Justin Bieber

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.29.20

* The estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is suing Netflix for its depiction of Sherlock Holmes as a kind and caring sleuth. Wonder if there was ever legal action over Holmes and Watson... [CNN] * Texas law firms are rethinking reopening plans amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. [Texas Lawyer] * A disciplinary panel has suggested a two-year suspension for a lawyer who showed "aggressive tactics and relentless vindictiveness" in practicing law. Some clients might like those qualities. [ABA Journal] * A lawyer claims that he was retaliated against for exposing financial irregularities at a healthcare company. [Dallas Morning News] * Justin Bieber has filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against women who have accused him of assault. [CNN] * A Nebraska attorney who accepted cocaine as compensation has been disbarred. He should have just stuck to cash, check, or credit card... [Associated Press]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.30.15

* According to the Law Firm Group of Citi Private Bank's year-end predictions for the legal profession, profit growth for this year and next is once again going to be anemic. This is the "new reality for the foreseeable future." [WSJ Law Blog] * "[T]hese guerilla marketers believe they are above the law." Uh-oh! What has The Biebs done now? Pop star Justin Bieber has pissed off the San Francisco, California, legal community with sidewalk graffiti ads promoting his new album. [San Francisco Chronicle] * If you thought that the highest ranked law school in Virginia would've fared the best on the state's July 2015 administration of the bar exam, you'd be wrong. With a 93 percent passage rate, congratulations to Jerry Falwell's finest at Liberty Law! [One News Now] * Ay dios mio! Escándalo! In a recently filed lawsuit, a former faculty member at Amherst College claims that teaching assistants in her department were encouraged to "prostitute themselves" to increase enrollment in Spanish classes. [Washington Post] * "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..." The ear worm lullaby featured on The Big Bang Theory is now at the center of a copyright dispute, and it seems like this kitty could actually win. Showrunners probably wish they left this one in the litter box. [USA Today]

By Staci Zaretsky
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By Charles River Associates (CRA)
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.09.15

* A biting take on legal system reform. [The Onion] * A law school class that actually changed something. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * Justin Bieber's lawyers send around nasty notes after naked pics of the singer go viral. [TMZ] * Paid justice? Prosecutors are paid by an insurance company for "handling" their cases. Sounds suspect. [Texas Tribune] * Badass Ph.D. coldly takes down lawyer during a deposition. [Medium] * Highlights from the Academy for Private Practice. [CodeX] * The behavior that got Dewey into so much trouble is still going on. [Big Law Business / BNA]

By Kathryn Rubino
Law Schools

Non-Sequiturs: 03.12.14

* The CIA official at the heart of accusations of intimidation made by Senator Feinstein is a lawyer. This marks the first time this guy has been called intimidating. [Al Jazeera] * Check out these awesome graphs showing the change in the USNWR rankings of the top 50 law schools over the last six years. [LawyerWrit] * Justin Bieber’s lawyer says his behavior in his video deposition is our fault. Of course it is. [New Day / CNN] * “Dear Texas courthouse… We’ve been tapping your phones. Love, FBI” [San Antonio Express-News] * Google's getting sued for pushing addictive games with in-app purchases. [IT-Lex] * The prosecution of Zachary Warren, who was 24 and only a few months into his job, for Dewey’s fall seems to be taking it a bit too far. [ Belly of the Beast] * A pair of lawyers are accused of tax credit fraud for going a bit too Hollywood. [The Times-Picayune] * Lee Pacchia talks with Kent Zimmermann about the warning sent to struggling firms by the Dewey charges. Embedded after the jump… [Mimesis Law]

By Joe Patrice
Baseball

Non-Sequiturs: 02.25.14

* Baseball is trying to ban home plate collisions, because why have any aspect of the sport be exciting? Here’s an exercise in statutory interpretation featuring the new rule. [PrawfsBlawg] * Former judge forced to resign at age 40 under a gathering cloud of sexual harassment allegations now collects $65,000 a year in pension. And it looks like he may be claiming “sex addiction” as a disability. Bravo. [WDSU] * Should legal writing professors be treated like nurses? [Dorf on Law] * The world’s top Bitcoin exchange, Mt.Gox, just shut down, and millions of real dollars worth of fake money is missing. I’m excited to see the bevy of Libertarian Bitcoin fanatics who praise the decentralized “new Gold standard” and publicly trash its critics explain this one. [Valleywag] * Are bar associations moving online? [Law Sites] * Forget your cell phone, the feds have been spending millions to warrantlessly collect your very breath. [Jalopnik] * Twitter account posting every frame of Top Gun lands user in the danger zone. [IT-Lex] * Our own David Lat did some speculating about who the next Supreme Court justice might be. [Ozy] * That hope that the government would deport Justin Bieber? Here’s why that just isn’t legally going to happen. Video after the jump… [Bloomberg Law]

By Joe Patrice
Affirmative Action

Non-Sequiturs: 01.31.14

* This is the place where we pretend to be shocked that Chris Christie abused his power. [New York Times] * Remember the Super Bowl Shuffle? Now there’s a lawsuit over it. Proving even terrible art can give rise to litigation. [Business Wire] * Miami criminal defense attorney Michael Grieco thought he was representing Justin Bieber and let all the media outlets know it. Well, he’s not. [South Florida Lawyers] * Listen up, law review editors! This is how you avoid making authors angry. [Nancy Rapoport's Blog] * John Yoo for Dean of Boalt Hall? OK, maybe not, but here are the finalists for the position. [Nuts & Boalts] * California is eyeing a referendum to allow affirmative action considerations to be employed in college admissions for the first time in almost 20 years. Surely the same people who passed Prop 8 will be enlightened enough to do something proactive about systemic discrimination. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * The art of negotiation and terrible cigars. [Katz Justice] * And I joined Mike Sacks and Jessica Mederson on Legalese It! today. So check out our rousing discussion of the State of the Union v. Supreme Court, Foxy Knoxy’s extradition fears, and California’s decision to keep disgraced journalist Stephen Glass out of the legal profession. Video below… [Huffington Post Live]

By Joe Patrice
Crime

Non-Sequiturs: 01.23.14

* Justin Bieber has hired Miami’s Roy Black to represent him in his DUI and drag racing arrest. This news is most welcome to E! who is salivating over the prospect of The Biebs making a cameo on the Real Housewives where Roy’s wife stars. [People] * Oh, morons. If the police post that they’re looking for you on Facebook, don’t share that on your personal page. [Legal Juice] * Virginia’s Attorney General, Mark R. Herring, decided to “pull a Holder” and stop enforcing the state’s gay marriage ban. Welcome, Virginia, to the ranks of progressive states like Utah and Oklahoma. [New York Times] * Slate’s Dear Prudence got a request for advice from a lawyer. To quote our tipster, “This is just the usual tale of (lawyer) boy meets (lawyer) girl, falls in love, and then gets an inferiority complex because she has been more successful than he.” [Slate] * Why make data-driven decisions, when rash emotional outbursts are so much more fun? Well, Jay Edelson and Chandler Givens explain why clients need to be counseled to make more logical decisions. [Legal Solutions Blog / Thompson Reuters] * Husch Blackwell kicked off the 2014 layoffs. In a lot of ways, the folks worst off will be the laid off staff. [Law and More] * Registration is open for this year’s Lawyernomics conference. Our own David Lat will be speaking. [Avvo]

By Joe Patrice
Ann Althouse

Non-Sequiturs: 05.20.13

* Justin Bieber has apparently abandoned his 20-week-old monkey, Mally, after having her confiscated because he couldn’t comply with animal control laws in Germany. Now in a shelter somewhere in Germany, there’s one more lonely girl. [Lowering the Bar] * Ann Althouse posted FOUR TIMES about Barack Obama’s umbrella over the weekend. Somebody is really putting off grading those papers. [Althouse] * Alabama judge faces $25 million lawsuit alleging he improperly took a case from another judge and issued damaging rulings. This is the judge who ran against Chief Justice Roy “Don’t Remove the Ten Commandments From the Courthouse” Moore. The moral of the story is: don’t use the Alabama judicial system. [Legal Schnauzer] * The FBI may be looking into whether lawyers conspired to have opposing counsel arrested on DUI charges by using a “comely paralegal” to get the lawyer drunk and then ask him to drive her home. [Tampa Bay Times] * Statewide Virginia Republican candidates are no friends of the libertarian wing of the conservative movement. On the other hand, are there viable conservative candidates not named “Paul” that are friends of the libertarian wing of the conservative movement? [CATO at Liberty] * The IRS scandal gets the SNL treatment courtesy of Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler. Video after the jump…

By Joe Patrice
Benchslaps

Morning Docket: 05.07.13

* There’s been a changing of the guard at Sidley Austin. Carter Phillips, one of our nation’s preeminent appellate advocates, is now the sole chair of the firm’s executive committee after a one-year stint as co-chair. Congrats! [The Recorder] * You should really try to make the most of your summers during law school, even after your first year. Because duh, in case you weren’t aware, it’ll probably help you to get a job later on. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report] * It looks like the trolls attorneys behind Prenda Law got benchslapped in the worst of ways — complete with a multitude of Star Trek references. We’ll likely have more on this later today. [Ars Technica] * The California Supreme Court just ruined everyone’s high, because it ruled that cities and counties can ban medical marijuana dispensaries. Smoke ‘em while you’ve got ‘em, stoners. [Associated Press] * Justin Bieber is being sued for copyright infringement, along with his musical mentor, Usher. Tween girl mob: ASSEMBLE! Defend your pop idol’s honor; after all, he just needed somebody to love. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky