Diarmuid O’Scannlain

Footnote. Of. The week!

* Virginia is for lovers — gay and straight alike. Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen (E.D. Va.) just struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage (but stayed her ruling pending appeal). Happy Valentine’s Day! [Washington Post]

* The Ninth Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, issued a major Second Amendment ruling. Is it correct, and what will happen next? Professor Eugene Volokh shares his thoughts. [Volokh Conspiracy; Volokh Conspiracy]

* Which leading law firms are trying to make the Comcast/Time Warner Cable monstrosity into reality? [American Lawyer]

* Did a Biglaw firm make a big-time mistake by blowing a deadline to appeal a $40 million verdict? [Law360 (sub. req.)]

* Speaking of screw-ups, making them in the e-discovery realm can be costly — a lesson that California is learning the hard way, to the tune of $32 million. [ACEDS]

* Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin thought he’d be acquitted; he thought wrong. [ABA Journal]

* George Washington wasn’t a member of the one of the 8 magic groups — but his story still illustrates the truth of The Triple Package (affiliate link), according to Washington biographer Logan Beirne. [Fox News]

* Authorities have made an arrest for the package bombing that killed a retired Tennessee lawyer and his wife. [CNN]

Does the First Amendment contain a "reasonableness" requirement?

Here are some highlights for Chief Judge Kozinski's remarks at Yale Law School yesterday.

The Ninth Circuit smacks down copyright trolls.

No good deed goes unpunished, as the Chief Justice's visit to an out-of-the-way law school leaves controversy in his wake.

Who are the latest Supreme Court law clerks? And which law school just placed its first SCOTUS clerk ever?

The Ninth Circuit hearts the First Amendment.

Which circuit judge has the most former clerks who are now judges themselves? And how is Judge Kozinski spending the Memorial Day weekend?

Bankrupt farmers, tricky tax laws, and bar admission ceremonies are just some of the things you'll encounter at the Supreme Court...

What does Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit think of dissents from the denial of rehearing en banc (aka dissentals)?

Let’s play a quick game (which we might return to later if there’s interest). If we were to give out awards to the different federal judicial circuits, in the manner of a high school yearbook, which awards would go to the different circuits? Here are some of my nominations: Most Prestigious: D.C. Circuit Biggest Brainiac: […]

People don't clerk for the money. Sure, clerkship bonuses can be considerable -- but in most cases, a graduate who goes straight into a law firm will do better financially than her classmate who clerks after graduation. If you're planning to clerk or interested in clerking for a federal judge, you should be aware of the latest news about law clerk compensation....

Above the Law readers are traditionalists in matters of grammar, usage, and writing style. How do y'all feel about neologisms? Let's look at two new words, coined by none other than the newly svelte Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit....

At One First Street, home of the Supreme Court of the United States (aka "SCOTUS"), clerk classes are transitioning. July is when outgoing Supreme Court clerks leave the marble palace -- do pass go, do collect a $250,000 signing bonus -- and their replacements arrive. Interested in having a look at July's update on Supreme Court law clerk hiring?

The [Ninth Circuit] seems to have cherry-picked the aspects of our opinions that gave colorable support to the proposition that the un-constitutionality of the action here was clearly established. Qualified immunity gives government officials breathing room to make reasonable but mistaken judgments about open legal questions. When properly applied, it protects ‘all but the plainly […]

There’s always something fun going on in the Ninth Circuit. Last week, the Court voted against rehearing en banc in United States v. Alvarez, a case raising the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act (a law that essentially criminalizes false claims of military heroism). A divided three-judge panel struck down the Act on First Amendment […]

And just like that, it’s December. Flurries fill the sky, Wham’s “Last Christmas” saturates the airwaves, and the list of weddings in the New York Times shortens dramatically. Quality tends to decline along with quantity, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised to find plenty of comment-worthy nuptials (and attractive brides!) over the past couple of weeks. […]

We’ve decided to tweak the format of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch a bit. Beginning today, we’ll be bringing you all the lawyer weddings featured in the New York Times. This, admittedly, is the kind of everyone’s-a-winner feel-goodism that we normally abhor. Alas, to be frank, we’re sick of the constant death threats from couples who […]

A user’s manual that’s 200+ years old can be difficult to apply to modern technologies. Thus, it’s been a challenge for judges interpreting the Fourth Amendment as it applies to police surveillance via GPS tracking devices on cars. There has been a plethora of precedents set across the country as to whether slapping a GPS […]