What Overturning The Boston Bomber Death Sentence Means
The judge should have asked about not just about their degree of exposure to the case, but the kind of exposure.
Morning Docket: 02.01.16
* Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz has pledged to "spend whatever political capital is necessary" to create the most conservative Supreme Court in our country's history. Uh-oh! Voters better elect him, or else we'll be "one justice away from ... unlimited abortion on demand." [ThinkProgress] * A shakeup at the top? More than 20 Schiff Hardin partners -- including the firm's former managing partner, practice group leaders, and an executive committee member -- are leaving to start their own firm thanks to an apparent leadership dispute. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * On the seventh anniversary of his signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, President Obama took action to address the gender pay gap. Companies with 100 employees or more must now include salary info on their annual EEO reports. [New York Times] * Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's legal team filed the first of what's sure to be many appeals: They've asked the First Circuit to overturn his conviction and death sentence, as well as an order that he pay more than $101M to his victims. [Reuters] * For some reason, people are highly opposed to the ABA's proposal to lift its ban on law students receiving pay for their credit-bearing externship positions. Yes, let's continue to make indebted students pay for their experiential learning opportunities. [ABA Journal]
A Career In Legal Services: Practising Law Institute Honors Toby J. Rothschild
PLI honors Toby J. Rothschild with its inaugural Victor J. Rubino Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Training, recognizing his dedication and impact.
Morning Docket: 01.19.16
* The New York Times editorial board believes SCOTUS justices "already have all the evidence they need to join the rest of the civilized world and end the death penalty once and for all" -- and they may get the chance to do so this Term (but won't). [New York Times] * A Texas lawyer has filed the first "birther" lawsuit against Republican candidate Ted Cruz, seeking a declaratory judgment that the Canadian-born senator isn't eligible to run for president. The filing is a pretty entertaining read in that it's completely insane. [KHOU 11 News] * Just when ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf chair Steven Davis thought his legal troubles were over, Citibank swooped in to slap him with a suit seeking repayment of a $400,000 loan for his capital contribution to the failed firm. [New York Law Journal via ABA Journal] * The U.S. Copyright Office has formed an academic partnership with George Mason University School of Law. We bet students and law school administrators alike are probably hoping it'll turn into an employment partnership as well. [IP Watchdog] * Lower-ranked law schools ought to thank their lucky stars that U.S. News "ranking competition" exists, because if not for fear they'd sink in the rankings, higher-ranked schools would've enrolled students typically bound for unranked schools. [Forbes] * Not only has Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's first bid to get a new trial been rejected, but in what's been called a "symbolic gesture," the convicted Boston Marathon bomber has now been ordered to pay more than $101 million in restitution to his victims. [Boston Globe]
Morning Docket: 08.26.15
* Melvin Feliz, husband of Keila Ravelo, the partner who allegedly bilked Hunton & Williams and Willkie Farr out of millions to lead a life of luxury, pleaded guilty in the fraud case brought against him. Is she a prospective Real Housewife of Cellblock D? [Bergen Record] * Sorry, Southwest passengers, but the Seventh Circuit says you're stuck with your free drink vouchers, and the lawyers who represented you in this class-action suit are stuck with their $1.65 million. No one is happy up in the unfriendly skies. [Associated Press] * China's economy may be on the brink, but that doesn't matter to Dentons. The firm is as happy as ever about its proposed merger with Dacheng because it really wants a horde of lawyers, so it's gonna get one. It's "almost absurd" to think otherwise. [Am Law Daily] * As we mentioned yesterday, lawyers work too damn much -- so much, in fact, that they're quitting their Biglaw jobs, starting competitor practices, and poaching talent from top firms by offering them a sense of work-life balance. [Harvard Business Review] * Kevin Fagan, perhaps better known as Juror 83 in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial, is speaking to the media about his experience, and says he might've changed his death penalty vote if he had known the youngest victim's parents opposed it. [WSJ Law Blog]
Morning Docket: 08.19.15
* This is a footlong you definitely don't want (but it's probably much more like a six-incher if he's lucky). Former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle is expected to plead guilty to child-pornography charges. We can't wait to see what his plea deal with authorities actually entails. [CNN] * Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers filed a brief in favor of their client getting a new trial because his attack on the Boston Marathon apparently wasn't a "crime of violence" within the meaning of the law he was sentenced under at trial. [WSJ Law Blog] * “To achieve those solutions, wouldn’t it help if you had a free press?” Justice Ginsburg's travels recently took her to Vietnam, where she spoke to a packed house about the country's need for greater freedom of press to promote social justice. [Voice of America] * Here's a little-known fact about Biglaw: many of its most well-known partners were "White House rejects." For example, Willkie Farr, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Bracewell & Giuliani, and Davis Polk are all named after failed presidential candidates. [Am Law Daily] * A New Mexico criminal defense attorney charged with a slew of criminal offenses is representing himself in a trial having to do with his shooting of a man outside his office. His best defense thus far? The man was a "methed-out lunatic." [Albuquerque Journal]
Criminally Yours: The Death Penalty For Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
How could the jury believe that a person so young could be so unredeemable? That the only satisfactory conclusion to his heinous acts would be his own death?
Thomson Reuters Brings The Human Touch To Artificial Intelligence
A “human-in-the-loop” approach helps us bring responsible and effective AI solutions together.
Morning Docket: 05.18.15
* Jose Baez of Casey Anthony trial fame gave the commencement address at Valparaiso Law this weekend and let graduates know that they, too, can be attorneys, even if they've been financially irresponsible. They're letting this man teach at Harvard Law now. [The Times] * Suffolk Law and Cardozo Law will have new deans this summer, and both are planning for smaller classes. Considering Suffolk's plummeting LSAT scores (and standards?), its new dean may have bigger problems to deal with than filling seats. [National Law Journal] * He "Pressure Drop[ped]" the ball: If you could take the LSAT or open for the Rolling Stones with Toots and the Maytals, which would you pick? This Paul Hastings partner took the test, and says it's his only regret about choosing law over music. [Am Law Daily] * Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may have been sentenced to death last week, but it's highly unlikely that his punishment will be carried out any time soon, if at all. Instead, he'll be putting his lawyers to work for time ad infinitum. [WSJ Law Blog] * "[D]on’t let anyone say that Charleston School of Law was already in trouble." A local attorney says that this soon-to-fail law school only started circling the drain after its proposed sale to InfiLaw was announced. That's quite the indictment. [Post and Courier]
Boston Bomber Sentenced
The Boston Bomber has been sentenced for his crimes.
Non-Sequiturs: 05.14.15
* The NFLPA is appealing the 4-game suspension Tom Brady received in the wake of the Wells Report. It's more probable than not that he'll lose. [CNN] * Lawyer tackles his own client trying to flee the courtroom. Great, now litigators have to start worrying about the long-term effect of concussions. [Legal Cheek] * New rankings are out and Thomas M. Cooley Law School (or WMU or whatever) is NUMBER 1! Seriously. For real. Find out why... [Georgetown Law via TaxProf Blog] * The Wright Brothers: The Original Patent Trolls. [Concurring Opinions] * Are you into spy thrillers? What about lengthy treatises on standing? Well, then you're in luck. [Dorf on Law] * A Washington prosecutorial office rocked by misconduct allegations. Ho hum, prosecutors break the rules. But the source -- a whistleblowing veteran prosecutor -- is a new twist. [The Open File] * The jury is deliberating on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's fate in the Boston bombing trial [Law and More] * The final two items both focus on agricultural regulations. First, a look back at the life of Roscoe Filburn, the wheat farmer at the center of Wickard v. Filburn. Now I'll never not see Homer Simpson when I think of that case. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Second, if you aren't following the raisins takings case, basically the government takes a share of the annual raisin crop for its own use... without compensating the growers. Put aside the constitutionality, that's startlingly inefficient when the government encourages farmers to shift away from a crop the government needs. Here's a video about the farmers at the center of the case. [YouTube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFbzLPJtYPE
Morning Docket: 05.14.15
* Andrew and Alecia Schmuhl, the husband-and-wife lawyer duo accused of treating a law firm managing partner and his wife to a "torture session," had a hearing this week where it was revealed that Andrew allegedly slit the managing partner's throat. [Washington Post] * 'We’re asking you to choose life. Yes, even for the Boston Marathon bomber." Jurors began deliberating in the death penalty phase of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial late yesterday afternoon. It's worth noting that the last time someone was executed in Massachusetts was 70 years ago. [Boston Globe] * “Explaining these persistent gender disparities in income ... has proven to be much more difficult than simply identifying them.” Per a study conducted by Harvard Law, the wage gap for women in the law has been growing since 1975. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * The deadly Amtrak derailment hit too close to home for attorneys in the Northeast who travel frequently on the Acela line. In fact, some of our best tips have come from Acela trips. Our thoughts are with those who were affected by the crash. [National Law Journal] * A sexy little spat: Dov Charney, the ex-CEO of American Apparel, filed a $20M defamation suit against the company, claiming that despite what employees were told, he never agreed that he'd stay away from American Apparel for good. [Los Angeles Times]
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Morning Docket: 05.05.15
* Ever argued about weed before SCOTUS? Ever argued about weed before SCOTUS... while high? The Supreme Court asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. to weigh in on the marijuana border wars suit filed by Oklahoma and Nebraska against Colorado. [Denver Post] * Well, that was quick! After enacting this rule just last year, the ABA now wants to put a stop to law schools using an exception that would allow up to 10 percent of their entering classes to consist of students admitted without having taken the LSAT. [ABA Journal] * Landon Thomas, a 2014 NYU Law graduate, has been missing for more than a week. He was last seen in Harlem on April 27. His friends and family have set up a Facebook page to aid in the search. If you have any information, please call the police. [DNAinfo] * Corinthian Colleges, a higher education system that ran an employment falsification scam that was eerily similar to what law schools were once doing, has gone belly up, and Biglaw firms are swooping in like vultures to get in on the action. [Am Law Daily] * After being convicted on 30 federal charges last month, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showed some emotion for the first time during the penalty phase of his trial, where he was seen wiping a tear while his aunt sobbed on the stand. [TIME]
Morning Docket: 04.22.15
* Law school graduates may not be able to find jobs immediately, but not to worry, because according to this law professor, at least they won't be homeless -- and sadly, for some people, a thought like that may be comforting. [Washington Post] * Sofia Vergara is locked in a battle with her ex-fiancé over their frozen embryos. Her lawyer says now that she's engaged to the studly Joe Manganiello, she has “no desire to have children with her ex," but that certainly isn't going to stop him from suing her to become a dad. [New York Daily News] * Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may regret flipping the bird at a security camera in his federal holding cell now that it's being shown to the jury in the punishment phase of his trial to prove that he's "unrepentant, uncaring, and untouched” by his crimes. [Boston.com] * If you've been waitlisted at a law school you're desperate to get into, perhaps you ought to try sending a letter of continued interest. Hey, you never know, bringing attention back to your application might just might work! [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News] * Black lives matter, but apparently not to the police. The DOJ has opened an investigation into the death of black Baltimore resident Freddie Gray following his arrest. He died from a "severe spinal cord injury," but the police claim to have no idea how it happened. [CNN]
Non-Sequiturs: 04.09.15
* Police claim David Messerschmitt's killer stole only $40. [Washington Post] * Lil Wayne vs. Cash Money. Which is, apparently, not an in rem action. [FactMag] * What is the difference between confidence and arrogance? Obviously, I know the answer, but let's see if you can figure it out. [Corporette] * One angle I missed from today's news that a gunman attacked a courthouse in Milan is that this is life imitating art, eerily reminiscent of a plotline on The Good Wife. [Law and More] * Immigration attorney is a no-show at her sentencing for 13 felony theft counts for accepting fees and botching her work. You'd think she skipped the country except we know she sucks at immigration law. [ABA Journal] * Former president of the World Bank's LGBT employee organization is under investigation. He thinks this seems pretty suspicious. [Buzzfeed] * The Tsarnaev trial highlights the continuing stupidity of keeping cameras out of the courtroom. [Vanity Fair] * Another installment of "Roberts at 10," looking at his 10 years as chief. What's his legacy on LGBT rights? Well, unsurprisingly, we're not going to know for sure for a couple months. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * A new study reveals that judges are less ideologically biased than law students. Again, it's not that judges are less firm in their ideology, it's that they've learned to pick their battles. [WSJ Law Blog]
Morning Docket: 03.04.15
* Meet David King of King v. Burwell, the epic Obamacare case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. [New York Times] * And meet the two legal heavyweights who will be arguing the case before SCOTUS. [Politico via How Appealing] * Meanwhile, another Supreme Court has put a stop to same-sex marriage down in Alabama -- for now. [Buzzfeed] * General David Petraeus reaches a plea deal, requiring him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a fine (but no prison sentence). [Washington Post] * It's not as sexy as Obamacare or marriage equality, but the collection of state sales tax on out-of-state purchases made online is a pretty important issue -- and Justice Kennedy wants SCOTUS to revisit it. [How Appealing (linkwrap)] * In the wake of a leadership shake-up, Cadwalader is beefing up its Houston energy practice -- but is that a wise idea, with the price of oil spiraling downward? [American Lawyer] * Finally, something that Elie Mystal and Jordan Weissmann can agree upon: dropping the LSAT is a bad idea. [Slate] * A jury of eight men and 10 women will start hearing arguments today in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, defendant in the Boston Marathon bombing. [How Appealing (linkwrap)] * Legal ethics guru Monroe Freedman, RIP. [ABA Journal]