Recent Headlines from Above the Law
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Law Schools
White Professor Who Wore Blackface Teaching About Race Because There Are No Consequences For Anything Anymore
Is there any transgression serious enough to get someone fired anymore? -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.23.16
Ed. note: In observance of the holidays, Above the Law will be on a reduced publication schedule today and dark Monday, December 26th. We hope you don’t have to bill too much more in 2016! Have a happy holiday!
* Be careful when shopping last-minute holiday deals on Amazon — counterfeits are aplenty. [Slate]
* This terrible Missouri law makes school fights a felony. [Huffington Post]
* Some law professors have their panties in a twist over the University of Oregon’s handling of a law professor’s decision to wear blackface to a Halloween party. [Tax Prof Blog]
* Lessons from the North Carolina political shit show. [Salon]
* Google’s employee confidentiality agreement is the subject of a lawsuit. [Law and More]
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Law Professors, Law Schools
First Monday Musings: On Academic Freedom, Administrative Fairness, And Blackface
The intent of the professor who wore blackface as part of a Halloween costume matters, according to Dean Vikram Amar. -
Justice, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Racism
It's After Halloween, So OF COURSE We Have To Talk About Law Professors Wearing Blackface
Don't wear blackface. Ever. IT IS NEVER OKAY. -
Law Schools, March Madness
ATL March Madness: Best Law School Scandal, Pt. 2
The second half of this year's ATL March Madness revealed! -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.08.15
* “Take it from me, dealing with the complex criminal legal system can be difficult and intimidating for most people.” This ex-Troutman Sanders partner may be facing nine felony charges, but who cares? He’s starting his own firm. [Am Law Daily]
* It’s kind of cute when law school deans lie to themselves to make themselves feel better. For example, the dean of Oregon Law says now is “excellent” time go to go law school, and he doesn’t make decisions “based on what moves the rankings needle.” [Daily Emerald]
* Per the latest Altman Weil survey, the first quarter of 2015 was one of the best ever for law firm mergers. The pace with which law firms merged was the second-quickest since the company started tracking mergers to begin with in 2007. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* The Rutgers Board of Governors has approved of the proposed merger between Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden Law. Now they just have to wait for the ABA’s rubber stamp, which they’ll obviously get — the ABA would rubber stamp a shoe. [NJ Advance Media]
* “[T]he law is a noble profession – but it’s also an oversubscribed one, due in large part to excessive federal lending.” Maybe if the government stopped handing out student loans like candy, law schools would be forced to lower their tuition rates. [Washington Post]
* The University of Virginia’s chapter of Phi Kappa Psi is definitely going to try to sue Rolling Stone over its fraternity gang-rape story, but the question is whether “bad journalism [will] amount to legal liability.” What do you think about this? [WSJ Law Blog]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 03.10.15
* “A senior Queens judge allowed a bawdy Viagra-themed light-switch cover to remain in his courtroom for at least a year — even after a female lawyer complained that it was inappropriate for court.” Obviously, there will be a contingent trying to write this off as “just a joke” and asking everyone to “relax,” but seriously, how is ANY joke lightswitch cover appropriate in a courtroom? Let alone a penis switch. [NY Post]
* Teen burglars started sniffing the powder they stole thinking it was cocaine. Instead, it was cremated ashes. It’s part Cocaine Cowboys and part Six Feet Under. [The Smoking Gun]
* No one can predict how much tuition will rise over the next several years. But this offers the next best thing: an interactive tool to chart how much each school’s tuition has changed over the last few years. [Bar Exam Stats]
* We’ve featured some of Richard Hsu’s interviews in this space. The Recorder sat down with the Shearman & Sterling partner to discuss his podcast. [The Recorder]
* Elie went on HuffPo today to discuss the phenomenon of law schools dropping the LSAT. [HuffPo Live]
* Former Wilmer litigator and 10th Circuit clerk John Ford has a new book out called The Cipher (affiliate link). It’s about the NSA harassing an innocent American citizen. Or as the rest of us call it, “a Tuesday.” [Amazon]
* In sad news, Dave Frohnmayer, former Oregon Attorney General, dean of Oregon Law School, and President of the University of Oregon passed away at 74. On a personal note, he was extremely supportive when I resuscitated the South Eugene debate program (where his daughters had earlier debated) before I went off to law school. Rest in peace. [The Oregonian]
* Have you ever wondered about litigation finance and thought, “if only someone would make a cartoon to explain it all to me” then you’re in luck. [LFC360]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQklMvyuOM
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Celebrities, Crime, Drugs, Health Care / Medicine, Job Searches, Law Schools, Marijuana, Morning Docket, Sentencing Law
Morning Docket: 10.14.14
* Law schools are in trouble, but Cooley Law is “going strong” — after all, only “28 percent of last year’s graduates at its Michigan campuses failed to land jobs as lawyers within nine months.” You’re really doing it wrong. [Tampa Bay Times]
* This guy broke into the University of Oregon School of Law three times, and all he got were these computers for hipsters and a crappy 11-year sentence. (He should’ve broken into the football facility for better loot.) [Register-Guard]
* Should you go to law school if you know for a fact that you don’t want to be a lawyer? This is the type of question that would render your ATL editors unable to even. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]
* Amanda Bynes has been placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold, and people suddenly care about mental health law. It’s sad that it takes a celebrity to make people care about these issues. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Marijuana is making its way to the ballot in some states this November, but before you vote, here’s a primer on where it’s legal to smoke weed, where it might be, and where it’s not. [Washington Post]
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Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money, Quote of the Day
Law Professor Wastes RAGE On Faculty Raise Cancellation Plan That's Dead On Arrival
That takes care of that. Oregon Law professors will be able to keep their “paltry raises” after all. -
Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money
Law Professor Outraged By Plan To Use His Raise To Fund Jobs For Unemployed Graduates
This law professor is ENRAGED at the thought of not getting his raise. -
Law Schools, Paul Caron, Rankings, U.S. News
Which Law Schools Are Doing Better (Or Worse) Than They Should Be In U.S. News Rankings?
We've got the details on some of the best hidden gems and worst secret offenders for you.... -
Job Searches, Law Schools, Rankings, Unemployment
The Law Schools With the Highest Unemployment Rates
If you want to get a job, then you definitely shouldn't go to law school in California. -
Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News
Open Thread: 2014 U.S. News Law School Rankings (76 – 98)
Do you have something to say about your law school's U.S. News ranking? This is the place to do it! -
Environment / Environmental Law, Law Professors, Law Schools
What the Quack? Oregon Law Professor Has Meltdown, Gets Arrested
When professors attack! An Oregon professor gets into it with some protesters and ends up arrested. -
Gay Marriage, Guns / Firearms, Law Professors, Non-Sequiturs, Police
Non-Sequiturs: 03.15.13
* Republican Senator Rob Portman announces his support for gay marriage after learning that his son is gay. Yay! Let’s all celebrate him for meeting the lowest threshold of human decency once he found a purely selfish reason to change. [ABC News] * Wait, they can declare martial law in Brooklyn? I thought they could only do that in terrible movies. [Before It's News] * A Southern District of Florida clerk is named one of Southern Florida’s most eligible bachelors. Our bachelor “claims to be the other white meat” and to “have a lot in common with Christian Grey.” He doesn’t sound douchey at all. [Brickell Magazine (jump to page 91)] * Comparing Chicago Law faculty to Game of Thrones characters produces surprisingly accurate results. [UChilawgo] * With law schools raising tuition and the profession shrinking… more people need to rush to law school. Keep sipping that sweet, sweet Kool-Aid, buddy. [Daily Princetonian] * GW Law’s Barrister’s Ball — $2500 fee for vomiting! [GW Law SBA] * Watch Elie talk about Wayne LaPierre and guns. [HuffPost Live] * University of Oregon Property professor doesn’t understand “property,” snatches student’s phone. Click through the jump to see more video of what happens when law professors and hippies clash! [Photography Is Not a Crime] -
Job Searches, Law Schools
Should Law Schools Put More Money Into Career Services?
Here's a law school putting more resources into career services. Is it a good idea? -
2nd Circuit, Admin, Cocaine / Crack, Deaths, Federal Judges, Holidays and Seasons, Law Schools, listserv, Morning Docket, Rape, SCOTUS, Sports, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court
Morning Docket 02.20.12
In today’s Morning Docket: updates on the Justice Breyer robbery, security for the Supreme Court justices, and the Stolen Valor Act goes to SCOTUS.