Patent Trolls

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.28.16

* The ABA has placed Arizona Summit Law School on probation for its poor bar exam passage rates and questionable admissions practices. How will this affect the school's affiliation with Bethune-Cookman University? Will the Department of Education strip the law school of access to the federal student loan program like what happened with Charlotte School of Law? We'll have more on this later today. [Arizona Republic] * More Democratic senators have announced their opposition to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit, but the White House is calling for a "fair, up-or-down vote." Hmm, when the previous administration called for a hearing followed by a "fair, up-or-down vote" for Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit, the request went completely ignored. [Reuters] * The Eastern District of Texas is home to more than 40 percent of all patent lawsuits, but the Supreme Court may decide to send patent trolls packing to other jurisdictions when it hands down its ruling in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods. This case may not only resolve a Federal Circuit decision that's at odds with SCOTUS precedent, but it may bring forum shopping in patent cases to an end. [DealBook / New York Times] * As we mentioned previously, it was rumored that President Donald Trump would be nominating White House deputy counsel Makan Delrahim to lead the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. It looks like Trump finally decided to pull the trigger to elevate Delrahim to the position. He'll need to be confirmed by the Senate, which should be a relative breeze for him compared to other Trump nominees. [Law 360 (sub. req.)] * Eric Conn, a Social Security disability lawyer known as "Mr. Social Security," recently pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities in the largest Social Security fraud scheme in recent memory, submitting false medical paperwork and fake claims to the Social Security Administration to the tune of $550M. He earned himself more than $5.7M in fees as part of the scam. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.25.17

* Donald Trump is launching a "major investigation" into voter fraud because the rest of us pointed out that his popular vote claims were pure bull hockey. This is fantastic. We've known that voter fraud really isn't a thing for years but now there'll be proof. [CNN] * A deeper dive into the Dentons conflict check snafu. [Litigation Daily] * The original patent troll firm is no more. [Ars Technica] * Sergey Aleynikov's conviction reinstated. "The decision is a 'big victory' for Vance and helps to enhance his reputation as a 'no-nonsense' prosecutor who will aggressively prosecute financial fraud." Wasting years pursuing a conviction the federal courts threw out just to appease Goldman Sachs donors in their private vendetta... sure that's the kind of financial fraud everyone's looking to see aggressively prosecuted. [Bloomberg] * Deutsche out $110 million. [Law360] * Hughes Hubbard files trademark application for Trump's reelection slogan "Keep America Great." Which he stole from The Purge, if you're wondering what's next on his agenda. [The Am Law Daily] * Oh. And we have our first martial law sighting! [Salon]

By Joe Patrice
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By Charles River Associates (CRA)
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.15.15

* Hank Greenberg won his lawsuit against the government for illegally seizing insurance giant A.I.G. as part of a bailout. But the court awarded no damages, finding that shareholders weren't harmed by the takeover. So, to translate this, the court basically said to Greenberg, "You were so bad at running your business that a cabal of bureaucrats acting illegally did better for shareholders than you." That's... gotta sting. [New York Times] * Lost in the excitement of today's Baker Botts decision was the Supreme Court declining to save North Carolina's struck-down abortion law that would have required doctors to bend over backwards to dissuade women from getting an abortion. Over the dissent of Justice Scalia, the Court killed the law without giving it a chance. [Jezebel] * If you're going to Richmond, California, make sure you've left your Ultimate Nullifier at home. [Lowering the Bar] * Something finally goes wrong for wealthy people moving into Brooklyn. SPOILER: it's other wealthy people moving into Brooklyn. [Brownstoner] * Justice Ginsburg tells the crowd at the annual ACS Convention that Natalie Portman held up the upcoming RBG biopic, On the Basis of Sex, demanding that the film have a female director. Men's rights activists can take heart that a man will be directing the inevitable porn version. [The Week] * Alan Dershowitz worries that the Zivotofsky decision gives the White House too much power over foreign policy as opposed to some myopic former water commissioner awash in lobbyist money from AIPAC and apocalyptic-minded Evangelicals Congress. [The Blaze] * Do you hate patent trolls? Good. Consider supporting this feature comedy film trolling patent trolls. [Indiegogo] * If you're in D.C. Thursday morning, come hear our own David Lat discuss the future of the Roberts Court with some other people who are nowhere near as important. Like congresspeople and former federal judges and such. [Politico]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.11.15

* More whining about President Obama opining on Supreme Court cases while the justices "deliberate" -- as though anyone's opinion is up in the air. Apparently presidents have rarely done this. Fun fact: cynical lawyers have rarely gotten to the Supreme Court to attack a president's landmark legislation on a tortured textual reading, but here we are. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * It's like the Hangover. Except in prison. With more drugs. [Legal Juice] * Hey, remember when Jeb Bush got behind a law that required rape victims to publish their sexual histories in the newspaper until the law was shot down by the courts two years later? Good times. [Salon] * The Right proclaims Jeb Bush really doesn't believe in publicly shaming women for having sex. Hm. See item 3 supra. [Legal Insurrection] * Wow. The Senate actually passed something. It's a resolution hailing the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Is it a sign of my cynicism that I'm shocked even that got approved? [Constitutional Accountability Center] * Why the rationale of Roe doesn't really matter. [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Fourth Circuit panel snipes at each other over whether to call out overzealous prosecutors. It got so bad they actually sealed the opinion. [Maryland Appellate Blog] * Derek Khanna has a new report on patent reform written with Lincoln Labs. The fundamental premise: patents are not encouraging innovation any more. [Lincoln Labs] * Watchdog is reporting that Kroll Associates conveniently overlooked dozens of terrible LSAT scores in its report on University of Texas admission standards. It bears repeating: just how dumb must Abigail Fisher be to not get into this school? [Watchdog] * A short memoir about suing The Grateful Dead. [The Faculty Lounge]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket 05.15.15

* Lance Armstrong is feuding, again, with former teammate Floyd Landis -- this time over discovery [National Law Journal] * Remember July 2014 when we all learned that ExamSoft -- the bar examination software -- totally crapped out on test takers? Yeah, they just reached a $2.1 million settlement.  #NeverForgetBarghazi [Law360] * Rejoice haters of measles and other preventable diseases! California is moving to end "personal belief exemptions" for mandatory vaccines. [NPR] * In oral arguments for an appeal of the conviction of Jesse Litvak, a bond trader convicted of securities fraud involving government bailout funds, the Second Circuit was skeptical over the fairness of the trial. [New York Law Journal] * The FDA finally arrives in the year 2015; plans to ease restrictions on gay blood donors. [Jurist] *  Senate Judiciary Committee recommends prosecutor Robert Capers the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, filling Attorney General Loretta Lynch's vacancy. [Wall Street Journal] * An analysis of who the winners will be under Google's new plan to buy up patents before the trolls. [JD Supra]

By Kathryn Rubino