Though different in key respects from the Harvard admissions lawsuit, UC controversy is part of a larger focus on admissions treatment of Asian Americans.
* Following a concession call from Hillary Clinton last night, and in a "stunning repudiation of the establishment," Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States. Congratulations to President-elect Trump. How do you like them apples? This historic election wasn't "rigged" after all! [New York Times] * Marijuana also won big in the polls last night. Voters in California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Maine approved recreational marijuana initiatives, with Arkansas, North Dakota, and Florida approving medical marijuana initiatives, but "[t]here are various ways in which a hostile White House could trip things up." We'll have more information on this news later today. [Washington Post] * As we saw in the ATL electoral law school poll, many practicing lawyers voted for Hillary Clinton, but alas, it was all for naught. For example, Lisa Blatt, head of Arnold & Porter’s appellate and Supreme Court practice, had this to say when asked who she voted for in the election: "Duh! Clinton; early voting; and seriously?" [Big Law Business] * Despite UCLA Law Professor Richard Sander's pleas to use the data to support his opposition to affirmative action, the California State Bar need not disclose the race or ethnicity of those who took the bar exam since 1972 because it would amount to an invasion of privacy for those promised confidentiality. [San Francisco Chronicle] * Per an ALM survey, revenue per partner slipped in 2015 to an average of $468,511, down from an average of $491,729 in 2014. This 4.7 percent decline is the largest ALM has seen since it first started tracking the metric. Why is this happening? "Demand is soft. Quite a few firms still have more lawyers than work for them." [Am Law Daily] * This must be an interesting situation for the clothing company's GC-cum-CEO: After deciding to ignore its own reorganization plan and announcing that it would be winding down its U.K. operations, American Apparel is desperately attempting to stave off another bankruptcy filing and has now resumed talks with potential buyers. [Reuters]
Roadblocks to data-driven business management are falling, and a better bottom line awaits.
* Ted Cruz may not like dildos, but he doesn't seem to mind legal weed. Earlier this week, the Republican presidential candidate said that while he opposes federal legalization of cannabis, states should be free to experiment because the Constitution allows for it. Colorado's legalization of recreational marijuana is safe and sound, for now. [Denver Post] * "It was a very pleasant meeting, but it has changed nothing." Senate Republicans may want nothing to do with confirming D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, but they've sure been taking their sweet time telling him "no" during their courtesy meetings with him. Some of these seemingly pointless meetings have gone on for more than an hour. [New York Times] * Chief Judge Garland may be wasting his time with these lengthy meetings, though, because if the jurist isn't confirmed before the upcoming presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders said during last night's Democratic debate that if he wins, he'd ask President Obama to withdraw his nomination, as he doesn't think that Garland would pass his progressive litmus test on Citizens United. Are you still feeling the Bern? [TIME] * Lawmakers in several states have passed bathroom bills that enable bigotry in the name of protecting religious rights, but what you may not have known is that there is one lawyer behind them all. Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel -- who was recently in the news for representing Kentucky clerk Kim Davis -- says he's doing it to push back against the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. [CBS News] * Professor Richard Sander of UCLA School of Law, whose claim to academic fame is his "mismatch" theory of affirmative action, has been trying to get more than 30 years' worth of data from the State Bar of California for quite some time in an effort to continue his research into the "large and persistent gap in bar passage rates among racial and ethnic groups," and now he's finally going to get his day in court. [WSJ Law Blog] * David Gherity, a former Minnesota lawyer who was falsely accused of setting his girlfriend on fire using accelerants like alcohol, lotion, hair spray, and fingernail polish remover, has filed a civil rights suit against the police and prosecutors who kept him in jail for about two months. Gherity, who was suspended from practice in 2004, alleges a violation of the "protected interest in his good name." [Twin Cities Pioneer Press]
* Watch our very own Elie Mystal take on Richard Sander over affirmative action. [Huffington Post Live] * How do you get better at holiday party small talk? Booze. Is the answer not booze? I coulda sworn the answer was booze. [Associate's Mind] * Zombie Baby Jesus is making trouble. That's so like him. [CBS 12] * Classes were certified in cases challenging the NCAA's scholarship caps. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * Is it even possible to hold law schools accountable anymore? [Medium] * Is there a legal argument that Donald Trump's campaign is a hoax? [New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog]
Consider this your preview of the Fisher redux.
* Charles Manson is getting married. Have folks uncovered his registry yet? Or is this just hilarious trolling? [Lowering the Bar] * No, Tim Tebow did not get arrested soliciting a prostitute, no matter what your Facebook feed tells you. It’s obviously false. I watched his pro career, he can’t score for money. [Snopes] * Remember the lawyer who dressed up like Thomas Jefferson and declared himself “incompetent” at his own disciplinary hearing? Well, now we have video of this insane argument. [Above the Law] * Take the quiz: Drug or Pokemon character. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Prosecutor wants to withdraw evidence rather than reveal how the cops got it. That doesn’t sound shady at all. [Slate] * Professor Richard Sander keeps riding that “affirmative action is bad because it lets in dumb (minority) kids” train. [TaxProf Blog] * Shearman & Sterling partner Richard Hsu interviews Tae Hea Nahm, a former partner at Wilson Sonsini who moved from law to venture capitalism. [Hsu Tube] * Bloomberg BNA launches a new product, Bloomberg Law: Banking, to provide legal and business intelligence for banking professionals. [Bloomberg BNA] * Buffalo attorney Alfonzo Cutaia took time lapse video of the Lake Erie lake effect from his office window. It’s gone viral, and it’s pretty clear why. That’s some messed up weather right there. [YouTube]
Lexis Create+ merges legacy drafting tools with AI-powered assistance from Protégé and secure DMS integration enabled by the Henchman acquisition.
Conservative columnist Tamara Tabo offers her take on the UCLA Law racism controversy.
The racial climate at this school seems to be completely out of hand.
* A federal judge just struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. [Salt Lake Tribune] * After striking down Canada’s anti-prostitution laws, our neighbors to the North went ahead and approved a law school that functionally bans gays. What’s going on up there? Play keep away with the Stanley Cup for 20 years and they just lose their damn minds. [TaxProf Blog] * Chief Judge Alex Kozinski objects, but nobody wants to hear it. [Josh Blackman's Blog] * Professor Richard Sander won the right to examine law school race, attendance and grade information, in a bid to prove his central theory that affirmative action somehow hurts black folks. I guess the California Supreme Court is on Team Sander. [San Jose Mercury News] * Amy Schulman, the powerful general counsel at Pfizer, is out — and now there’s some interesting speculation as to why. [Law and More] * So now everyone’s writing legal opinions over Fantasy Football trades. [BigLaw Rebel] * Jim Harbaugh gets all his legal acumen from Judge Judy. Next thing you know he’ll be objecting to “What’s your deal?” for lack of foundation. [ESPN] * Speaking of Jennifer Lawrence, she can probably help with your International Law final. [The Onion] * There’s a rundown of the top patent law stories of 2013 on the web next month. And there’s CLE to be had! [Patently-O]
The ATL editors record their real-time reactions to the Team Sander story.
These tools demonstrate that information is power.
Is ignorance an excuse for racism?
The top professors at UCLA Law do very, very well for themselves.
* VC heavyweight Andressen Horowitz is investing in Rap Genius, the hip-hop brainchild of Stanford Law grad Mahbod Moghadam. Yadadamean? [Rap Genius] * If your fraternity has to hire a lawyer to hold a press conference to deny allegations of butt-chugging, and an extraordinarily uncomfortable video of the press conference makes its way online… you’re probably up s**t’s creek without a wine bottle paddle. [Outkick the Coverage] * There’s no crying in baseball, and, in other creepily homoerotic collegiate news, there shall be no drunken teabagging in college football, either. [New Orleans Times-Picayune] * Professor Richard Sander’s new book (affiliate link) argues that affirmative action actually hurts the students it intends to help. Release the partisan bickering! [The Atlantic via ProfessorBainbridge] * An interview with law prof Jay Wexler, who also released a book (affiliate link) earlier this year. His is slightly less serious. Absurdist legal humor for the win. Check out this podcast interview, too! [Constitutional Daily] * The fifth annual She Leads Conference on Women in the Law is this Friday at American University Washington College of Law. Go forth and be educated! [Ms. JD] * U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz of Connecticut, RIP. [Connecticut Post]
If you want to help, help. But don't use "helping" as an excuse to further some ridiculous personal agenda. You'll just look like an idiot. You'll just look like George Will prancing around the pages of the Washington Post trying to act like he is against affirmative action because he suddenly wants the Supreme Court to step up to the plate and "help" black people....
According to a new study by UCLA law professor Richard Sander, discussed in an article in the Denver University Law Review, “the vast majority of American law students come from relatively elite backgrounds; this is especially true at the most prestigious law schools, where only five percent of all students come from families whose SES […]