Lawrence Mitchell

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.19.19

* Eugene Scalia, a partner at Gibson Dunn, will be nominated as the next Labor secretary to replace Alex Acosta. If that last name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s son. [NPR] * "I disagree with it." President Trump now claims that he was "not happy" with a crowd chanting "send her back" in relation to Somali-born Representative Ilhan Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, at one of his re-election campaign rallies. This, after Trump tweeted that Omar and three other congresswomen of color should "go back" to their countries, despite being American-born citizens. [New York Times] * According to recently unsealed court records, per the FBI, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and some of his top aides were very much involved in a series of hush-money payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump, of course, has very publicly denied having knowledge of such payments. [USA Today] * The House of Representatives passed a bill to gradually hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. Don't get too excited, because this has little to no chance of passing in the Senate. [CNBC] * In case you missed it, you shouldn't really be surprised by the fact that a judge turned down bail for convicted sex offender and accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. He'll remain in jail until trial. [New York Law Journal] * Disgraced former Case Western law school dean Lawrence Mitchell (now known as Ezra Wasserman Mitchell) was quietly let go without a contract renewal at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, where he'd been working as a visiting professor, after an investigation into his alleged misconduct. [Cleveland Scene] * It's been five years since FSU Law Professor Dan Markel was murdered in his own home, and we're still waiting for his killers to be brought to justice. [Tallahassee Democrat]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.07.16

* Got some down time this summer? There is a way to use that slowdown to your advantage. [Reboot Your Law Practice] * Former law school dean at Case Western Reserve University, Lawrence Mitchell, has changed his name. He writes all about the change without discussing the scandal that caused him to leave his post, and just might be related to the moniker switch. [Cleveland Scene] * Republicans who deeply support the Second Amendment are starting to see the tragedy in the most recent round of police shootings. [Bearing Drift] * Advice for decorating your office space. [Corporette] * Creighton Law Professor Patrick Borchers would love to be the unreasonable prosecutor to go after Hillary Clinton over her emails. [Nebraska Radio Network] * Breaking down the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights that looms large in the Alton Sterling shooting. [Fusion] * The argument against shackling youth offenders in a courtroom. [Mimesis Law]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.24.15

* Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Anthony Kennedy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be in attendance during Pope Francis's Congressional address. Here's hoping a certain someone doesn't nod off in the middle of it. [National Law Journal] * This courthouse clerk is accused of trying to go out with a little too much style after being fired from his job. He allegedly tossed thousands of pages of court documents in the garbage before leaving the building, and he now faces up to 10 years in prison. [Houston Chronicle] * Lawrence Mitchell, the former dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, was supposed to return to the school this year after taking a sabbatical. Instead, he resigned. When it comes to this creeper, maybe that's a good thing. [Cleveland Scene] * Sorry to burst your bubble, law schools, but if you think spending millions to complete major building projects during a serious downturn in applicants will result in a "Field of Dreams" type of situation, you're flat-out wrong. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * Good news, everyone! Thanks to this appeals court decision, registered sex offenders in Wisconsin will now be able to take pictures of children in public. Child predators have never, ever been so excited to assert their First Amendment rights. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.06.15

* Records show that Case Western Law bought former dean Lawrence Mitchell's house for $575,000. Was it still furnished with the Chinese silk sheets? [The Observer] * Judge Posner explains that ALJs are basically working a conveyor belt. To wit, here's a visual representation of Social Security ALJs at work. [Valpo Law Blog] * Um, what's the charge for "acting like you're in Fast and Furious"? [Legal Juice] * Republicans making moves to stop net neutrality. Netflix needs to start showing more Bible documentaries to sap this movement's political will. [Bloomberg Politics] * Professor Campos reviews a new paper on the future of higher education funding. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * The law dean at the University of New Brunswick is accused of "sexism, harassment, and, in one case, threats of violence by two of his former law school colleagues." That's some very un-Canadian behavior. But Levitt used to be the dean at Florida A&M, and that does sound like some very Floridian behavior. [CBC] UPDATE (2/23/16 12:57 p.m.): Checking back in on this story we have a LOT to add. Since we first linked to this, the CBC has had to retract its stories about Professor Levitt. It turns out he was not a party, witness or even deposed in the law suits even though CBC was giving off the impression that he was the central figure in criminal cases. It seems he wasn't even a party to the civil cases when they were reporting that! CBC has had to report that Levitt was absolved or 'cleared' of any wrongdoing not once, but twice. The whole saga seems, from what we know today, to have been pretty egregious and raises troubling questions about race and media bias in Canada, as discussed in this piece about the matter. * How to make your shoes last longer. [Corporette] * Michael Cannon and Professor Jonathan Adler use some pretty compelling evidence in their amicus brief decrying King v. Burwell. Unfortunately, they kind of made up a quote. When the woman they quoted tries to clear the record, Cannon tells her he understands what she clearly said better than she did. In a sense this is a microcosm for the whole case. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 12.10.14

* An Assistant DA in Barrow, Alaska, was shot and killed the other day, allegedly by a man jealous that his ex-girlfriend had started dating the ADA. [KTUU] * Legislature amends law "to protect quacks." That sounds like a good use of their time. [Slate] * David appeared on Today's Verdict to discuss his new book, Supreme Ambitions. Also on the show was the creator of Lawsuit -- The Game, featured in our holiday gift guide for lawyers. [BronxNet] * "How Many Bites Do Sloppy Lawyers Get At The Apple?" Oh. I get it. [Redline] * Lawrence Mitchell is back and talking about inequality. It's much more what you'd expect from a legal academic than poetry about ogling women in the park. [Washington Post] * Sometimes even squishy toys take a hit: Nerf ordered to pay $73 million in back royalties. [North Dallas Gazette] * Congrats to Gawker General Counsel Heather Dietrick on her new role as President. [New York Observer] * Sad news: Kirkland associate and Northwestern Law '13 grad Jeremy Adler died unexpectedly last week. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. [Inside Bay Area]

By Joe Patrice