Nancy Shurtz

Is there any transgression serious enough to get someone fired anymore?

Ed. Note: Happy New Year everybody! As you can see, we’re closing up shop early today and we’ll be off on Monday.

* Football player career ends before the Belk Bowl after he’s caught shoplifting… from Belk. Hey, that sensible Southern-inspired activewear wasn’t going to buy itself! [ESPN]

* Some “assorted stupidity” to get you into the new year. [Lowering the Bar]

* Motorized wheelchairs are not motor vehicles for the purposes of a DUI prosecution. So go ahead and get grandma loaded tomorrow night. [How Appealing]

* Speaking of Oregon, the “free speech” uproar over the sanction of Professor Blackface may make some valid points, but they also wildly overstate the case. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* The Supreme Court may be picking up some steam in the new year. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Local lawyer competes on Wheel of Fortune. “Inconsistency is my very essence” — says the wheel — “Raise yourself up on my spokes if you wish, but don’t complain when you plunge back down.” To quote Boethius. [Rochester Democrat & Chronicle]

* Claud “Tex” McIver, the Fisher & Phillips partner who accidentally shot and killed his wife and allegedly blamed the incident on a local Black Lives Matter protest, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter (a felony) and reckless conduct (a misdemeanor). McIver will now be retiring from the firm at the end of the year, instead of in 2017 as originally planned. [Big Law Business]

* “We keep being told that the administration was so surprised. Then you read what the government released. How can you possibly have been surprised?” Students at Charlotte Law are incredibly angry that the school was dropped from the federal loan program, and many feel like they were duped by the administration. Some students have even contacted local law firms to discuss filing suit against the school. [Charlotte Observer]

* “Your father is ruining the country. Why is she on our flight? She should be flying private.” The unruly passenger who allegedly accosted future first daughter Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight to Florida yesterday is — you guessed it — a lawyer. Daniel J. Goldstein, a graduate of UCLA Law, once worked as a labor relations specialist at the U.S. Mint before moving to Brooklyn. His current place of work is unknown. [Forward]

* According to the results of an investigation by a law firm hired by the University of Oregon, law professor Nancy Shurtz committed “discriminatory harassment” by wearing a blackface costume on Halloween, in violation of the school’s anti-discrimination policies. The report does not indicate if Professor Shurtz was punished, but she is no longer on paid leave and is not scheduled to teach this spring. [The Oregonian]

* Michelle K. Lee, the outgoing director of the Patent and Trademark Office, says the “interactions that we have been having [with the president-elect’s transition team] are very positive,” and that although Donald Trump’s relationship with the denizens of Silicon Valley has at times been rocky, she thinks “any administration would have a strong and robust intellectual property system as a priority.” [WSJ Law Blog]

* Alec Baldwin will be playing controversial Brooklyn prosecutor Michael Vecchione in a new TV series in development that was adapted from the lawyer’s 2015 book, Crooked Brooklyn (affiliate link). Not to worry, because we’re sure that the actor will still be able to find the time during his shooting schedule to impersonate and infuriate President-elect Trump with his portrayals on Saturday Night Live. [Page Six / New York Post]

The intent of the professor who wore blackface as part of a Halloween costume matters, according to Dean Vikram Amar.

Don't wear blackface. Ever. IT IS NEVER OKAY.