American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.16.17

* Ted Cruz is angry that the ABA calls unqualified people unqualified. Everyone gets an A in Professor Cruz's class! [National Law Journal] * "A Rutherford couple reportedly got an unwanted house call over the weekend from a lawyer who was completely naked except for a tight-fitting T-shirt and a pair of black high heels." Go on.[NY Daily News] * You had me at "sexual enterprise," you magnificent RICO complaint you. [The Recorder] * The NFL is going to war with Jerry Jones, so grab your popcorn. [CNBC] * Barclay's prevails over a former employee's sex discrimination claim and her race discrimination claim. Seems as though it's been forever since Kimberle Crenshaw pointed out exactly why this is a problem. [Law360] * What do law firms and despotic regimes have in common? Probably a lot, but one thing is a non-existent succession plan. [American Lawyer] * The SEC pursues fewer actions for dramatically less money as it largely abdicates its watchdog role. What could possibly go wrong? [Corporate Counsel] * A deep dive into whether or not ex-convicts should be able to serve as lawyers. [Bloomberg] * Law firm files complaint arguing that Disney stole the script to Pirates of the Caribbean. Amazing because it was never clear to me that there was a script to that movie. [CBS]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.01.17

* "Nothing about recent events or any of these actions of the special counsel has altered the president’s determination to support the special counsel and fully cooperate and that is where we are," said White House lawyer Ty Cobb, twirling his mustache as he presumably wondered how to extricate himself from this situation. [Big Law Business] * An Akin Gump partner who initially refused to testify before the grand jury in Paul Manafort's case was ordered to do so under the "crime fraud" exception to attorney-client privilege. She's (understandably) not responding to media requests for comment at this time. She's already said her fair share. [National Law Journal] * The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary gave Eighth Circuit nominee Leonard Steven Grasz, who happens to be a Husch Blackwell partner, a "not qualified" rating because its members were concerned he wouldn't be able to follow precedent due to his "passionately-held social agenda." [ABA Journal] * Foley & Lardner is in merger talks with Gardere Wynne Sewell. Last we heard, the firm was in merger talks with New York boutique Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. While the firm claims that a final decision on the merger hasn't been made yet, they've already set up a new website. That's probably just a coincidence. [Am Law Daily] * Speaking of mergers, the one between Womble Carlyle and Bond Dickinson is now official, and the combined firm, Womble Bond Dickinson, is now one of the world's 100 largest. More than 1,000 lawyers work for the new firm across 24 offices in the U.S. and U.K. As with most mergers, some layoffs could be ahead. [Chronicle Live]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.18.17

* "It’s a terrible signal for this group to be holding their meeting at the Trump International Hotel and for a Supreme Court justice to legitimate it by attending. It just violates basic ethical principles about conflicts of interest." Justice Neil Gorsuch is under fire for speaking at an upcoming event at the Trump International Hotel just two weeks before SCOTUS will hear arguments in the travel ban case. [New York Times] * After 23 years, National Conference of Bar Examiners president Erica Moeser will be retiring from her job on August 21 and handing over the reins to Judith Gundersen, the NCBE's director of test operations. If you recall, Moeser once infamously -- and most likely, correctly -- said that plummeting bar pass rates were due to "less able" test takers. Enjoy your retirement! [Law.com] * With funding of almost $6 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, NYU Law is launching the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, in an effort to assist state attorneys general who "don’t begin to have the resources to meet these challenges" fight any of the Trump administration's attempts to dismantle environmental protections and climate policies. [Washington Post] * Jacqueline B. Jones, the lawyer who called in a bomb threat to the federal courthouse on the day she was supposed to defend herself against being sanctioned, is set to plead guilty today to third-degree falsely reporting an incident. She faces jail time and up to $15,000 in fines. [Syracuse.com] * "The story's true. I'm not doing anything. I barely show up to work and I've been caught." The spokesman for New York's Office of Court Administration accidentally left a message for a reporter who was working on a story about his truancy on the job, laughing about how he "barely" showed up to work, just after lying and saying the reports were false. Oopsie! [New York Law Journal] * "In an era of alternative news and fake facts, the ABA should be the definitive source of real facts when it comes to the law." Check out the ABA's new online resource, the legal fact checker, a website where members of the public can learn about what the law says regarding current events in the news. [ABA Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.15.17

* Credit where credit is due: Attorney General Jeff Sessions wins qualified praise for his forceful condemnation of the Charlottesville violence. [New York Times] * Donald Trump needs all the legal help he can get -- so he's surely pleased and proud about daughter Tiffany Trump starting up at Georgetown Law this month. (More on this later.) [Washington Post] * And wouldn't it be incredibly awkward interesting to have Tiffany as a classmate in your Con Law class this semester? [New York Times via How Appealing] * The ABA will reconsider its controversial, much-criticized changes to how law schools report graduate employment data. [Law.com] * Taylor Swift prevails in her lawsuit accusing DJ David Mueller of groping her during a photo op. [Law360] * Merger mania spreads -- from Biglaw to boutiques. [Law.com] * Tech company DreamHost will resist -- a Justice Department effort to acquire information about visitors to an anti-Trump website set up to coordinate Inauguration Day protests. [Washington Post] * An investors' lawyer claims that his lawsuit against Duane Morris "could bankrupt that firm." [Law.com] * There are reasonable arguments for and against splitting up the Ninth Circuit, but the ABA's position is clear: firmly opposed. [ABA Journal]

By David Lat