Manuela Herzer

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.10.16

* "None of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something or someone they are not." The Justice Department and North Carolina have traded dueling pleadings over HB2, the so-called "bathroom bill." AG Loretta Lynch's press conference announcing the DOJ countersuit was nothing short of awe-inspiring. [New York Times] * Just one week after threatening to strip Arizona Law from access to its law school applications and admissions clearinghouse, the Law School Admission Council is backing down, saying it will "maintain the status quo" until the ABA makes a decision on the validity of the GRE over the LSAT as a law school entrance exam. [WSJ Law Blog] * "On behalf of the Section of Family Law, we pose the following question: WHAT PART OF 'NO!' DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" Lawyers are still deeply opposed to non-lawyer ownership of and investment in law firms, and they're apparently not afraid to stand up and let the ABA know how they really feel about it. [On the Case / Reuters] * After only two days of trial, a judge has dismissed the ultra-salacious case filed by Manuela Herzer challenging 92-year-old Sumner Redstone's mental competence. The media mogul's lawyers now intend to sue Herzer and another of his former flames to recover $150 million in cash and gifts he gave to them. [Los Angeles Times; Variety] * "Thank you, Mr. Boies, that was an unadulterated pleasure." You might have missed the finale of The Good Wife this weekend, but this Biglaw celebrity made time to appear on the show for a cameo role as himself. David Boies of Boies Schiller appeared as an expert witness for about 30 seconds in the first half of the episode. [Big Law Business]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.06.16

* "I find it highly amusing and somewhat heartening to know that Donald Trump is indirectly subsidizing the defense of undocumented immigrants." Jones Day may be representing presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but the firm is also fighting for the rights of more than 100,000 undocumented refugees, all of whom Trump would likely want to see deported if he were to be elected as president in November. [Yahoo!] * Believe it or not, but Donald Trump's political career in the Republican Party closely tracks that of a Biglaw legend of the bar. In 1940, Wendell Willkie of Willkie Farr & Gallagher fame was an outsider presidential candidate with absolutely no public service experience to his name -- just like Trump. Willkie later went on to lose the election, and only time will tell if Trump will suffer a similar fate in Election 2016. [Big Law Business] * Professors at George Mason University have demanded that the law school's renaming to honor the late Antonin Scalia be delayed until school leaders answer their questions about the funding of scholarship monies being tied to the ongoing service of the current dean, but according to law school senior associate dean David Rehr, "[e]ven with this action, we are moving forward ... and expect a favorable resolution." [Washington Post] * After receiving the largest gift in its history, Pace Law has been renamed in honor of an environmentalist, and will now be known as the Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law. The donors do not want the amount of their gift to be disclosed, but Pace says it's comparable to the $30 million and $25 million gifts George Mason and Villanova respectively received for their recent name changes. Congratulations! [WSJ Law Blog] * The trial between Sumner Redstone and Manuela Herzer over the media mogul's mental competence is slated to begin today and will last for a week. With lurid allegations about the 92-year-old's supposed sexual proclivities, his penchant for eating steak through a feeding tube, as well as his incontinence, this is sure to be an incredibly salacious matter that will play out in the public eye. [DealBook / New York Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.30.15

* While you were feasting upon turkey this Thanksgiving, Dentons -- otherwise known as the largest Biglaw behemoth in the world -- was busy gobbling up yet another law firm. The megafirm will combine with 33-lawyer OPF Partners out of Luxembourg. [WSJ Law Blog] * According to a survey from AlixPartners, over the past 12 months, GCs have reported more "bet the company" lawsuits compared to last year. Don't get too excited, though, because growth in litigation spend hasn't quite caught up yet. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * You really can do anything with a law degree -- including things that have absolutely nothing to do with the law! Patrick Hobbs, dean emeritus of Seton Hall Law, has been tapped to become the athletics director at Rutgers University. [NJ Advance Media] * What would happen if one of the largest publicly traded plaintiffs firms in the world went under? Ever since its stock price plummeted by 52 percent, industry analysts have started to wonder whether Slater & Gordon is on the verge of collapse. [ABC News] * In the wake of the defacement of black faculty portraits and the administration's apparent "ongoing failure" to address racism on campus, Harvard Law alumni are being asked to stop making donations to the school until changes are made. [Boston Globe] * One of 92-year-old Sumner Redstone's exes filed a probate suit questioning his mental competence and ability to run Viacom and CBS. His attorney from entertainment law powerhouse Loeb & Loeb essentially called her client's ex a gold digger. [CNBC]

By Staci Zaretsky