Amanda Knox

Standard Of Review: Documentary ‘Amanda Knox’ Raises More Questions Than Answers

The film is an easy watch, but I just wish that it contained a bit more substance.

Non-Sequiturs: 05.18.16

* Check your spam folders! The Ticketmaster settlement email may be in there. [Slate] * Conservative lawyer Ted Olson is drafting an amicus for companies opposed to North Carolina’s anti-transgender bathroom law, HB2. [Time] * Amanda Knox can now sue Italy for an unfair trial. [New York Post] * Will there be a long-term chilling effect […]

Benchslap Italian Style: Amanda Knox Cleared Of Crime In Biting Decision

Italy's highest court clears Amanda Knox of wrongdoing in the murder of Meredith Kercher, and has some harsh words for the lower courts and investigation which led to Knox's original conviction and time behind bars.

Morning Docket: 03.30.15

* Talk about a Friday news dump! In case you missed these high-profile rulings, Amanda Knox was acquitted of murder charges in Italy (for the second time), and Ellen Pao lost her discrimination case against Kleiner Perkins. [WSJ Law Blog] * Use this slideshow to compare how North Carolina law schools are doing in terms of job placement. Duke was on top, and NCCU was dead last. Bonus: There were very few school-funded jobs to strip out of the data -- the numbers were just that bad on their own. [Triad Business Journal] * LSAC doesn't want to to adopt new disability accommodations for the LSAT because they "show a complete disregard for the importance of standardized testing conditions." It'd rather show a complete disregard for applicants' disabilities. [National Law Journal] * Widener? I hardly know her! Thanks to the ABA, this saying has new meaning in legal circles. With the law school regulator's blessing, Widener Law's Delaware and Harrisburg campuses will officially become two separate schools effective July 1. [News Journal] * Following blowback over the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Indiana Governor Mike Pence says he'll push for legislation clarifying that the controversial law isn't intended to support discrimination against the LGBT community. Suuure. [Indy Star]

Morning Docket: 02.13.15

* Amanda Knox, everyone's favorite convicted/acquitted/convicted murderess, just got engaged to a musician she's known since middle school. Aww, that's cute and nice, but what we'd really like to know is where she's registered for cutlery. [People] * Loretta Lynch's confirmation vote was postponed because per Chairman Chuck Grassley, she apparently submitted dissatisfying answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee's post-hearing questions. Some says that she's being held to a double standard... likely because she is being held to a double standard. [National Law Journal] * Yesterday afternoon, Judge Callie V.S. Granade ordered that probate judges in Alabama issue same-sex marriage licenses. Sorry Chief Justice Roy Moore, but you better get ready, because the tide of gay marriage is gonna roll. ROLL TIDE ROLL! [National Law Journal] * Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she's not going to give up on women's rights cases at the Supreme Court, despite the fact that she's got male colleagues who "don’t fully appreciate the arbitrary barriers that have been put in women’s way.” [Bloomberg] * According to the latest report from Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group, Biglaw firms, "across the board," are doing better than they were last year, but the biggest Biglaw firms are doing the best, of course. We'll have more on this later today. [WSJ Law Blog] * A Texas lawmaker has proposed a bill that would appoint legal representation to a fetus if its mother is brain dead. “You’ll hear what the family wants, and you’ll also give the pre-born child a chance to have a voice in court at that same time." [Dallas Morning News] * New York Law School is launching a two-year law degree program, and students will only have to pay two-thirds of the $147,720 that they normally would have had to. For the record, not all two-year degree programs are cheaper. [Crain's New York Business]

Humping Halts Homicide Trial

Couple caught copulating in criminal courtroom.

What Else Dewey Know About Zachary Warren?

Additional information about defendant number 4 in the Dewey criminal case, including testimonials from people who know him and information about his family's finances.

Morning Docket: 02.27.14

* Of course there’s a gender pay gap in Biglaw, but none of the firms are going to tell you about it. We’ll be discussing the results of the annual National Association of Women Lawyers survey later today. [ABA Journal] * In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, Texas struck down its ban on gay marriage, but stayed the ruling pending appeal. Seriously, of all places, this happened in Texas. Yeehaw! Ride ‘em, cowboys! [New York Times] * Well, there goes that whole “judgment proof” argument. An insurer must defend the Temple Law student who shot a Fox Rothschild partner’s unarmed son under his parents’ homeowners insurance policy. [Legal Intelligencer] * New Mexico Law didn’t like what it found after auditing its SBA’s off-campus bank account. FYI: the SBA apparently isn’t supposed to spend money on bars, liquor, and restaurants. Who knew? [Albequerque Journal] * “I don’t want to pay for someone else’s peculiar behavior.” Amanda Knox’s ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, is changing his tune about his former flame as their appeal date gets closer and closer. [CNN]

Non-Sequiturs: 01.31.14

* This is the place where we pretend to be shocked that Chris Christie abused his power. [New York Times] * Remember the Super Bowl Shuffle? Now there’s a lawsuit over it. Proving even terrible art can give rise to litigation. [Business Wire] * Miami criminal defense attorney Michael Grieco thought he was representing Justin Bieber and let all the media outlets know it. Well, he’s not. [South Florida Lawyers] * Listen up, law review editors! This is how you avoid making authors angry. [Nancy Rapoport's Blog] * John Yoo for Dean of Boalt Hall? OK, maybe not, but here are the finalists for the position. [Nuts & Boalts] * California is eyeing a referendum to allow affirmative action considerations to be employed in college admissions for the first time in almost 20 years. Surely the same people who passed Prop 8 will be enlightened enough to do something proactive about systemic discrimination. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * The art of negotiation and terrible cigars. [Katz Justice] * And I joined Mike Sacks and Jessica Mederson on Legalese It! today. So check out our rousing discussion of the State of the Union v. Supreme Court, Foxy Knoxy’s extradition fears, and California’s decision to keep disgraced journalist Stephen Glass out of the legal profession. Video below… [Huffington Post Live]

Morning Docket: 01.31.14

* Quinn Emanuel got a pretty harsh benchslap from Judge Paul Grewal over its litigation strategy in the Apple / Samsung case, calling it “650 lawyers wide and one lawyer deep.” Sick burn, Judge. [Courthouse News Service] * At Cardozo Law, Jordan Belfort’s former lawyer says that the movie Wolf of Wall Street “played down the sex and drugs.” Dear Lord, if that’s the case, Leo’s muse should be happy he’s alive. [DealBook / New York Times] * “I’ve been around the block. And I’ve never seen an attorney general sanctioned.” Ahh, the rarest rose. Nevada’s AG was sanctioned for failing to provide evidence in a fraud case against a mortgage lender. [Forbes] * Eighteen people were arrested for their alleged attempts to market and sell Super Bowl “party packs” to football fans. It’s pretty sick, but you’d got to admit that hookers and blow beat wings any day of the week. [Bloomberg] * Law schools in the Southeast closed their doors because their states were “unequipped for dealing with the roadways.” Send them up here, we’ve got school when there’s a foot of snow. [National Law Journal] * A recent grad of a “good school” wanted to know how to get a job, so she asked an advice columnist. Here are five of the suggested jobs she probably already applied to and was rejected from. [Fortune] * The third time’s apparently the charm in Italy: Amanda Knox was convicted of murder, again. Foxy Knoxy must be pissed that her case has turned into an extradition question on an international law exam. [CNN]

Morning Docket: 11.27.13

* Oh baby (or the lack thereof): the Supreme Court has decided to take on two of the cases asserting religious challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate. [Blog of Legal Times] * “[H]e has a Rolodex like a Ferris wheel.” Delaware’s Supreme Court Chief Justice is retiring from the bench to join Potter Anderson & Corroon, where that Rolodex will come in handy. [Wall Street Journal] * Italian prosecutors think Amanda Knox should be convicted of murder (again) and given a 30-year sentence in a retrial she’s not even there for. This kind of sounds like it'd be a double-secret conviction. [CNN] * With fall finals right around the corner, law students can take comfort in the fact that next week they’ll be soothed by therapy dogs — ones that’ll need therapy after dealing with law students. [WSJ Law Blog] * If you’re considering applying to law school against all odds, you should determine when the right time to apply would be. Don’t listen to your parents, listen to your gut. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News] * If you haven’t heard, the Beastie Boys are having a copyright fight with toymaker GoldieBlox over a parody of the song “Girls” that’s been used in a commercial. Fair use? Decide after the jump. [NBC News]

Morning Docket: 11.13.13

* Citi reports that firms saw a revenue jump of 2.7 percent in the third quarter. Revenue has now finally outpaced expenses for the year. Let the good times roll? [The AmLaw Daily] * In regulatory fun, the Comptroller of the Currency issued a whole mess of new regulations on how banks can use consulting firms to comply with enforcement orders. In a nutshell, consultants should do their jobs rather than rubber stamp for the banks. Once again regulation arrives long after common sense required it. [Washington Post] * A new company called Fantex Holdings might turn your fantasy football chatter into insider trading by securitizing athletes. Now TacoCorp can endure an SEC investigation just like real companies. [Corporate Counsel] * Microsoft’s top IP counsel [Corporate Counsel] * Harvey Updyke, the Alabama fan who destroyed Auburn’s landmark trees, owes $796,000 according to a judge. Roll Tide. [Courthouse News Service] * Veterans applying to law school should take these tips to heart. [Blueprint Prep] * The Amanda Knox trial has a ton of experts involved. No defendant, but a ton of experts. [The Expert Institute]

Morning Docket: 10.16.13

* Stop bullying the judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. They don’t cave to just any government data request — they make changes to about 25 percent of them. But uh… they don’t like to talk about the other 75 percent. [Bloomberg] * Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the number of Biglaw firms with […]