Michael Jackson

The estate’s return claimed the value of Jackson’s image and likeness at $2,105.

* A lawyer for a defendant allegedly present at the Capitol riot earlier this year is defending her client’s use of a mesh mask. It’s quite a fashion statement… [Hill]

* Check out this article on how lawyers can improve their digital marketing efforts. [Forbes]

* A lawsuit filed by a Michael Jackson accuser has been dismissed. [TMZ]

* Louisiana State University is being sued over how the school responded to Title IX complaints. [ESPN]

* A client, whose lawyer had his license suspended and refused to refund his fee, is suing his former attorney. [Roanoke Times]

* A Long Island City lawyer has been eliminated from The Bachelorette. Guess he needs to work on his advocacy skills… [Patch]

* Michael Jackson’s estate has won an appeal over the HBO’s series “Leaving Neverland.” [NBC News]

* A San Diego strip club is staying open and is vowing legal action despite California’s stay-at-home orders. What patriots… [ABC News]

* A Maryland lawyer is in hot water for allegedly padding expense reports. [Daily Record]

* Since Above the Law has not had a “Lawyerly Lairs” segment in a while, wanted to relate that a Florida lawyer has sold his exquisite mansion for $13 million. [Real Deal]

* A South Florida lawyer who used to work at Greenberg Traurig has been arrested for allegedly committing several bank robberies. This would make an amazing plot for a sequel to Point Break. [Miami Herald]

* A Sacramento judge refused to force the California GOP to release information about its controversial ballot dropbox program. [Los Angeles Times]

* A court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by one of Michael Jackson’s accusers, holding that the late singer’s companies did not owe the plaintiff a duty of care. [Yahoo News]

* The home of a lawyer representing a group seeking to remove homeless people from New York City hotel rooms has been vandalized. [New York Post]

* A defamation case against President Trump has been sidelined because a lawyer set to argue a matter traveled from out of state and was denied entrance to the courthouse. [USA Today]

* A New Jersey lawyer facing ethics complaints blamed his wife for his failure to appear at an important asylum hearing. This attorney is playing with fire… [New Jersey Law Journal]

Will Michael Jackson’s legacy survive or will it fall prey to the cancel culture?

* Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta is in hot water for brokering the 2008 plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein. District Judge Kenneth Marra said the actions of then prosecutor Acosta violated federal law. [Slate]

* When saying you’re sorry just isn’t enough: Roger Stone gets slapped with a gag order by Judge Amy Berman Jackson after Instagram debacle. [Law.com]

* One of Michael Avenatti’s sources has been identified as IRS analyst John C. Fry… and he’s in trouble for disclosing Suspicious Activity Reports. [Law and Crime]

* Most Americans understanding separation of powers better than the president. [The Hill]

* If you’re going to discuss bribing officials, you probably shouldn’t do it over a video conference call — this is the exact reason seedy dive bars exist. [Corporate Counsel]

* The Jackson family is going after HBO over the documentary “Leaving Neverland,” seeking $100 million in damages. [Deadline]

Fair use is for everyone and benefits rightholders just as it benefits consumers.

Don those Mickey or Minnie ears, as this will be one to watch.

Do Prince's doctors need legal help?

In honor of Festivus...

* Dewey think you should’ve signed up for the partnership contribution plan? That probably would’ve been wise. One of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s ex-service partners has been forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy thanks to a clawback suit. [Am Law Daily]

* As long as the job market for new attorneys remains laughable, law schools will continue to make moves when it comes to deep tuition cuts. Say hello to a $30K drop in sticker price, Roger Williams University Law students. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]

* Syracuse Law’s class sizes keep getting smaller, but it was “strategically managed” — just like the new law building was financially strategically managed on the backs of alumni and their tuition. [Daily Orange]

* A trial date was set for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s friends who allegedly tried to cover up his role in the Boston bombings. No word yet on whether any stupid girls have set up fan clubs for them. [National Law Journal]

* The curtains are finally closing on the King of Pop’s life: Lloyd’s of London settled its insurance suit with Michael Jackson’s estate, and Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter conviction was upheld. [AP]

* According to Altman Weil, law firm merger mania is on pace for record highs as firms desperately attempt to stave off financial problems by gobbling up smaller firms’ clients. [Am Law Daily]

* The NCAA better watch its back: Jeffrey Kessler, the Winston & Strawn partner who helped bring free agency to the NFL, wants in on the potential case for unpaid college athletes. [Bloomberg]

* Lawyers doing regulatory work are very afraid that the shutdown will decimate their fourth quarter billables because “[t]he longer it goes, the more problematic it will be.” Yay government. [Reuters]

* GrayRobinson partner Philippe Devé is in need of a bone marrow transplant, and his firm is using its social media presence to crowdsource a donor. Will you lend a helping hand? [Daily Business Review]

* UpCounsel has successfully raised $1.5 million in funding to beef up its international patent practice, proving the point that it costs a pretty penny to protect clients from the world’s patent trolls. [TechCrunch]

* Law schools in New York State are feeling the pain of the drop in applications, and some are now willing admit that their graduates had to start “cannibalizing each other” in the job market. [New York Law Journal]

* But really, so what if applications are down? Lots of law schools consider themselves lucky to be keeping the lights on with the assistance of generous alumni donations in the millions. [National Law Journal]

* Another day, another “diploma mill.” Sorry to disappoint you, law students and alumni, but Charleston School of Law is moving forward with its plans to sell out to the InfiLaw System. [Post and Courier]

* Who’s bad? Not AEG Live. A jury made up of people unable to answer yes or no questions during the reading of the verdict found that the concert promoter wasn’t liable in Michael Jackson’s death. [CNN]

* U. Penn. Law doesn’t need to toot its own horn about kicking off its visiting jurist program with a Supreme Court justice — we’ll do it on the school’s behalf: toot f-ing toot for Justice Kennedy. [National Law Journal]

* President Obama nominated former OLC attorney and current HLS professor David Barron for a First Circuit vacancy, and a Western New England alum for a district court judgeship. Congrats! [Boston Globe]

* The Senate confirmed Todd Hughes for a seat on the Federal Circuit without any opposition. This is what progress looks like: Hughes will be the first openly gay federal appellate judge in U.S. history. [BuzzFeed]

* Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, is pretty pissed that federal budget issues are allowing his office to get outgunned by wealthy financial firms. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “It seems a very coordinated effort of smugness.” As we reported previously, lawyers from the small firm representing Michael Jackson’s family think O’Melveny & Myers is full of d-bags. [Los Angeles Times]

* Sorry, but you can’t bang your clients. Well, that’s not completely true. You can bang your clients, but you have to bang them before there’s a legal relationship to keep banging them ethically. [Daily Report]

* President Obama says he’s not changing his mind on the legality of marijuana “at this time.” I guess we need Biden to go on Face the Nation this time around to get some movement on the drug war. [Volokh Conspiracy] * California lawmakers are looking to retool its “revenge porn” — the act of posting embarrassing sex pics/videos of a significant other who screwed you over — bill. Now California won’t be able to post all those amateur vids of the organizers behind Prop 13. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)] * New York just boasted the largest seizure of illegal guns in NYC history because a rapper used Instagram to show the world a whole mess of illegal guns. Sometimes you have to avoid that “pics or it didn’t happen” tweet. [ABA Journal] * Michael Jackson’s estate is battling the IRS. The article coyly suggests that the estate has told the IRS to “Beat It.” What they don’t understand is the IRS, as a general rule “Don’t Stop ‘Til [They] Get Enough.” [TaxProf Blog] * Inspired by our recent post on the 15 Reasons to Date a Lawyer, Going Concern has found eHarmony’s “15 Reasons to Date an Accountant” and given it a similar beatdown. [Going Concern] * Congratulations to the M&A Advisor’s “40 Under 40″ award winners. Your families would be so proud if they remembered what you looked like. [The M&A Advisor] * I was quoted in this week’s episode of This American Life. Host Ira Glass interviewed Sharon Snyder, the court clerk fired for helping free an innocent man. [This American Life] * Bruce MacEwen explains the mid-year results for Biglaw as reported by Wells Fargo and Citi respectively. Video after the jump…

* I would totally go see “Jaws 2013: Lawyers On The Beach.” [The Legal Geeks] * Downey Brand laid off support staff this week. Man, I thought that laundry detergent was recession-proof… oh, wait, I’m being told that Downey Brand is law firm, a very well-scented law firm. [ABA Journal] * Sleep expert testifies in Michael Jackson case. Keeps jurors awake! [Expert Witness Blog] * It’s illegal to burn you ex’s clothes? Bah. Next you’re going to tell me you can’t set fire to his car. [Legal Juice] * Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s inability to prosecute his political rivals makes it harder for him to do whatever he wants by threatening his political rivals with prosecution. That’s not exactly a bad thing. [Simple Justice] * Oh look, the FAA might finally acknowledge that making people turn off their electronic devices during takeoff and landing is a stupid rule that has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on flight safety. [Wall Street Journal]

Was this attorney able to moonwalk his way out of this without sanctions?

* OMG, you guys! Michael Jackson just died. At least according to concert promoter AEG Live, whose lawyer FINALLY conceded to the claim that Jackson had passed. [CNN] * The new NRA President is a tool lawyer! [Washington Times] * Jim Beck reviews the works of our own Mark Herrmann: Inside Straight(affiliate link) and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy [Drug and Device Law] * Quinn Emanuel announces its spoils following up on the departure of Michael Lyle and Eric Lyttle from Weil. [Quinn Emanuel] * Studies suggest that the more elite the school, the more likely its female graduates drop out of the work force after getting married and having kids. Women who run in elite circles and are therefore more likely to marry into financial secure partnerships are also less likely to keep grinding away at a job in order to put their kids through school? No kidding. [The Careerist] * Administrative Law Judges file suit over perceived quotas that they claim trigger the depletion of Social Security. Cost-cutting legislators think the ALJs should be depleting the fund more. Blerg. [Washington Post] * Check out the T-shirt sold at Santa Clara University. The proximity to the Santa Clara Law shirts is… fitting?

* Dewey have some false expectations of success for this partner settlement agreement? Only one in four affected partners have signed on the dotted line, but advisers think the plan will win bankruptcy court approval. [Am Law Daily]

* “There comes a point where the prospects of substantially increasing your income just outweigh everything else.” Even on his $168K salary, this appellate judge wasn’t rich in New York City, so he quit his job. [New York Law Journal]

* The middle class needs lawyers, and unemployed law school graduates need jobs. The solution for both problems seems pretty obvious, but starting a firm still costs money, no matter how “prudent” you are. [National Law Journal]

* “This is a time when law schools are trying to look carefully at their expenses and not add to them.” New York’s new pro bono initiative may come at a cost for law schools, too. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

* Much to Great Britain’s dismay, Ecuador has announced that it will grant political asylum to Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame. Sucks for Ecuador, because Assange is known to not flush the toilet. [New York Times]

* A smooth criminal gets a break: Michael Jackson’s father dropped a wrongful death suit against Dr. Conrad Murray. It probably would’ve been helpful if his attorneys could actually practice in California. [Washington Post]

* Did Lindsay Lohan’s lawyers plagiarize documents from internet websites in their defamation filings against Pitbull? You can deny it all you want, but his lawyer is out for blood and sanctions. [New York Daily News]

* Guys in my high school White House dropped threats to veto defense bills authorizing infinite detention of U.S. citizens all the time, it was no big deal. Nothing like bastardizing the Sixth Amendment. [New York Times] * So much for occupying the court system, eh? This judge won’t budge on dismissals, and more than […]

* We suspected as much: it appears that the “poop tattoo” story is, er, “full of crap.” [The Smoking Gun] * What’s the first Michael Jackson lyric that Conrad Murray will hear in jail from his fellow prisoners? My vote: “I want to love you, pretty young thing.” [Hollywood Reporter] * Herman Cain wants the […]