December 2015

As Colorado "celebrates" its third year of marijuana legalization, marijuana enthusiasts gloat of the state’s sweeping success -- but it comes with significant costs, as columnist Kayleigh McEnany points out.

Ed. note: Happy New Year! Above the Law will be dark tomorrow, New Year’s Day. We’ll be back on Monday, January 4, 2016.

* Everything you read about the Supreme Court is wrong. [The Hill]

* Is it even possible for Bill Cosby to get a fair trial? [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

* Maybe the best ever defense for a DUI. [Slate]

* There are law schools in the world facing a worse enrollment crisis than U.S. programs. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Important issues: Ohio Supreme Court won’t hear case about pet ducks. [ABC News]

* A book review of Alice Paul: Claiming Power (affiliate link) which provides the basics you need to know about the suffrage movement. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

How could the NFL screw this up? When you look at it, probably pretty easily.

Doctors Dislike Technology Because It Delivers A Fast-Food Future For Healthcare MedCity News Steve Cohen Cutting Eight-Figure Checks To Make People Go Away Dealbreaker Sanctions Relief Is Not The Key To Iran’s Economy Breaking Energy  

When you go to a lawyer for a contract, you want to know they’re actually a lawyer. When you want something notarized, you want it to actually be legally binding.

How much do you remember from law school?

To manage your law office best, make management part of your law office culture.

Res ipsa loquitur, Your Honor.

* In the wake of fired CEO Martin Shkreli’s arrest for securities fraud, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company will be repped by Hogan Lovells (and likely won’t be charged 4,000 percent more than it should be). [Reuters]

* “Not all of it is law at its grandest but all of it is the practice of law.” Yet another contract attorney’s suit for overtime pay has bitten the dust with a recent dismissal. This time, Quinn Emanuel was the Biglaw firm victorious in keeping doc reviewers downtrodden. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Since Dechert decided to up the ante on first-year associate salaries, other Philadelphia Biglaw firms have responded in kind. Drinker Biddle has matched, while Pepper Hamilton and Cozen O’Connor are following close behind. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* Facebook needs a “dislike” button: The social media titan’s suit against DLA Piper and Milberg for their defense of alleged con man Paul Ceglia in a fraudulent breach of contract case versus Zuckerberg’s first baby was dismissed. [Buffalo Business First]

* From “weird to wildly costly,” check out some of the craziest malpractice cases that were filed against Biglaw firms during the course of 2015. The McDermott Will & Emery elder abuse case here is particularly creative. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

What will happen if/when the Supreme Court overturns affirmative action?

* In the aftermath of the Tamir Rice shooting, two Yale Law students, Marvin Brown and Olevia Boykin, have created a powerful visual project asking #isitreasonable. [Mic]

* What is Amal Clooney’s billing rate? Normal people may be shocked by it, but it seems well in line with Biglaw. [The Sun]

* Looks like Stanford Law student Paulina Slagter has “nabbed her man” — God, what a terrible phrase. Anyway, she reportedly got engaged to Ryan Phillippe over Christmas. [ET Online]

* Hope is in short supply in the legal profession. [Law and More]

* Which films were included as selections to be included in the National Film Registry? [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

Help us ring in the new year with our sponsors!

Who do you need to know to up your game? Being a lawyer or other professional is a constant and never-ending learning experience.

If the end of 2015 has you contemplating a jump away from law, consider the world of alternative legal services.

Why, in a world where many of us challenge hierarchies, do we feel so darned comfortable in the midst of one in legal academia when we’re at the top of it?

Many legal professionals can testify to the rich legacy that Massand left them in Litéra products, and he will be deeply missed in the worlds of law and technology.

Supreme Court justices: they're just like us! Which means that they have sex, as one law professor explains.

The FBI continues to investigate a disturbing plane crash at a Biglaw office.