7th Circuit

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.13.17

* Art Linkletter hosted Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Well, the FBI is saying that Linklaters associates say the darnedest things. [Am Law Daily] * How do you know you're in Appalachia? When a law schools says intimidating professors with guns is just obnoxious teasing. Boys will be boys! [Law.com] * Keker suing the Trump campaign over the DNC hack because when it rains it pours. [National Law Journal] * Seventh Circuit upholds Wisconsin's starve the unions law. [Reuters] * Justice Breyer talks about changing his mind [Law360] * MasterCard is helping lead the way in promoting law firm diversity. [Big Law Business] * "He is a monkey." [L.A. Times]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.12.17

* The allegations about Marc Kasowitz's drinking problem might be salacious, but the issue of alcohol abuse by lawyers is serious. [Law.com] * Fun for legal nerds everywhere: Chief Judge Diane Wood benchslaps parties for shoddy jurisdictional statements! [On the Case / Alison Frankel via How Appealing] * And more fodder for #appellatetwitter types: Adam Feldman ranks the most-cited justices of the last Supreme Court Term. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Chris Geidner wonders whether another shoe will drop concerning the emails of Donald Trump Jr. [BuzzFeed] * The trial judge in this defamation case ought to read this analysis by Professor Eugene Volokh -- or at least watch The Big Lebwoski ("For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint."). [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Professor Paul Horwitz comes to the defense of the latest controversial comments by the artist formerly known as Judge Richard Posner. [PrawfsBlawg]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.05.17

* Talk about an alleged fashion faux pas! LuLaRoe, the maker of the "buttery-soft" leggings that have taken the internet by storm, is facing a class-action lawsuit over the quality of the company's leggings. Plaintiffs claim that the leggings as "tear[] as easily as wet toilet paper." LuLaRoe, of course, has stated that the allegations are "completely without merit." [BuzzFeed] * "There's a reason they call it the nuclear option, and that is because there's fallout. And this fallout will be dangerously and perhaps disastrously radioactive for the Senate for years to come." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has set a vote to change Senate rules in order to confirm Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch. [Reuters] * In a landmark en banc decision, the Seventh Circuit reversed itself and ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBT employees from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This is not only the first time in history that a federal appellate court has come to this conclusion, but it also creates a split from a recent Eleventh Circuit opinion. This will likely be heard by the Supreme Court. [TIME] * Squire Patton Boggs has formed an alliance with Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who credits himself as the one who convinced the president to run for office. At this time, it's unclear what exactly Cohen will be doing for the firm, but he'll be working from the firm's offices in New York, London, and D.C. [WSJ Law Blog] * Dislike: Facebook must turn over digital information from almost 400 user accounts following its failed bid at the New York Court of Appeals to appeal a bulk warrant on privacy grounds. A lone judge dissented, bemoaning the fact that the high court punted on a case that could have disastrous effects on civil liberties. [New York Daily News]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.16.17

* What does the future hold for the U.S. Supreme Court? Analysts (including yours truly) opine. [Bloomberg BNA via Storify] * Another prediction of ours has come to pass: congrats to Sullivan & Cromwell partner Brent McIntosh on his nomination as general counsel for the Treasury Department. [Corporate Counsel] * Is it time to break up the Ninth Circuit (as President Trump recently called for)? Professors John Eastman and Brian Fitzpatrick say yay; Judges Sidney Thomas, Carlos Bea, and Alex Kozinski say nay. [House Judiciary Committee] * Anthony Kronman: from dean of Yale Law School to "born-again pagan" (affiliate link). [New Yorker via How Appealing] * Looking for smart, timely takes on the Trump Administration, from an all-star cast of law professors and legal experts? There's a site for that. [Take Care] * Guess who: "Cat-loving judge makes case that has nothing to do with cats all about cats." [Chicago Tribune] * Professor Orin Kerr chats with Professor Barry Friedman about Friedman's latest book, Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission (affiliate link). [Volokh Conspiracy] * The current SCOTUS Term isn't super-sexy -- but there are a few interesting cases on the docket, as Adam Feldman points out. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Attention 2Ls & 3Ls, here's a cool contest -- with $100K in scholarships as prizes! [PR Newswire (press release)]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.19.17

* The Seventh Circuit -- in an opinion by Judge Diane Sykes, a top-tier SCOTUS possibility under President Trump -- just struck down Chicago ordinances regulating shooting ranges as violative of Second Amendment rights. [ABC News] * Speaking of firearms, law professor Fredrick Vars has an excellent proposal for preventing gun suicides. [Washington Post] * Possible good news for legalizing sports betting in New Jersey: the U.S. Supreme Court wants to hear from the solicitor general on this issue (although we don't yet know who the solicitor general will be). [How Appealing] * But we think we know who the principal deputy solicitor general will be -- Noel Francisco, whose imminent departure from Jones Day is now public. [National Law Journal] * In other Justice Department news, what can we expect from Jeff Sessions's DOJ in terms of civil rights enforcement? [New York Times] * Are we seeing a "fragile recovery" in the number of people interested in law school? [ABA Journal] * If you share my curiosity about the future of Chief Judge Merrick Garland in the wake of his unsuccessful SCOTUS nomination, it seems that the distinguished jurist is back on the bench -- at least for now. [National Law Journal]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.01.16

* GCs just keep getting raises. Some reports suggest compensation is up almost 7 percent this year. But don't worry -- they'll still bitch and moan about Biglaw associates getting a small cost of living bump. [Corporate Counsel] * If you haven't been paying attention, William & Mary Law School has been on FIRE lately. No, literally, the school is on fire. Call 911. [WAVY 10] * Seventh Circuit may soon rule en banc to ban sexual orientation bias. You know, until Congress and the President impeach the entire Seventh Circuit to bring it back. Wow that was an absurd sentence and yet it's entirely plausible right now. [Law360] * Kelley Drye enters the Texas market. [The Am Law Daily] * Heroic big banks are demolishing patent trolls while everyone else continues to suffer, which sounds about right. [Law.com] * China's got a new cybersecurity law and it's not good news for foreign businesses. [Fortune] * But don't worry, the U.S. is now just as intrusive with new rules taking effect today that allow judges to order broader government hacking for investigative fishing expeditions. So... yay! [Ars Technica]

By Joe Patrice