John Demers (via Boeing)
Ed. note: We will not be publishing on Monday, February 19, in observance of President’s Day.
* Congratulations to my friend and former co-clerk, John Demers, on his long-overdue confirmation as head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. [Reuters]
Keeping Law School Accessible When Federal Loans Fall Short
As federal borrowing caps tighten financing options for law students, one organization is stepping in to negotiate the terms they can't secure alone.
* Which lawyers and justices take the lead on the most important Supreme Court cases? Adam Feldman has the answers, as always. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* Professor Ilya Somin breaks down the recent Fourth Circuit ruling on Trump’s Travel Ban 3.0. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* A leading legal technology company, Kira Systems, is looking for a few good law librarians (to apply for its new job as a Machine Learning Knowledge Analyst). [Dewey B Strategic]
* Lawyer and activist Glenn Magpantay, executive director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), explains what’s at stake with the Dream Act. [Advocate]
What Even Is AI ‘Competence’? It Depends.
Takeaways from a Legalweek panel on evolving malpractice risks.
* Stroock’s Joel Cohen draws lessons for lawyers from the buzz-generating new movie, The Post. [New York Law Journal]
* What role can expert witnesses play in #MeToo litigation? Lawyer Kat Hatziavramidis shares some insights. [Forensis Group]
* The Mrs. Palsgraf of the United Kingdom — a famous torts plaintiff named May Donoghue, who sued a beverage manufacturer after she discovered a decomposing snail in a bottle of ginger beer — is getting a statue erected in her honor. [Legal Cheek]
* Not as bad as sexually assaulting a student intern, but another Biglaw partner stands accused of making degrading, sexually charged comments to a junior attorney. [RollOnFriday]
* In advance of its Global Legal Hackathon (February 23-25), the Global Legal Blockchain Consortium welcomes a new member: Fasken, a leading Canadian law firm. [Artificial Lawyer]
David Lat is editor at large and founding editor of Above the Law, as well as the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].