Matt Levine

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.30.17

* Harvard law students go all out in everything they do -- and lying is no exception. [New Yorker] * If you're looking to purchase ancillary legal services (e.g., business or litigation support), check out the Buying Legal Guide, just launched today by the Buying Legal Council and Legal.io. [Buying Legal Guide] * Joshua Matz explains how and when the Supreme Court might review the Trump travel ban (aka "Muslim ban"). [Take Care via How Appealing] * Speaking of the courts, here's Professor Carl Tobias's advice to President Donald Trump on how to fill those 100+ vacancies in the federal judiciary. [Washington and Lee Law Review Online] * Why is flying such a miserable experience? Blame not just the lawyers but also the index funds, as Matt Levine explains. [Bloomberg View] * A prominent professor sues Columbia Law School, alleging age discrimination. [TaxProf Blog] * Professor Eugene Volokh explains the First Amendment to government officials: "no, the government may not deny permits for speech because it views the speech as promoting 'bigotry or hatred.'" [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Additional thoughts on what TC Heartland means for venue in patent cases, from IP columnist Gaston Kroub. [On the Docket / George Washington Law Review]

By David Lat
Election Law

Non-Sequiturs: 10.03.14

* Apparently, heckling Carmelo Anthony can cost you your job. [Dealbreaker] * There’s nothing the Supreme Court can do to stop cops who want to take a long time to release you from a stop, even if the Court wants to. [Simple Justice] * I think we should just ask John Roberts to tell every state precisely how they are allowed to discriminate against black voters and be done with it. Just tell us the rules so we can start the GOTV campaigns. [Election Law Blog] * Former Manhattan Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa gets a year in jail for purchasing a sham marriage to gain citizenship. The “for citizenship” part is what got her, because lots of politicians are in sham marriages. [Journal News] * Judge Frank Easterbrook thinks that the new proposed length limit for appellate briefs is too short. Verbose litigators everywhere, rejoice. [How Appealing] * I thought “spoofing” was bad for the market, but Matt Levine says cracking down on spoofing “helps” high-frequency traders, who I also think are bad for the market. You know why I’m not an SEC lawyer? Prosecuting people based on them being “bad” becomes untenable when everybody involved is rich. [Bloomberg View]

By Elie Mystal
2nd Circuit

Non-Sequiturs: 03.29.13

* To those of you who celebrate it, Happy Easter! Welcome the holiday by voting in the ABA Journal’s fifth annual “Peeps in Law” contest. [ABA Journal] * If law firm brackets aren’t your thing, check out Professor Kyle Graham’s brackets for (1) law school classes and (2) law blogs. I’m thankful for ATL’s #1 seed but terrified by who we’re up against (because they’ve ripped me a new one before). [noncuratlex] * Sorry, Judge Steiner, you wuz robbed; you should have been our Judge of the Day. It’s tough to top “allegations of a sexual quid pro quo with a female lawyer and the eye-opening confiscation of carpet from [chambers] for forensic analysis.” [OC Weekly] William Shatner * “William Shatner’s Seductive Powers Don’t Create a Fiduciary Duty.” Robyn Hagan Cain explains why. [U.S. Second Circuit / FindLaw] * Citi settles securities cases for $730 million. Matt Levine is not impressed. [Dealbreaker] * And Ted Frank is incensed by Bernstein Litowitz’s nine-figure fee request. [Point of Law] * If you’re already depressed by public ignorance about the Supreme Court, don’t look at the responses to question 9 of this opinion poll. [Penn Schoen Berland] * Steven Harper — author of a new (and very good) book about the legal profession, The Lawyer Bubble (affiliate link) — offers thoughts on the billable hour in the wake of the DLA Piper overbilling allegations. [New York Times]

By David Lat
American Bar Association / ABA

Non-Sequiturs: 08.31.11

* Some thoughts from our colleague Matt Levine on the Justice Department’s opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. [Dealbreaker] * Judge Sam Sparks (W.D. Tex.), king of the benchslap — yes, we already covered his latest handiwork, so no need to email the “kindergarten party” order to us again — has blocked key parts of the […]

By David Lat
Craigslist

Non-Sequiturs: 08.12.11

* The Kardashians may be “America’s rightful overlords,” as Marin so memorably put it, but even they must respect intellectual-property laws. [Fashionista] * Congratulations to the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 (class of 2011). Perhaps you know some of the inductees? [National LGBT Bar Association] * In less cheerful LGBT news… another day, another Republican […]

By David Lat & Staci Zaretsky