Cats

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.16.17

* What does the future hold for the U.S. Supreme Court? Analysts (including yours truly) opine. [Bloomberg BNA via Storify] * Another prediction of ours has come to pass: congrats to Sullivan & Cromwell partner Brent McIntosh on his nomination as general counsel for the Treasury Department. [Corporate Counsel] * Is it time to break up the Ninth Circuit (as President Trump recently called for)? Professors John Eastman and Brian Fitzpatrick say yay; Judges Sidney Thomas, Carlos Bea, and Alex Kozinski say nay. [House Judiciary Committee] * Anthony Kronman: from dean of Yale Law School to "born-again pagan" (affiliate link). [New Yorker via How Appealing] * Looking for smart, timely takes on the Trump Administration, from an all-star cast of law professors and legal experts? There's a site for that. [Take Care] * Guess who: "Cat-loving judge makes case that has nothing to do with cats all about cats." [Chicago Tribune] * Professor Orin Kerr chats with Professor Barry Friedman about Friedman's latest book, Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission (affiliate link). [Volokh Conspiracy] * The current SCOTUS Term isn't super-sexy -- but there are a few interesting cases on the docket, as Adam Feldman points out. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Attention 2Ls & 3Ls, here's a cool contest -- with $100K in scholarships as prizes! [PR Newswire (press release)]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 12.22.14

* "Pay up or the cat gets it!" is an entirely acceptable means of collecting judgments in Russia. Because of course it is. [Lowering the Bar] * Conservative Teresa Wagner, the professor who sued the University of Iowa for discrimination, is now irked that she's been relegated to the library pending retrial. [TaxProf Blog] * Mayonnaise manufacturer has dropped its stupid lawsuit over the definition of "mayonnaise." Litigation dollars well spent. [Slate] * A new company, "Assholes on Demand," threatens to undercut the primary service lawyers provide. [The Irreverent Lawyer] * North Korea hacks finally hit trend-chasing lawyers where it hurts. [Twitter] * The California bar exam pass rate took a big hit. But big shifts in bar passage are not new in California historically. [Bar Exam Stats] * Number crunchers conclude that in the UK, people hire expensive lawyers more than successful lawyers. [Legal Futures]

By Joe Patrice
American Bar Association / ABA

Non-Sequiturs: 07.10.14

* According to his former lawyer, The Situation’s tan is as fake as his checks. [Defamer /Gawker] * The folks at New Republic explain the Notorious R.B.G. phenomenon in such excruciating detail as to make it really kind of awkward. [New Republic] * Lawyer who asked trainee 78 times to have sex with him and then secretly filmed her around the office gets an eight-month suspension and a fine. Seems like it should be more than that… [The Age] * Dealing with outfit “compliments” and maintaining your confidence. Frankly, learning how to deal with passive-aggressive jerks is an important skill for any working lawyer. [Corporette] * Law schools are in trouble, but something’s blocking reform: the ABA. Seriously, this article is probably a shocker if you haven’t been reading ATL for years. [Forbes] * Day 3 of the Sterling trial: wherein Donald calls his wife a “pig.” [mitchell epner] * Here’s why law students should care about legal funding. So they don’t screw up funding their cases as much as they did their education. [LFC 360] * Remember the brutal fan beating last year of a San Francisco Giants fan? A jury finds that the Los Angeles Dodgers acted negligently. [ESPN] * Corporate litigator leaves her gig to start a “Cat Cafe.” Which is exactly what it sounds like. [Denver Cat Co]

By Joe Patrice
Animal Law

Non-Sequiturs: 04.09.14

* Want to see a really terrible version of 12 Angry Men? Watch it in Louisiana or Oregon, the two states that allow criminal convictions even when jurors are holding out. The Supreme Court has an opportunity to fix that, let’s see if they will. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * Speaking of 12 Angry Men, this chart of the Dungeons & Dragons alignments of each juror is entertaining. [Imgur] * The judge in the Janice and Ira Schacter kerfuffle invoked Above the Law in her decision as proof that the accusations against Ira Schacter were in the public eye. Thanks for specifically promoting us over the rest of the NY media Justice Laura Drager! [NY Post] * Watch a bunch of law students talk about cats on Facebook. Will it end in douchebag posturing and threats of lawsuits? Of course it will! [Legal Cheek] * “Volunteer Liquor Commissioner” was disciplined for operating a Facebook page for people complaining about the police. He’s suing. Better question is what does a “Volunteer Liquor Commissioner” even do? [IT-Lex] * Allegations that Disney ripped off the trailer for Frozen from an animated short. They should really let it go. [Hollywood Reporter] * Chief Justice John Roberts says he’s a minimalist. He’s wrong. [Election Law Blog] * Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP. The IRS decided to keep going with the old product. So now your tax records are at risk. Enjoy the fruits of budgeting with anti-IRS legislators! [TaxProf Blog]

By Joe Patrice
Animal Law

Morning Docket: 11.21.13

* Justice Sonia Sotomayor thinks that the lack of diversity on the federal and state judiciaries poses a “huge danger,” one that might even be greater than her complete inability to dance. [Blog of Legal Times] * Because “love [shouldn't be] relegated to a second-class status for any citizen in our country,” Illinois is now the 16th state in the U.S. to have legalized same-sex marriage. Congratulations and welcome! [CNN] * “His discrimination claim was not about discrimination.” After only 2.5 hours deliberating, the jury reached a verdict in John Ray III v. Ropes & Gray, and the Biglaw firm came out on top. [National Law Journal] * One thing’s for sure: big city bankruptcies ain’t cheap. Detroit has paid about $11 million to Jones Day, emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s former firm, since this whole process kicked off. [Detroit Free Press] * The entire judicial panel overseeing Judge Lori Douglas’s ethics inquiry just quit. Justice apparently wouldn’t be served by continuing to examine a middle-aged woman’s porn pictures. [Winnipeg Free Press] * Baylor Law is being overrun by a colony of feral cats. Someone please tell the administration these kitties can’t be used as therapy animals before finals — students will have their faces clawed off. [Baylor Lariat] * Guy Cellucci, managing partner of White & Williams who died unexpectedly, RIP. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

By Staci Zaretsky