Neil M. Gorsuch

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.07.17

* Another day, another notable immigration ruling from the Ninth Circuit (by the great liberal lion, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, joined by his brilliant ideological protégé, Judge Marsha Berzon). [How Appealing] * The sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, which previously ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked, will be retried in November. [Philadelphia Inquirer] * Why do associates leave Biglaw, and what can be done to reduce attrition? Insights from NALP and from Major Lindsey & Africa's Tina Cohen and Jennifer Henderson. [ABA Journal] * Law firm merger mania continues -- and much of the action is taking place abroad. [Law.com] * Senator Kamala Harris, prominent prosecutor turned politician, might get interrupted on occasion -- but she will not be stopped. [New York Times] * Linda Greenhouse wonders about Justice Neil Gorsuch: "How could the folksy 'Mr. Smith Goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee' morph so quickly into Donald Trump’s life-tenured judicial avatar?" [New York Times via How Appealing] * Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledges that the Republicans might not be able to repeal Obamacare right now -- and that an interim solution might be needed. [The Hill] * For interested readers, here's the "origin story" of Above the Law, which turns 11 next month. [Yale Alumni Association of New York]

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
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.28.17

* Very interesting piece by Mark Joseph Stern on Justice Neil M. Gorsuch's dissent in Pavan v. Smith (aka the "LGBT parents on birth certificates" case). It seems to me that Justice Gorsuch's statement is technically correct -- the Arkansas Department of Health (1) was okay with giving the named plaintiffs their birth certificates and (2) conceded that in the artificial-insemination context, gay couples can't be treated differently than straight couples (see the Arkansas Supreme Court opinion, footnote 1 and page 18) -- but it's either confusing, at best, or misleading and disingenuous, at worst (the view of Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, counsel to the plaintiffs). [Slate] * Speaking of Justice Gorsuch, Adam Feldman makes some predictions about what we can expect from him in the future, based on his first few opinions. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Professor Rick Hasen has made up his mind on this: "Gorsuch is the new Scalia, just as Trump promised." [Los Angeles Times] * The VC welcomes a new co-conspirator: Professor Sai Prakash, a top scholar of constitutional law and executive power. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Now that Harvard Law School will accept GRE scores in lieu of LSAT scores, what do law school applicants need to know about the two tests? [Law School HQ] * And what do Snapchat users need to know about the app's new "Snap Map" feature? Cyberspace lawyer Drew Rossow flags potential privacy problems. [WFAA]

By David Lat
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Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.13.17

* Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the nation's first female Muslim judge and the first African-American woman to serve on New York's highest court, was found dead in the Hudson River. We'll have more on this later. [New York Daily News] * The Ukraine-related activities of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are under legal scrutiny -- and one of his daughters, lawyer Andrea Manafort, described some of her father's actions as "legally questionable." [New York Times] * Hawaii says "aloha" to the Ninth Circuit in its challenge to Trump Travel Ban 2.0 -- and seeks initial en banc review, bypassing a three-judge panel. [ABA Journal] * So the filibuster is now dead for SCOTUS nominees; are blue slips for lower-court nominees next? [Roll Call via How Appealing] * Melania Trump settles her defamation litigation with the Daily Mail, getting an apology, a retraction, coverage of her legal fees, and what her lawyer Charles Harder describes as "millions of dollars in damages." [New York Law Journal] * Biglaw firms aren't the only workplaces with gender pay gaps; it's an issue for in-house legal departments too, including Google's. [Corporate Counsel] * Seriously, North Carolina? After its half-hearted repeal of the "bathroom bill," three lawmakers in the state want to ban gay marriage. [WNCN] * Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit seems to be a fan of Justice Neil Gorsuch's views on Chevron deference. [Law.com] * And Justice Elena Kagan will be throwing a party to welcome Justice Gorsuch to the Court. [Washington Post via How Appealing]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.30.17

* Thanks to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Judge Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination now enjoys bipartisan support in the Senate. [The Hill] * But the "nuclear option" isn't off the table -- and here's how to explain it to your non-lawyer friends and relatives. [GQ] * Speaking of SCOTUS, how often do you see a separate opinion written by Justice Sotomayor and joined by... Justice Alito? [How Appealing] * And don't look for either justice in Adam Feldman's discussion of the most powerful Supreme Court justices of all time. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Thinking of (debt financing) a law degree? Use this handy student loan calculator to crunch the numbers first. [AccessLex] * A big issue in international and maritime law: control over the South China Sea. [Instapundit]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 03.24.17

* For those of you too busy this week to follow Judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation hearing, here's a nice collection of the highlights by Benjamin Wallace-Wells. [New Yorker via How Appealing] * SCOTUS confirmation hearings are often compared to kabuki theater; law professor cum novelist Jay Wexler reimagines the Gorsuch hearing as, well, actual kabuki theater. [McSweeney's] * Insider trading: it's not entirely about the benjamins, as therapist and executive coach Andrew Snyder explains. [LinkedIn] * Is the Second Circuit sitting on juicy information about President Trump's ties to Russia? [WiseLawNY] * Law school applicants with high LSAT scores: which schools do they favor? [SSRN] * Speaking of legal education, what are the secrets to law school success? Vanderbilt 3L Niya McCray shares her thoughts. [Amazon (affiliate link)]

By David Lat