Maine

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  • Morning Docket: 08.18.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 08.18.20

    * A special prosecutor appointed in the Jussie Smollett case found that the prosecutor’s office abused its discretion in overseeing the matter. [Wall Street Journal]

    * A Texas lawyer is being sued for allegedly leading clients to a failed real estate investment with which the attorney had an undisclosed interest. [Texas Lawyer]

    * The Boston Bar Association is urging Attorney General Barr not to pursue the death penalty for the Boston Marathon bomber. [Boston Globe]

    * Apparently it’s not libelous to tell a lawyer that he “needs to go back to law school.” Maybe this is because lawyers learn very little about how to be practicing attorneys in law school… [Volokh Conspiracy]

  • Morning Docket: 01.16.20
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 01.16.20

    * A 97 year-old trial lawyer has been allowed to stay on a murder case despite an outburst that forced a judge to release six jurors who had already been seated. [NorthJersey.com]

    * New York lawmakers are mulling legislation aimed at providing lawyers to immigrants facing deportation proceedings. [New York Daily News]

    * A number of colleges and universities are led by lawyers, but the jury’s out about whether this is a good thing. [Washington Post]

    * Maine has posthumously pardoned a lawyer who was prosecuted for his involvement in representing a Native American tribe against the state. [Jewish Telegraphic Agency]

    * A new lawsuit alleges that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked girls to the U.S. Virgin Islands up until 2018. [ABC News]

    * The expression “Ok, Boomer” has finally made it to the Supreme Court. [CNN]

  • Morning Docket: 06.27.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 06.27.16

    * We hope that all of our readers had a wonderful weekend! In case you haven’t been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that raised salaries on Friday: Jones Day, Pillsbury, and Nixon Peabody. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law]

    * Karmic retribution? The ABA keeps popping out accredited law schools as if it were some sort of a clown car, but it may lose the power to accredit law schools for a one-year period thanks to a recommendation from the Department of Education’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. [Big Law Business]

    * “For the time being, at this specific time on this court, Kennedy remains the pivotal justice.” Justice Anthony Kennedy may be almost 80, but he remains the Supreme Court’s constant swing voter. In his opinion in the Fisher affirmative action case last week, he was able to successfully “gut his own precedent.” [Washington Post]

    * With a net worth between $7.6M and $25M, if Judge Merrick Garland were ever to be confirmed to the position for which he’s been nominated, then he’d be the wealthiest SCOTUS justice of them all. According to their financial disclosures, the next wealthiest justice is Stephen Breyer, with a net worth between $6.1M and $16M. [ABA Journal]

    * Disbarred defense attorney F. Lee Bailey — who you may remember as being part of O.J. Simpson’s “dream team” — filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to escape $5M+ of debt owed to the IRS. He says the IRS previously turned down his settlement offers because he’s “a celebrity, and it would look bad for them.” [Portland Press Herald]

  • Morning Docket: 05.26.16
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 05.26.16

    * David Mourey, the former assistant dean for bar preparation and academic success at Barry Law, was fired after students continued to fail the bar exam, but in a recently filed gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, he claims he was discriminated against because he was “singled out for discipline by an all-female management team.” We may have more on this later. [Orlando Sentinel]

    * Despite the wishes of the public and rumors of his firing in the face of the Baylor University coverup of reports of rape and sexual assault by football players, “Ken Starr is [still] president and chancellor of Baylor University.” According to a university spokeswoman, the school has not yet finished reviewing Pepper Hamilton’s report on the matter, but Baylor will likely make an announcement by June 3. [Associated Press]

    * “We are willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to.” Eleven states have filed suit against the Obama Administration in an effort to get around its guidance on transgender rights for children in schools, calling the policy a “massive social experiment.” The states suing are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. [Reuters]

    * Sumner Redstone turns 93 years old tomorrow, and he’s been in and out of court for the past few months in a battle to prove he’s mentally competent. The salacious case filed by his former female companion may have been dismissed, but now he’s attempting to fend off claims from Viacom directors who were ousted from a trust that will control his media holdings if he dies or is found incompetent. [DealBook / New York Times]

    * Now that the world knows that PayPal’s co-founder provided funding for Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy suit against Gawker, it’s time to take a look at the lawyer who’s been representing the wrestler. Charles Harder is no stranger to Hollywood cases, and may be a longtime fan of litigation finance since he “[tries] to win and do so in a way that’s cost effective for a client, so they don’t lose when they’re winning.” [WSJ Law Blog]

    * Since revenge litigation finance’s recent invention, what’s there to keep billionaires from destroying you with lawsuits? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not much, especially when “there is no obligation to disclose the litigation financing arrangements” that have been made. Ethical issues aside, we really hope the super-rich wield their new power to ruin lives through rented lawsuits carefully. [Fortune]

  • Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 10.19.15

    * A must-have for all those Biglaw overachievers gunning for partner. [Next Shark]

    * Racists don’t even know how to racist right. [Wonkette]

    * To recap acceptable responses to tickets: writing on the ticket “FUCK YOUR SHITTY TOWN BITCHES” = totally fine; wiping your butt with the ticket and throwing it at the police officer = not okay. [The Smoking Gun]

    * Welp, this is an interesting clause to stick into a settlement agreement. [Deadspin]

    * Maybe, just maybe, the Supreme Court will weigh in on the student debt crisis. [Bloomberg Business]

    * Is it possible to make your writing benchslap-proof? [Legal Writing Pro]

    * It’s best to be vague yet forceful when trying to escape new Biglaw work. [Daily Lawyer Tips]