campaign finance

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.15.15

* "What Law Firms Can Learn From the Business Decisions of 'Mad Men.'" I'm hoping the answer is "more drinking on the job." [Legal Times] * Hillary Clinton pledges to nominate SCOTUS justices who will overturn Citizens United. And if you agree with her, she'll gladly accept your unlimited donations to her *wink* unaffiliated SuperPAC. [Jezebel] * Seema Iyer talks about one of our favorite recent cases, Driskell v. Homosexuals. [MSNBC] * Sometimes getting fired can be a positive. As they say the Chinese word for crisis contains the word "opportunity." Crisitunity. [Wisconsin Lawyer] * A great detailed piece on California's recent decision to grant a law license to Hong Yen Chang, the Columbia Law grad denied his license over 100 years ago on the grounds of his "Mongolian nativity." [Bloomberg BNA / Big Law Business] * Bad: Being wrongfully convicted. Worse: The system strong-arming the wronged into signing away their right to compensation. [LFC 360] * Should graduate students and adjuncts unionize? Depends. Do they want to be exploited by an unappreciative institution until their souls are sucked dry? Yes? Then no. [New York Times] * Sen. Toomey wants Judge L. Felipe Restrepo on the Third Circuit. Maybe he should start talking to his obstructionist colleagues instead of whining to the paper. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * PacerPro to automatically retrieve documents referenced in notices of electronic filing from PACER. That can help cut down on some mistakes... eh, Sidley Austin? [Law Sites] * Thomson Reuters has a new social network for small law firms. For every post, users can push a little "thumbs up" icon to express, "I [and my successors, assigns, and heirs of my body, indicate my generally warm feelings, reserving all rights to reverse or withdraw this endorsement at any time for any reason whatsoever notwithstanding any prior representations] This!" [Legal Research & Writing Pro] * The 2015 World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest in Memphis is this weekend. How does that relate to ATL? Bob Cornish, a D.C.-based attorney at Phillips Lytle LLP and a trained and certified expert in BBQ is a judge. [Memphis In May]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.01.15

* Floyd Mayweather's lawyer says that his client will post Suge Knight's insanely high $10 million bail if he wins his fight against Manny Pacquiao. Suge says he was "really going to pull for him to win, but now [he's] going to have to pray for him to win." [Los Angeles Times] * Northwestern University School of Law is launching a first-of-its-kind loan repayment assistance program to help grads in "modestly salaried private sector jobs" -- that is, if you make less than $85,000, the school will pay your loan interest for up to a year. [National Law Journal via CBS] * If you haven't heard, the class of 2014 was much more employed than the class of 2013 by a factor of a few percentage points. Apply to law school right now! (No, don't do that. The class of 2014 was smaller, so it looks like the job stats were better.) [ABA Journal] * "[T]he jury is out and the only sane thing you can say about Dentons is check back in three years.” Hot on the heels of the announced merger between Dentons and McKenna Long, many lawyers are running for the exits. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * If you're interested in going to law school on the east coast, then you may want to take a look at this list of schools, ranked by total employment of the class of 2014. We'd shudder to see what this list would look like if only long-term, full-time jobs were used. [BostInno] * A lawyer who's suing former U.S. Representative Aaron Schock on behalf of a campaign donor says he's been unable to locate the disgraced politician to serve him. What will happen now? We bet you can find out on the next episode of Downton Abbey. [ABC News]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 04.30.15

* David Simon, the creator of The Wire, weighs in on Baltimore. He points blame at a police force rooted in "a culture that taught them not the hard job of policing, but simply how to roam the city, jack everyone up, and call for the wagon." F**k. [Talking Points Memo] * In Colorado, marriage is defined as one man and... well, that's all you need actually. [Business Insider Law & Order] * No sooner did I tweet Chief Justice Roberts for his cynical inconsistencies than Brianne Gorod offers a more charitable theory about the jurist. [New Republic] * Hull takes a stab at explaining his problem with the parlance of email. [What About Clients?] * A fly on the wall at the post-Obergefell chambers conference. [Law Prof Blawg] * Professor Hasen examines Williams-Yulee. [Election Law Blog] * Another reality TV legal run-in: the restaurant from "Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s" settles a discrimination suit over an employee claiming she was fired for refusing to join a prayer session. I think the important question here is: there's really a show called "Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s"? [Missouri Lawyers Weekly] * Did you follow that child custody hearing over letting an 11-year-old attend a P!nk (is this how we write that now?) concert? Because it was crazypants. [Bronzino Law] * Could the Uber class action suit spell relief for contract attorneys? [Law and More] * Ballard Spahr’s Chair Mark Stewart talks about the competition between law firms and the distribution of... oh, face it, you just want to hear him talk about hiring Rogers Stevens of Blind Melon as an associate. [Bloomberg BNA / Big Law Business] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzXBlzvxuMs

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket 4.30.15

* Supreme Court actually limits speech rights and upholds a Florida ban on judicial candidates' direct fundraising. Here's the excellent plain English breakdown of Williams-Yulee. [SCOTUSblog] * Former NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver pleaded not guilty to a superseding indictment. [NY Law Journal] * Professor Dorf analyzes the sex discrimination rationale in the same-sex marriage case. [Dorf on Law] * $1 million in sanctions upheld against a Philadelphia lawyer. [Legal Intelligencer] * So this is what they mean by practicing "sexy" law. 2015 list of 100 top Hollywood attorneys revealed. [Hollywood Reporter] * In an increasingly rare bipartisan act, patent reform is back on the agenda. [Corporate Counsel] * According to a new study by Harvard University, nearly 50% of millennials believe the criminal justice system is unfair. Welcome to the party kids. [NY Post]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 04.07.15

* Rand Paul is running for president. He says we need to "clutch[] the Constitution in one hand and the Bill of Rights in the other." Pretty sure those were the same thing. And I'm very sure Senator Paul is leaving out the whole "end of slavery" amendment in his idealized vision of liberty. [YouTube] * With all these states banning travel to Indiana over the RFRA, Professor Gerard Magliocca muses about the constitutional limits of states protesting other states. It's somewhere between banning non-essential employee travel and armed invasion. [Concurring Opinions] * That's one way to set a Guinness Book record: use slaves. [Lowering the Bar] * Jenner & Block managing partner Terrence Truax talks about the legal market and the vital importance of technology. [Bloomberg BNA / Big Law Business] * The Department of Justice has released its report on the long-running story of New Orleans prosecutors allegedly posing under assumed names to poison the well. Long story short, they did it and it was wrong. [Observer] * Wisconsin's campaign finance issues are messed up. [LFC 360]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.26.15

* Senate Republicans are contemplating abolishing filibusters for SCOTUS nominees. This could go one of two ways: it could work out nicely for them, or explode in their faces. It's like a choose your own adventure game. [POLITICO] * When it comes to the upcoming gay marriage cases before SCOTUS, "[e]very lawyer involved will want to argue." Remember, when you're given the chance to make history, you better hope that you're on the right side of it. [National Law Journal] * "[I]f there is one decision I would overrule, it is Citizens United." Even RBG thinks this campaign finance decision is one of the Supreme Court's "darkest hour[s]." [Salon] * SCOTUS refused to stay Charles Warner's execution, but it agreed to grant cert on his lethal injection case days after his death. Better late than never? [New York Times] * The NFL has drafted Ted Wells of Paul Weiss to blow up the absurd controversy that is "Deflategate." Come on, who cares if the Patriots cheated again? [WSJ Law Blog] * Do you know any chronic Biglaw firm-hoppers? How many firms are too many to lateral to? Three? Five? Seven? Jesus Christ, for this guy, try 10 firms. [Am Law Daily]

By Staci Zaretsky
11th Circuit

Non-Sequiturs: 10.20.14

* Eric Holder gave millions to Nazis! Or at least that’s how Darrell Issa will put it. But seriously, the Department of Justice has a long-standing policy of allowing Nazi war criminals to collect Social Security payments if they agree to get the hell out of the U.S. [Associated Press via New Europe] * A Cleveland attorney, Peter Pattakos, is not worried about contracting Ebola, even though he was in a room with a current Ebola patient, because Pattakos is neither a crazy person nor a cable news producer and realizes that he never exchanged bodily fluids with the patient. As he points out, “I’m much more likely to be mistakenly killed by a police officer in this country than to be killed by Ebola, even if you were in the same bridal shop.” [Cleveland.com] * Chanel is suing What About Yves for trademark infringement. The question Professor Colman asks is whether “we really want a trademark ‘protection’ regime in which mark ‘owners’ can prevent creative, non-confusing uses of ‘their property.'” [Law of Fashion] * One for the career alternatives file: Miami lawyer who ranks local restaurants opens his own restaurant. At ATL we rank law schools, maybe we should open our own law school. [Southern District of Florida Blog] * Academic publishers fighting the war on common sense by charging an arm and a leg for access to research that is written and peer reviewed by other people for free scored a victory on Friday when the Eleventh Circuit rejected the lower court’s articulation of educational fair use in the digital age. [The Chronicle of Higher Education] * Balancing parenthood and the “jealous mistress” that is the practice of law. [Jed Cain] * An amazing symposium on campaign finance reform from the NYU Law Review and the Brennan Center for Justice. It’s a wealth of content. [NYU Law Review] * Josh Gilliland from The Legal Geeks gave a presentation on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Law at the San Diego Comic Fest, which sounds much more fun than any “and the Law” class I ever took. He’s provided his slideshow presentation…

By Joe Patrice
Bankruptcy

Morning Docket: 09.24.14

* The United States is launching air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, but some have been compelled to wonder whether it’s legal under international law. Of course it’s legal, under the Rule of ‘MERICA, F*CK YEAH! [BBC] * Dewey know whether this failed firm’s former COO can get out of paying $9.3M to its bankruptcy trustee? Dewey know whether we’ll ever be able to stop using this pun? Sadly, the answer to both questions is no. [WSJ Law Blog] * Marc Dreier of the defunct Dreier LLP has been ordered to testify in person in his firm’s bankruptcy case in Manhattan, but he’d rather stay in the comforts of his prison home in Minnesota. Aww. [Bloomberg] * Dinesh D’Souza won’t have to do hard prison time for his campaign-finance violations. Instead, he’ll be spending eight months in a “community confinement center,” which sounds just peachy. [New York Times] * Northwestern Law is launching a campaign to fundraise $150M to be spent on an endless supply of Chick-fil-A sandwiches financial aid for students and curriculum improvements. [National Law Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Animal Law

Morning Docket: 10.08.13

* Say what you will about Justice Scalia, but the man is hilarious — more funny than his four liberal colleagues combined, according to a statistical analysis of oral argument recordings. [New York Times] * The government shutdown is slowing down the judicial confirmation process, already famous for its speed and efficiency. [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times] * More about news for Steven Donziger in his long-running battle with Chevron. Maybe it’s time to surrender, Steve? I hear Ecuador is a great place to retire. [New York Law Journal] * Law firm merger mania continues, as Carlton Fields combines with Jorden Burt. [Carlton Fields (press release)] * Herbert Smith Freehills says “you’re hired” to Scott Balber, the lawyer for Donald Trump who got mocked by Bill Maher on national television. [The Lawyer] * You might see your dog as harmless and cuddly, but the law might see your dog as a weapon (and rightfully so, in my opinion). [New York Times via ABA Journal] * Congratulations to all the winners of the FT’s Innovative Lawyers awards. [Financial Times] * And congratulations to Heidi Wendel and Deirdre McEvoy, high-ranking government lawyers headed to Jones Day and Patterson Belknap, respectively. [New York Law Journal] * Today the Supreme Court will hear argument in McCutcheon v. FEC, a major campaign finance case that some are calling “the next Citizens United.” Check out an interview with one of the lawyers behind it, after the jump. [UCTV] Marty Lasden of California Lawyer magazine interviewed the severely conservative James Bopp Jr. for the “Legally Speaking” series (in which I previously participated). It appears this interview with Bopp took place before Bopp got bumped from the podium in favor of Erin Murphy, a young superstar of the Supreme Court bar.

By David Lat