Anonymous
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Free Speech, Media and Journalism, Technology
Can You Be Prosecuted For Sharing A Link? The Troubling Case Of Barrett Brown
The prosecution of a prominent activist and journalist raises very real and serious First Amendment concerns. -
Airplanes / Aviation, Basketball, Biglaw, Blogging, Contracts, Douglas Berman, Education / Schools, Environment / Environmental Law, Federal Government, Intellectual Property, Law Professors, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Politics, Sentencing Law, State Judges, Trademarks, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 02.15.13
* What to do when your federal agency’s website has been hacked by Anonymous and you’re unable to post a major report online for public dissemination? Well, just ask a law professor to do it for you on his blog; that’s not embarrassing, not at all. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The many victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster can now rejoice, because yesterday, Transocean pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, and will pay the second-largest environmental fine in United States history to the tune of $400 million. [CNN]
* Money takes flight: eleventy billion Biglaw firms are behind the beast that is this awful airline merger, but taking the lead are lawyers from Weil Gotshal for AMR and Latham & Watkins for US Airways. [Am Law Daily]
* After questioning the validity of one of the NBA players union’s contracts, Paul Weiss is withholding details about it thanks to the government’s intrusion. Way to block nepotism’s alleged slam dunk. [New York Times]
* “When is the last time you took the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street to trial?” Elizabeth Warren took the Socratic method to the Senate Banking Committee and she was applauded for it. [National Law Journal]
* If you liked it, then perhaps you should’ve put a ring on it, but not a Tiffany’s diamond engagement ring that you’ve purchased from Costco, because according to this trademark lawsuit, it may be a knockoff. [Bloomberg]
* “We feel very badly for Megan Thode.” A Pennsylvania judge ruled against the Lehigh student who sued over her grade of C+ because let’s be serious, did ANYONE AT ALL really think he wouldn’t do that?! [Morning Call]
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Trust The Process: How To Build And Manage Workflows In Law Firms
If you’re feeling inefficient but don’t know why, this episode of the Non-Eventcast is for you. -
Attorney Misconduct, Bankruptcy, Bar Exams, Department of Justice, Football, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Politics, SCOTUS, State Judges, Supreme Court, Technology, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 01.28.13
* So, this happened over the weekend: Anonymous hacked the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s website and is threatening to release government secrets about the DOJ (and possibly all nine of our Supreme Court justices) unless the legal system is reformed. [CNET]
* A spoonful of sugar makes the lawyering go down? Apparently the best way to remind lawyers that they need to act civilly is through song. Or through Above the Law posts, but we aren’t in the habit of hosting sing-a-longs like the New York Inn of Court did. [Wall Street Journal]
* “[U]nless there are major changes in the legal industry,” law school administrators shouldn’t expect people to apply in droves, especially when they’re now fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. [National Law Journal]
* Arizona’s Supreme Court will allow people to take the bar exam after two years of study, but come on, the justices don’t want to jump the shark by allowing online law grads take the test, too. [East Valley Tribune]
* Tim Tebow got to trademark Tebowing, so why shouldn’t Colin Kaepernick get to trademark Kaepernicking? All the San Francisco 49ers quarterback wants to do is sell some inevitably overpriced t-shirts. [NBC Bay Area]
* An appeals court threw out two of Casey Anthony’s convictions, but her legal drama is far from over. The ex-MILF filed for bankruptcy to escape nearly $1 million in liabilities, including Jose Baez’s legal fees. [CNN]
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Benchslaps, Blogging, Edith Jones, Federal Judges, Holidays and Seasons, Intellectual Property, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.18.12
* Professor Josh Blackman has a Christmas gift for you: “The 8 Best Benchslaps of 2012.” See if you can guess who wins the award for lifetime achievement. [Josh Blackman's Blog] * Speaking of unorthodox law school classes, how would you like to take a course on “Understanding Obama”? [Althouse] * And speaking of the Instagram controversy, what might happen if the intellectual property issues wind up in the courts? [Associate's Mind] * The deadline for our holiday card competition has passed; our write-up of the finalists will appear shortly. While you wait, check out this cute non-electronic law firm holiday card. [Ross Fishman] * Time is running out! We’d love your votes in the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 (under “News/Analysis”). Thanks, and Happy Holidays! [ABA Journal] If you are not a fan of Westboro Baptist Church, check out Anonymous’s declaration of cyber-war against them…. The following declaration of cyber-war was provoked by Westboro Baptist Church’s plan to picket a vigil for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: -
Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Defamation, Election 2012, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Politics, Trials
Morning Docket: 03.07.12
* All your base are belong to… Rick Santorum? Error! Malfunction! Super Tuesday was not quite as super as Mitt Romney was hoping for. Looks like it’s time to reprogram the Mitt-bot so he can conquer the true conservatives. [CNN]
* And the Cebulls**t just keeps on coming. Now Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are calling for a hearing and an investigation on the consequences of the federal judge’s racist email. [Associated Press]
* After wrapping up a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Lehman Brothers, Weil Gotshal’s bill came to $383M. And sadly, that’s probably going to be the only “spring bonus” associates will see this year. [Am Law Daily]
* Complete pwnage: a handful of LulzSec hacktivists were arrested after their leader, an FBI informant, turned on them. How will this affect the Anonymous movement? More importantly, who cares? [New York Times]
* No postponements for you, Casey Anthony. Try as she might, the acquitted ex-MILF just can’t escape the defamation lawsuit filed by a woman who was only supposed to be make believe. [Washington Post]
* Don’t like Maryland Law’s environmental clinic litigation? Offer another public law school $500K to represent the defendants. Because if anyone would take a bribe, it would be Baltimore Law. [National Law Journal]
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Cyberlaw, Election 2012, Google / Search Engines, Morning Docket, Politics, Privacy, Technology
Morning Docket: 02.29.12
* Remember Phillip Closius, the former dean of University of Baltimore Law, who said the university was raiding the law school’s funds? Yeah, he was totally right. Just guess what percent of the law school budget was going to the rest of the university. Starts with “A” and rhymes with “dot.” [National Law Journal]
* The humanity! Oklahoma’s worst fears have come true; American judges are enforcing Sharia Law! Whatever are we going to do? There is no solution in sight — except to maybe stop overreacting… [CNN]
* Mitt Bot won in both Arizona and Michigan last night. Can we send Santorum back to the 16th century yet? [The Washington Post]
* Twenty-five suspected members of Anonymous were arrested across Europe and South America. They ain’t anonymous anymore. [New York Times]
* In other cyberlaw news, Google’s new privacy policy not only stinks, it probably violates European Union law. Hey Google, don’t be evil! [New York Times]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.06.12
* Roll on Friday crowns the European firm of the year. It’s like the Eli Manning of old world law firms. [Roll on Friday] * Here are some thoughts from a former NFL All-Pro turned lawyer. Maybe there is still hope that Chad Ochocinco can have a productive career. [Legal Blitz] * Staci was on […] -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 02.03.12
* If you ever encounter a one-eyed, dart-throwing lawyer, for the love of God, don’t misspell his name. [LA Weekly] * WikiLeaks and Anonymous are still doing their thing. Right now, that thing is hacking into law firm websites and exposing sensitive personal information. CHECK YOU DATA SECURITY. [Gizmodo] * Our own Staci Zaretsky will […] - Sponsored
Not All Legal AI Is Created Equal
Artificial intelligence is on lawyers’ minds as they evaluate how advancements in technology will affect their work. This white paper examines 5 things to consider… -
Cyberlaw, Department of Justice, Technology
SOPA Be Damned, DOJ Has Sent a Message to Internet Pirates. And the Internet Sent a Message Right Back
While the Internet was throwing itself a party for taking down the Stop Online Piracy Act, getting drunk off its own power and shooting pistols into the air like a Mexican fiesta, the Department of Justice was already throwing up a big middle finger to offshore rogue websites, or whatever they're calling pirates now. Everyone's favorite hacker collective, Anonymous, struck back in revenge almost immediately. The group launched massive denial of service attacks against every media and governmental website their deranged hive mind could think of.... -
Blogging, Law Professors, Law Schools
The Tenured Law Prof Turned 'Scamblogger' Reveals Himself
Earlier this month, we wrote about an anonymous law professor -- a tenured professor, at a top-tier school -- essentially joining the ranks of the law school scambloggers. Well, as it turns out, LawProf is an actual tenured law professor, at a top 50 law school. Who is he, and where does he teach? -
Bad Ideas, Crime, Cyberlaw, Free Speech, Police, Technology
San Francisco Subway Shuts Off Cell Service, Hackers Get Angry
I rode BART into San Francisco on Monday for dinner. As our train approached the Embarcadero station, the driver came on the intercom. “We aren’t stopping at this station. Don’t want to drop you in the middle of a protest.” So my roommate and I got off a block later and backtracked. We encountered a […] -
Crime, Cyberlaw, Technology
FBI Rolls Out the Hacker Paddywagon in Nationwide Raid
It’s been an unusually exciting month in the legal tech world. Several lawyers have been charged with (and cleared of) upsetting electronic crimes. An Am Law 100 firm got sued for allegedly screwing up e-discovery. I haven’t even had the time or need to write the same vague jibber-jabber about Google+ that everyone else on […]