Geoffrey Berman

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.20.19

* Hail Mary pass interference? President Donald Trump reportedly asked then-acting AG Matthew Whitaker if U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman (S.D.N.Y.) -- a "perceived loyalist" -- could be put in charge of the Michael Cohen probe even though he'd already recused himself. [New York Times] * Chief Justice John Roberts once again sided with the Supreme Court’s liberals in refusing to agree with a Texas court’s decision to execute a death row inmate with intellectual disabilities, writing that the lower court’s review of the case “did not pass muster under this court’s analysis last time,” and “[i]t still doesn’t.” Justice Samuel Alito dissented, and was obviously joined by the high court’s conservatives. [Washington Post] * Emoji are popping up more and more in court cases, and courts still don't know what to do with them -- which is a shame, because "[j]udges need to be aware of the importance of the emojis to the overall communication when we run into ... odd evidentiary issues." [The Verge] * This Fox Rothschild partner is facing sanctions over missed deadlines in several cases for his client, porn producer Strike 3 Holdings. He's repped the "copyright troll" in about 2,500 infringement cases since 2017. [American Lawyer] * If you're interested in investing in the future of law, alternative legal services provider Axiom will be going public and has applied for an IPO. The number of shares up for grabs and their price range is still undecided. [ALM International]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.26.18

* Rudy Giuliani is reportedly in talks with Robert Mueller over a Trump interview again. Because whenever you have a loose cannon for a client it's important to get them talking to federal investigators as soon as possible. [CBS News] * A quick primer on today's Michael Cohen hearing. [Courthouse News Service] * Looks like Geoffrey Berman gets to stay on the job at the SDNY. A little-known quirk of the system is that an interim U.S. Attorney, like Berman, can only stay in that role for 120 days and if the White House fails to confirm someone to the role by then, the district court gets to choose who will act as the U.S. Attorney. Judge McMahon says they'll choose Berman. It's an anticlimactic conclusion for those of us hoping the judges would put Preet back on the job. [Law360] * Charlotte Law may be gone, but it has managed to live on as a whistleblower suit, though that may be coming to an end soon and Staci Zaretsky and Kathryn Rubino are partially to blame according to the judge's opinion. [Daily Business Review] * The Cosby jury asked the judge to explain the legal definition of consent. How was that not a jury instruction? [Vulture] * Sally Yates, who lost her job over Trump's original Muslim ban, offers her take on the latest version. [PBS Newshour] * That story making the rounds about the golf course that called the cops on black golfers for golfing too slow? Well, one of those golfers is a lawyer. [Legal Intelligencer]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 01.12.18

Ed. note: We will not be publishing on Monday, January 15, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. * Will Geoffrey Berman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, recuse from Deutsche Bank matters? It sure sounds like he should.... [Bloomberg Politics] * Judge Shira A. Scheindlin and Joel Cohen offer advice to companies on how to handle sexual harassment allegations in a manner consistent with due process. [Guardian] * And Glenn Reynolds has this modest proposal, also related to the problem of sexual harassment (in the federal judiciary): abolish clerkships. [Wall Street Journal] * A quartet of tax law professors explain how a proposal to transform state and local tax payments into deductible charitable contributions to state and local government organizations could actually work. [Slate] * From Biglaw to big bucks: former associates Stephen Scanlan and Travis Leon sell their law-related startup, XRef, for a cool $10 million. [RollOnFriday] * Professor Eugene Volokh: "There's a fine line between being a 'badass' and...." [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason] * "Appeals court OKs F-Bombs for federal trademark protection." F**king finally. [Techdirt] * The Dewey & LeBoeuf criminal case ends with a whimper: former accounting manager Victoria Harrington just got sentenced to unconditional release (i.e., no prison time). [Law360]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.11.18

* Michael Cohen is suing Buzzfeed over publishing the Trump intelligence dossier. He says the Russia collusion allegations are "not legitimate" but to paraphrase Judge Judy, "don't pee on my leg and tell me it's a Russian prostitute." [Bloomberg] * Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is embroiled in boring, plodding lawsuit which actually sums up his offense pretty well. [Deadspin] * The IRS is getting into the Bitcoin game. Maybe they can explain blockchain in terms that don't involve magic. [Forbes] * Justice Sotomayor bluntly confronted Noel Francisco over the administration's 180 on voting rights. Francisco didn't have a clear, straightforward  answer ready which is weird because "we managed to slip in the back door of the White House so we're basically the Allstate Mayhem guy but for the Constitution" would've been a perfectly acceptable and honest answer. [National Law Journal] * Meanwhile, a federal judge threw out a challenge to Alabama's strict voter ID law finding the state had an important regulatory interest in combatting the voter fraud crisis that they can't string together any evidence of. Jeez, maybe Brett Talley would have actually improved the Alabama federal bench. [NPR] * For your daily reminder that Texas is a jerkweed backwater, the woman accused of drunkenly destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars in art faces a possible life sentence because Texas couldn't figure out how to put the death penalty on it. [Texas Lawyer] * Kirsten Gillibrand will use her blue slip to block the nomination of Greenberg Traurig's Geoffrey Berman for the SDNY U.S. Attorney post. Or, more accurately these days, Kristin Gillibrand will use her blue slip to do absolutely nothing to slow down the nomination of Geoffrey Berman for the SDNY U.S. Attorney post. [New York Law Journal] * Skadden avoids sanctions in Vijay Singh suit. Remember when the PGA was accusing people of doping... in golf? [Law360]

By Joe Patrice