* Maryland knows what's up. [NBC News] * Jefferson County, Alabama, just elected nine black women to the judiciary. [The Slot] * Kamala Harris is being floated as the the person who may become the first woman president. [Huffington Post] * Maybe the Bluebook isn't really the problem. [Ziff Blog] * The ACLU is building up its war chest. [Uproxx] * TPP is dead. [BuzzFeed] * Taking a look at Trump's potential cabinet. [Slate]
This former Biglaw attorney just got fired for his alleged ties to a neo-Nazi group.
From training to technology, uncover the essential steps to futureproof your law firm in a competitive market.
* Could it be? Could she really do such a thing? Rumor has it that Amal Clooney may be quitting her law firm job at Doughty Street Chambers to become a fashion designer for the likes of fashion house Oscar de la Renta. We may have more on this later today. [Inquisitr] * Maryland's AG intends to contest a ruling granting "Serial" podcast subject Adnan Syed a new trial, saying that the state would "defend what it believes is a valid conviction." Syed has been servicing a life sentence for the murder of Hae Min Lee since 2000. [Baltimore Sun] * Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert may be behind bars for a 15-month term for attempting to conceal secret payments to his underage sexual assault victims in a cover-up scheme, but that doesn't mean he's not going to fight a lawsuit seeking the full $3.5 million he allegedly said he would pay to buy a victim's silence. [Chicago Tribune] * Vermont Law School, which was hit relatively hard by the recession in terms of its ability to fill its seats, has applied for a $15 million loan from the federal government to help restructure its debts. Unlike what its students face in terms of their debt, the law school may be able to get a good interest rate upon approval. [VTDigger / Valley News] * "[A]ttempting to fit the sale of Bitcoin into a statutory scheme regulating money services businesses is like fitting a square peg in a round hole." Congratulations (or perhaps condolences?) digital currency aficionados, because a judge just ruled that Bitcoin isn't money for the purposes of money-laundering statutes. [WSJ Law Blog]
Talk about a trigger warning.
A minivan as a getaway car? Really?
* Today the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention held WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for more than three years, is being "arbitrarily detained" arguing he should be allowed freedom of movement without fear of being extradited to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning for a variety of charges including rape. Though the decision has no formal authority, but Assange, who has maintained his innocence on the Swedish charges, can at least claim a moral victory. That's something at least. [Washington Post] * The Fourth Circuit found that Maryland's gun law, passed in the wake of the horrific Newton shooting, should be reviewed under a strict scrutiny standard since it "significantly burdens the exercise of the right to arm oneself at home" and remanded the case back to the district court. [Wall Street Journal] * Uber had an actual victory amid all of its legal woes. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decided against combining over a dozen employment cases into a MDL. [National Law Journal] * Meet the woman recently hired as the NFL's senior vice president for investigations. Lisa Friel, formerly a New York prosecutor in the Sexual Victim's Unit under District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, is charged with investigating all potential violations of the league's personal conduct code. Hopefully she can bring some consistency to the process. [New York Times] * The human cost behind a life led in immigration limbo. No wonder last night's Dem debate spent so much time talking about the need for comprehensive immigration reform. [CNN]
Here's how you can spend more time practicing law, and less time sorting, sifting, and summarizing.
* Both Kaye Scholer partner Evan Greebel (formerly of Katten Muchin) and Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli pleaded not guilty to securities fraud charges. Now, the world is left to weep because Skhreli's Wu-Tang album wasn't seized. [Reuters] * “You are not an American because you got sworn in on a Koran." The Hate Crimes Unit of the New York Police Department is investigating a series of threatening calls made to Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo, Brooklyn's first Muslim judge. [WSJ Law Blog] * David Lola, the contract attorney who sued Skadden and Tower Legal for overtime pay with claims he wasn't practicing law, settled his claims for $75,000. But now we don't know if doc reviewers are entitled to overtime pay. :( [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * Slater & Gordon, the world's first publicly traded law firm, continues to watch as its stock price tumbles. The firm's shares are now worth A$0.89 after it decided to pull its earnings guidance, and they've lost 90 percent of their value since April. [The Guardian] * That's not how you're supposed to examine briefs: A Maryland court commissioner was charged with visual surveillance with prurient intent and misconduct in office after allegedly using his cellphone to take an upskirt photo of a courthouse employee. [AP]
What happens when a lawyer is a peeping Tom?
Rumor alert: Can you see if you passed the bar in Maryland before the results have been released?
This is a new low, even for politicians.
How to make the right decision, and why there might be another way to shape a fulfilling legal career on your own terms.
Allegations of a high-ranking government lawyer abusing the perks of his office, a tax lawyer engaging in tax fraud, and a real estate lawyer stealing $4 million -- who should be Lawyer of the Day?
This seems like a really bad way to write a law.
No. More. LAW SCHOOLS!
* Profiling the new talent appearing before the Supreme Court this term. Honestly, I can’t get excited about oral arguments that don’t involve the Ninth Circuit cracking one-liners anymore. [The Volokh Conspiracy] * The Montana man sentenced to 30 days in jail for raping a 14-year-old is out. I wonder if he can make it on the outside after being institutionalized for a whole month. [CNN] * As we predicted, political battles have exhausted the budget of federal defenders programs. At least in Ohio there’s a guy willing to bend the laws of time and space to represent indigent clients. [Federal Times] * Keith Lee of Associate’s Mind has a new book out, The Marble and the Sculptor: From Law School to Law Practice (affiliate link). The image of The Thinker on the cover is appropriate: most law school grads these days do just sit there wondering how to get jobs. [Associate's Mind] * Maryland gubernatorial campaign promising to build another law school. Newsflash: Ray Lewis has retired! You don’t need more lawyers! [Baltimore Sun] * The Daily Beast’s Josh Rogin mocked a stand-up act over Twitter last night. He was punched in the face for his efforts. The comic was arrested. Punching Rogin for criticizing the act was uncalled for. Punching Rogin for working for the Daily Beast on the other hand… [IT-Lex] * Marissa Alexander, the Florida woman sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot at an abusive husband, is getting a new trial. Since George Zimmerman got a decorative fruit basket for actually killing someone a few miles away, Alexander has to like her chances. [First Coast News]
* “[J]ust because something is constitutional doesn’t mean it’s the best idea, or even a good one.” Perhaps we’ve given Chief Justice John Roberts a little too much to do. No wonder he’s gotten cranky. [Opinionator / New York Times] * “It’s raining lawsuits.” As Justice Scalia predicted, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Windsor case, gay couples across the nation have banded together to challenge bans on same-sex marriage. [NBC News] * The Fourth Circuit ruled that state authorities in Maryland can’t arrest and detain people just because they look like they might be illegal immigrants. They can only do that in Arizona. [Baltimore Sun] * No more fun during sequestration, ever! Judges, get ready to kiss your “lavish accommodations” at judicial conferences goodbye, because Senator Tom Coburn is on the case. [National Law Journal] * For all of the talk that Biglaw is in recovery, summer associate hiring just isn’t what it used to be. Summer class sizes shrank since last year. We’ll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily] * On Friday, the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar will consider making changes to its law school accreditation standards. Yes, the ABA does have standards. [ABA Journal] * Open wide and suck this down: A film on the life and times of porn star Linda Lovelace may be lost to the cutting room floor because Deep Throat’s rights holders are seeking an injunction. [The Guardian]