California

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.13.16

* What happens when a Biglaw associate at a prestigious firm is allegedly injured so badly in the D.C. subway that he's prevented from working as an associate at that firm? He files a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Washington Metro Transit Authority, obviously. We'll have more on this later. [Big Law Business] * A federal judge has dismissed Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's bid for a recount in Pennsylvania as absurd, writing in a 31-page opinion that her theory of the hacking of the state's electronic voting machines "borders on the irrational." Ouch. [Reuters] * Justice Stephen Breyer continued his assault against capital punishment this week, dissenting from his Supreme Court colleagues' decision not to hear a death row inmate's case. In that dissent, he didn't discuss the evidence against the inmate, but rather, he discussed the evidence against the death penalty in America. [New York Times] * Abortion-rights activists from the Center for Reproductive Rights have sought an injunction against the implementation of a controversial Texas regulation that would require the burial or cremation of fetal remains because it "imposes a funeral ritual on women who have … an abortion." As if HB 2 wasn't bad enough... [WSJ Law Blog] * School-by-school results from the July 2016 administration of the California bar exam have finally been released (albeit not publicly, until now), and considering that the overall pass rate was the lowest it's been in 32 years, law schools did not fare well. Which did the best, and which did the worst? We'll have more on this later. [The Recorder]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 11.28.16

* The political anger against big banking in general and Wells Fargo, specifically, could hurt their forced arbitration efforts. [Cowboys On The Commons] * Warner Brothers's settlement over paying -- and not disclosing that fact -- influencers to subtly promote its video game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. [The Fashion Law] * The California Bar is considering a ban on client-attorney sex. [Law and More] * Rumor has it Steve Bannon is totally fine with suppressing black voter turnout. [Huffington Post] * Yes, the electoral college sucks, but they are still going to elect Donald Trump. [Slate]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.14.16

* Shortly after being urged to settle the Trump University lawsuit, lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump have filed a motion to continue the trial -- now scheduled to begin just after Thanksgiving -- until after his inauguration in January. If no settlement can be reached, we may get to see a sitting president on trial for fraud. [San Diego Union-Tribune] * Before he even nominates another judge to take the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court, President-elect Donald Trump could significantly alter the high court's trajectory this term by undoing Obama administration policies on immigration, climate change, cost-free contraceptive care, and transgender rights. [Associated Press] * Many New York law schools saw their bar exam passage rates soar thanks to the state's first-time administration of the Uniform Bar Exam this past summer, but some law schools didn't fare quite as well and saw their passage rates decline. Which law schools did well and which ones didn't? We'll have more on this later. [New York Law Journal] * IMDb.com has filed suit against California over a new law set to take effect in January that will allow actors to conceal their ages in their biographies on the television and film site. The state believes this will prohibit age-based discrimination in Hollywood, but the website claims that the law infringes upon its First Amendment rights. [WSJ Law Blog] * "It is unfortunate that the DOJ continues to fight for an interpretation of BMI's consent decree that is at odds with hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers (and) the country's two largest performing rights organizations," but it seems the DOJ hopes the Second Circuit will force BMI to change the way it collects royalties. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky