Robots

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.18.16

* Justice Ginsburg gets the job done, and in as few words as possible. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Will robots do away with the billable hour? And, perhaps, your job? [Law360] * Bill Cosby's ex-lawyer, Marty Singer, is reportedly being profiled by Vanity Fair. [Jezebel] * The Facebook Effect is changing how you do business. [Law and More] * Ha, this poor law student -- on the same flight as her tax prof the day after the final, as well as on the same return flight. [TaxProf Blog] * Virginia scheme that harshly punishes the poor for being unable to pay fines is now the subject of litigation. [Slate]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.06.16

* Magic Circle firm, Clifford Chance, is the latest to employ robot lawyers. The end is nigh. [Legal Cheek] * In the latest episode of the More Perfect podcast they examine the cases that gave the Supreme Court the biggest power boost. [WNYC] * Jesse Jackson calls the killing of Alton Sterling by police a […]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 04.27.16

* Amal Clooney lays the smackdown on Donald Trump, all without even uttering his name. Classy. [Vanity Fair] * If you're convicted of a felony in connection with the murder of your mother, then you should probably expect to lose your law license. [Law Profession Blog] * Yes, Ted Cruz is making a fool of himself, running a Sisyphean race for president. But does that mean the founding fathers were right about that natural born citizen crap? (If someone born in Canada to an American mother is even what they meant by the phrase.) [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * BYU's Title IX problem: Are they making sexual assault more likely by linking honor code investigations to reports of rape? [Slate] * Hooah! Army Captain Kristen Griest, one of the first women to earn a Rangers tab, will be transferring branches, becoming the first female infantry officer. Combat arms branches were recently opened to women for the first time, and Captain Griest's move is part of the Army's effort to integrate those branches. [Army Times] * Encounter with Ted Bundy! A victim of the notorious serial killer recalls the experience. [Huffington Post] * Should a settlement deal with a federal agency include a clause to prevent people from speaking negatively about the agency to Congress and the press? [Volokh Conspiracy] * The robots are coming for our jobs, but maybe, if we are lucky, some of us can survive. [Speechwriter Ghostwriter]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.23.16

* On the first day of oral arguments since Justice Scalia passed, it looks like Justice Sotomayor is stepping up to take up the snark-mantle. [Slate] * How have the Supreme Court justices avoided the cognitive decline of so many of their peers? [The Atlantic] * Here's how to use your fear of failure to create a noteworthy career in the law. [Katz Justice] * A collection of memorable Scalia quotes. Dissents just won't be the same without him. [Bloomberg / BNA] * New York City Public Advocate Letitia James is taking a close look at a Brooklyn Administrative judge to gauge the impact of foreclosures on communities of color. [Wise Law] * The latest filing by DraftKings in its bid to stay in business in New York sets out all the reasons daily fantasy leagues are different than mahjong. [Courthouse News Service] * The legal robots are here, and they want your jobs. Meet the man behind the startup. [CodeX] * NYU students, come see David Lat talk tomorrow about love, law and clerkships (with Professor Barry Friedman and Judge Alison Nathan). [NYU Law]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.27.15

* The Cincinnati Bengals reached a $255K settlement with their cheerleaders in a wage-and-hour suit. Each Ben-Gal stands to receive at least $2,500. Hmm, maybe they needed better lawyers who could BE AGGRESSIVE! B-E AGGRESSIVE! B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E! [CBS News] * Biglaw leaders think that first-year associates are likely to be replaced by robots within 10 years. Some even think that second- and third-year associates could be replaced by artificial intelligence. Damn, no wonder NY to $190 is still a pipedream. [Ars Technica via Am Law Daily] * "What you're asking them to do is do work for you." Despite the fact that the cellphone was seized in an investigation, this federal magistrate judge says that he isn't quite sure if he has the legal authority to compel Apple to access data on a locked iPhone. [Reuters] * Justice waits for no one, except this defendant who allegedly murdered her 19-month-old daughter in 2010. After her trial was rescheduled for the 18th time, a judge finally decided he'd had enough: “Anything following this will be a trial or dismissal.” [WSJ Law Blog] * If you're trying to get into to law school, there's no need to wait for your fall semester grades before you send off your applications. A pulse and the ability to sign federal loan documents are all that you'll need. [Law School Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.15.15

* From attorney to bag designer: the career of Annette Ferber. [Corp! Magazine] * Twitter goes head-to-head with Gawker Media over the copyright of GIFs. [io9] * Concerns about the judicial temperament of Judge Barry Williams, who is presiding over the Freddie Gray case. [Katz Justice] * All is not lost if you drop out of law school. [Law and More] * Why do attorneys struggle with customer reviews? [Technology & Marketing Law Blog] * Judge cleared of wrongdoing for posting about a case in front of her on Facebook. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog] * All the legal considerations before you host your "Love and Sex with Robots" conference in Malaysia. [Slate]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.10.15

* Hot on the heels of the news that the majority of students enrolled in California's "failure factories" unaccredited law schools drop out before graduation, legislators are pushing for the state bar to do something about it before even more prospective students are conned. [Los Angeles Times] * Robots will be coming for your jobs more quickly now thanks to the largest law firm in the world. Dentons invested an untold sum in Ross, an app that will inevitably replace first-year lawyers by utilizing super computer Watson's artificial intelligence to perform legal research. [Globe and Mail] * Slowly but surely, the legal industry is making a comeback in terms of headcount. Sure, the entire profession is only employing 3,500 more people now than it was at this time last year (sorry about that, law school grads), but it's still an improvement. [Am Law Daily] * Just because it doesn't look like the Securities and Exchange Commission has been doing anything doesn't mean that lawyers at the agency have been twiddling their thumbs. They've got some major things in the works, they swear. [DealBook / New York Times] * "I wonder how it feels to save the life of a mass murderer? Good job." In a shocking verdict, convicted Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes was sentenced to life in prison. All it took was one holdout juror to take the death penalty off the table. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.02.15

Ed. note: Above the Law will have a reduced publishing schedule today and we're off on Friday, July 3, in observance of whipping those English wankers a couple centuries ago. * After the German robot ran amok and killed a worker in a VW plant, prosecutors are struggling to figure out whom to charge in this violation of Asimov's First Law. [Josh Blackman's Blog] * Dean Erwin Chemerinsky thinks Ted Cruz is right about the Supreme Court. [The New Republic] * In the wake of Obergefell, Bloomberg chats with Margaret H. Marshall, the former chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who wrote the opinion making that state the first to legalize same-sex marriage. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * California February bar exam results. A couple of schools got a 100 percent passage rate. Stanford was not one of them. [Bar Exam Stats] * Love wins. The Chamber of Commerce wins more. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * A not-entirely-partisan argument that Justice Scalia should retire. He may be slipping into William O. Douglas circa 1975 territory. [Dorf on Law] * Did you know that David Lat was supposed to play Quentin Tarantino's role in Pulp Fiction? I didn't either until I saw this video (at 0:48). [ClickHole]

By Joe Patrice