Ferguson

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.22.16

* Sonia Sotomayor is proving she is a different kind of Supreme Court justice. [Guile is Good] * Nick Denton gets a nice payday in exchange for a non-compete clause. [Wall Street Journal] * Federal judge rules Ferguson School District violated the Voting Rights Act. [Huffington Post] * Democrats are screwing up Obamacare -- does this open the door to the single-payer option? [Slate] * Even Mike Pence can't keep a straight face when confronted with Trump's "ideas." [Salon] * The battle over #sponsored posts continues. [Speechwriter-Ghostwriter] * No maternity leave? No problem. Just learn the basics of an office birth. [Funny or Die]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.05.16

* Ted Cruz never should have left the courtroom, it's the only place where his personality didn't get in his way. [Slate] * Meet Olympic hopeful Ashley Higginson. A track and field steeplechaser, she is a recent graduate of Rutgers Law School (which she got into after a personal plea to the dean) and has already passed the New York bar. Go Ashley! [Sports Illustrated] * I may have disagreed with him about Seattle's most infamous sports fan but Marc Randazza just secured a big win for TMZ getting wealthy Instagram porn-star tosser Dan Bilzerian's claim dismissed AND making Bilzerian cover TMZ's 22K legal bill. [The Dirty] * Good news! The Virgin Islands Supreme Court just found that calling a lawyer a liar is not defamatory. Conduct yourself accordingly. [Legal Profession Blog] * Ferguson prosecutor Stephanie Karr is being removed as city attorney after the DOJ's report on the city singled out her role in numerous constitutional violations. [St. Louis Post Dispatch] * A French worker sues his employer over boring work. Sounds like a fascinating caszzzzzzzzz... [Law and More]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.11.16

* The 5 questions employers shouldn't ask in job interviews. "Does this look infected?" inexplicably fails to make the list. [Law360] * Cleveland is suing Tamir Rice's family for not paying for the ambulance that picked him up after he got gunned down by police. In the contest for "Worst Place In America," Cleveland just keeps racking up points. [Slate] * Mark Cuban continues harassing the SEC with amicus filings over their haphazard enforcement antics. Being rich and a little bit obnoxious finally serves a public purpose. [Litigation Daily] * Ikea has lost the trademark in its own name in Indonesia. This seems as good an opportunity as any to link to this video. [Coconuts Jakarta] * Department of Justice sues Ferguson for years of pervasive racial discrimination. This comes after the city rejected a negotiated deal, because whenever the federal government has you dead to rights you should absolutely piss all over the deal they offer. [Huffington Post] * NASA employees barred from writing "Jesus" in newsletter. Some are calling this a religious freedom issue, but that's ridiculous -- this is a scientific credibility issue. You're NASA! You've been up there and know he's not hanging around on a cloud. [Corporate Counsel] * Sanctioned former Mintz Levin associate brings defamation claims against newspapers. [The Am Law Daily]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.09.15

* Bob McCulloch, the prosecutor who handled (mishandled?) the Michael Brown / Darren Wilson case in Ferguson, Missouri, was recently named as "Prosecutor of the Year" by the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. This probably wasn't a good idea. [Slate] * American Apparel filed for bankruptcy, and rather than Biglaw firms representing the embattled clothier, they're trying to snatch up fees. Skadden, White & Case, and Paul Hastings are each owed quite the pretty penny. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * Which law school dean was just named as senior counsel at Dentons, the largest law firm in the world? That would be Nicholas Allard of Brooklyn Law School. Perhaps this law dean's academic cash flow wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. [Brooklyn Daily Eagle] * "Unless the industry cleans itself up, we can expect more lawsuits like this in the future." In an interesting turn of events, the marijuana industry is now seeing its first product liability suit. A protip for growers: No one wants to smoke fungicide. [Los Angeles Times] * Just when you thought patent trolls couldn't get any worse, they started to harass members of the fashion industry. Copyright trolls (i.e., Stephen Doniger and Scott Alan Burroughs) are suing over textile prints left and right, and that's so last season. [Fortune]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.25.15

* Baker & McKenzie was dethroned by DLA Piper as the the Biglaw king of gross revenue. The firm is blaming its poor performance -- a 4.3 percent drop -- on "currency fluctuations." Better luck on snatching back glory next year. [Am Law Daily; Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * It's hard out here for a pimp with an allegedly small peen: Terrence Howard's divorce settlement was overturned by a judge after evidence was brought forward to suggest the actor was coerced into signing it. Apparently his ex was blackmailing him over the size of his manhood. [ABC News] * There's a new sheriff judge in town, and he's cleaning up the Ferguson, Missouri, courts. His first order of business was to wipe out all arrest warrants issued before December 31, 2014, in the wake of the Michael Brown police shooting last August. [Reuters] * Dean Philip Weiser of Colorado Law has announced that he'll be stepping down from his position in July 2016. He'll be remembered for keeping costs low and putting asses in seats during a time when it was difficult to do both concurrently. [Denver Business Journal] * “On one level I give them kudos for playing hide the ball." Gibson Dunn is fighting a subpoena issued by defense attorneys for computer metadata related to its Bridgegate report that cleared New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of all wrongdoing. [Bergen Record]

By Staci Zaretsky
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Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.03.15

* Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh likes hanging out with the Supreme Court. Harbaugh characterizes Justice Thomas as very enthusiastic. Seriously. This guy thinks someone else is enthusiastic. [Wall Street Journal Law Blog] * Darren Wilson isn't racist, everybody. I mean, he thinks black people have bad upbringings and prefers to eat out "Where it’s not a mixing pot,” but he really wants you to know he's not racist. [Gawker] * Whatever happened to the SCOTUS clerks of ten years ago? [Excess of Democracy] * How terrifying is Heien v. North Carolina? Cops are now stopping people for air fresheners and using it as a pretext to search the car... and courts are approving it. [The Marshall Project] * A Shearman & Sterling partner arrested in a DWI sweep. [The East Hampton Star] * Do you use LinkedIn Pulse to grow your brand? You probably should. [Law and More] * The true story of a prosecutor who went undercover and strapped on a wire for over 3 years to root out corruption in the judicial system. His new book is titled Operation Greylord (affiliate link). [My Fox Chicago] * Health care discrimination against the mentally ill is illegal. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. [Vox] * If you missed Lat's events at the ABA meeting over the weekend, here's a recap of one. [American Bar Association]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket 05.06.15

This profile makes the case for Elena Kagan to be your new favorite Justice. (Don't worry RBG, you'll always be first in Staci's heart.) [American Prospect] * The lateral partner wheel of fortune has taken another spin; Cozen O'Conner has added 8 lawyers from Dickstein Shapiro's state Attorneys General practice group, that's almost the entirety of the group. [National Law Journal] * Speaking of lateral partner moves, are they worth it when clients get fed up with the disruption and potential conflicts that these moves cause? [Law360] * After the scathing DOJ report detailing injustice, the City of Ferguson needs some quality lawyering. They got it in Winston & Strawn chairperson, Dan Webb, but it won't come cheap. [American Lawyer] * After egregious discovery delays caused a district judge to enter a default judgment as to liability against the defendant, a French drone maker, a jury awarded $7.8 million in damages in a patent infringement case. [Legal Intelligencer] * Loretta Lynch makes her first official trip as Attorney General, to Baltimore to meet with community leaders, police, and the family of Freddie Gray. [NPR]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.02.15

* "He said what he wanted people to hear and he didn’t fully answer questions." St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch of Ferguson infamy spoke at Missouri Law yesterday. We understand there was some sort of an "incident" with the SBA as well. We may have more on this later. [KBIA] * "Don't panic; you're bound to get something eventually." California had some of the worst employment statistics for law graduates after the recession. If you're a member of the Lost Generation, these stories may resonate with you. [California Lawyer] * New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was federally indicted on corruption charges yesterday for allegedly accepting more than $1 million worth of gifts and campaign contributions in exchange for political favors. Way to do Jersey lawyers proud. [AP] * Jury selection begins on April 27 for the criminal trial against the former members of Dewey & LeBoeuf's top brass. The prosecution dropped three counts, but Joel Sanders and the Steves must still defend themselves against 100 others. Yikes! [New York Law Journal] * Gordon Smith, one of the writers for Better Call Saul, doesn't think the show's portrayal of lawyer life will inspire young people to "run out to become attorneys." After all, Jimmy McGill's home and office haven't exactly been depicted as "glamorous." [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky