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See Also: There But For The Grace Of God

THOUGHT AND PRAYERS: For Justice Sonia Sotomayor's family and all the people in Puerto Rico. STRONG MEN ALSO CRY: And strong women. Kathryn Rubino argues that crying isn't a sign of weakness. I wouldn't know -- I'm a man, so stomping and challenging people to fight me in real life is totally acceptable professional behavior for me. Read the defense of crying here. AH, REDUNDANCY, THE MOST SOULLESS WAY TO LAY PEOPLE OFF: Dentons is preparing to merge with Maclay Murray & Spens and, well, that always means somebody is about to take a long walk off a short plank. Read the details here. LAW FIRMS ARE HIRING: It's always nice when Biglaw firms agree to help law students pay off their debts while learning the ins-and-outs of legal practice. You know: how to reserve a conference room, how to input the billing code in the copier, how to appropriately thank people for the "opportunity" to work all night. Yay, first-year associate hiring. PENN LAW ALUMNI HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT BIAS: Perhaps Penn Law professors could consult some of their former students before waxing poetic about “bourgeois values”? Read the alumni letter here, it's pretty great.

By Elie Mystal
See Also

See Also: Have You Seriously Not Read The Ty Cobb Story Yet?

DEAR GOOD ATTORNEYS, THANK YOU FOR NOT WORKING FOR TRUMP: At some point, we have to realize that Donald Trump receives such shoddy and borderline unethical legal representation because quality, ethical lawyers simply refuse to work for him. No really good attorney would talk about client confidences over lunch in a public restaurant. Even most mediocre attorneys wouldn't talk about undisclosed documents pertinent to an ongoing investigation that are locked in a safe! But Trump attorney Ty Cobb... he did those things. Read here, and thank you for your lack of service. I MEAN, WE HAVE A STAFF ATTORNEY WHO PLEADED GUILTY TO CHILD PORN TODAY: And yet I'm still somehow more disgusted by Ty Cobb. Cobb was in SIDEWALK SEATING. ANYBODY could have walked by. And he's talking about responsive documents locked in a safe? Maybe Trump should hire this Paul Weiss staff attorney next. At least he TRIED to distribute kiddie porn IN SECRET. Read the gross details here. MOTEL 6 LEAVES THE LIGHT ON FOR ICE AGENTS: Franchises in Arizona have been sending the names of its guests to ICE just in case they don't have their papers. I'd say, "I'll never stay in a Motel 6 because of this." But, like, I'll never stay in a Motel 6 because there is no where I need to go so badly that it's worth staying in a Motel 6. "Would you like to come see Jesus in concert?" Sure! "Only rooms available are at the Motel 6." I'll catch it when it comes on Netflix. But, if you needed another reason, read it here. AN INTERVIEW ON ORIGINALISM: David Lat interviews author Ilan Wurman, who wrote A Debt Against the Living: An Introduction to Originalism. Read the interview here. I DON'T THINK COPS WILL READ THE ORIGINALISM BOOK THOUGH: Originalism presupposes a set of rights and responsibilities agreed to at the founding of this country. Cops, for the most part, don't acknowledge those kinds of textual restraints on government power. I bet they'd read The Leviathan, though. The raw power of the state of nature is what the cops are always trying to bring us back to. Read about St. Louis PD here.

By Elie Mystal
Admin

See Also: You Cannot Wield The Weapon Of The Enemy

ALLOW ME TO NERD OUT FOR A SECOND: Okay, so in Lord of the Rings, there's an existential conflict that defines my life. Boromir, fundamentally, thinks that he can use the One Ring to defend his people against the forces of Mordor. Aragorn understands that the Ring cannot be used for good, despite the best of one's intentions, and it must be destroyed. Aragorn is right... BECAUSE THE DRAMA OF THE FANTASY REQUIRES HIM TO BE. I remain largely unconvinced of his position in real life. I tend towards Boromir's position: "I ask only for the strength to defend my people!" Of course, Boromir says that like eight seconds before he tries to kill Frodo and steal the ring, so... I have issues. In any event, here is me arguing with Ken White of Popehat and Corynne McSherry of EFF that we should interpret the First Amendment so that it also allows us to stop Nazis. And here's our post about the enemy trying to absolutely crush the free speech rights of protesters. It's not pretty. EVEN THE GOOD PEOPLE IN MINNESOTA ARE CONCERNED ABOUT AL FRANKEN: Who is using the judicial obstruction strategies of the enemy. Again, I stand with Boromir, but it's a close thing. HURRICANE LAW: Sometimes, I feel bad generating traffic by thinking through legal angles to natural disasters. But, not that bad. FOR GONDOR! Our post on LEGAL chaos from Irma. Our post on using your time while sheltering in place, productively! WHAT IS THE POINT OF BEING A JUDGE IF YOU STILL HAVE TO SHOP AT COSTCO? Costco is the Lembas Bread of grocery stores. Just ask Judge Alex Kozinski. LAST LORD OF THE RINGS JOKE OF THE WEEK: "Even if your for-profit law school survives this war, you will still be parted. If your institution survives and you are crowned in the top ten percent and all that you hope for comes true, you will still have to taste the bitterness of the bar exam." Read about North Carolina's bar passage rate here.

By Elie Mystal
Admin

See Also: It’s Hard Out Here For…

[Ed. note: “See Also” is a new column we’ll be running in place of Non-Sequiturs. It’s going to be an evening ATL Digest for people who missed some of our content earlier in the day.] LAW STUDENTS AND LAWYERS INTERESTED IN PUBLIC INTEREST WORK. Law school costs a fortune, and public interest work doesn’t pay […]

By David Lat
Admin

See Also: Jesus Christ There’s Still Another Quarter Of Trump’s First Year In Office

[Ed. note: “See Also” is a new column we’ll be running in place of Non-Sequiturs. It’s going to be an evening ATL Digest for people who missed some of our content earlier in the day.] WE'RE GONNA NEED MORE LAWYERS: Yes, me, Elie Mystal, law school "scam" blogger, am happy that Trump is making more people go to law school. The "Trump bump" for law school applications is real. And we need it. Because lawyers are the first responders to the Trump crisis. Go get your entirely overpriced J.D. and join the fight. Read this. THERE SHOULD BE A SITE THAT JUST PICKS A RANDOM TRUMP OFFICIAL EVERYDAY AND LISTS THEIR (LACK OF) QUALIFICATIONS: Here at Above the Law, we have to focus on the embarrassing legal qualifications of Team-Trump, but really there needs to be an app where you just pull up one of these people at random whenever you are feeling like you are under-qualified for the task at hand, to make yourself feel better. Let's point and laugh at this lawyer though. THE ARPAIO PARDON WAS A TEST BALLOON: We've written a lot about the pardon of Joe Arpaio. So have others. The overwhelming upshot is that the president can, but he shouldn't have. When reached for comment, Captain Jack Sparrow said: "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do." Read This. F**K DA POLICE: Seriously. Read this, then read this, then come at me on Twitter about "#NotAllCops" so I can yell at you in public. IN WEDDING NEWS: It looks like our top-read story for the week is going to be the one about the newlywed who faked her bills to cover for her time spent on honeymoon. Our second most read story is going to be the law firm ad looking for "Baylor Law wives" to work as receptionists. We know a lot of people get married over Labor Day weekend, so here's just a reminder that when an attorney marries a non-lawyer, the one without legal training is probably the better person. Read about married attorneys. Read about people married to attorneys.

Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.

By Elie Mystal