United Kingdom / Great Britain
-
Basketball, Books, Death Penalty, Election Law, Non-Sequiturs, Sports, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 11.08.13
* If you thought the Redskins were offensive, I bring you the Coachella Valley High Arabs. Complete with video of their mascot! [Yahoo! Sports] * With states increasingly losing access to tried and true execution drugs, the wardens are now experimenting on their own. This sounds (a) incredibly cruel and unusual, and (b) likely to result in creating a supervillian. [Vocativ] * Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott fought hard for a voter ID law. And on Tuesday, he failed to meet the standards of the law he championed. Derp. [Opposing Views] * We frequently link to the fun poetic stylings of Poetic Justice. Now you can enter a contest to win a free copy of the book! [Poetic Justice] * In a horrific turn, a father called the cops to teach his son a lesson. Then the cops killed the son. [Gawker] * Fear Roatti the White Tiger, Esq. Fear him mightily. [Deadspin] * This is perhaps the weirdest law firm video ever. Video embedded after the jump… [Legal Cheek] -
Allen & Overy, Biglaw, Contract Attorneys, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Document Review, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, LSAT, Magic Circle, Morning Docket, Sex, Sex Scandals, Technology, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 11.01.13
* The Magic Circle isn’t very magical across the pond in New York City. Four out of five firms from the U.K. — Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Linklaters — have yet to pull rabbits out of their
- Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Non-Sequiturs, O.J. Simpson, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 10.29.13
* First things first: remember to send us your legally themed Halloween costumes! [Above the Law] * George Clooney may be dating the “hottest female barrister in London.” [Legal Cheek] * This painting suggests there’s a senior partner who gets away with wearing sandals to work. [Lowering the Bar] * This is a really useful practice tip: how to cite URLs in briefs without having them look all messed up. [The Volokh Conspiracy] * O.J. Simpson’s house sold at a foreclosure auction for a mere $655,000. This must be a disappointing deal for him — I’m sure he expected to make a killing. [Daily Business Review] * Blackacre blocks access to a public beach. But the owner of Blackacre uses the Mexican-American War as an excuse to ignore the easement. Apparently he wins. People are also entirely awful. [Valleywag] * I also hate when McDonald's screws up my order, but it's not worth getting the police involved. [Legal Juice]
-
Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Education / Schools, Legal Ethics, Partner Issues, Screw-Ups, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Don't Lie On Your Résumé -- Even If You're A Partner
Legal secretaries and other support staffers aren't the only ones getting fired by Biglaw; partners who lie on their résumés get shown the door too. -
Craigslist, Football, iPhone, Jury Duty, Law Schools, Lawrence Lessig, Non-Sequiturs, Pro Se Litigants, Technology, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 09.25.13
* Apple gave the iPhone 5 fingerprint database to the NSA. This would be a gross invasion of privacy but Tim Cook masterminded this, so the NSA got the Ecce Homo of fingerprint image captures. [Hackers News Bulletin] * Charlie Sheen got dismissed from jury duty after only one day. #winning [TMZ] * Gordon from Sesame Street lost his palimony case. That’s because he was trying to duck out on the woman who mothered his “1… 2… 3… 4 kids! [thunderclap] Ah… ah… ah!” [Jezebel] * Remember the early days of Twitter? Legal Cheek went back and found some of the earliest Tweets from British legal luminaries. It’s just funnier when you imagine an English accent saying, “I appear to be on Twitter… why, I have no idea.” [Legal Cheek] * If you saw last week’s post on crazy people who claim that no court can try them because of maritime law, check out this epic opinion from Canada. Identifying those folks, like the maritime gang from last week, as Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (“OPCA”) litigants, the opinion is 180 pages seeking “to uncover, expose, collate, and publish the tactics employed by the OPCA community.” [Alberta Courts] * Police crack down on a motorized bar stool. That’s fair, because if there’s one motor vehicle that you’re likely to fall off… [Lowering the Bar] * Professor Ilya Somin is touring the country and coming to a law school near you promoting his new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter (affiliate link). Small government does usually smart, as in “cause a sharp, stinging pain.” [The Volokh Conspiracy] * An HLS grad working for the World Bank was rescued from the Kenyan mall hostage crisis. We wish her the best. [Daily Mail] * Senator Elizabeth Warren and Professor Lawrence Lessig are going to be speaking at an event called “The Founders v. The Roberts Court: Corruption, Campaign Finance, and McCutcheon v. FEC” tomorrow at noon Eastern. The event will be livestreamed at the link. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * Craigslist is suing Craigstruck, a company that specializes in delivering items ordered off of Craigslist. It’s how all those $5/hour attorneys get from place to place. Anyway, the owner of Craigstruck proposed to settle the legal dispute via football wager with Craigslist. If only all disputes could be settled this way. Video wager after the jump… -
Biglaw, Drinking, Screw-Ups, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Videos, YouTube
Should This Indiscreet Young Lawyer Get A Second Clifford Chance?
A young lawyer's ill-considered remarks could cause him to lose his job. -
Advertising, Biglaw, Insurance, Lateral Moves, Litigators, Partner Issues, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Litigation Reform Across The Pond
A day in the life of an English litigator just got considerably more complex. -
3rd Circuit, Anthony Kennedy, Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Biglaw, Cozen O'Connor, Deaths, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Gay, Gay Marriage, General Counsel, International Law, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Magic Circle, Military / Military Law, Morning Docket, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Supreme Court, Technology, Twittering, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Weddings
Morning Docket: 09.03.13
* We bet you never thought you’d be spending Labor Day weekend debating with your relatives the legality of a U.S. military strike on Syria and the intricacies of international law. Gee, thanks President Obama. [CNN]
* Over the long holiday weekend, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg served as officiant at the gay wedding of John Roberts. No, not that John Roberts, but what an incredibly apropos coincidence that was. [Washington Post]
* Speaking of same-sex marriage, even though “[n]o one told [him] it was an easy job when [he] signed on,” Justice Anthony Kennedy revealed himself to be an ally of the gay rights movement. [New York Times]
* Two days after filing an appeal with the Third Circuit, the parents of a deceased Cozen O’Connor partner have ended their battle to deny their daughter’s profit-sharing benefits to her wife. [Law360 (sub. req.)]
* Twitter’s general counsel deactivated his account position with the social media giant, and looks forward to “goofing off.” Congrats to Vijaya Gadde, who will head up the company’s IPO. [Bits / New York Times]
* Biglaw’s latest scapegoat for the culling of the associate herd is the decline of Chapter 11 filings, otherwise known by industry insiders as the “bankruptcy recession.” [New York Law Journal (sub. req.)]
* Without any rabbits left to pull out of hats, it’s been predicted that by 2018, the Magic Circle will be no more. This is one disappearing act lawyers obsessed with prestige hope will never happen. [The Lawyer]
* If you want to learn more about fashion law, check out this interview with Barbara Kolsun, a woman who literally wrote the book on it (affiliate link) while serving as general counsel at Stuart Weitzman. [Corporate Counsel]
* So what has Kenneth Randall been up to since he left the deanship at Alabama School of Law? He’s working to “train law students for jobs that don’t require a bar license” over at InfiLaw. Awesome. [Tuscaloosa News]
* Legal commentators like Elie and Lat would be ecstatic if law school were two years long, but because so many others have a “vested interest in the status quo,” change will come at approximately half past never. [CNBC]
* Ronald H. Coase, influential legend of law and economics and Nobel prize winner, RIP. [Chicago Law]
- Sponsored
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Lexis Create provides simple access to internal and external knowledge — directly within Microsoft Word. -
Election Law, Food, Football, Free Speech, Non-Sequiturs, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 08.30.13
Ed. note: Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday, September 2, in observance of the Labor Day holiday. * Municipal election fraud is being alleged in Tuscaloosa after a sorority bribed people with free drinks to get a University of Alabama Law grad elected (defeating the incumbent, another lawyer — and wife of a UA Law professor). The big question here is how f**king terrible is voter turnout in Tuscaloosa that a sorority can rig an election? [AL.com] * A banned food truck launched a First Amendment suit after officials banned the truck for using an ethnic slur in the name. I haven’t seen a food truck shut down like that since “Steak Me Home Tonight.” [WSJ Law Blog] * The NFL looks to London. Tax laws are one of many obstacles. [Grantland] * From partner to delivery boy. But hey, definitely go to law school kids! [St. Louis Post-Dispatch] * A thorough look at the legality of the pending Syria strike. Obama administration addresses these grave concerns with the phrase, “Talk to the hand.” [Foreign Affairs] -
Allen & Overy, Books, Depositions, Magic Circle, Ridiculousness, Sex, Sex Scandals, Sexual Harassment, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Videos, YouTube
50 Shades of Biglaw: Watch This Managing Partner Read Erotica Out Loud
Based on his videotaped deposition, this retired managing partner could have a second career as a reader of erotic audiobooks. -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Boalt Hall, Deaths, Elena Kagan, Federal Judges, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, S.D.N.Y., SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology, Townsend and Townsend and Crew, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 08.21.13
* According to Justice Elena Kagan, the rest of her colleagues are Supreme technophobes. Because “[t]he court hasn’t really ‘gotten to’ email,” they still pass handwritten memos to each other. [Associated Press]
* “[I]f we don’t get some relief we might as well close our doors.” Thanks to sequestration, budget cuts to the federal judiciary have resulted in layoffs in the Southern District of New York. Sad. [New York Law Journal]
* Kodak’s Chapter 11 reorganization was approved by Judge Allan Gropper, who called the affair “a tragedy of American economic life.” He must’ve had fond memories of getting other people’s pictures. [Bloomberg]
* Bankruptcy lawyers for corporate debtors are going to have to crack down on churning their bills. Starting in November, they will be subject to additional rules, and even (gasp!) fee examiners. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald’s partner, David Miranda (because of course his surname is Miranda), has lawyered up after his unusual nine-hour detainment at Heathrow airport this weekend. [Am Law Daily]
* So long, Nuts and Boalts: Christopher Edley, dean of Boalt Hall, is taking a medical leave and cutting short his term as the school’s leader at the end of the year. [Bottom Line / San Francisco Chronicle]
* “We’ll take him.” Indiana Tech Law School opens today, and its founding dean is very excited to add a 33rd student — one who was admitted yesterday — to the school’s inaugural class. [National Law Journal]
* Eugene Crew, co-founder of the firm once known as Townsend and Townsend and Crew, RIP. [Recorder]
-
Bar Exams, JPMorgan Chase, Non-Sequiturs, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 08.19.13
* Most folks think the police overreacted by issuing a civil disobedience warning for a 3-year-old girl, but those people need to watch Children of the Corn. [UPI] * Speaking of the Brits, authorities detained Glenn Greenwald’s partner (interestingly, Greenwald’s partner is named Miranda) for nine hours and “confiscated his computer, phone, camera, memory stick, DVDs and video games” while passing through Heathrow. Wow, this is the sort of thing that might make Greenwald mad at the surveillance state. [ABA Journal] * A detailed analysis of confidential sources. I’m pointing this out to publicly clarify that ATL keeps its tipsters confidential unless they specifically ask to be cited. So feel free to tip away! [Talking Biz News] * Tales of Ted Cruz as a young man. So we’re calling parliamentary-style debate “debate” now? OK. [Daily Beast] * Professor Rick Hasen examines North Carolina’s new voter suppression law and how it proves that the country still needs the Voting Rights Act. [Slate] * Maybe bar exams should write better questions that actually cover all the material candidates have to learn. Personally, I was just fine not having to memorize a lot about New York commercial paper law. [Ramblings on Appeal] * The tale of a wealthy couple evading the law. The article describes the story as an “arthritic version of Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw in The Getaway, perhaps, moving at nursing-home speed.” Hollywood just found a plot for Expendables 4. [Seattle Weekly] * The government’s obsession with FCPA enforcement has bit JP Morgan over hiring the children of Chinese officials to woo business. [Dealbreaker] * Chief Judge Michael P. Mills of the Northern District of Mississippi weighs in on a copyright suit between the estate of William Faulkner and Woody Allen. The judge is apparently not a fan of Sharknado because he has no soul. Video of the quirky conflict after the jump… -
Bill Clinton, Non-Sequiturs, Prisons, Television, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 08.14.13
* Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is heading to prison in Alabama for 30 months. Among the items he improperly purchased with campaign funds was a cape. How awesome is that? [Reuters via Yahoo! News] * The Bureau of Prisons is planning to move its female inmates out of Danbury to convert it to a men’s prison. The author behind Orange Is the New Black has a different plan. [Jezebel] * Reminiscent of the gun post a while back, more proof that women have all kinds of room to store contraband. [Legal Juice] * Simpson Thacher lawyers reached some “unsettling conclusions” about the Clinton Foundation. Probably spending too much time with that Lewinsky Foundation. [New York Times] * You thought there was animosity toward lawyers in the U.S.? Check out how much they hate them across the pond. [Legal Cheek] * What do you get if you combine a lawyer with a paramedic? [The Ambulance Chaser]
Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
This AI-Powered Document Tool Will Meet You Where You Are
Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
-
Attorney Misconduct, Crime, Defamation, Drugs, Eric Holder, Football, Intellectual Property, Legal Ethics, Non-Sequiturs, Politics, Privacy, Prostitution, Sports, Technology, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 08.12.13
* Whitey Bulger was convicted on 31 of the 32 counts he faced. [NBC News] * Eric Holder announced that the federal government will stop charging certain drug offenders with crimes that carry draconian mandatory minimum sentences. Apparently, he just now realized the prison system is riddled with non-violent offenders. The last horses are finally crossing the finish line, folks! [Washington Post] * Johnny Manziel has hired counsel for his upcoming NCAA probe. Surprise, surprise, it’s Champ Kind from Anchorman. [Jim Darnell] * As a follow-up, the lawyer who filed suit against his ex-wife for bad mothering is facing ethics charges in an unrelated matter where he wrote a will giving his own kids 40 percent of his client’s estate. It take something special to try and slip that one past the goalie. [ABA Journal] * The former escort behind the nom de plume Belle de Jour, whose exploits gave rise to a TV show, is being sued for defamation by an old boyfriend who claims her sexploits are a lie. If you can’t trust a detailed diary of sexual experiences, what can you trust? [Jezebel] * Here are the top energy law priorities facing Congress after they return from summer recess. Repealing Obamacare, Congress’s only priority, is not an energy policy. [Breaking Energy] * For IP attorney LOLZ, here’s a fun Tumblr. [IP Attorney] * A law student at Wisconsin has developed a system that allows easy stalking of someone’s smartphone. While this makes him sound like a jerk, his intention is to prove how unacceptable this lack of privacy really is. It’s not stalking if it’s proving a point! [Ars Technica] * The Sixth Circuit thinks the emergency manager law in Michigan may violate the state’s constitution. This could throw the whole Detroit bankruptcy into doubt. There’s a lot of talk about how this could help city pensioners, but let’s focus on the victims it could cause — what would happen to Jones Day’s billings? [Constitutional Law Prof Blog] -
Fashion, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Teenager Pads Résumé With Extracurricular Bar Admission
While everyone else is planning to start college, this woman is already a lawyer. -
9th Circuit, Banking Law, Bar Exams, Biglaw, Books, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Racism, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Sentencing Law, Sports, Student Loans, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Video games
Morning Docket: 08.01.13
Ed. note: We are having an Above the Law retreat this afternoon, so we may be less prolific than usual today. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
* “I think I am now the hardest-working justice. I wasn’t until David Souter left us.” Justice Ginsburg celebrates her twentieth year on the high bench in true diva style. [USA Today]
* Sorry, EA, the Ninth Circuit thought your First Amendment free expression defense to allegedly stealing college sports players’ likenesses was a load of hooey. [Wall Street Journal]
* “It’s a decision that clearly favors the merchants.” A federal judge gave the Fed a spanking in a ruling on its cap for debit card fees earned by banks after consumer swipes. [DealBook / New York Times]
* “What makes this discriminatory? I don’t think there’s anything in Title 7 that says an employer has to be consistent.” Ropes & Gray’s “token black associate” had his day in court. [National Law Journal]
* The firm that outed J.K. Rowling as author of “The Cuckoo’s Calling” will make a charitable donation as an apology — getting the book to the bestseller’s list wasn’t charitable enough. [New York Times]
* As the bar exam draws to a close today, here’s something to consider: 12,250 people signed up to take the test in New York alone. Are there jobs out there for them? Best of luck! [New York Law Journal]
* The feds want to make a better return on their investment on law student loans. Perhaps it’s time for those good old gainful employment regulations. [Student Loan Ranger / U.S. News & World Report]
* Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro is expected to speak at his sentencing hearing today, where a judge will decide if a term of life in prison plus 1,000 years is appropriate punishment for him. [CBS News]
-
Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Women's Issues
Of Biglaw, Nazis, and Princes
Some of the week's big events in review. -
Biglaw, Divorce Train Wrecks, Money, Partner Issues, United Kingdom / Great Britain, White & Case
A Biglaw Partner's Big-Ticket Divorce Bill
Can you believe how much money this Biglaw partner and his wife have spent on their ugly divorce battle? -
Free Speech, Google / Search Engines, Pornography, United Kingdom / Great Britain
With The Country Distracted By Updates From Kate's Womb, David Cameron Tries To Take Away English Porn
The Royal Family could learn something about dictatorial power from David Cameron. -
Allen & Overy, ATL Career Center Survey, Biglaw, Magic Circle, United Kingdom / Great Britain
ATL Law Firm Ratings: Magic Circle in NYC Edition
How do the Magic Circle firms stand up in the ATL Insider Survey?