Birth Control

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.19.22

* Company that probably played a massive role in proliferating anti-global warming propaganda fears the chilling effects of accountability. [Mother Jones] * New Jersey governor renews law that prevents cops from being near polling places because of that whole voter suppression by force thing. When are we getting a new Voting Rights Act again? [New Jersey Globe] * Illinois is trying to make birth control a little more accessible. It's not over the counter, but it’s a start! [WTTW] * Jersey just passed some harm reduction-focused legislation that will increase access to safe needles. [Inquirer] * Find it suspicious that you're getting advertisements for Sweet Baby Ray's after privately making fun of Zuckerberg? These congresspeople are looking to stop that. [ZDNet]

By Chris Williams
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.31.15

* Ugh, you throw one stinkin' party that infringes on the Pokemon copyright and the lawyers shut you down. Buzzkills. [Vice] * You know what Ryan Phillippe loves to do? Run around without his shirt on and talk about how his Stanford Law girlfriend is awesome. Dontcha love it when a piece of man meat has respect for the T-14? [Daily Mail] * Are you gambling in Vegas attending the ILTA conference today? Come Hear Legal Bytes play favorites of the legal industry like Old Technology Blues and Lawyers Love Lexis. [Business of Law Blog] * Just in time for OCI season -- what should you do if your Biglaw dreams go pop? [Underdawg Law] * You're not alone feeling the Biglaw burnout after a few years, but maybe technology can help? [Bloomberg BNA] * Greeeeeaaaat... Now employers can deny employees birth control for non-religious reasons. [Think Progress] * Opening lines to opinions can really set the tone. Take a look at this forceful start from an old Ninth Circuit decision. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Podcast with the curmudgeon of the legal profession, Mark Herrmann. [Hsu Untied]

By Kathryn Rubino
Biglaw

Non-Sequiturs: 12.17.13

* Judge Brian Cogan has ruled that a group of New York Catholic institutions doesn’t have to provide health insurance plans that include birth control coverage to its employees because… insurance policies with provisions that other people may or may not ever invoke is a religious thing. Too bad no one told the Catholic Church in New York, which already pays for insurance that provides birth control coverage and has for years. [Jezebel] * Judge Richard Leon’s decision ruling the NSA metadata gathering program unconstitutional makes a lot of good points, but perhaps the best is that even if you think there’s a compelling counter-terrorism concern that trumps constitutional safeguards, the NSA just can’t point to it. Of course we’ll all be singing another tune when the Moldovans take over. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Here’s a tale of dealing with a Biglaw bully. I don’t get the concept — being locked in a locker is way better than spending the whole night conforming edits. [Big Law Rebel] * Elie appeared on the Lawyer 2 Lawyer podcast to discuss drones. [Lawyer 2 Lawyer] * Eyewitness testimony is often disastrously wrong. Suddenly that “Eyewitness News” title your awful local news channel uses seems really appropriate. [Slate] * A guide for tech startups and software developers dealing with contracts. I’m looking in your direction, Winklevoss twins. [Alleywatch] * An IP lawyer makes a rap video. His record may affirm that he knows IP, but I don’t think Death Row is going to be calling any time soon. Video embedded below…

By Joe Patrice
Basketball

Non-Sequiturs: 05.13.13

* Joseph Rakofsky has lost his case against, well basically everyone. Including ATL. [Popehat] * EDNY Judge Edward Korman is earning accolades for his sassiness. [Jezebel] * The Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Monsanto case. Reading the decision is not exhausting. Get it? [Patently-O] * Happy Mother’s Day from Kobe Bryant! Black Mamba takes his mom to court. [Legal Blitz] * Sammy Hagar can’t be held liable for defaming a woman. He also can’t drive 55. [Courthouse News Service] * Stealing $100 worth of cigarettes may seem crazy, but $100 worth of cigarettes in Texas would net something like $480,000 in New York City. [Legal Juice] * Intellectual property run amok. And it doesn’t involve Prenda in any way! [Dealbreaker] * As we reported before, being a divorce lawyer is not just for nailing your clients anymore. [Jezebel]

By Joe Patrice
Bankruptcy

Morning Docket: 05.08.13

* “Is there a public interest in unwanted pregnancies … that can often result in abortions?” The judge who ordered that Plan B be made available to all women regardless of age is pissed at the DOJ. [The Caucus / New York Times] * Mary Jo White, the littlest litigatrix, will “review” the Securities and Exchange Commission’s policy of allowing financial firms to settle civil suits without affirming or denying culpability, but for now, she’s defending it. [Reuters] * Dewey know what this failed firm is supposed to pay its advisers for work done during the first nine months of its bankruptcy proceedings? We certainly do, and it’s quite the pretty penny. [Am Law Daily] * In a round of musical chairs that started at Weil Gotshal, Cadwalader just lost the co-chairs of its bankruptcy practice and another bankruptcy partner to O’Melveny. [DealBook / New York Times] * Another day, another law school comparison website. Take a look at Law Jobs: By the Numbers, which includes a formula from the laughable National Jurist rankings system. [National Law Journal] * In a move that shocked absolutely no one, attorneys for Colorado movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes announced they will enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity for their client. [CNN] * From the “hindsight is 20/20″ file: the judge who presided over the Casey Anthony trial thinks there was enough evidence to convict the ex-MILF. He also likened Jose Baez to a used car salesman. [AP] * Check out Logan Beirne’s book (affiliate link). Even when sensationalizing George Washington’s rise from general to president, attention must be paid to the rule of law. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]

By Staci Zaretsky
Alston & Bird

Non-Sequiturs: 04.05.13

* The Kardashians are suing their father’s widow for allegedly trying to exploit his diary — because the Kardashians object to anything exploitative. [Courthouse News Service] * Judge Edward Korman ruled that the FDA must stop requiring those under 17 years old to present a prescription for the morning after pill. MTV’s programming executives plan to appeal. [CNN] * Do litigators really need instruction not to scream at witnesses? [Roll on Friday] * A school in Massachusetts privatized school lunches, and then that company told its workers to dump the food of students who were in default on their lunch tickets. America! F**k Yeah! [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * Illegalities sums up the malaise of being a Biglaw associate with this reblog. [Illegalities] * Target learns the value of editing after labeling plus-sized dresses with the word “Manatee.” [Forbes] * After the jump, watch Elie discuss his take on Democrats just coming around to supporting gay rights. Maybe McKayla Maroney rubbed off on Elie during their interview, because in this segment, he’s not impressed….

By Joe Patrice
Bankruptcy

Morning Docket: 07.18.12

* Bankruptcy blues: “No one is getting a free pass.” Howrey going to start clawing back all of that money from our former partners and their new firms? Dewey even want to get started with this failed firm’s D&L defectors? [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)] * Way to show that you’ve got some Seoul: Ropes & Gray, Sheppard Mullin, and Clifford Chance were the first Biglaw firms to receive approval from the Korean Ministry of Justice to open the first foreign firm offices in South Korea. [Legal Week] * This is supposed to represent an improvement? Pretty disappointing. The percentage of women holding state court judgeships increased by a whopping 0.7 percent over last year’s numbers. [National Law Journal] * Throw your birth control pills in the air like confetti, because a judge tossed a lawsuit filed by seven states that tried to block the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory contraception coverage provision. [Lincoln Journal Star] * “[S]omewhere along the way the guy forgot to tell the seller that he was working with the buyer.” Duane Morris was sued for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty for more than $192M. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * Please don’t Google me, bitches. Brandon Hamilton, Louisville Law’s ex-assistant dean for admissions, resigned Monday after overpromising $2.4M in scholarship money to incoming law students. [Courier-Journal] * A New Hampshire college is offering free tuition to students in their junior year if they combine their senior year with their first year at the Massachusetts School of Law. The catch? Mass Law is unaccredited. [NHPR]

By Staci Zaretsky
Blogging

Morning Docket: 03.05.12

* Apparently the Roberts Court is unusual in that its elite members lacked opportunities to gain “the most critical judicial virtue: practical wisdom.” Yeah, right. Tell that one to the Wise Latina. [Washington Post] * In the wake of the contraception controversy, Rush Limbaugh apologized for calling Georgetown 3L Sandra Fluke a “slut.” He’s so very, very sorry… that he lost some of his advertisers. [The Caucus / New York Times] * The powers that be in Massachusetts have decided to show law bloggers a little bit of respect. Now they’ll get to cover judicial proceedings like real, live journalists — press passes and all. [Metro Desk / Boston Globe] * Pornography: now with ten percent fewer HIV infections! A Los Angeles city ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms during filming will be taking effect today. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times] * After making two other DWI arrests disappear from her record, former Bronx ADA Jennifer Troiano pleaded guilty to drunk driving last week. It looks like the third time really is the charm. [New York Daily News] * New York newlyweds allege that Glamour Me Studio Photoshopped their heads onto naked bodies. Groomzilla Todd Remis must be glad that his wedding photography woes weren’t so graphic. [New York Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Feminism

Why You Shouldn’t Call a Woman a ‘Slut’ on the Eve of Women’s History Month Because She Uses Contraceptives

March 1 marked the first day of Women's History Month. And as we noted for our readers, Rush Limbaugh began his celebrations a day early by calling Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown Law student who testified before a Congressional committee on the need for access to birth control, a "slut." Needless to say, people are outraged about Limbaugh's comments. Because really, who wouldn't be? Let's take a look at what Fluke had to say in response....

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.13.12

* Looks like Obama has reached a compromise position on birth control. It’s not right, but it’s okay. [WSJ Law Blog] * Apple gets so emotional baby, every time it thinks of Samsung. [eWeek] * Greece begrudgingly signed austerity legislation while lamenting, “Didn’t we almost have it all.” [What About Clients] * The Bearcat would […]

By Elie Mystal
Email Scandals

A Contraception Controversy — and an ATL Debate

Getting upset over inadequate access to contraception is one thing. What about getting upset -- at a Catholic law school, mind you -- over a discussion of birth control? Can you imagine what kind of comments about contraception could cause a law school community to get all riled up? Let's look at -- and argue about -- the email that caused students at one top-ranked Catholic law school to get their diaphragms all scrunched up proverbial panties in a wad. Even the dean had to get involved....

By David Lat & Elie Mystal