Dahlia Lithwick

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.07.19

* Can the outrage of strip searching a 4-year-old get the Supreme Court to rethink qualified immunity? Well, killing and torturing people hasn't done it so it's not clear why this would. [National Law Journal] * Clifford Chance is the latest firm to deliver a bodyblow to the billable hour. [Law.com] * Dahlia Lithwick lays out a case that Democrats can focus on impeaching Trump and winning in 2020 too that elides any attention to the ways that the former would likely significantly undermine the latter. [Slate] * Pepe's Revenge: The artist behind the cartoon that's become the emblem of white supremacy is headed to trial to assert his rights over the image -- specifically the rights of racist groups to sell the image on their own posters. [Courthouse News Service] * A look back at Ted Bundy's trial skills. [Esquire] * Jurors asked if schools can be "willfully ignorant" of recruiting violations. It's probably fair to point out that most are "willfully aware." [Law360] * Deloitte joins fellow accounting firms in dipping its toe into the U.S. legal industry. [American Lawyer] * In-house attorney loses age discrimination suit. [Corporate Counsel]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.14.17

* Federal judicial nominee has no idea what a motion in limine is. EVERYTHING'S FINE!!!! [National Law Journal] * "If law firm merger talks are the equivalent of dating, then firm leaders are playing the field." Yeah... you're gonna get an STD dude. [New York Law Journal] * Dahlia Lithwick recounts her Koziniski story. [Slate] * So Taylor Swift, an elephant, and a funeral home walk into a bar... [Legaltech News] * Ole Miss needs a general counsel. Must be comfortable with hookers and racism! [Corporate Counsel] * Whoa. "Career ending"? What the hell is going on? [Law360]

By Joe Patrice
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By Charles River Associates (CRA)
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.11.17

* After hearing powerful testimony from victims' relatives, a federal jury sentenced Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof to death. [BuzzFeed] * Dahlia Lithwick on yesterday's Jeff Sessions hearing: the nominee "will be handily confirmed," and Democrats "are rightly very, very afraid." [Slate] * An interesting puzzle for the Supreme Court: free speech and credit card fees. [New York Times via How Appealing] * Also from Howard Bashman, also about free speech: Gibson Dunn partner Miguel Estrada "warns City of Philadelphia that his hourly rate is very expensive." [How Appealing] * More about Morrison & Foerster snagging former Justice Department national security chief John Carlin -- the latest in a series of high-profile hires of former government lawyers, including Kathryn Thomson and Jessie Liu. [Law.com] * Some good news out of the Charlotte School of Law: students might be getting their spring semester loan proceeds after all. [ABA Journal] * Speaking of money, Volkswagen is going to pay a lot of it -- perhaps $4.3 billion in fines -- to resolve the federal criminal investigation into its cheating on vehicle emissions tests. [New York Times]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.25.16

* From prosecutor to prisoner: former Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane gets sentenced to 10 to 23 months. [CNN] * Oh, the irony: the ABA won’t publish a report calling Donald Trump a “libel bully” because of “the risk of the ABA being sued by Mr. Trump.” [New York Times] * How the AT&T/Time Warner […]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.24.16

* "If you give a judge a meeting, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk, because he is probably very thirsty from that one time you compared him to Idi Amin." In light of the stranglehold Republicans have on Chief Judge Merrick Garland's fate when it comes to his confirmation hearings, Dahlia Lithwick composed this cute riff on the children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. [Slate] * In an attempt to get with the times, Vermont Law is offering a Reduced-Residency Juris Doctor program, where students will be able to take up to 15 credits online in an off-campus location. Unfortunately, this flexibility comes at a price -- the same exact price as the school's regular J.D. program. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * Considering the high tensions during oral arguments yesterday in Zubik v. Burwell, a legal battle having to do with the ACA's contraceptives mandate, the Supreme Court seems poised to issue another 4-4 split decision in one of the most controversial cases this term. If that happens, the lower court ruling would be left intact. [New York Times] * The ABA Journal wants to know how much you paid in law school tuition. If you graduated before the cost of a three-year legal education was akin to a mortgage, please take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are. If you're a recent graduate, you've got plenty of people to commiserate with about your hefty debt burdens. [ABA Journal] * "Did the Supreme Court make weed legal across America?" No, no it did not, and you must be stoned if you think that's what the high court did in its decision, or lack thereof, in the Nebraska v. Colorado case that it begged off on earlier this week. For now, the federal legalization of marijuana is nothing more than just a pipe dream. [Inquisitr]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.29.15

* "Coming to SCOTUS: Battle of the dueling interpretive canons." [LAWnLinguisitcs] * Fun fact: the highest scorer on the July 2015 Florida bar exam didn't even go to law school in Florida. [Daily Business Review] * What is "Lean Law," and how can it help you in your legal practice? [Law Reboot] * Additional information from Bob Ambrogi about the big announcement by Harvard Law and Ravel Law today. [LawSites] *" I felt kind of stupid." A Georgia man fled the courtroom just minutes before being acquitted. [New York Daily News] * Dahlia Lithwick on Dale Cox, the Louisiana prosecutor who wants to "cold cock" defense counsel. [Slate] * Are you "a Yuppie, professional or other generic dweeb between the ages of 22 and 82"? Here's an idea worth considering. [What About Paris?] * Former Wachtell Lipton lawyer Stephanie Lee and her Skybuds colleagues are 90 percent of the way to their Kickstarter goal -- and they still have 20 days left in the campaign. [Kickstarter] * I'll be speaking next week at the Los Angeles LMA chapter's Continuing Marketing Education Conference next week; I hope to see some of you there! [Legal Marketing Association]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.27.15

* The amount of money lawyers are willing to spend on advertisements to reel in new clients is now estimated at $890 million. [Forbes] * The holiday season is fast approaching, you guys. So maybe try and be nice. Yes, even especially to lawyers. [Law and More] * Some courts do find they have the authority to mandate specific CLEs for underperforming attorneys. [South Florida Lawyer] * This is how farms get excluded from workplace safety regulations. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Check out this event tomorrow night in D.C. on the criminal justice system featuring Judge Alex Kozinski, Senator Mike Lee, noted criminal defense lawyer Stephen Bright, and Dahlia Lithwick. [Eventbrite]

By Kathryn Rubino