Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.24.18

* As she steps away from public life in the wake of her dementia diagnosis, rather than banish retired Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor bequeathed her chambers to him. The Supreme Court will miss her. [National Law Journal] * Judges say the darndest things: Bill Cosby's bid to get a new trial and reduce his sentence was summarily turned down by Judge Steven O'Neill, who noted in a simple, one-page ruling that "no hearing or argument is required on the issues." [NBC News] * Desmarais, the elite IP litigation boutique that recently raised salaries for first-year associates to $210,000, will be making its "first and probably [] last expansion," opening a West Coast office in San Francisco to serve its Bay Area clients. [Law360] * In case you missed it, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners awarded Thomas Jefferson School of Law with state accreditation after an 8-7 vote, with one committee member abstaining. Now its graduates will be able to sit for the California bar exam even if the ABA revokes its accreditation. [ABA Journal] * If you've been wondering what killed the Middle Tennessee State University / Valparaiso Law School deal, one member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission says it had to do with "genuine concern about the labor supply and demand for lawyers" -- and that seems entirely reasonable. [Murfreesboro Post]

By Staci Zaretsky on October 24, 2018 8:34 am

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

* As she steps away from public life in the wake of her dementia diagnosis, rather than banish retired Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor bequeathed her chambers to him. The Supreme Court will miss her. [National Law Journal]

* Judges say the darndest things: Bill Cosby’s bid to get a new trial and reduce his sentence was summarily turned down by Judge Steven O’Neill, who noted in a simple, one-page ruling that “no hearing or argument is required on the issues.” [NBC News]

* Desmarais, the elite IP litigation boutique that recently raised salaries for first-year associates to $210,000, will be making its “first and probably [] last expansion,” opening a West Coast office in San Francisco to serve its Bay Area clients. [Law360]

* In case you missed it, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners awarded Thomas Jefferson School of Law with state accreditation after an 8-7 vote, with one committee member abstaining. Now its graduates will be able to sit for the California bar exam even if the ABA revokes its accreditation. [ABA Journal]

* If you’ve been wondering what killed the Middle Tennessee State University / Valparaiso Law School deal, one member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission says it had to do with “genuine concern about the labor supply and demand for lawyers” — and that seems entirely reasonable. [Murfreesboro Post]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.