Ed O’Bannon

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.16.16

* President Obama will announce his pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia later this morning. Which member of the D.C. Circuit will he choose, Judge Sri Srinivasan or Judge Merrick Garland? America will find out at 11 a.m., and then the real political circus of trying to get a confirmation hearing will begin. [New York Times] * "Republicans know they can't get away with complete and total obstruction, so they may try to set up a double standard." Senate Republicans have refused to fill the vacancy left on the Supreme Court left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, but it looks like more than 30 other federal judicial nominees may have been caught in the political fray. [AP] * After having a district court judge's deferred compensation remedy slapped down by the Ninth Circuit, lawyers in the O'Bannon NCAA student-athlete pay case have asked the Supreme Court to grant certiorari. The lawyers involved "[feel] so strongly in the principles involved" that they don't care if they lose their fees and costs. [USA Today] * A small victory for a washed-up Mean Girl? Lindsay Lohan has never really had much success when it comes to suing others on the basis of likeness appropriation, but a New York judge has refused to dismiss her case against Rockstar Games over a look-alike character in Grand Theft Auto V. You go, girl! [THR, ESQ. / Hollywood Reporter] * Per Lex Machina, after a slow 2014, patent litigation rose by 14.7 percent in 2015. What's troubling to some lawyers, though, is that all of the action has migrated to Texas courts: "Why should this little corner that’s not particularly a hotbed of innovation have such an important role to play in patent law?" [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * Talent agency Rebel Entertainment Partners is suing CBS, the TV station that airs "Judge Judy," because it claims Judge Judy is taking in such a high salary that the network has been unable to dole out its contractually obligated payments. Although she's not named in the suit, Judge Judy, full of sarcasm, says this is "hilarious." [Variety]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 11.24.14

* 2014 Moot Court rankings. Florida Coastal? Really? Good for them. [The National Jurist] * Young lawyers are making legal mobile apps. Great, now I'm going to start getting notifications about helping friends out with their LawVille game. [TaxProf Blog] * Judge sends motivational tweet, no big deal. No judge sends motivational tweet DURING A MURDER TRIAL, now there's something! [Legal Cheek] * A number of law professors filed a brief supporting the NCAA in the Ed O'Bannon antitrust appeal. What do you know, there's actually someone out there supporting the NCAA. [CBS Sports] * Cooley LLP is representing Immigration Judge Ashley Tabaddor in an interesting lawsuit against the DOJ. Judge Tabaddor is Iranian-American, and the DOJ ordered her off all cases involving Iranians based on her heritage. That... doesn't sound right. [Cooley LLP] * Ron Collins kicks off a multi-part series on Judge Richard Posner. [Concurring Opinions] * English was William F. Buckley's third language? Huh. Never knew that. [What About Clients?] * David and Elie appeared on Power Lunch today to discuss bonus season. Video below. [CNBC]

By Joe Patrice
9th Circuit

Non-Sequiturs: 09.24.14

* Quiz: Can you match the picture of the plaintiff to the landmark Supreme Court decision? [Slate] * Ninth Circuit expedites Ed O'Bannon appeal. [USAToday] * New NBC comedy about a law student who becomes a garbage man. Better job security, I suppose. [The A.V. Club] * The federal prison population declined by about 4800 inmates, giving the United States… well, still the worst incarceration rate in the world, but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere. [ABC News] * The contract attorney who sued Biglaw is living in his car and considering a career in construction. Perhaps it was a Freudian thing. [Law and More] * Some philosophy professors are concerned about an individual getting very testy with perceived critics. Anyone want to guess the individual? [Professor David Velleman Homepage / NYU] * In case you missed it, Howard Bashman’s announcement of our new partnership. [How Appealing] * Middle school convinces special needs girl to allow suspected rapist to take her into a bathroom so the school can “catch him redhanded.” She gets raped. Judge dismisses the lawsuit saying he wouldn’t “second-guess” school officials. [Al.com]

By Joe Patrice
11th Circuit

Non-Sequiturs: 06.27.14

* As I noted yesterday over at Redline, the defense in the NCAA trial is putting up some terrible witnesses. Here’s another example. The NCAA’s expert wrote a textbook. The NCAA might have wanted to check it out before bringing him on to help defend themselves IN AN ANTITRUST CASE. [Twitter / Stewart Mandel] * Elie and I got in a spirited discussion with Slate’s Jordan Weissmann over my edits to his piece on law schools. And it looks like some outside observers took notice. [Law and More] * The case for grade inflation. [The Atlantic] * In Wisconsin, a Scott Walker supporter allegedly voted for his boy 5 times. His defense is ripped from a Days of Our Lives script. [CBS News] * Our mates at Legal Cheek have the ideal follow-up to our World Cup guide: Which last 16 World Cup team is your law firm? As a QPR fan, I’ll tip my hat to their Harry Redknapp quote. [Legal Cheeks] * Overpreparing for a simple meeting. [What Should Law Bros Call Me] * An 11th Circuit PIP nightmare. [South Florida Lawyers] * Hong Kong lawyers protesting what they see as China meddling. Honestly can you blame China? Ever since Hong Kong let Batman just swoop in and grab that guy, you can’t really trust the Hong Kong legal system. [Reuters]

By Joe Patrice
Bankruptcy

Morning Docket: 06.10.14

* Hmm, somebody didn’t review those documents quickly enough: the City of Detroit’s bankruptcy trial has been delayed for about a month’s time by Judge Steven Rhodes because the parties needed additional time to get their acts together. [Bloomberg] * The NCAA may have lost the battle in the Keller EA Sports video games case with its $20 million settlement offer, but it’s clearly out for blood to win the war in the O’Bannon case with its tough cross-examination tactics for the lead plaintiff. [USA Today] * GW Law, a school that recently increased its class size by 22 percent and allowed its average LSAT score to slip by two points, yoinked its new dean right out from under Wake Forest’s nose. [GW Hatchet] * The legal profession isn’t exactly diverse, and law schools want to change that — the more pictures of “diverse” students they can display on their websites, the better. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News] * Who really cares what prospective jurors wear when they show up for jury duty? The lawyers arguing that being turned away for wearing sneakers affected their clients’ rights in a case, that’s who. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 06.09.14

* If you’ve ever wondered what’s being said about Supreme Court justices during the vetting process, we’ve got a great one-liner about Justice Breyer, who’s apparently a “rather cold fish.” Oooh, sick burn. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)] * The NLJ 350 rankings are here, and this is where we get to see the big picture about the big boys of Biglaw. In 2013, it looks like headcount grew by 3.9 percent, which is good, but not great, all things considered. Meh. [National Law Journal] * A Wisconsin judge is the latest to give her state’s ban on same-sex marriage the finger, and she did it with flair, noting in her opinion that “traditional” marriages throughout history were polygamous. [Bloomberg] * The Ed O’Bannon antitrust case against the NCAA is going to trial today before Judge Claudia Wilken. Since it could change college sports forever, here’s everything you need to know about it. [USA Today] * According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of those employed in the legal sector is at its lowest level since the beginning of 2014, with jobs still being shed. Welcome, graduates! [Am Law Daily] * UC Irvine Law has finally earned full accreditation from the American Bar Association. We’d like to say nice work and congrats, but we’re pretty sure the ABA would fully accredit a toaster. [Los Angeles Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Basketball

Non-Sequiturs: 05.13.14

* Wal-Mart adds lawyer offices. No, this article isn’t about Infilaw. [ABA Journal] * Now we are! The faculty of Charleston Law is pleading with anyone who will listen to stop Infilaw. [Pro Bono Populi (Charleston School of Law Alumni Association)] * Has the college applications process become a monopoly? There’s an antitrust lawsuit contending it is. Maybe somebody will make the same sort of claim about the law school applications process with all its major security concerns. [Reuters] * The latest traffic stats for blogs edited by law professors. It’s good to see Brian Leiter wasn’t just wrong about being more popular than ATL — he was really, really wrong. [TaxProf Blog] * Goldieblox paid the Beastie Boys (or technically charity) $1 million over using their song for 10 days in an effort to promote smart toys for girls. Good job bringing the lyrics to life, Boys! [Hypebot] * Speaking of intellectual property suits, the University of Alabama sued a company for using a houndstooth pattern because Bear Bryant used to wear hats with a houndstooth pattern that some other company developed. They’ve settled. [SF Gate] * Judge Claudia Wilken has denied the NCAA’s latest effort to delay the Ed O’Bannon trial. At least the NCAA is nearing a settlement on a concussion suit. I wonder if that’ll end up favoring the players? [Associated Press] * Litigation financing meets intra-disciplinary disputes as philosophy professors chip in to help a student sue a Yale philosophy professor for sexual harassment. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * Porsche sued for building cars that are too fast and too furious. [ABC News]

By Joe Patrice