Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.29.16

* “The ballot-selfie prohibition is like 'burn[ing down] the house to roast the pig.'" Just in time for Election 2016, the First Circuit has struck down New Hampshire's ballot selfie ban as unconstitutional, citing the fact that it curtailed voters' free speech, and on top of that, the state was unable to identify any complaints of vote buying or intimidation. [POLITICO] * Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed probate judges to adhere to the state's ban on same-sex marriage, even after the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling, says the ethics charges he faces are "ridiculous" since he never "encourage[d] anyone to defy a federal court or state court order." [WSJ Law Blog] * Wiley Rein lost two practice group leaders to DLA Piper this week. The firm, known for its media, telecom, government contracts, and IP practices, no longer has partners in charge of its telecom group or its wireless group, but it claims these departures were anticipated, and the practice groups were merged ahead of time. [Big Law Business] * Cha-ching! The Caesars bankruptcy is ending, which means the "fee frenzy" for lawyers who were working on the case is about to dry up as well. Nine law firms have been involved in the case since the company first filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and hundreds of millions of dollars of legal fees have already been assessed. [Am Law Daily] * Many jurisdictions adopted the Uniform Bar Exam for the July 2016 administration of the bar exam, and it seems like it may have had the opposite effect on test-takers than what was intended. Graduates of this law school saw their bar exam passage rate drop by 13 percent since last year. We'll have more on this later today. [Albequerque Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky on September 29, 2016 8:59 am

Vote Ballot Box* “The ballot-selfie prohibition is like ‘burn[ing down] the house to roast the pig.'” Just in time for Election 2016, the First Circuit has struck down New Hampshire’s ballot selfie ban as unconstitutional, citing the fact that it curtailed voters’ free speech, and on top of that, the state was unable to identify any complaints of vote buying or intimidation. [POLITICO]

* Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed probate judges to adhere to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, even after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling, says the ethics charges he faces are “ridiculous” since he never “encourage[d] anyone to defy a federal court or state court order.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Wiley Rein lost two practice group leaders to DLA Piper this week. The firm, known for its media, telecom, government contracts, and IP practices, no longer has partners in charge of its telecom group or its wireless group, but it claims these departures were anticipated, and the practice groups were merged ahead of time. [Big Law Business]

* Cha-ching! The Caesars bankruptcy is ending, which means the “fee frenzy” for lawyers who were working on the case is about to dry up as well. Nine law firms have been involved in the case since the company first filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and hundreds of millions of dollars of legal fees have already been assessed. [Am Law Daily]

* Many jurisdictions adopted the Uniform Bar Exam for the July 2016 administration of the bar exam, and it seems like it may have had the opposite effect on test-takers than what was intended. Graduates of this law school saw their bar exam passage rate drop by 13 percent since last year. We’ll have more on this later today. [Albuquerque Journal]

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.