Judge Steven O’Neill

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.24.18

* As she steps away from public life in the wake of her dementia diagnosis, rather than banish retired Justice Anthony Kennedy to the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor bequeathed her chambers to him. The Supreme Court will miss her. [National Law Journal] * Judges say the darndest things: Bill Cosby's bid to get a new trial and reduce his sentence was summarily turned down by Judge Steven O'Neill, who noted in a simple, one-page ruling that "no hearing or argument is required on the issues." [NBC News] * Desmarais, the elite IP litigation boutique that recently raised salaries for first-year associates to $210,000, will be making its "first and probably [] last expansion," opening a West Coast office in San Francisco to serve its Bay Area clients. [Law360] * In case you missed it, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners awarded Thomas Jefferson School of Law with state accreditation after an 8-7 vote, with one committee member abstaining. Now its graduates will be able to sit for the California bar exam even if the ABA revokes its accreditation. [ABA Journal] * If you've been wondering what killed the Middle Tennessee State University / Valparaiso Law School deal, one member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission says it had to do with "genuine concern about the labor supply and demand for lawyers" -- and that seems entirely reasonable. [Murfreesboro Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.14.16

* "As a federal prosecutor for 19 years… I know better." Leslie Caldwell, who oversees the Justice Department’s criminal division, sent a letter of apology to federal prosecutors across the country for remarks made at a Federalist Society event where she intimated that many of them don't understand rules for white-collar criminal cases. [WSJ Law Blog] * It seems that D.C.-based Crowell & Moring and New York-based Herrick Feinstein are hoping to bump into each other under the mistletoe this year, because they're reportedly in close merger talks. A combination would create a firm with about 570 lawyers and $478 million in gross revenue. We'll have more on this later. [Am Law Daily; Real Deal] * Biglaw behemoth Dentons is politely bowing out of the competition when it comes to a takeover of the European and Middle Eastern arm of King & Wood Mallesons. With Dentons out of the picture, it's unlikely that a single firm will rescue the entirety of the branch, but numerous firms are interested in picking apart bits and pieces. [Legal Week] * Calling their behavior "uncivil," Judge Steven O'Neill was forced to scold lawyers on both sides during a dramatic shouting match that erupted at Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial after the defense team insisted that the comedian's accusers ought to be named in public documents, saying they're "witnesses in a trial, not children." [USA Today] * Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Victoria Brennan, who was accused of using a metal pipe to smash a man's windshield this summer (but was never formally charged), is going to step down from her position on the bench. Her last day will be December 31, and per her resignation letter, she is "looking forward to the future." [Miami Herald]

By Staci Zaretsky