July 2015

James Woods has a legitimate complaint... which might ruin Twitter, but still.

* TSA officials in Houston are checking hundreds of sorority girl bags because the convention book — that all of them have — keeps raising red flags. Now, Underhill thinks TSA should have figured this out and stopped checking. But that’s just what those girls from ΙΣΙΣ are banking on. [Lowering the Bar]

* Don’t recommend people on the grounds that they “don’t have enemies.” It’s not a compliment unless you immediately follow it with, “… anymore.” [What About Clients?]

* The ABA tries to make it harder to game the U.S. News rankings. That doesn’t sit right with law schools. [TaxProf Blog]

* The tech industry doesn’t understand labor law. Which is weird, because you can Google that s**t. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Venable not liable for alleged puffery. The firm is just glad it can go back to being the greatest lawyers on the face of the Earth. [The Blog of the Legal Times]

* The intellectual property concerns of cosplay. Remember if you get sued, the people dressed like Daredevil and She-Hulk aren’t actually able to help you. [IP Watchdog]

* Elie discusses the Samuel DuBose killing and Pell grants. [Legal Broadcast Network via YouTube]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5IFKRZoT6g

We look forward to your nominations!

Judge mistakes his role during a trial and gets benchslapped for his efforts.

Columnist Zach Abramowitz looks to the future of Biglaw.

While taking the bar exam some lucky souls got a reminder that their futures were in the hands of a benevolent deity.

When I was a law student, I bombed more than a couple OCI interviews.

Biglaw firm allegedly cost lenders big bucks.

A rolled up newspaper of a benchslap.

Judge swats down the latest arguments in the legal drama surrounding this legal trifecta of a love triangle.

The legal profession has a long way to go when it comes to diversity and inclusion, according to columnist Renwei Chung, but some firms are doing a great job of positively distinguishing themselves in these areas.

Litigators are slaves to the calendar more than most professionals, with schedules often determined largely not by them, but by courts, arbitrators, legislators, and clients.

This is why you can't have nice things. If you define "nice things" as "cops staying out of innocent peoples' homes."

The counter-narrative to the backlash to the Cecil-the-Lion backlash is that mob rule is sometimes right.

* The National Association for Law Placement released slightly improved jobs numbers for the law school class of 2014, so yay? [National Law Journal]

* The battle royale that pits local musicians versus Biglaw heavyweight Skadden continues to rage on. [Washington Post]

* Guess what? Prosecutors don’t like the Second Circuit’s higher threshold for insider trading cases and now they’d like the Supreme Court to do something about it. [Wall Street Journal]

* A group of merchants including Amazon, Wal-Mart and Starbucks want the $7 billion settlement negotiated over interchange fees with Visa, Mastercard and American Express in an antitrust case vacated due to attorney Gary Friedman’s alleged misconduct. [Law360]

* Don’t cha love it when media scandals become real life litigation? All your deflategate legal questions answered. [Stradley Law]

Columnist Zach Abramowitz explores the concept of Moneyball for litigation.

* Donald Trump’s lawyer responds to the flap over his spousal rape comments. Sort of. Not really. [Funny or Die]

* Does the Supreme Court need an ethics code? And yes, yes it does. [The Faculty Lounge]

* James Woods is suing a Twitter troll for claiming the actor is a “cocaine addict.” They probably just misspelled “hypersensitive blowhard.” [Gawker]

* In baseball, does the “tie go to the runner”? Are you sure? [PrawfsBlawg]

* Tom Brady provides that rare opportunity for sports fans to care about forum selection clauses. But the best part of this story is the comment: “Out of habit, the NRA filed an amicus brief on behalf of the NFL when they heard ‘Clinton’ & ‘Brady’ in the same sentence.” It’s refreshing when commenters are funny. [Deadspin]

* Keeping up with Supreme Court is hard. Even the Fifth Circuit struggles with it (though they’ve since seen the error of their ways). [Huffington Post]

* If you think academia can be a cushy job, you should see what retiring from academia looks like? [TaxProf Blog]

* Can you quit your job without another one lined up? Leigh Abramson has thoughts. [CNN Money]

* A comprehensive snapshot of the business record of the Roberts Court. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

Greenpeace's delaying tactic works. But it's only a delaying the inevitable.