Yale Law School

  • Morning Docket: 10.09.19
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.09.19

    * According to an eight-page letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, the White House will not cooperate in the impeachment inquiry because not only does it violate “the Constitution, the rule of law, and every past precedent,” but it also “lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation” and is merely an effort to “nullify the outcome of the democratic process” by negating the 2016 election and influencing the 2020 election. Well then! [Washington Post]

    * In case you missed it, here’s what made a federal judge say, “Wow.” In an effort to keep redacted portions of the Mueller report from Congress, representatives from the DOJ essentially argued that a decision to release the Watergate grand jury evidence was “wrongly decided.” [Slate]

    * Despite having been dragged into the DLA Piper sexual assault controversy, Kamala Harris has a lot of Biglaw support, and the newly formed National Lawyers Council for Kamala is hoping to raise at least $100,000 by the end of the month to help her campaign for the presidency. [American Lawyer]

    * An investigation is currently underway at Yale Law School, where late this past weekend, anti-Semitic graffiti — a swastika with the word “Trump” next to it — was found on the steps to a side entrance to the school. [NBC Connecticut]

    * Sign up here if you’d like to take part in a conversation between best-selling author John Grisham and former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara (S.D.N.Y.). I’ll be there to cover the event for Above the Law, and I hope to see you there. [TimesTalks]

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  • Morning Docket: 10.29.18
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.29.18

    * Robert Bowers, the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that left 11 dead and six wounded, has been charged with 29 federal criminal counts including hate crimes and using a firearm to commit murder and 36 state criminal counts including homicide and ethnic intimidation. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those who lost their lives this weekend. [New York Times]

    * According to the criminal complaint filed against Cesar Sayoc, the pipe bomb he allegedly tried to mail to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was addressed to his office at a “certain law firm” — a certain law firm that’s better known as Covington & Burling. Good thing the package never made it there. [National Law Journal]

    * When asked to reflect on the misconduct allegations against Yale Law School Professor Jed Rubenfeld, alumni from the school are not the least bit shocked. “It was not a surprise to basically any woman in my class that this investigation is going on,” said one 2015 graduate. Will the school take appropriate action? [Yale Daily News]

    * Partners from Allen & Overy and O’Melveny & Myers are cozying up to each other as merger talks between the two firms continue, but there may be trouble in paradise. “There is some opposition in London,” said a former A&O partner, “but it’s fairly disorganised—there’s a lot of moaning but nobody leading a charge.” [International]

    * In case you missed it, after the involuntary revocation of its accreditation, Arizona Summit Law School will eventually close its doors. But first, the school must finalize a teach-out plan for its remaining students, and when it’s all over, “that would be the life of the school.” What a sad little life. Farewell to AZ Summit Law. [Arizona Republic]

    * You might not have known it, but the Michigan State University College of Law has been operating as a private school for all these years. Soon, the school will be fully integrated into the university, and you know what that means: in-state tuition costs will be coming to the MSU Law. Congratulations! [Lansing State Journal]

    * RBG is my Patronus, and a course on Harry Potter and the Law is coming to a law school near you — if you live in India, that is. The National University of Juridical Sciences will be teaching the class, and muggles students are “expected [to] have already read all the books at least twice, if not more.” [The Guardian]

  • Morning Docket: 10.10.18
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 10.10.18

    * Oh boy, it looks like we’ve got a new person to lock up. People who attended Trump’s MAGA rally in Iowa last night broke out into chants of “lock her up!” after the president wondered whether Senator Dianne Feinstein leaked a letter containing Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. [The Hill]

    * Just because Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court doesn’t mean that student organizers at Yale Law are giving up. Yale Law Students Demanding Better will be entering a “new phase of advocacy,” by getting politically involved, registering voters, and joining grassroots movements. [Yale Daily News]

    * Elon Musk hired Williams & Connolly chairman Dane Butswinkas to help him with the hot securities mess he’s created. He may have settled his case with the SEC, but a judge still has to accept their agreement and his tweet calling the agency the “Shortseller Enrichment Commission” might not help him. [Big Law Business]

    * Keila Ravelo, the former Biglaw partner who pleaded guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges last year, will be sentenced today in her $7.8 million scheme to cheat her firms and clients. The government is asking for six years behind bars and three years of supervised release. [New Jersey Law Journal]

    * Women have been treated unfairly in the legal profession for far too long, and maybe that’s why the number of women-owned firms has been dramatically increasing. As a partner in your own firm, the compensation will be fair, promotions will be merit-based, and no one is going to sexually harass you. What’s not to like? [Law.com]