Women’s Issues
-
Intellectual Property
Closing The Patent Gap
Access to professional guidance should lead to more issued patents for female and minority inventors. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.03.18
* Alex Kozinski, formerly of the Ninth Circuit, disappeared into the shadows after retiring in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Less than seven months later, he’s back in the public eye, and three of his accussers, all lawyers, are none too pleased. [New York Times]
* In news that should shock absolutely no one, an attorney who was caught on tape insulting his paralegal on more than 30 occasions — where he was seen referring to her a “dirtbag” and a “ho” — has been suspended from practice for one year with six months stayed. [New York Post]
* Nelson Mullins recently finalized its merger with Broad and Cassel to create a “super-regional” firm. The new firm will have 25 offices, more than 750 attorneys, and a combined revenue of over $500 million. [American Lawyer]
* In other law firm merger news, Fox Rothschild has confirmed that it’s in talks with North Carolina firm Smith Moore Leatherwood. Mark Silow, the firm’s chairman, cautioned that nothing has been finalized yet. [Philadelphia Business Journal]
* Remember Dana Tapper, the UVA Law grad who won money to repay her law school debt on the Ellen DeGeneres Show? She was just sentenced to 20 years in prison (with all but three months suspended) after smuggling drugs and a cellphone in to an inmate serving time for murder. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
- Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report. -
Intellectual Property
The Minority Gender Patent Gap
A minority gap in patenting -- just like other gaps -- is detrimental for our innovation system.
-
Biglaw
Biglaw Firms Are Reaping The Financial Rewards Of The #MeToo Movement
At least there's a silver lining here for lawyers at huge firms. -
Small Law Firms
For Women Lawyers, There’s No One-Size Fits All Work-Life Balance
Last Monday, the Delaware Supreme Court announced that it would push back filing deadlines in non-expedited cases from 11:59 p.m. to 5 p.m. in an effort to address work-life balance in the profession reports Delaware Law Weekly. Though no doubt well-intentioned, the change makes life harder rather than easier for women lawyers because there’s no […] -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.01.18
* President Donald Trump may be putting an “indelible conservative stamp” on the judiciary, but really, it’s Senator Mitch McConnell who’s been responsible for pushing these controversial candidates through just because “it’s the longest-term sort of impact we can have on the future of the country.” [New York Times]
* MAGA hat in the streets, reaonable human being in the sheets? Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has privately told senators that he thinks Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel in the Russia probe is “appropriate.” [CNN]
* The ABA is planning to disband its law school accreditation and standards review committees to save some money. Don’t worry, all of those duties will be assumed by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. [Law.com]
* “Why am I still here?” Women are heading for the exits at Ogletree Deakins in the wake of the $300M gender bias suit that was filed against the firm. FWIW, Ogletree was just named as one of the 60 best law firms for women. [American Lawyer]
* Getting out while the getting is good: Don LeDuc, Cooley Law’s longtime president and dean, will be retiring soon. He’s being replaced on an interim basis by former Michigan Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Martlew. [Lansing State Journal]
-
Trials
Courtroom Sexism: 'No-Crying Motions' Filed By Male Opposing Counsel
What happens when men file motions to 'preclude emotional displays' of female attorneys during trial? -
- Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.26.18
* ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FILED! Against Rod Rosenstein. Alternative headline: In stunning turn, Rep. Jim Jordan demands accountability as long as it’s not for years of systematic sexual abuse. [Huffington Post]
* That Shook Hardy attorney who argued that a woman got pregnant in a diabolical nine-month scheme to delay trial? Yeah, he’s been suspended. [Daily Business Review]
* The Fifth Circuit’s James Ho isn’t so much a judge as a political hack in a robe. That Orin Kerr Tweet from April was just the canary in the mine. [NPR]
* Facebook GC Colin Stretch will pursue his lifelong passion of becoming the moderator of the Facebook Alumni Facebook Group. [Corporate Counsel]
* Trump’s ethics expert will also be leaving the job that he’s ostensibly been performing. [The Hill]
* Shareholder class actions are on the upswing this year. Gather ye rosebuds while ye don’t have Judge Kavanaugh declaring Rule 23 a First Amendment violation. [National Law Journal]
* Roy Moore sues PAC over negative campaign ads. Discovery should be fun. [Courthouse News Service]
* Larry Nassar wants a new sentencing hearing. See, this is what happens when judges grandstand and rip up letters to advance their political career — they just give these guys an in to try and futz with the sentence. [ESPN]
-
Biglaw
Biglaw Partner Accuses Small-Firm Litigator Of Using Pregnancy To Delay Trial
No, a woman would not carry a pregnancy to term and bring a child into this world in a sick effort to delay a case. -
Labor / Employment, On The Job
High Heels At Work Required -- A Follow Up
Is it okay to require that women wear high heels as long as there is an 'equivalent standard' for men? -
In-House Counsel
Don’t Stand So Close To Me: Navigating The Physical Hazards Of Being An In-House Counsel
What’s the big deal about touching in the workplace? -
Biglaw
Female Attorneys Can’t Take A Joke — Because At Law Firms, It’s Not One
Lauren Stiller Rikleen speaks about the results of the groundbreaking Survey of Workplace Conduct and Behaviors in Law Firms.
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Sponsored
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
-
Courts
Kavanaugh's Female Clerks Praise His Advocacy For Women In The Law
Kavanaugh is the only D.C. Circuit judge to ever hire four women to clerk for him in the same year. -
-
Biglaw
Firm Leadership, Not Motherhood, Fails Women When It Comes To Gender Equity In Biglaw
Don't believe the hype. Pregnancy isn't why women are put on the back burner in Biglaw. -
Litigators
Litigating While Expecting
Some people will underestimate you. You will underestimate you. But you've got this. -
Courts
45 Years Ago, Roe Started The Era Of Choice -- Will This Court End It?
Roe is still a headache, at least in the minds of those who want to overturn it. -
Courts
Revolutionary Arrangement Will Allow Federal Law Clerk To Take Parental Leave During Clerkship
Far too many law clerks have been forced to choose between their careers and their families. That ends today. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.22.18
* Paul Manafort loses evidence motion. He should embrace that feeling of loss. [Courthouse News Service]
* CNBC criticizes the Cohen case Special Master, Judge Barbara Jones, for charging $330K for document review. This is, of course, an entirely reasonable fee for a case of this import but CNBC has clearly let their bias flag fly. [CNBC]
* While America focuses, fairly, on children suffering institutional child abuse, please take a second to remember that cops straight up killed a teenager running from a traffic stop. One could say, “why was he running?” but I’ve seen the video of Philando Castile’s death — staying peacefully in a car isn’t necessarily safe anymore. [CBS News]
* The new awareness of widespread sexual harassment in the workplace may have another positive side effect: women are advancing to partnership faster than before. [American Lawyer]
* Dumb people are up in arms that the ACLU might shift its resources away from random Nazis toward other projects that don’t have hordes of self-styled rebel lawyers and downright crypto-fascist attorneys ready to defend them pro bono. This video, however, is exactly why the ACLU is right to reorient itself to focus on more pressing challenges. [io9]
* Trump proposes merging the Education Department with the Department of Labor. Do you know how hard he had to work to make this not his dumbest idea of the week? We’re going to have to build the Starship Trump just so America doesn’t focus on this nonsense. [NPR]
* NY’s Mayor is doing more to protect unfairly targeted immigrants than almost anyone in America and his policy has a glaring, awful hole in its provision of legal aid. [NY Daily News]