Class Actions

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.07.15

* Vikram Amar, the incoming dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, says that he demanded a pay cut before taking the job to help make legal education more affordable for students. The piddling amount of money he'll be sacrificing will absolutely infuriate you. [WSJ Law Blog] * When law firms break up and partners attack, it can sometimes be pretty entertaining (and a little sad, all at the same time). In this case, former partners have accused each other of being mentally unstable and going online shopping for hours instead of practicing law. [Daily Business Review] * In case you don't remember the law school lawsuits about deceptive employment stats, some of them are still alive and kicking. One of the last surviving suits against Widener Law was recently denied class certification. [New Jersey Law Journal via ABA Journal] * Per Altman Weil MergerLine, 2015 is on pace to be a record year for law firm mergers. Statements like this have been made since the recession, but this time, it's the highest number of mergers recorded in the company's history. [Crain's Cleveland Business] * According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector lost 800 jobs in June. That's not exactly a comforting thought for those of you who are studying for the bar exam and don't have a job lined up yet. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.24.15

* Partners at this law firm tried a threesome, but it didn't exactly work out as expected, so now they're scaling it back to just one at a time. (And by this, we of course mean that Porter Scott's three co-managing partners plan was a no-go.) [Sacramento Business Journal] * More than 40 class-action suits have been filed since the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, with many litigants alleging that they were "duped" into its purchase. Maybe one of them will pack a better punch than the so-called "Fight of the Century." [National Law Journal] * Just because one Biglaw firm went under, in part, because of its brand-spanking new administrative hub, that doesn't mean your firm shouldn't consider opening one. The risk might be worth the reward of saving millions in expenses. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * Concordia Law launched a media campaign to attract students, touting the fact that it's been kind of provisionally approved by the ABA as its selling point. It's new slogan is likely "Meh, we're good enough for the ABA, so we're good enough for you." [Idaho Statesman] * Here's some good news for the people who are actually considering taking the D.C. bar exam instead of just waiving in like the rest of civilized society: the D.C. Court of Appeals will finally allow you to type the essay portion of the exam on your laptops. [Legal Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.28.15

* Nebraska banned the death penalty. Does this signal a new conservative opposition to the practice? Well, is there a way this can make private prison lobbyists more money? Because then, yes. [FiveThirtyEight] * The best way to sway a Supreme Court justice? Represent clients that the justices have financial stakes in. [Fix the Court] * Pharmaceutical companies are peeved that lawyers are using Facebook to identify class action plaintiffs. Why aren't people content to suffer grievous injury for the sake of profits anymore? [Bloomberg Business] * Now you can know for sure if your job will be replaced by a robot. Good news, lawyers! Unfortunately, I don't think this thing's taking into account document reviewers. [Postgrad Problems] * Jawbone is accusing Fitbit of poaching workers to steal its technology. Ten points to the tipster for the line: "Think this will all work out?" [Slate] * Two Biglaw partners from rival firms have joined forces on a new challenge Native American adoption rules. It helps that they're married to each other. [National Law Journal] * An interesting perspective: "innovation" is more than technology, and it starts with debt relief. [Rawr] * A former state senate candidate charged with witness tampering. At least he's got experience with the system -- his dad's political career ended in a hail of guilty pleas too. [Nashoba Publishing] * Brace yourselves for a shocker, but Biglaw is failing women. [The American Lawyer] * David Gans on the upcoming "one person, one vote" claim. The proposition at issue, that representation is based on "voters" not "persons," is so laughably unconstitutional the Court is clearly just trolling us at this point. I mean, putting aside the horrible racism, isn't the 3/5ths compromise pretty compelling evidence that the Founders meant to count people who didn't vote? [Constitutional Accountability Center]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.06.15

* “It’s unconscionable, and I believe they have breached the fiduciary duty to the law school, to the students and to the public.” Appalachian Law is struggling, and some believe its trustees are preventing the school from saving itself. Will this be the first school to fold? [Inside Higher Ed] * “We were all running this ATM machine called big law firms." Before 2008, it was easier for large law firms to make money, but now, there's an "insurmountable gap" in revenue between the industry's heavy hitters and the rest of the pack. [Wall Street Journal] * You'll pry their job security from their cold, dead hands: William Mitchell Law professors know that layoffs may be coming thanks to the school's planned merger with Hamline Law, and have filed suit to protect the Tenure Code. [Minnesota Public Radio News] * Bonus season isn't the only thing that Davis Polk has cornered the market on. According to the latest Bloomberg M&A rankings, the firm came out on top during the first quarter of 2015 when it came to advising on major deals. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * "Whatever happened to The New York Times' fact-checker?" Here's yet another harsh critique of Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon’s cringeworthy defense of law schools, and this time it's from a fellow law professor. Ouch. [The Belly of the Beast via Am Law Daily] * Jay Edelson of Edelson PC may be the "most hated person in Silicon Valley," but he probably doesn't care about being Liked -- after all, he recently filed suit against Facebook over the social networking company's face recognition software. [New York Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
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By Barbri
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.15.14

* Thanks to a former Skadden attorney's failed attempt to kill himself, police were able to retrieve a suicide note -- entitled "A Sad Ending to My Life" -- that revealed the lawyer's $5M Ponzi scheme. We may have more on this later. [Am Law Daily] * "I’m not one who believes there are too many lawyers in the country," says Dean Thomas Guernsey of Thomas Jefferson Law. Conveniently, only 29% of TJSL's '13 grads are working in full-time, long-term jobs as lawyers. Kudos! [U-T San Diego] * The government just paid the least amount of money to legal services contractors since 2008. As far as Biglaw firms are concerned, Curtis Mallet-Prevost posted "significant losses," receiving $2M less than it did in 2013. [National Law Journal] * Because not everyone wears gas masks, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to keep police from using tear gas on peaceful protestors in Ferguson without first issuing "clear and unambiguous warnings." [WSJ Law Blog] * Ladies and gentlemen, this is the main event of the evening! IT'S TIME! FIGHTING out of the blue corner, angry UFC combatants who are planning to use "renowned" antitrust firms to secure "hundreds of millions of dollars"! [Bloody Elbow / SB Nation]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 11.05.14

* A cautionary tale about using online dating to cheat on your spouse — you might end up upwards of $54K poorer. [Legal Cheek] * Alabama wasted time and energy passing a ballot measure for the purely symbolic purpose of reaffirming Xenophobia? Shocking! [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Interesting tale of reporting a female boss for sexual harassment. [Vice] * When the police inevitably come down on you, turn off your iPhones first. [Versus Texas] * 6 Hilarious Trials That Prove the Legal System Is Screwed. [Cracked] * CCAF is hiring. Good pay, flexible hours. Sounds like a great gig if you hate plaintiffs’ firms. [Center for Class Action Fairness] * Should Jewish judges recuse themselves in Palestinian terrorism cases? Um. No? [Tablet Magazine] * Jameis Winston’s lawyer is just the worst. [Jezebel]

By Joe Patrice
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 10.09.14

* Thanks to a partner from K&L Gates, victims of revenge porn will be able to rely upon the assistance of the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project to guide them through the courts pro bono. [National Law Journal] * The latest Princeton Review rankings are out, and now you can find out if you attend a law school that has some of the best professors in the country. Spoiler alert: Yale Law isn’t No. 1. [Huffington Post] * Calling all lawyers and law students! If you bought a Red Bull in the past 12 years to get through an all-nighter, then you’ll be able to make some quick cash from this class action settlement. [BuzzFeed] * It seems that Madame Justice Lori Douglas, the Canadian judge whose nude pictures were leaked online, is no longer facing sexual harassment charges. That must be nice for her, all things considered. [CBC News] * Per federal prosecutors, if you’re not too high to suck at playing games on Xbox, then you’re not too high to forget about friends of the accused Boston bomber removing evidence from your room. [Bloomberg] * Adrian Peterson’s felony child abuse trial is supposed to begin in December, but it could be delayed because the judge may have to recuse. That’s what happens when you call lawyers “media whores.” [CNN]

By Staci Zaretsky