health care reform

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.28.17

* The Senate rejects the latest GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act -- with Senator John McCain casting the decisive "no" vote. [Washington Post] * Riley Safer Holmes and Cancila continues its rapid expansion, adding 13 new lawyers -- including eight from Bryan Cave, led by former managing partner Joseph McCoy. [Law360] * More bad news for the LGBT community from the Trump administration: the Justice Department takes the position that Title VII doesn't cover discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. [How Appealing] * Meanwhile, civil rights and LGBT groups get ready to file suit if President Trump's plan to ban transgender people from the military becomes a reality (which is not yet the case). [National Law Journal] * And these groups might just prevail -- Michael Richter and Anna Pohl, chairs of the New York City Bar Association’s Military Affairs and LGBT Rights Committees, lay out the case for why the transgender ban is unconstitutional. [The Hill] * Stephanie Francis Ward takes a long, hard look at the woes of Charlotte School of Law -- and the rest of the beleaguered Infilaw consortium of law schools. [ABA Journal] * Closing statements in the Martin Shkreli case paint very different pictures of the infamous "Pharma Bro." [Law.com] * Nuisance claims, or nuisance suits? Judge James Donato (N.D. Cal.) seems skeptical of a purported class-action case targeting Pokémon GO (which recently added Legendaries to the game). [The Recorder]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.07.17

* Another day, another notable immigration ruling from the Ninth Circuit (by the great liberal lion, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, joined by his brilliant ideological protégé, Judge Marsha Berzon). [How Appealing] * The sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, which previously ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, will be retried in November. [Philadelphia Inquirer] * Why do associates leave Biglaw, and what can be done to reduce attrition? Insights from NALP and from Major Lindsey & Africa's Tina Cohen and Jennifer Henderson. [ABA Journal] * Law firm merger mania continues -- and much of the action is taking place abroad. [Law.com] * Senator Kamala Harris, prominent prosecutor turned politician, might get interrupted on occasion -- but she will not be stopped. [New York Times] * Linda Greenhouse wonders about Justice Neil Gorsuch: "How could the folksy 'Mr. Smith Goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee' morph so quickly into Donald Trump’s life-tenured judicial avatar?" [New York Times via How Appealing] * Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledges that the Republicans might not be able to repeal Obamacare right now -- and that an interim solution might be needed. [The Hill] * For interested readers, here's the "origin story" of Above the Law, which turns 11 next month. [Yale Alumni Association of New York]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.04.15

* Meet David King of King v. Burwell, the epic Obamacare case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. [New York Times] * And meet the two legal heavyweights who will be arguing the case before SCOTUS. [Politico via How Appealing] * Meanwhile, another Supreme Court has put a stop to same-sex marriage down in Alabama -- for now. [Buzzfeed] * General David Petraeus reaches a plea deal, requiring him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a fine (but no prison sentence). [Washington Post] * It's not as sexy as Obamacare or marriage equality, but the collection of state sales tax on out-of-state purchases made online is a pretty important issue -- and Justice Kennedy wants SCOTUS to revisit it. [How Appealing (linkwrap)] * In the wake of a leadership shake-up, Cadwalader is beefing up its Houston energy practice -- but is that a wise idea, with the price of oil spiraling downward? [American Lawyer] * Finally, something that Elie Mystal and Jordan Weissmann can agree upon: dropping the LSAT is a bad idea. [Slate] * A jury of eight men and 10 women will start hearing arguments today in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, defendant in the Boston Marathon bombing. [How Appealing (linkwrap)] * Legal ethics guru Monroe Freedman, RIP. [ABA Journal]

By David Lat
Ann Althouse

Non-Sequiturs: 03.25.14

* Professor Ann Althouse’s analysis of today’s Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood arguments before SCOTUS. [Althouse] * Professor Nelson Tebbe’s take on the proceedings. [Balkinization] * Finally, a very Jezebel assessment: “Supreme Court Prepares to F**k Up This Birth Control Thing.” [Jezebel] * “JUDGE TO PORN TROLLS: IP Addresses Aren’t People.” [Instapundit] * YouTube videos and text messages surface in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. [IT-Lex] * “Her” was an excellent movie — and it might contain lessons for lawyers and the legal profession, as John Hellerman argues. [Hellerman Baretz]

By David Lat
Biglaw

Non-Sequiturs: 01.16.14

* The feds say that Apple has agreed to pay “at least $32.5 million in refunds” to people who didn’t realize their children were racking up huge bills in FarmVille and the like. It’s good to see parents won’t actually have to pay for their absentee parenting. [Washington Post] * It’s a good day for successful — kind rapey — pop songs, as the family of Marvin Gaye decided that they “Got to Give It Up” and settled with Sony over alleged copyright infringement by the Robin Thicke song, Blurred Lines. [Rolling Stone] * Apparently the Florida Bar Association took a look at the state of the judicial system and decided to screw it and start selling baking utensils. Or it was hacked. But probably they just gave up. [IT-Lex] * Tailgating at the Yale-Harvard game is way more dangerous than I’d realized — a clutch of Yale frat bros (what is the proper collective noun for Elis) have been sued over an incident where a U-Haul loaded down with kegs struck and killed one person. [Jezebel] * A hearing was cut short in New Orleans when an inmate arrived from the prison high as a kite on illicit drugs he procured in custody. Way to run a tight ship, New Orleans. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on them. After all, they just got their “inmates unintentionally set free due to clerical oversight” statistic back down to zero. [New Orleans Times-Picayune] * A rundown of high-profile cases that turned on expert witnesses. Good to see that everyone’s favorite “affluenza” made the list. [The Expert Institute] * Cable news has really botched their coverage of Little Sisters. For example, if you think Obamacare requires religious institutions to offer coverage for contraception, then you’ve been duped. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * To shake things up, let’s check out a defense of stop-and-frisk policies. If a society isn’t prepared to pay for police protection, it’s likely to find cops resorting to these sorts of short cuts. [Voice of San Diego] * Musings on Staci’s recent piece on law firm client service and/or arrogance. [Law and More] * A Little League coach is suing one of his players for $600,000. Something tells me a reboot of Bad News Bears would end exactly like this. Video of the story from local news channel KCRA embedded below…. [Deadspin]

By Joe Patrice
Benchslaps

Non-Sequiturs: 01.07.14

* Downton Abbey has inspired a new bill making its way through the House of Lords, who apparently watched the show and figured out for the first time that women get screwed by the law of entail. Now if they can just pass a law that would keep Bates out of prison in the first place. [The Atlantic] * Ben Adlin reminisces about the era when the Supreme Court actually cared about oral arguments. [Summary Judgments] * An interesting infographic on where Superlawyers went to school. Finally a ranking where NYU can top Yale. [Online Paralegal Programs] * Another installment of classic ads ruined by lawyers. [Vice] * Fifth Circuit judges aren’t the only ones to tell their colleagues to shut up; here’s some fun news from the Philippines. [Manila Times] * French cities have banned performances of a comedian with a history of racking up hate speech fines. I mean, since when has anti-Semitism been a problem in Europe? [Al Jazeera] * If you think conservative arguments against the Affordable Care Act are dumb, check out liberal columnists arguing that Obama screwed up by not pushing for single-payer. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

By Joe Patrice
Christopher Christie

Morning Docket: 10.22.13

* President Obama defends Obamacare (aka the Affordable Care Act), saying that the dysfunctional HealthCare.gov website will get fixed. [Washington Post] * “Calling All Unemployed Law Grads: Greenberg Traurig Is Hiring.” But there’s a catch. We’ll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)] * The Supreme Court agrees to hear a case regarding how to determine mental disability in death-penalty cases. [National Law Journal] * If you’re thinking of selling legal services over Groupon, proceed with care. [ABA via WSJ Law Blog] * Want to get out of jury duty? Try flipping the bird at the defendant. [ABA Journal] * Chris Geidner takes a closer look at Chris Christie’s decision not to keep fighting marriage equality in New Jersey. Is it all about 2016? [BuzzFeed] * More details on the circumstances surrounding a Reed Smith partner’s profane and ill-advised tweet. Expect Steven Regan to be sent back to “Tweet School.” [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)]

By David Lat