The ACLU’s Strategic Play In The Birthright Citizenship Case
This is just smart lawyering.
The Latest And Greatest In President Trump’s Judicial Nominations (Part 1)
Here's a rundown of where things stand, including district as well as circuit courts.
How Filevine Bakes AI Into Every Layer Of Your Case Management
It’s like having a junior associate who’s never off the clock.
Circuit Court Nominees In The Trump Administration: The Latest News And Rumor (Part 1)
What are the chances of these folks getting confirmed?
Sometimes The Law Can’t Save You
The law often struggles with the messy facts of employment law -- and too often it gets things wrong.
Circuit Court Nominees In The Trump Administration: A Nationwide Round-Up
Names, names, and more names, for federal judgeships around the country.
Morning Docket: 09.29.16
* “The ballot-selfie prohibition is like 'burn[ing down] the house to roast the pig.'" Just in time for Election 2016, the First Circuit has struck down New Hampshire's ballot selfie ban as unconstitutional, citing the fact that it curtailed voters' free speech, and on top of that, the state was unable to identify any complaints of vote buying or intimidation. [POLITICO] * Suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who instructed probate judges to adhere to the state's ban on same-sex marriage, even after the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling, says the ethics charges he faces are "ridiculous" since he never "encourage[d] anyone to defy a federal court or state court order." [WSJ Law Blog] * Wiley Rein lost two practice group leaders to DLA Piper this week. The firm, known for its media, telecom, government contracts, and IP practices, no longer has partners in charge of its telecom group or its wireless group, but it claims these departures were anticipated, and the practice groups were merged ahead of time. [Big Law Business] * Cha-ching! The Caesars bankruptcy is ending, which means the "fee frenzy" for lawyers who were working on the case is about to dry up as well. Nine law firms have been involved in the case since the company first filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and hundreds of millions of dollars of legal fees have already been assessed. [Am Law Daily] * Many jurisdictions adopted the Uniform Bar Exam for the July 2016 administration of the bar exam, and it seems like it may have had the opposite effect on test-takers than what was intended. Graduates of this law school saw their bar exam passage rate drop by 13 percent since last year. We'll have more on this later today. [Albequerque Journal]
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Morning Docket: 08.02.16
* "This feels like an agency that is out of step with a crisis in its profession." The transcript from the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity is finally out, and those who voted to suspend the ABA's power to accredit law schools sought to "send a signal" about student loans and accreditation enforcement. [ABA Journal] * "Having a woman reach this milestone opens the door for us. We are allies in the struggle and we can't do this by ourselves." Women in the law fight to break through the glass ceiling every day, and Hillary Clinton's nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate has served as an inspiration to continue the battle. [Big Law Business] * Which are the best law schools for getting federal clerkship a after graduation? Aside from the incredibly obvious ones, you may actually be surprised by some of the schools that made the list. For those of you who are interested in getting a clerkship bonus when you head to your firm, we'll have more information on this later. [Business Insider] * Sorry, but your law review note might get preempted... Thanks to a split between the First and Second Circuits, in its upcoming term, the Supreme Court will decide what type of benefit must be provided to prove a quid pro quo arrangement, which could likely redefine insider trading law as we've come to know it. [DealBook / New York Times] * Talk about some expensive beauty queen drama: Genesis Davila, who was crowned as Miss Florida USA last month and then stripped of the title for allegedly using professional hair and makeup stylists in violation of the competition's rules, has filed a $15 million defamation lawsuit against the pageant's owners. [ABC Local 10 News]
Morning Docket: 04.28.16
* ASS Law is back in the news: Earlier this week, professors on the George Mason University Faculty Senate voted 21-13 to reopen the naming process on the already twice-renamed Antonin Scalia Law School. These professors must know that their actions have no impact on the administration's decisions... right? [BuzzFeed News] * Thanks to allegations of sexual harassment brought forward by courthouse personnel, Judge José A. Fusté of the District of Puerto Rico was allegedly forced by the First Circuit to "retire" from his position, effective June 1. If you're unable to read in Spanish, Google Translate has a version in broken English that may be slightly helpful. [El Nuevo Día] * Attention intellectual property attorneys, because your practice area just got a little more exciting. The Defend Trade Secrets Act passed in the House yesterday by a vote of 410-2, and that means the “most significant expansion of federal law in intellectual property since the Lanham Act in 1946” will likely soon become law. [WSJ Law Blog] * "Transitioning at a Biglaw firm, are you crazy?" Not only is it possible to transition in Biglaw, but it's possible to thrive as a transgender woman in Biglaw, and Sara Schnorr of Locke Lord had the full support of her firm. In fact, she was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Congrats! [Big Law Business] * "Is nonlawyer ownership of law firms long overdue? Or a bad idea?" The U.K. and Australia are already doing it, and now the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services is seeking comments for an issues paper on the risks and benefits of nonlawyer law firm ownership. Email us or tweet us and let us know what you think. [ABA Journal]
Benchslap Of The Day: Puerto Rico Not So Suave
"The district court’s ruling errs in so many respects that it is hard to know where to begin."
Morning Docket: 04.08.16
* Professors at George Mason are outraged that administrators agreed to rename the law school after the late Justice Antonin Scalia without any input from the people who work or study there -- his opinions don't "reflect the values of our campus community." They're circulating a petition to denounce the name change, but thus far, none of its signatories are law professors. [NBC News] * "I would appreciate if we could keep things that are very serious here appropriately viewed that way." 50 Cent got yelled at by his bankruptcy judge because he brought his cellphone into the courthouse, took a picture of himself with a stack of fake cash, and posted it on Instagram. A motion to dismiss this wanksta is needed. [WSJ Law Blog] * SCOTUS will hear oral arguments on the appeal of securities fraud case Salman v. United States next term, and Eugene Ingoglia of Morvillo L.L.P. hopes the justices will provide some greater detail as to "what counts as a personal benefit." Let's just hope that they don't make insider trading's road any rockier. [DealBook / New York Times] * "The district court’s ruling errs in so many respects that it is hard to know where to begin.” You know that when an appellate holding begins with the prior statement, the trial judge is going to be in for a doozy of a benchslap. We'll have more on the First Circuit slapping around Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez (D.P.R.) later today. [BuzzFeed] * Jamie Wine, who was recently appointed as the chair of Latham’s global litigation and trial department, says even though L&W already has 610 litigators, she's looking to hire more of them in the firm's New York and London offices. If you think you want to lateral in, you should know you may be meeting with up to 50 partners. [Big Law Business] * Hiring for law school summer associates may be on the rise, but you shouldn't assume this means you'll automatically be able to land a job at a prestigious law firm. These firms tend to "put a high value on law school pedigree and grades," so if you happen to attend a lesser school, you'll need to be ranked very highly. [U.S. News & World Report]
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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]
Morning Docket: 08.27.15
* Should town clerks opposed to gay marriage be required to issue licenses to all couples? The Sixth Circuit says.... [How Appealing] * John H. Ray III, the African American ex-associate at Ropes & Gray who claimed the elite firm discriminated against him, loses in court again, this time before the First Circuit. [National Law Journal] * Vester Lee Flanagan aka Bryce Williams, the Virginia television broadcaster who killed two colleagues on-air before killing himself, was also no stranger to the legal system: he filed multiple lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. [New York Times] * Why are in-house lawyers more likely than their non-attorney corporate colleagues to fall for phishing emails? [ABA Journal] * Dewey know when the prosecution will rest in this seemingly endless trial? Probably today. [Wall Street Journal] * State judges get nasty with each other in Oregon. [Oregonian] * Federal judges around the country are advocating for a second look at how defendants get sentenced. [New York Times] * The Dilly in Philly: Paul Clement v. Ted Olson. [Am Law Litigation Daily] * A T14 law graduate turned "traveling artist" gets charged with criminal sexual assault in Chicago. [Chicago Tribune] * Speaking of sexual assault laws, Emily Bazelon explains how the St. Paul’s Rape Case shows why these laws must change. [New York Times] * Update: convicted Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes didn't get just a life sentence, but 12 life sentences -- plus 3,318 years on top of that. [CNN] * Linda Hirshman, author of the forthcoming book Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World (affiliate link), explains how Justices O'Connor, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor brought wisdom to SCOTUS (but where's the love for Justice Kagan?). [Slate via How Appealing]
Federal Judge Benchslaps Litigant For Acting Like An Ostrich
Pull your head out of the sand, unless you want to lose your appeal.
Morning Docket: 09.25.14
* Per the First Circuit, plaintiffs who successfully challenge the Defense of Marriage Act in court aren’t entitled to attorneys’ fees. The Department of Justice had no comment. [National Law Journal] * Florida Coastal Law finished second-to-last in bar passage for the July 2014 exam, with 58% of grads passing. It was one of Florida Coastal’s worst performances to date. [Florida Times-Union] * ASU Law got a $10M donation, its largest ever. “The remarkable thing about it is we didn’t ask him for it,” says the dean, which is a slightly better response than Drexel’s dean had. [The Republic] * Much to his defense team’s chagrin, accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial will remain in Boston. The media spectacle is set to begin in January 2015. [New York Times] * Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of Jersey Shore fame was indicted on tax fraud charges to the tune of $8.9M. He pleaded not guilty yesterday afternoon. There aren’t tanning beds in jail. :( [Asbury Park Press]
Morning Docket: 05.23.14
* Congrats are in order for David Barron. The Harvard Law professor was confirmed to the First Circuit in a close vote (53-45), despite his apparent allegiance to our new drone overlords. [WSJ Law Blog] * Another one bites the dust: Weil’s London banking leader Stephen Lucas decamped for Kirkland & Ellis. The firm retorted by saying: “We have got 40 finance lawyers left.” Aww, yay for you. [The Lawyer] * We already know that state prosecutors are very poorly paid, but let’s go one step further and see if women are paid less than men. Shockingly enough, women are getting the shaft in Texas. [Texas Tribune] * Dean Jack Boger of UNC Law is stepping down, but he’s proud of keeping legal ed affordable. “[B]y relative standards, we’re still doing that,” he said. It’s ~$39K for out-of-state students. [Chapelboro.com] * O.J. Simpson’s lawyers submitted a gigantic legal doc in an attempt to get him a new trial for his armed-robbery case. Court word limit: 14,000. Words in the Juice’s motion: 19,993. Rules: LOL. [NBC News]