Recent Headlines from Above the Law
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Law Schools
Can Vermont Law School Cover Its 'Racist' Mural? Second Circuit Says Yes.
Tough luck, Kerson. -
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Law Schools
Torn Between Wanting To Save The Environment And Getting That Cool Esquire Honorific? Fear Not, Learned Green Thumb.
We're like two years from schools marketing their robust cannabis law curriculum. Just hang in there. -
Law Schools
Law School Student Killed In Collision With Oncoming Train
He was on the way home from school when the crash occurred. -
Law Schools
Temporary Win For Vermont Law School's Right To Veil
If covering the mural isn't a modification, would painting over the cover of the mural be? -
Law Schools
Hyperallergic Has Sneezing Fit Over Black Art
Are they going for the painting at the end of Good Times next? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 12.10.20
* Rapper Lil Wayne is due to make his first court appearance related to a weapons bust that took place on a private plane last year. Wonder if the judge will call him “Lil Wayne” in court… [All Hip Hop]
* Home Depot has settled a multimillion-dollar class-action related to a data breach. [National Law Review]
* Facebook has finally been hit with long-anticipated antitrust litigation. [NPR]
* Hunter Biden is allegedly under investigation for tax issues. [Guardian]
* Vermont Law School is considering a move to Burlington, Vermont. Would be a good decision, Burlington is a nice town. [VT Digger]
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Law Schools
Yet Another Law School To Hold All Fall 2020 Classes Online Due To Coronavirus
Trendspotting: Which law school will be next to make a similar announcement? -
Law Schools
Law School Set To Be Sanctioned After Investigation
This could cause a good deal of trouble for the school when its accreditation is up in 2020. -
Law Schools
A Reminder That Loyola Is Willing To Teach Journalists Some Basic Law Talkin' Stuff
Young journos should really think of going. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.19.18
* Papa John has hired Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, who’s rapidly establishing herself as the gold standard of representing powerful dirtbags. You could say she’s the Domino’s of that market. [Courier-Journal]
* City officials will investigate whether the Stormy Daniels arrest — on a law that is never enforced — was a politically motivated hit job. I assume this will require investigators to spend hours undercover in strip clubs at taxpayer expense. [NBC4]
* A deep dive into Judge Collyer’s recent opinion contending for the first time that American citizens have a right to at least be heard before being executed by drone. When this case gets snuffed out on appeal, the resulting precedent is going to justify all sorts of executive mischief. [Rolling Stone]
* Breaking down Vermont Law’s decision to fire tenured faculty — a sign of things to come? [Forbes]
* With co-counsel settling, Sidley’s finding itself a little lonelier in the Aequitas suit alleging that it contributed to a Ponzi-scheme. [American Lawyer]
* Wondering how much artificial intelligence talk you can deal with? There are nine legal tech conferences over the next few months. Including ILTACON in National Harbor where we’re hosting an Above the Law happy hour/bar trivia extravaganza… so if you’re around, come on by. [Legaltech News]
* Fox Rothschild looking into a hefty merger in the Carolinas. [Legal Intelligencer]
* This isn’t really a shocker, but lawmakers don’t understand technology, free speech. [Wired]
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Law Schools
Law School Facing 'Financial Exigencies' Strips 14 Professors Of Tenure
Law professors at other struggling law schools ought to keep an eye on this situation as it unfolds. -
Law Schools
Law School To Cut Tenured Faculty To Solve Budget Problem
What a way to attempt to bring the school back to financial solvency. -
Law Schools, Military / Military Law
Should Law Schools Ban Military Recruiters In Light Of The Transgender Ban?
This law school is considering taking a stand. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 09.13.16
* Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein will appear at Vermont Law School today, where she’ll meet with members of the law school community to speak about her plan to transition the country using 100 percent renewable energy. Law students will be especially excited to hear about her plans to cancel all student loan debt. [VTDigger]
* “Talk to your classmates, especially those with different views. Even if you come away from it disagreeing even more, at least you know what makes them tick, which is a useful thing.” Last week, Justice Elena Kagan went back to Harvard Law, the school where she once served as dean, to share helpful tips with law students. [Harvard Crimson]
* Federal prosecutors may have dropped their corruption case against ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell after SCOTUS threw out his convictions, but now he’s got some pretty hefty legal bills to pay to Jones Day and Holland & Knight. Right now, he owes more than $10M to the partners who helped clear his name. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
* A lot of big-time lateral moves were announced yesterday, including Kirkland & Ellis’s mass hiring of all Bancroft lawyers, but Gibson Dunn’s news may top all the rest we’ve yet to cover. Stuart Delery, the former acting associate attorney general of the Justice Department, will join the firm as a partner in Washington, D.C. [Big Law Business]
* Ex-Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has found a new home — or rather, a “strategic affiliation” — with a global Biglaw firm. He’ll be working out of the Calgary office of Dentons, where he’ll work with many former colleagues and advise firm clients on market access, managing global geopolitical, and economic risk. [Huffington Post]
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Law Schools
Facing A Decline In Enrollment, Law School Seeks Federal Loan For Some Debt Relief
What would you do if enrollment at your law school had declined by 33% since 2011? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 07.26.16
* Could it be? Could she really do such a thing? Rumor has it that Amal Clooney may be quitting her law firm job at Doughty Street Chambers to become a fashion designer for the likes of fashion house Oscar de la Renta. We may have more on this later today. [Inquisitr]
* Maryland’s AG intends to contest a ruling granting “Serial” podcast subject Adnan Syed a new trial, saying that the state would “defend what it believes is a valid conviction.” Syed has been servicing a life sentence for the murder of Hae Min Lee since 2000. [Baltimore Sun]
* Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert may be behind bars for a 15-month term for attempting to conceal secret payments to his underage sexual assault victims in a cover-up scheme, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to fight a lawsuit seeking the full $3.5 million he allegedly said he would pay to buy a victim’s silence. [Chicago Tribune]
* Vermont Law School, which was hit relatively hard by the recession in terms of its ability to fill its seats, has applied for a $15 million loan from the federal government to help restructure its debts. Unlike what its students face in terms of their debt, the law school may be able to get a good interest rate upon approval. [VTDigger / Valley News]
* “[A]ttempting to fit the sale of Bitcoin into a statutory scheme regulating money services businesses is like fitting a square peg in a round hole.” Congratulations (or perhaps condolences?) digital currency aficionados, because a judge just ruled that Bitcoin isn’t money for the purposes of money-laundering statutes. [WSJ Law Blog]
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Law Schools
Battle Over Service Dog At Law School Graduation
The hippie bastion is being accused by a graduating student of denying her service dog entry to commencement. -
Conferences / Symposia, Privacy, Technology
The Circuit: Cybersecurity v. Privacy
It seems like every time we take a breath, someone is breathlessly warning us about the latest cypersecurity hit or threat. What can you do to find help? -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.24.16
* “If you give a judge a meeting, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk, because he is probably very thirsty from that one time you compared him to Idi Amin.” In light of the stranglehold Republicans have on Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s fate when it comes to his confirmation hearings, Dahlia Lithwick composed this cute riff on the children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. [Slate]
* In an attempt to get with the times, Vermont Law is offering a Reduced-Residency Juris Doctor program, where students will be able to take up to 15 credits online in an off-campus location. Unfortunately, this flexibility comes at a price — the same exact price as the school’s regular J.D. program. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]
* Considering the high tensions during oral arguments yesterday in Zubik v. Burwell, a legal battle having to do with the ACA’s contraceptives mandate, the Supreme Court seems poised to issue another 4-4 split decision in one of the most controversial cases this term. If that happens, the lower court ruling would be left intact. [New York Times]
* The ABA Journal wants to know how much you paid in law school tuition. If you graduated before the cost of a three-year legal education was akin to a mortgage, please take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are. If you’re a recent graduate, you’ve got plenty of people to commiserate with about your hefty debt burdens. [ABA Journal]
* “Did the Supreme Court make weed legal across America?” No, no it did not, and you must be stoned if you think that’s what the high court did in its decision, or lack thereof, in the Nebraska v. Colorado case that it begged off on earlier this week. For now, the federal legalization of marijuana is nothing more than just a pipe dream. [Inquisitr]