Trump administration, but he still wants his Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed. Sources say it was the outgoing White House counsel who advised Judge Brett Kavanaugh to “show his emotions and true feelings” during his Senate hearing. [Wall Street Journal]
* And it was Judge Kavanaugh’s “emotions and true feelings” which led him to write an apology piece of sorts, where he admitted that he “might have been too emotional at times.” Not to worry, because we can still “count on [him]” if he’s confirmed since he’s an “independent, impartial judge.” [Wall Street Journal]
* Meanwhile, a procedural vote to limit debate on Kavanaugh’s nomination will be held today at 10:30 a.m., which will set the stage for a confirmation vote to be held. The final vote may have to be rescheduled to get a majority, however, because one Republican senator will be at his daughter’s wedding. [CBS News]
* Dawn Knepper, the former Ogletree partner who is suing the firm in a $300M gender bias suit, is speaking out about what motivated her to sue the firm in the first place, and whether she thinks the case will affect her legal career. [American Lawyer]
* “It’s absolutely shocking.” According to a new study conducted by two law professors and an economist, plunging law school enrollment between 2010 and 2016 caused schools to lose about $1.5 billion in tuition each year. Yikes… [Law.com]
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Courts, Government
Judicial Nominees And Their College Writings: Enough Is Enough
We need a statute of limitations when it comes to the scribblings of one's youth. -
Blogging, Media and Journalism, Technology
Wall Street Journal Shuts Down Its Law Blog
Sad news in the legal blogging world. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.05.17
* Now that the Supreme Court Term is over, it’s time to take stock of SCOTUS. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, law professors Sai Prakash and John Yoo posit that the staunchly originalist Justice Thomas “might have found a fellow traveler in Justice Gorsuch.” [How Appealing]
* Speaking of the Journal, it’s the end of an era: the beloved WSJ Law Blog is no more (but note that the Journal’s stellar legal coverage will remain in the newspaper and online). [WSJ Law Blog]
* There’s an embarrassment of riches hen it comes to SCOTUS Term wrap-ups. The MoloLamken overview is always one of the best — and one of the most useful, for the many Above the Law readers representing big business as lawyers in Biglaw. [MoloLamken]
* And if you like your Supreme Court reviews live, check out this one tomorrow night at the 92nd Street Y here in New York, featuring an all-star cast of commentators: Dan Abrams of ABC News, Joan Biskupic of CNN, Dean Trevor Morrison and Professor Kenji Yoshino of NYU Law, and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, director of NYU’s Forum on Law, Culture & Society. [FOLCS]
* Will Chief Justice John Roberts’s recent speech at his son’s graduation go down in history as one of the best commencement addresses ever? [Jane Genova — Speechwriter-Ghostwriter]
* And where is the Chief Justice spending the summer? Like many of his colleagues on the Court, JGR is leaving the country (and given what D.C. is like in the summer, you can’t blame him). [The Economist]
* A piece by NPR’s Nina Totenberg over the long weekend reignited the Justice Kennedy retirement rumors (which I’ve thrown cold water on last year and again last week — but even I admit that AMK might retire around this time next year). [Daily Intelligencer / New York Magazine]
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Student Loans
Stat Of The Week: Law School Graduate Debt Soars
Law school graduate debt spirals upward. - Sponsored
Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide
Legal document automation is no longer only for the exclusive few. -
Events
Law Bloggers, Now With Sound: Converge Podcast Round-Up
Audio highlights of the 2015 ATL Converge conference. -
Biglaw, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Gay, Musical Chairs, Partner Issues, Wall Street Journal
Dewey Know Where Former Chairman Steven Davis Is Going Next?
Who just hired the former chairman of the dearly departed Dewey & LeBoeuf law firm? -
Ask the Experts, Law Schools, Wall Street Journal
From Across the Desk: Students Outsmart Professors?
Bruce MacEwen of Adam Smith Esq. examines the changing legal marketplace and the business models needed for law schools going forward. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Professors, Law Schools, Wall Street Journal
Law Professors Enter A Time Of Consequences As ABA Fights To Preserve Their Status Quo
Once again, ABA regulation is poised to stop the market for legal education from working properly. -
Biglaw, Book Club, Books, D.C. Circuit, Guns / Firearms, Intellectual Property, Jed Rakoff, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Lindsay Lohan, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Patents, Politics, Senate Judiciary Committee, Wall Street Journal, Weddings
Morning Docket: 04.11.13
* “I don’t believe judges should be filibustered.” Tell that to the rest of your Republican pals, Senator Hatch. D.C. Circuit nom Sri Srinivasan faced little drama at the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. [Bloomberg]
* A bipartisan gun regulation deal has been reached in the Senate, and of course the NRA is opposing it — well, except for the parts that expand gun rights. The group really likes those parts. [Washington Post]
* Trolling for patent partners? Bingham recently snagged five IP partners from DLA Piper’s Los Angeles office, including the former co-chair of DLA patent litigation department. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Time well spent: while Detroit hangs on the precipice of bankruptcy, local politicians are worrying about whether retaining Jones Day poses a conflict of interest for their emergency manager (formerly of Jones Day). [Am Law Daily]
* NYLS — or should we say “New York’s law school” — is revamping its clinical program to kill two birds with one stone (e.g., fulfilling pro bono hours and boosting job prospects). [National Law Journal]
* For all the talk of his being a hard ass, Judge Rakoff is a nice guy after all! The judge gave an ex-SAC trader permission to go on a honeymoon after his release from prison. [DealBook / New York Times]
* If you’ve ever wondered how Lat spends his free time, sometimes he’s off writing book reviews for distinguished publications. Check out his review of Mistrial (affiliate link) here. [Wall Street Journal]
* “Lindsay Lohan is the victim.” What the Heller you talking about? LiLo’s lawyer thinks there’s a conspiracy among the prosecutors on her case that’s resulted in leaks of information to TMZ. [CNN]
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Banking Law, Federal Judges, Quote of the Day, S.D.N.Y., Wall Street Journal
The Gossip Rag For The Plaintiffs' Bar?
The Wall Street Journal is apparently the People Magazine of the New York plaintiffs' bar. -
Andrew Cuomo, B for Beauty, Biglaw, Department of Justice, FTC, Google / Search Engines, Law Schools, Morning Docket, New York Times, Patents, State Judges, Wall Street Journal
Morning Docket: 01.04.13
* The Department of Justice has reached yet another settlement in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill case, this time with Transocean Ltd. for $1.4 billion in civil and criminal penalties and fines. [National Law Journal]
* “[W]ith success comes regulatory scrutiny.” Google convinced the FTC to close its ongoing antitrust probe by promising to change its allegedly shady patent usage and purportedly skewed search terms. [Bloomberg]
* According to Littler Mendelson, federal contractors might want to consider sending out sequestration-related layoff notices to employees in order to comply with the WARN Act. America, f**k yeah! [Government Executive]
* Governor Andrew Cuomo will have a major impact on the New York Court of Appeals when appointing new judges. It could be a partisan decision, but his father, former Governor Mario Cuomo, insists his son will leave politics at home. [Capital New York]
* When you write in defense of the value proposition of law school, you wind up in the op-ed pages of the NYT. When you tell the truth about it, you wind up in the opinion pages of the WSJ. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* Remember Danae Couch, the Texas Tech law student who was crowned as Miss Texas? She’ll compete for the Miss America title next weekend. If you’d like to help her become a finalist, you can vote for her here! [KFYO]
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Biglaw, Billable Hours, Lexis-Nexis, LexisNexis / Lexis-Nexis, Small Law Firms, Wall Street Journal
Size Matters: Billing Sucks, But Small-Firm Lawyers Need To Do It Better
While billing is an awful experience, small-firm attorneys need to do it better, according to columnist Valerie Katz. -
Email Scandals, Hotties, Iraq, Media and Journalism, Oral Sex / Blow Jobs, SCOTUS Clerks Are Fair Game, Sex, Sex Scandals, Supreme Court Clerks, Wall Street Journal
An Ambassadorial Nominee and Ex-SCOTUS Clerk's Racy Emails
A former Supreme Court clerk, currently President Obama's nominee to serve as ambassador to Iraq, finds his personal life under scrutiny thanks to some racy leaked emails. How racy? -
Advice for the Lawlame, Small Law Firms
Size Matters: Do Not Cry At Work And Other No-Nos
Most people know not to cry at the office. What other icky behaviors should small firm attorneys avoid at work? -
Biglaw, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Shoes, Wall Street Journal, Women's Issues
Attention Fashionistas: The Power Suit Is So Last Season
While the power suit may be a fashion no-no for female lawyers, is it acceptable to wear emerging trends to work? -
Airplanes / Aviation, Biglaw, Breasts, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Fashion, Law Schools, Military / Military Law, Morning Docket, Nina Totenberg, Partner Issues, Wall Street Journal, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 03.19.12
* With 269 partners to go, Dewey need to start panicking yet? Twelve additional partners, including practice group leaders, have jumped ship, bringing the grand total of partner-level defectors to 31 since January. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Late-breaking news: law schools’ numbers still don’t add up. The New York Times has already said its piece on the problem with law schools, so the Wall Street Journal decided that it was time to chime in again. [Wall Street Journal]
* Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, the man accused of going on an Afghan killing spree, will be represented by Ted Bundy’s lawyer. In the court of public opinion, that’s equivalent to pleading guilty. [Bloomberg]
* “I have had it with these motherf**king snakes breastfeeding women on this motherf**king plane!” A mother has settled a lawsuit with her airline over being kicked off a plane for nursing her child. [Businessweek]
* Here’s a fashion tip for law firm staff: you wear orange shirts in prison, not at the office. Think twice next time before you wear that color to work, because you might get fired like these folks in Florida. [Sun-Sentinel]
* Let’s face it, there is no escape from the law, not even in your free time (if that even exists). That being said, here’s a lawyerly crossword puzzle, inspired by Nina Totenberg’s reporting on legal affairs. Have fun! [NPR]