Fourth Circuit
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4th Circuit, Bar Exams, Biglaw, Deaths, Divorce Train Wrecks, General Counsel, In-House Counsel, Law Schools, Martin Lipton, Money, Morning Docket, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 07.18.13
* It’s Alito time, bitch! If you were wondering about any of the cases in which the justice recused himself last year, his latest financial disclosure report is quite telling. [Blog of Legal Times]
* Yet another appellate court has ruled that Obama’s recess appointments to the NLRB were unconstitutional. Alright, we get it, just wait for the Supreme Court to rule. [TPM LiveWire]
* Hey baby, nice package: With stock awards soaring, general counsel at some of the world’s largest companies had a great year in 2012 in terms of compensation. [Corporate Counsel]
* NYU Law professors want Martin Lipton of Wachtell Lipton to swallow a poison pill and step down from the school’s board of trustees over his ties to the University’s unpopular president. [Am Law Daily]
* Now that they’ve stopped acting like the doll they were arguing about in court, MGA has put aside its differences with Orrick to amicably settle a fee dispute in the Bratz case. [National Law Journal]
* Who needs to go on a post-bar vacation when you can take a vacation while you’re studying for the bar? This is apparently a trend right now among recent law school graduates. Lucky! [New York Times]
* A man puts assets into his pin-up wife’s name on advice of counsel, she files for divorce, and the firm allegedly takes her as a client. This obviously happened in Florida. [Daily Business Review (sub. req.)]
* David Schubert, the deputy DA who prosecuted Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars, RIP. [Las Vegas Sun]
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4th Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, California, Constitutional Law, Crime, Gay Marriage, Health Care / Medicine, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, Music, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, State Attorneys General, Supreme Court, Trials
Morning Docket: 07.12.13
* You’ve seen Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg give Justice Antonin Scalia the finger in prose, but now you can hear what it would sound like in operatic form as composed by a recent law school graduate. [NPR]
* The Fourth Circuit upheld Obamacare’s employer mandate against Liberty University, calling it a constitutional tax, just like the individual mandate. Now’s a perfect time for a sip of Campari. [WSJ Law Blog]
* The Fried Frank toner bandit was sent to the slammer, but alas, it’s unlikely that the firm will be able to recover any of its losses. Too bad, it could use the cash after its 2012 performance. [Am Law Daily]
* Crisis? What crisis? The dean of UC Davis Law refuses to trim class size, but that doesn’t really matter — the application cycle is handling the situation quite nicely. [Sacramento Business Journal]
* Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane won’t defend the state against a lawsuit seeking to overturn its ban on same-sex marriage. She’s choosing the people over politics. [New York Times]
* With his trial quickly drawing to a close, George Zimmerman is growing increasingly worried about his future. Let’s face it, even if he’s acquitted, living in hiding isn’t a very good look for him. [ABC News]
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11th Circuit, 4th Circuit, 7th Circuit, Bankruptcy, BARBRI, Career Alternatives, Disability Law, Drugs, Frank Easterbrook, Law Professors, Law Schools, Marijuana, Non-Sequiturs, Paralegals, Technology
Non-Sequiturs: 04.12.13
* The Dukes of Hazzard and Braveheart cited in the Eleventh Circuit. Other circuits, the gauntlet has been thrown down. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Dave’s not here, man. Probably not the smartest stoner on the planet. [Lowering the Bar] * Former Skadden attorney loses her appeal claiming that insomnia constituted a disability. It’s a setback for her, but nothing worth losing sleep over. [National Law Journal] * The Second Circuit agreed with every other court that heard the motion and denied the effort to recuse Magistrate Judge Peck from the Da Silva Moore predictive coding case. [IT-Lex] * Maybe it’s time for law professors to get off their duffs and try helping out their unemployed students directly. [Concurring Opinions] * Judge Easterbrook allows a $25K student-loan discharge for a ‘destitute’ paralegal. The educational-industrial complex is not going to sit still for this. [ABA Journal] * Saira Rao, of Chambermaid (affiliate link) fame, has a new publishing venture — check it out. [Kickstarter] * Oh, BARBRI. What’s the Matter with Kansas, indeed (after the jump)…. * Posted previously on Facebook (now pulled):
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4th Circuit, Constitutional Law, Elena Kagan, Federal Judges, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quotes of the Day: On Wednesdays We Wear Black!
Justice Elena Kagan defends the Supreme Court's work ethic, and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson defends judicial restraint. -
4th Circuit, Benchslaps, Christopher Christie, Drinking, Job Searches, Non-Sequiturs, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, U.S. Attorneys Offices
Non-Sequiturs: 02.22.12
* How can you tout your achievements in a cover letter without sounding like a tool? Here are some pointers from Professor Eugene Volokh. [Volokh Conspiracy] * The “unbundling” of legal services is a big buzzword when talking about the direction of the profession. But, as Jordan Furlong posits, should lawyers and law firms start thinking about “rebundling”? [Law21.ca] * Benchslap of earlier this month: the Fourth Circuit smacks around some saucy AUSAs. [Legal Blog Watch] * “[P]ublic drunkenness is not illegal in NYC.” (Elie will be glad to hear this.) [Gothamist] * How will SCOTUS rule on the Stolen Valor Act? Mike Sacks reads the oral argument tea leaves. [Huffington Post] * Chris Christie to Warren Buffett: if you want to pay more taxes, “just write a check and shut up.” [Dealbreaker] * A Harvard Law School student, Matthew Schoenfeld, stands up for a good cause. [Harvard Law School News] -
4th Circuit, ACLU, Akin Gump, Biglaw, Career Alternatives, Crowell & Moring, Drugs, Elena Kagan, Health Care / Medicine, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Solo Practitioners, Supreme Court, Torture, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 01.24.12
* First the Jones verdict, then the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Jose Padilla’s torture lawsuit. It’s enough to make ACLUers develop bipolar disorder. [Washington Post] * Release the Kagan! The Supreme Court rejected Freedom Watch’s motion for time to argue that Justice Elena Kagan should recuse herself from the Obamacare case. [CNN] * […]
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4th Circuit, Biglaw, Election 2012, Election Law, Google / Search Engines, Law Schools, Lindsay Lohan, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Politics, United Kingdom / Great Britain, Women's Issues
Morning Docket: 01.18.12
* The Fourth Circuit denied Rick Perry’s Virginia election law appeal in about four seconds flat. Not like it matters. He’s probably going to be out of the race come Saturday. [Washington Wire / Wall Street Journal] * Women are having trouble making equity partner in Biglaw firms, and not because of the glass ceiling […]
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4th Circuit, Barack Obama, Election 2012, Election Law, Kids, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Murder, Old People, Small Law Firms
Morning Docket: 01.16.12
* Rick Perry’s primary ballot election law suit in Virginia was unsuccessful, but maybe the Fourth Circuit will help him out on appeal. Or not. At least Huntsman’s out of the race, right? [Bloomberg] * That didn’t take too long. The National Federation of Independent Business has officially popped the cherry on filing lawsuits challenging […]
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4th Circuit, Barack Obama, Biglaw, Drinking, Election 2012, Federal Judges, Football, Job Searches, Money, Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 09.09.11
* What did you think of the way Obama was pimping out his reelection jobs bill last night? People were probably more excited about the football game that followed. [Los Angeles Times] * Congratulations to Stephanie D. Thacker of West Virginia. She was nominated to fill a seat on the Fourth Circuit. If she doesn’t […]
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4th Circuit, Crime, Football, Free Speech, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Marijuana, Money, Non-Sequiturs, Police, Rape, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor
Non-Sequiturs: 09.08.11
* Looks like you really screwed the Cooch. Virginia and its Obamacare challenge got slapped around today by the Fourth Circuit. [Blog of Legal Times] * Just how rich are the members of SCOTUS? When you’re worth $45M, like RBG, you can afford to fall asleep during the State of the Union address. But you […] -
4th Circuit, Constitutional Law, Federal Judges, Health Care / Medicine, Politics
Judging Is Just Politics By Other Means
Obamacare scored a huge victory today. Not because of an election or an impassioned debate. Not because of a fresh argument or a political compromise. Not even because of a considered legal opinion. No, Obamacare scored a major victory just because the Fourth Circuit panel randomly chosen to hear the challenge to Obamacare, an appeal […] -
4th Circuit, 5th Circuit, Animal Law, Barack Obama, Bernie Madoff, Crime, Free Speech, Insider Trading, Jeffrey Skilling, Morning Docket, Pets, Politics, Trials, Wall Street, White-Collar Crime
Morning Docket: 04.07.11
* Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s appeal was denied by the Fifth Circuit. While he remains the smartest guy in the room, the room consists of him and a half-wit cellmate whose only discernible talent is making Prune-o. [WSJ Law Blog] * Bruce Fein, an attorney who worked on Clinton’s impeachment and called for Bush’s […]
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4th Circuit, Blogging, Daniel Solove, Eugene Volokh, Free Speech, Privacy
Fourth Circuit Decides First Amendment Trumps Social Security Number Privacy
Court clerks in Virginia may be shaking their fists at the Fourth Circuit today. In an interesting ruling on free speech, privacy, and public records, the court ruled that an angry blogger has the right to publish public officials’ and court clerks’ Social Security numbers in order to protest the fact that Virginia puts records […]