MoloLamken

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.29.17

* Justice Neil Gorsuch delivers a speech on civility in public life at a lunch held at the Trump International Hotel -- and meets with protests. [How Appealing] * Congratulations to Makan Delrahim, just confirmed as head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. [Bloomberg via Big Law Business] * MoloLamken adds another star federal prosecutor to its roster, bringing aboard Megan Cunniff Church in Chicago. [Law360] * Speaking of stars, the Supreme Court clerks from October Term 2007: where are they now? [Excess of Democracy] * Don't say we didn't warn you: the list of law schools with the highest loan default rates is dominated by staples of Above the Law's pages. [ABA Journal] * Harvard Law School graduate Tamara Wyche, who failed the bar exam twice and lost her job at Ropes & Gray, can proceed with parts of her federal lawsuit against the New York State Board of Law Examiners. [Law.com] * Shocker: lobbyists go into high gear to try and save some cherished tax breaks from the scourge of tax reform. [New York Times]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.14.17

* The Second Circuit vacates the corruption convictions of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Congratulations to his counsel, the high-powered litigation boutique of MoloLamken (which handled the appeal as well as the trial). [How Appealing] * And congrats to federal judicial nominees John K. Bush (Sixth Circuit) and Kevin Newsom (Eleventh Circuit), who just got voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Washington Examiner] * In other nomination news, the White House seems to be taking its time in announcing a Ninth Circuit nominee from Oregon. Delay may strengthen the case for frontrunner Ryan Bounds; his main competition, Chief Judge Michael Mosman, gets older by the day (turning 61 later this year). [Portland Tribune] * Meet Michael Murray, an ex-SCOTUS clerk and Jones Day alum, who is the Justice Department's new point person on pot. (Fun fact: Kevin Newsom, Ryan Bounds, and Michael Murray all clerked for my former boss, Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit.) [U.S. News] * Former Ropes & Gray COO Hugh A. Simons wonders: "Are Law Firms Too Sophisticated for Their Own Good?" [Am Law Daily] * Will law school applications see a "Trump Bump," as idealistic aspiring attorneys seek law degrees to join the resistance? We might have more on this later. [Law.com] * Yes, lawyers should stand up for their beliefs -- but they also can (and must) understand the arguments on the other side, as new Yale Law dean Heather Gerken explains. [Time] * The Ninth Circuit has ruled in the Case of the Tweeting Judge. We might have more on this later as well. [How Appealing] * Congratulations to Stephen Kane, an alum of O'Melveny & Myers and Lex Machina, on securing $1.8 million in funding for his FairClaims startup -- which he describes as "a virtual Judge Judy." [TechCrunch]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.05.17

* Now that the Supreme Court Term is over, it's time to take stock of SCOTUS. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, law professors Sai Prakash and John Yoo posit that the staunchly originalist Justice Thomas "might have found a fellow traveler in Justice Gorsuch." [How Appealing] * Speaking of the Journal, it's the end of an era: the beloved WSJ Law Blog is no more (but note that the Journal's stellar legal coverage will remain in the newspaper and online). [WSJ Law Blog] * There's an embarrassment of riches hen it comes to SCOTUS Term wrap-ups. The MoloLamken overview is always one of the best -- and one of the most useful, for the many Above the Law readers representing big business as lawyers in Biglaw. [MoloLamken] * And if you like your Supreme Court reviews live, check out this one tomorrow night at the 92nd Street Y here in New York, featuring an all-star cast of commentators: Dan Abrams of ABC News, Joan Biskupic of CNN, Dean Trevor Morrison and Professor Kenji Yoshino of NYU Law, and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, director of NYU's Forum on Law, Culture & Society. [FOLCS] * Will Chief Justice John Roberts's recent speech at his son's graduation go down in history as one of the best commencement addresses ever? [Jane Genova -- Speechwriter-Ghostwriter] * And where is the Chief Justice spending the summer? Like many of his colleagues on the Court, JGR is leaving the country (and given what D.C. is like in the summer, you can't blame him). [The Economist] * A piece by NPR's Nina Totenberg over the long weekend reignited the Justice Kennedy retirement rumors (which I've thrown cold water on last year and again last week -- but even I admit that AMK might retire around this time next year). [Daily Intelligencer / New York Magazine]

By David Lat
Basketball

Non-Sequiturs: 07.07.14

* Mitchell Epner breaks down the Donald Sterling trial, which kicked off today. Or “tipped off” today. [CNBC] * Judge Kopf reviews Keith Lee’s The Marble and the Sculptor. Keith can take heart that His Honor didn’t tell him to STFU. [Hercules and the Umpire] * MoloLamken offers its comprehensive review of the Supreme Court’s recently concluded adventures from the perspective of businesses. Spoiler alert: businesses did really, really well. [MoloLamken] * Former seminary dean lied about his religious background and then tried to sue the guy who called him out on it. Benchslapping ensued in a fee decision: “Plaintiff’s sparse trickle of written argument gave way at the hearing to an overflow of objectively unreasonable claims…. Plaintiff either cast unsupported aspersions or asserted boldfaced contradictions, adopting whatever narrative best served him at the time.” In fairness, those sound like they might be assets in organized religion. [Religion Posts] * If you want to know what’s up in the energy sector, Breaking Energy now has a “Law Firms Perspective” feed. [Breaking Energy] * Discretion is the better part of valor: gamblers turned down around $1.5 million payout to sue casino for illegal detention… and then lost. [ATL Redline] * I’ve said before that I find the concept of legal tattoos fascinating. This one is incredibly meta….

By Joe Patrice