Books

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.27.15

* Should town clerks opposed to gay marriage be required to issue licenses to all couples? The Sixth Circuit says.... [How Appealing] * John H. Ray III, the African American ex-associate at Ropes & Gray who claimed the elite firm discriminated against him, loses in court again, this time before the First Circuit. [National Law Journal] * Vester Lee Flanagan aka Bryce Williams, the Virginia television broadcaster who killed two colleagues on-air before killing himself, was also no stranger to the legal system: he filed multiple lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. [New York Times] * Why are in-house lawyers more likely than their non-attorney corporate colleagues to fall for phishing emails? [ABA Journal] * Dewey know when the prosecution will rest in this seemingly endless trial? Probably today. [Wall Street Journal] * State judges get nasty with each other in Oregon. [Oregonian] * Federal judges around the country are advocating for a second look at how defendants get sentenced. [New York Times] * The Dilly in Philly: Paul Clement v. Ted Olson. [Am Law Litigation Daily] * A T14 law graduate turned "traveling artist" gets charged with criminal sexual assault in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune] * Speaking of sexual assault laws, Emily Bazelon explains how the St. Paul’s Rape Case shows why these laws must change. [New York Times] * Update: convicted Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes didn't get just a life sentence, but 12 life sentences -- plus 3,318 years on top of that. [CNN] * Linda Hirshman, author of the forthcoming book Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World (affiliate link), explains how Justices O'Connor, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor brought wisdom to SCOTUS (but where's the love for Justice Kagan?). [Slate via How Appealing]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.24.15

* I get that litigation is expensive, but I promise, Tom Brady doesn't need donations for his Deflategate legal bills. Especially not when they're solicited in an obituary. [Deadspin] * Protip: Don't ask a female attorney if she is going through menopause, unless you like sanctions. [Lawyers for the Profession] * Great time waster: what's the weirdest law in your home state? [Yahoo!] * Lat reviews Allegiance (affiliate link), a novel by Kermit Roosevelt featuring a Supreme Court clerk. [Wall Street Journal] * An all too realistic look at what it is like to be a lawyer -- substance abuse, terrible workload, self-loathing and all. [Vice] * A case study of estate planning as played out in the life of fashion icon Helen Gurley Brown. [New York Times] * Heads up to Missouri lawmakers -- you don't end sexual harassment by telling interns to dress "modest." [Think Progress]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.13.15

* The legal battle over the AIG bailout rolls into the Federal Circuit. [DealBook / New York Times] * What does a lawyer say when he gets caught swapping fees for oral sex? Claim sex addiction, of course! [Legal Profession Blog] * The New Orleans public defender office is a testament to underfunding. [Buzzfeed News] * Charleston School of Law loses a dean right before school resumes. Yep, nothing wrong here! [South Carolina Lawyers Weekly] * Neighbors sue 8-year-old girl for being kind to animals (or sues her parents anyway). [KIRO] * A friend remembers John Ralston Pate. [What About Clients?] * A counterargument to the suggestion of suspect classification for poverty (final item). [PrawfsBlawg] * The ABA is diving into the world of legal publishing, riding the success of Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link). [Chicago Tribune] * A domestic violence defendant got the first name of his judge tattooed on his neck. Paul Clement has similar ink that reads "Nino." Check out the pic. [North Carolina Lawyers Weekly] CMToR96UAAAKHQh.jpg-large

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.13.15

* "When it's convenient, we're alumni; when it's not convenient, we are not alumni." Grads of Texas Wesleyan Law -- which is now known as Texas A&M Law -- are suing because the school won't grant them new degrees or recognize them as alumni. Harsh, y'all. [Houston Chronicle] * The ABA Journal wants to know who you think the smartest judge in the U.S. is. Let's hear it for the wonderful women of the Supreme Court: Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. [ABA Journal] * Now that same-sex marriage is legal across the country, it only seems logical that bans on adoptions by same-sex couples should be overturned. Mississippi will have Roberta Kaplan of Windsor fame to thank when its ban is struck down. [New York Times] * Pa. Attorney General Kathleen Kane has claimed innocence with regard to the criminal charges she recently racked up. She blames the entire ordeal on blowback from the state's "Porngate" scandal. AG Kane has got one hell of a moneyshot. [Philadelphia Inquirer] * Did you know that there's such a thing as barbecue law? Further, did you know that a Biglaw attorney who serves as counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright who's never handled a barbecue case has cornered the market on BBQ law books (affiliate link)? [Legal Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.28.15

* "Bueller... Bueller..." Richard Hsu chats with Ben Stein. [Hsu Untied] * NFL deflates Tom Brady's hopes of playing a full season. [Redline] * Can a public defender really handle 700 cases a year? Spoiler alert: No. [Mother Jones] * About a third of the seats on the Court of Federal Claims are vacant, and a solitary Senator aims to keep it that way. Why are Republicans against getting citizens tax refunds? Shouldn't that be their whole schtick? [Constitutional Accountability Center] * If you're around August 11, check out "Many Faces of Mediation: An Alternative to Courtroom Drama" at JAMS HQ in New York. [ABA] * If you've been hankering for a podcast covering the U.S. Tax Court, then hanker no further. [U.S. Tax Court Podcast via iTunes] * A proposal for expanding the U.S. News Diversity Index. [Iowa Law Review via SSRN] * The continuing tribute to commenter Partner Emeritus rolls on. This time delving into my favorite Baby Boomer trope: lame excuses for skipping out on Vietnam. [What About Clients?] * Talmage Boston explains how Atticus Finch is still worthy of respect in a post-Go Set a Watchman (affiliate link) world. [Washington Independent Review of Books] * Talmage will be moderating a panel at the ABA Annual Meeting featuring Judge Posner, William Landay, and Laura Caldwell. The panel will also include our own David Lat, discussing Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link). [Supreme Ambitions]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.27.15

* A jury has ruled that rapper 50 Cent must pay an additional $2 million in punitive damages to a woman whose sex tape he posted online, on top of the $5 million he already owes her. This wanksta better hope the judgment gets discharged in bankruptcy. [Associated Press] * California is America's breeding ground for unaccredited law schools, and "[m]ost jurisdictions simply don't allow [these] kind of law school[s] to exist at all. Period." Nearly all students (about 9 out of 10) drop out before graduation. How much money is being wasted? [Los Angeles Times] * Since 2007, the pay gap between the highest- and lowest-paid positions in many specialized fields has widened -- but that isn't the case when it comes to the legal profession. Unfortunately, not as many people are making it rain. [New York Times] * "[M]aybe legislation should fix this. Not the court." A San Diego judge has suggested that he'll likely dismiss a right-to-die lawsuit filed by Christy O'Donnell, a civil rights attorney who's fighting a battle against lung, brain, spine, rib, and liver cancer. [NBC San Diego] * You've seen reactions to Harper Lee's portrayal of Atticus Finch as a racist in Go Set A Watchman (affiliate link) from everyone and their mother and their dog, but maybe you haven't seen reactions from law professors yet, so have a look. [National Law Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky