Casey Anthony

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.08.18

* Trump wanted to put Jeanine Pirro on the Supreme Court, which sounds stupid but then you read Neil Gorsuch's writing and wonder, "could it be any worse?" [NY Mag] * Casey Anthony's old lawyer heading to jail for 15 years. Apparently trying to smuggle $13 million in cocaine is frowned upon. [US News] * Stores putting up "No Gays Allowed" signs as Anthony Kennedy's legacy withers. [The Hill] * Since the GOP legislature couldn't muster the votes to kill the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration is just not going to defend it against frivolous lawsuits. That sounds about right. [CNN] * Speaking of "things the Trump administration isn't going to do anymore," the EPA isn't going to deal with asbestos anymore because Trump thinks it's a mob-led conspiracy. [Newsweek] * Here comes the bipartisan legal weed law. Let's see what Fox & Friends tells Trump to do about it. [Forbes] * Ogletree opens up in Portland, Maine... and brings an Above the Law columnist with them. [American Lawyer] * France is trying to ban fake news. [Time]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.02.17

* Yay, Jeff Sessions has done the bare minimum necessary. [CNN] * What does Jeff Sessions think the standard is for lying under oath? [Slate] * Ho, ho, ho. This piece from 2007 by Neal Katyal about independent counsel regulations is particularly salient. [New York Times] * No matter what this Iowa Republican tells you, Sizzler (yes, the restaurant) does not run a real university. [Salon] * Florida's still cool with open carry law. Shocker. Correction: Florida Supreme Court upheld the BAN on open carry. I truly need more sleep, apologies. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Shhhhhh. It's gonna be a secret law. [Huffington Post] * Now the real question: who's next? [Law and More] * The judge from the Casey Anthony case has some theories... [Jezebel]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.30.16

* Fresh off a five-month stint in prison for defrauding clients, Todd Malacuso, a lawyer who once represented Casey Anthony, has been arrested and accused of conspiring to smuggle almost two tons of cocaine into the United States from Central America on his own plane. He's being held without bail as he's been deemed a flight risk. [Daily Mail] * "Taking a fee when you’ve got people literally still paying off their credit cards is a lot different than when it’s essentially found money for the plaintiffs." In a wide-ranging interview, Jason Forge, a partner at Robbins Geller, explains why plaintiffs' lawyers in the Trump University fraud case decided to forgo attorneys' fees. [WSJ Law Blog] * SCOTUS justices seem poised to block Texas from executing a man due to the fact that an outdated definition of intellectual disability is being used in its capital punishment regime. Justice Stephen Breyer said that the Texas standard to determine impairment "would free some, while subjecting others to the death penalty." [USA Today] * "We are refusing to comment on speculation around partners being in discussion with other firms." Biglaw firms are circling King & Wood Mallesons like vultures, hoping to pick off partners as its EUME operations struggle. Goodwin Procter and Chadbourne & Parke are reportedly in talks to extend offers to KWM partners. [Big Law Business] * According to the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-led Congress may be able to tweak some elements of Dodd-Frank without completely dismantling or rewriting the law. After all, "federal agencies have wide latitude to undo reforms" and "there is room to change things." [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.25.16

* Peter Thiel may not have liked being a lawyer, but he's willing to pay for them -- as long as they're suing Gawker. [Law and More] * The owner of the New York Jets is backing Donald Trump and he has an unblemished record of picking winners. As long as you ignore Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Ken O'Brien, the desiccated corpses of Brett Favre and Neal O'Donnell... actually this may turn out okay for the Democrats. [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * The Senate actually did something, and it was good! Yesterday, they passed a bill to help sexual assault survivors. [Slate] * Did Casey Anthony pay for Jose Baez's legal services with her body? A private investigator claims that she did. [Radar Online] * The term "Oriental," as a way to refer to people, is being stripped from federal law. [Air Talk] * Follow up is super important, especially when you are trying to build your own law practice. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.21.15

* Somewhere in Florida, Casey Anthony can rest a little easier knowing that Zenaida Gonzalez, the woman she falsely implicated in the kidnapping and death of her already deceased child, just had her defamation suit thrown out. [WKMG] * Better late than never? The Judicial Conference finally decided impeachment is warranted for Judge Mark E. Fuller, who recently resigned from his position on the Middle District of Alabama's bench in the wake of his "reprehensible" domestic violence scandal last summer. [WSJ Law Blog] * In case you were wondering which Biglaw firms were reaping financial rewards in the race to represent clients in space, Squire Patton Boggs and K&L Gates have both performed at least six figures of work from their mission control centers. [Am Law Daily] * Thomas Rubino, a paralegal at Manhattan firm Paris & Chaikin, allegedly forged the names of 76 judges on fake orders to make his life easier at work. Now that he's facing 234 counts of forgery, something tells us his life is going to be more difficult. [New York Post] * Lindsay Lohan's defamation case against Fox News over comments made on The Sean Hannity Show that she did coke with her mother was dismissed because as Justice Wright noted, "truth is a defense." He clearly didn't think LiLo's claims were fetch. [MSN News]

By Staci Zaretsky
Baseball

Morning Docket: 07.08.14

* Squire Patton Boggs has announced the new leadership structure of its lobbying and public policy practice. It’s really no surprise that the head honchos of the group hail from the Patton Boggs side of the recent merger. [Politico] * “It’s funny how the Supreme Court reaches down and picks this case.” The most important digital privacy case of our time just happened to be filed by Stanford Law’s SCOTUS Litigation Clinic. Awesome. [San Jose Mercury News] * If you’re caught on camera sleeping during a Yankees/Red Sox game, you can probably expect abuse from ESPN announcers. If you call someone an “unintelligent fatty” as an announcer, you can probably expect a $10M defamation suit. [New York Post] * “I’m proud to do my job.” Madonna finally rescheduled her jury duty session in New York City, but she was dismissed early so as not to create a “further distraction for the courthouse.” [New York Daily News] * It’s been three years since Casey Anthony was acquitted of her daughter’s murder. Let us remember this most amazing voicemail: “CASEY ANTHONY NEEDS TO ROT IN HELL! SHE NEEDS TO DIE!” [CNN]

By Staci Zaretsky
Banking Law

Morning Docket: 08.07.13

* The speed (or lack thereof) of justice: The DOJ filed suit against Bank of America, alleging that the bank defrauded mortgage-backed securities investors in 2008. [DealBook / New York Times] * Sri Srinivasan, the newest member of the D.C. Circuit’s bench, is getting ready to hear his first arguments, while litigants try to commit the spelling of his last name to memory. [Legal Times] * The LSAT is not to blame for the dearth of minority enrollment in law schools, said a UVA Law professor, and then a Cooley Law professor had to swoop in to slap him down. [National Law Journal] * After teaming up with Touro, the University of Central Florida is working with Barry on an accelerated degree program. The dean of FAMU is upset. Don’t worry, you’ll get your turn, too. [Orlando Sentinel] * New Jersey is in no rush to legalize gay marriage. To support their views, officials point out that people with civil unions are just like married couples — except for the married part. [New Jersey Law Journal] * Meanwhile, a judge in Illinois will decide whether she’ll dismiss a challenge to the state’s gay marriage ban by the end of September. In her defense, early fall is a great time for a wedding. [Daily Herald] * Belvin Perry, the judge who presided over the Casey Anthony murder trial, may be getting his own Judge Judy-esque television show. Oh, Flori-duh, you never, ever cease to entertain us. [MSN News]

By Staci Zaretsky
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By Barbri
9th Circuit

Morning Docket: 08.02.13

* Hiring a Supreme Court clerk might not be worth a $500,000 gamble for some Biglaw firms. Some will take that sweet sign-on bonus and remove their golden handcuffs before a year is out. [Capital Comment / Washingtonian] * Akin Gump partner and D.C. Circuit nominee Patricia Millett won approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee by a margin of 10-8 along party lines, and now her nomination will head to the full Senate for a vote. [Huffington Post] * President Obama nominated Michelle Friedland and John Owens, two young Munger Tolles & Olson partners, for seats on the Ninth Circuit. If confirmed, that’ll make three partners from the same firm on the bench. [The Recorder] * Sorry, law firms, but it’s no longer cool to inflate hourly billing rates for contract attorneys when you pay them substantially less. You can thank Ted Frank for this judicial revelation. [WSJ Law Blog] * The ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education thinks that just about everything having to do with law schools is “deeply flawed” and needs “serious re-engineering.” How comforting. [ABA Journal] * Law School Transparency is willing to assist schools with the reporting of their ABA post-graduation job placement statistics, for a price. How much is integrity worth these days? [National Law Journal] * For $25K, Casey Anthony’s bankruptcy trustee won’t make her sell the worldwide rights to her story — like her theory of the crime she was acquitted of, it “exists solely within [her] mind.” [Sun-Sentinel]

By Staci Zaretsky
2nd Circuit

Morning Docket: 05.09.13

* Right about now, the Second Circuit is wondering why authors are suing Google and crying infringement over the Internet company’s e-book project, especially since digitization could benefit so many of them. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * This is the end of an era of legal battles: Jeffrey Skilling, Enron’s former chief executive officer, is getting a little shaved off the top of his 24-year prison sentence thanks to a deal with the Department of Justice. He’ll be out in 2017. [CNBC] * Biglaw expected to have a slow start in 2013, but no one expected it to be this slow. The latest Citi report wasn’t exactly encouraging; on average, firms saw a 0.2% increase in revenue during the first quarter. [Am Law Daily] * In the past decade, the American Bar Association has created six task forces to explore changing the face of legal education as we know it. Funny… nothing’s really changed. [National Law Journal] * Bail for Ariel Castro, the accused Cleveland kidnapper, has been set at $8 million. “Just think of how many ribs and salsa albums could be bought with that, bro,” said Charles Ramsey. [Chicago Tribune] * Casey Anthony had a bankruptcy hearing yesterday, but that news was overshadowed because everyone cared more about the girl who wasn’t going to get away with murder. [Orlando Sentinel]

By Staci Zaretsky
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
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 03.19.13

* President Obama nominated Thomas Perez, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, to be the next secretary of labor. Republicans, of course, are all butthurtt, calling this a “needlessly divisive nomination.” [New York Times] * Let’s get ready to RUMBLE! Be prepared to see some legal heavyweights next week when the Prop 8 and DOMA cases are argued before the Supreme Court, including Paul Clement and Ted Olson. [National Law Journal] * How appropriate that Justice Scalia should break out the Spanglish for an Arizona voter registration law that requires proof of U.S. citizenship. Our beloved Wise Latina probably wasn’t too thrilled by this. [New York Times] * To promote pay equity in law firms, the ABA is encouraging bar groups to hold conferences on the topic. The question on everyone’s minds, of course, is whether those conferences are billable. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * Law schools aren’t the only places where transparency is lacking. Jeh Johnson, the DOD’s former general counsel, thinks the secrecy swirling around drone strikes is bad for the government. [At War / New York Times] * The members of Debevoise’s displaced trusts and estates practice team have been picked up by Loeb & Loeb. Enjoy your new home, and your new — presumably lower — compensation package. [Am Law Daily] * Lindsay Lohan took a plea deal yesterday, and instead of going to jail, she’ll be going to rehab to be kept under lock and key for 90 days. I’d say this is bad for her career, but who are we kidding? [Los Angeles Times] * Casey Anthony’s trustee just answered my prayers. He wants the ex-MILF to sell her story to pay off her debts. I demand that LiLo be cast in the role! She’s the only one broken enough to pull it off. [Washington Post]

By Staci Zaretsky