Pat Hobbs

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.26.15

* A divided Fifth Circuit panel delivered bad news for President Obama on immigration today. [How Appealing] * Want to track the Dewey & LeBoeuf criminal case in real time? Dewey have a resource for you: the liveblog of Law360. [Law360] * Benchslap of the Day (from Judge Beth Bloom): "A rose by any other name may smell as sweet.... People, not so much." [Southern District of Florida] * Another must-read graduation speech: at Seton Hall, outgoing dean Pat Hobbs surprised each graduate with a gift package: a McDonald's happy meal gift card, a Mega Millions lottery ticket, and a quarter for calling him if times get tough. (For other graduation gift ideas, see our ATL gift guide.) [Seton Hall Law School] * Why lawyers shouldn't take the "kitchen sink" approach to their clients' affirmative defenses. [Angry Asian Man] * Is San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe going easy on a sheriff's deputy accused of wrongdoing? [San Jose Mercury News] * Need something to listen to for your next commute or trip to the gym? Check out my chat with Shearman & Sterling partner Richard Hsu about Above the Law, Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link), and more. [Hsu Untied]

By David Lat
3rd Circuit

Morning Docket: 09.05.14

* A unanimous Seventh Circuit panel, in an opinion by Judge Posner, just struck down Wisconsin and Indiana’s bans on same-sex marriage. The result isn’t surprising in light of the blistering benchslaps delivered by Judge Posner at oral argument, but the timing is faster than usual (for a federal appellate opinion in a high-profile case, not for the prolific Posner). [BuzzFeed] * Bad news for Cahill Gordon: the Third Circuit just revived a fraud case against the high-powered firm and one of its clients, a unit of BASF. [WSJ Law Blog] * And badder news for BP: a federal judge just concluded that the oil giant was grossly negligent in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. [New York Times] * Freshfields gets fresh talent, adding former Wachtell partner Mitchell Presser and former Skadden partner James Douglas to its ranks. [American Lawyer] * The dean of Seton Hall Law, Patrick Hobbs, will step down from the deanship at the end of the current academic year. Congratulations to Dean Hobbs on a long and successful tenure. [South Orange Juice] * And congratulations to John Grisham and Jason Bailey, winners of, respectively, the 2014 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and the 2014 ABA Journal/Ross Short Fiction Contest. [ABA Journal] * Brittany McGrath, Brooklyn Law class of 2014, RIP. [TaxProf Blog]

By David Lat