John Roberts
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John Roberts Once Again Uses Judiciary’s Annual Report To Express His Utmost Contempt For The Public
The Chief’s federal judiciary’s year-end report may as well have been generated by ChatGPT.
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Dems And GOP Postpone Regularly Scheduled Knife Fight To Demand SCOTUS Join The 21st Century ONLINE
Will go back to trench warfare by close of business today.
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* In the wake of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement, I predicted that Chief Justice John Roberts, a staunch institutionalist when it comes to the Supreme Court, would serve as a moderating influence at SCOTUS — and so far that seems to be the case, with Adam Feldman noting a “a mild liberalizing over time” in JGR’s jurisprudence. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* Speaking of SCOTUS, it’s high time for the Court to resolve the messy circuit split on email privacy under the Stored Communications Act, according to Orin Kerr. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* The Trump Administration’s new executive order about free speech on university campuses might harm rather than help the cause of academic freedom, as Paul Horwitz points out. [PrawfsBlawg]
* Republicans aren’t the only ones with purity tests for judicial nominations; Demand Justice, a left-wing group focused on the federal judiciary, has high standards for Democratic opposition to Trump nominees. [Bench Memos / National Review]
* While you wait for the 2019 edition of Above the Law’s law school rankings, check out the latest installment of the “revealed preferences” law school rankings, by C.J. Ryan and Brian L. Frye. [SSRN]
* What’s next for Kira Systems, a leader in the world of legal AI? Co-founder and CEO Noah Waisberg isn’t resting on his laurels — and he’s putting that $50 million investment from last September to work. [Artificial Lawyer]
* Fastcase continues to forge new partnerships — and in its latest alliance, it will give its subscribers access to select titles from the American Bar Association (which, full disclosure, published my book (affiliate link) in 2014). [Dewey B Strategic]
* If you’ll be in New York this coming Wednesday, consider attending the inaugural Kenneth P. Thompson ’92 Lecture on Race and Criminal Justice Reform at NYU Law School, focused on wrongful convictions and the roles of prosecutors and others in the criminal justice system. [NYU Law]
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* In case you missed it, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times has noticed a trend when it comes to Chief Justice Roberts and who he’s been aligning himself with at the Supreme Court. He may not yet be a moderate, but he seems to be shying away from “the reliably right-wing triumvirate” of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. [New York Times]
* “The document speaks for itself.” All three of former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates’s lawyers are withdrawing as counsel, and will only explain why in documents filed under seal. Only his Biglaw attorney who is known for his plea deals remains. Gates is under indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. [POLITICO]
* According to the latest year-end report from the Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Legal Specialty Group, law firm revenue and profits were up in 2017, and demand had increased for legal services. As usual, the most profitable firms at the top of the market outperformed their smaller counterparts. [American Lawyer]
* Trump administration policies having to do with immigration, specifically the H-1B visa program for foreign workers, may force many Biglaw firms to move to their practices to the cloud sooner than they would have liked. In times of “political uncertainty” like these, Biglaw can’t rely on “offshore labor arbitrage” for IT outsourcing. [TechTarget]
* The GC of the American Red Cross has resigned following the publication of a report that he praised a former colleague who was the subject of an internal investigation and pushed out of the organization for alleged instances sexual misconduct. [Corporate Counsel]
* Disgusting: A Georgia lawyer who asked a witness to recant an eyewitness account of her son’s molestation has politely gave up his license to practice law after pleading guilty to felony witness tampering and attempting to suborn perjury. [Big Law Business]