Dennis Hastert

Morning Docket: 10.30.19

* Elon musk has joined the list of celebrities who have behaved poorly at depositions. [Business Insider] * A Texas lawyer has been convicted of scamming Colombian drug dealers out of $1.5M. Guess there is no honor among theives. [Dallas Morning News] * Lawyers have sought a delay of the trial involving former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's alleged agreement to pay hush money to a former student. [NBC Chicago] * A California court has found that a municipality's requirement that city attorneys graduate from an ABA-approved law school is constitutional. This seems like a pretty basic requirement. [The Recorder] * A copyright lawsuit about Taylor Swift's song "Shake It Off" has been revived. I'm not going to make the same lazy joke about this story that pretty much every news source has already made... [USA Today] * Two California law firms have settled a suit alleging that they engaged in a civil RICO conspiracy by filing ADA claims and forcing defendants to fork over quick settlements to avoid costly litigation. [ABA Journal] * The first lawsuit against a fertility doctor accused of substituting his own sperm for that of an anonymous donor has been filed. This story sounds like a bad version of that Vince Vaughn flick. Delivery Man [CBS Denver]

Morning Docket: 12.13.17

* You've probably heard by now -- Democrat Doug Jones is the newly elected Senator from Alabama. Donald Trump has accepted his party's defeat in the Republican stronghold, but Roy Moore has yet to concede. [CNN] * Rod Rosenstein will testify in front of the the House Judiciary Committee today. He's expected to face questions about special counsel, Robert Mueller,  and potential conflicts of interest. [Los Angeles Times] * Former House speaker Dennis Hastert is not to be left alone with children. That's one of several new conditions federal district judge Thomas Durkin placed on Hastert, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to violating federal banking laws in connection with a scheme to cover-up his sexual abuse of teenage boys. [Washington Post] * Senator Chuck Schumer does not play. He called the police after a forged document began circulating falsely accusing the senator of sexual harassment. [Axios] * The Ninth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Federal Arbitration Act. The plaintiffs claimed AT&T falsely advertised their “unlimited” service plans; the novel legal issue asked the court to hold AT&T be considered as acting for the state. [Law.com] * Mecklenburg County, N.C. went public with their decision not to pay after being hit with a ransomware attack. Their data was backed up, the best defense against this kind of cyber attack. [Big Law Business]

Morning Docket 01.20.17

* Welcome to the Trump era! Have you considered pro bono work? [The American Lawyer] * Speaking of Republican leadership, former Speaker and Dickstein Shapiro alum Dennis Hastert trying to get out of paying the rest of that hush money that landed him in prison. [ABA Journal] * To the tune of Paula Cole’s magnum opus: Where have all the ampersands gone? [The Am Law Daily] * A profile of Nancy Hollander, the lawyer who won Chelsea Manning’s clemency. [The Litigation Daily] * Good tips on how to attract and keep the lawyer of the future. But I assume we’ll all just keep condescending to them anyway. [Law360]

Morning Docket: 07.26.16

* Could it be? Could she really do such a thing? Rumor has it that Amal Clooney may be quitting her law firm job at Doughty Street Chambers to become a fashion designer for the likes of fashion house Oscar de la Renta. We may have more on this later today. [Inquisitr] * Maryland's AG intends to contest a ruling granting "Serial" podcast subject Adnan Syed a new trial, saying that the state would "defend what it believes is a valid conviction." Syed has been servicing a life sentence for the murder of Hae Min Lee since 2000. [Baltimore Sun] * Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert may be behind bars for a 15-month term for attempting to conceal secret payments to his underage sexual assault victims in a cover-up scheme, but that doesn't mean he's not going to fight a lawsuit seeking the full $3.5 million he allegedly said he would pay to buy a victim's silence. [Chicago Tribune] * Vermont Law School, which was hit relatively hard by the recession in terms of its ability to fill its seats, has applied for a $15 million loan from the federal government to help restructure its debts. Unlike what its students face in terms of their debt, the law school may be able to get a good interest rate upon approval. [VTDigger / Valley News] * "[A]ttempting to fit the sale of Bitcoin into a statutory scheme regulating money services businesses is like fitting a square peg in a round hole." Congratulations (or perhaps condolences?) digital currency aficionados, because a judge just ruled that Bitcoin isn't money for the purposes of money-laundering statutes. [WSJ Law Blog]

Chicago-Based Biglaw Firm Ponies Up The $$$

The salary wars that started in New York have spurred this firm into action.

Dennis Hastert: A Response To Some Emails

Hastert would not have been prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice if he were simply another old retired wrestling coach with a bad past.

What’s Wrong With The Criminal Justice System: Dennis Hastert Edition

Dennis Hastert may not be a good guy, but his sentencing far exceeded the specific crime that landed him in court.

Biglaw Partners In Support Of Dennis Hastert

A well-deserved loss for these Biglaw partners.

Morning Docket: 04.27.16

* Dig if you will the picture, of you and I engaged in a... probate battle? Uh-oh! In documents filed in a Carver County, Minnesota, probate court, Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, claims that the music icon -- whose estate is said to have been valued at about $300 million -- died without a will. [USA Today] * "[L]ook, if he's not our nominee, I think he would be a great replacement for Scalia." Despite the fact that Senator Ted Cruz previously insisted that he wasn't interested in being nominated to replace the late Antonin Scalia as a SCOTUS justice, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) thinks Cruz is the man for the job. [The Hill] * Dentons says $2 million was "erroneously allocated" to McKenna Long & Aldridge partners during a merger with Luce Forward, and now the Biglaw behemoth really wants the money back. Partner's aren't pleased, griping that "this is a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of merging with Dentons." [National Law Journal via Big Law Business] * Today is sentencing day for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The accused child abuser faces up to five years in prison for attempting to cover up his hush-money payoffs, but prosecutors have asked that he serve no more than six months. We wonder how his Biglaw supporters will feel if he receives a stiff sentence. [Chicago Sun-Times] * Indiana Tech Law School will soon hold a commencement ceremony for its inaugural graduating class of 21 students. These soon-to-be law school graduates say that one of the main reasons they chose to attend the school was its low cost of tuition. Not having a lot of debt is a great thing when your job prospects are uncertain. Congrats! [21Alive]

Morning Docket: 04.26.16

* John LaTorre, the former chief financial officer of Barry Law School, recently pleaded guilty to second-degree grand theft after spending tens of thousands of dollars on school corporate card to finance his Hooters outings and pay his utilities bills. LaTorre faces up to 10 years of probation and will have to pay the school $24,838 in restitution in monthly payments of at least $175. [Orlando Sentinel] * Professor Sujit Choudhry may have resigned from his position as dean of Berkeley Law School after being accused in a sexual harassment scandal, but now he says the school is trying to strip him of his tenure, and he's not going to go down without a fight. In a grievance letter, Choudhry claims school officials smeared him in the press and violated his due process rights. We'll have more on this development later today. [WSJ Law Blog] * This "sets back every blind person who wants to be a lawyer out there": Three blind law students have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against BARBRI, alleging that the bar exam test preparation company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to properly accommodate them with usable study materials, thereby "preventing them from fully, equally, and adequately preparing for the bar exam." [Dallas Morning News] * Just when you thought this ugly legal dispute couldn't get any messier, one of Dennis Hastert's sexual assault accusers decided to sue the former Speaker of the House for breach of contract. Identified as James Doe in his pleadings, he alleges that Hastert agreed to pay him $3.5M in hush money for keeping quiet about the abuse he endured when he was a teen, but thus far, he's only seen $1.7M of those funds. [CBS Chicago] * It's late April, and if you're still looking for advice on your personal statement for your law school applications, then you're probably already in trouble. However, if you're desperate for a helpful hint even this late in the game and your law school of choice has a late submission deadline, you may want to try including a thesis -- it'll keep your essay from becoming a regurgitation of your résumé. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

Morning Docket: 04.11.16

* Professor Victor Williams of the Catholic University of America School of Law, who's been called the "Republican Lawrence Lessig" by some, is running a write-in campaign for president with the sole intent of eliminating Ted Cruz as a candidate due to his birth in Canada. He alleges that the Texas senator committed ballot access fraud by falsely swearing that he was a natural born citizen. Thanks to Williams's allegations, a primary disqualification hearing is being held today in New Jersey. [PR Newswire] * Does SCOTUS have a diversity problem? One justice thinks so. In the wake of President Obama calling attention to his nominee's whiteness, Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted the Court's homogeneity, saying that SCOTUS is currently at a "disadvantage from having [five] Catholics, three Jews, [and] everyone from an Ivy League school." [TIME] * Here's an interesting theory: According to Patterson Belknap senior partner Gregory Diskant, because the Senate has failed to give President Obama its advice and consent with regard to his Supreme Court nominee, it can be said the Senate waived its rights, leaving Obama free to appoint Judge Garland to the high court. [Washington Post] * "There is something seductively subversive about having a name that has a secondary street meaning, which, by the way, is not necessarily a bad thing to think of your lawyers as being." MoFo -- a law firm that's perhaps known as Morrison & Foerster in more conservative circles -- has fully embraced its sexy "street name." [Big Law Business] * Prosecutors say former House speaker and disgraced Dickstein Shapiro partner Dennis Hastert paid $3.5M to silence a boy he sexually abused, and molested at least four more children. Because the statutes of limitations have long since run on those crimes, he'll likely serve only six months for banking crimes related to his hush-money payoffs. [AP]