National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.26.16

* As you may have already seen, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released another list of his potential Supreme Court nominees ahead of tonight's debate. The list includes a Republican senator who has refused to endorse Trump (and has already turned down Trump's proposal), three non-white judges, and one female judge. [WSJ Washington Wire] * Speaking of the Supreme Court, the justices may be shorthanded and trying to avoid 4-4 deadlocks on controversial cases, but they'll soon decide whether they'll liven up this term's docket by agreeing to hear a major transgender rights case involving public school bathrooms. It could be one of the biggest case of the high court's 2016-17 term. [Reuters] * "[Twelve] students is not any kind of representation of our program." Indiana Tech Law's dean says the fact that only one of the school's graduates passed the bar isn't a realistic assessment of the quality of their education, and was unwilling to confirm the school's low pass rate since five graduates were appealing their results. [Indiana Lawyer] * The Department of Education will not suspend the American Bar Association from accrediting new law schools, despite a recommendation to do so from the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. We'd like to think that the ABA has learned its lesson, but perhaps that's a bit naive of us. [ABA Journal] * In anticipation of further fallout from its fake accounts scandal, Wells Fargo has hired Shearman & Sterling to advise the bank's board as to the legal ramifications of a possible clawback of pay from Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, Chief Operating Officer Tim Sloan, and Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of community banking. [Bloomberg]

By Staci Zaretsky
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Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.02.16

* "This feels like an agency that is out of step with a crisis in its profession." The transcript from the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity is finally out, and those who voted to suspend the ABA's power to accredit law schools sought to "send a signal" about student loans and accreditation enforcement. [ABA Journal] * "Having a woman reach this milestone opens the door for us. We are allies in the struggle and we can't do this by ourselves." Women in the law fight to break through the glass ceiling every day, and Hillary Clinton's nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate has served as an inspiration to continue the battle. [Big Law Business] * Which are the best law schools for getting federal clerkship a after graduation? Aside from the incredibly obvious ones, you may actually be surprised by some of the schools that made the list. For those of you who are interested in getting a clerkship bonus when you head to your firm, we'll have more information on this later. [Business Insider] * Sorry, but your law review note might get preempted... Thanks to a split between the First and Second Circuits, in its upcoming term, the Supreme Court will decide what type of benefit must be provided to prove a quid pro quo arrangement, which could likely redefine insider trading law as we've come to know it. [DealBook / New York Times] * Talk about some expensive beauty queen drama: Genesis Davila, who was crowned as Miss Florida USA last month and then stripped of the title for allegedly using professional hair and makeup stylists in violation of the competition's rules, has filed a $15 million defamation lawsuit against the pageant's owners. [ABC Local 10 News]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.27.16

* We hope that all of our readers had a wonderful weekend! In case you haven't been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that raised salaries on Friday: Jones Day, Pillsbury, and Nixon Peabody. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law] * Karmic retribution? The ABA keeps popping out accredited law schools as if it were some sort of a clown car, but it may lose the power to accredit law schools for a one-year period thanks to a recommendation from the Department of Education's National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. [Big Law Business] * “For the time being, at this specific time on this court, Kennedy remains the pivotal justice." Justice Anthony Kennedy may be almost 80, but he remains the Supreme Court's constant swing voter. In his opinion in the Fisher affirmative action case last week, he was able to successfully "gut his own precedent." [Washington Post] * With a net worth between $7.6M and $25M, if Judge Merrick Garland were ever to be confirmed to the position for which he's been nominated, then he'd be the wealthiest SCOTUS justice of them all. According to their financial disclosures, the next wealthiest justice is Stephen Breyer, with a net worth between $6.1M and $16M. [ABA Journal] * Disbarred defense attorney F. Lee Bailey -- who you may remember as being part of O.J. Simpson's "dream team" -- filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to escape $5M+ of debt owed to the IRS. He says the IRS previously turned down his settlement offers because he's "a celebrity, and it would look bad for them." [Portland Press Herald]

By Staci Zaretsky