SMU Law

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.23.15

* In a story we've been following for years, a federal judge has put down the most notorious copyright troll in the world: "Happy Birthday To You" is now in the public domain. [LA Times] * Former SMU Dean John Attanasio, hit with a prostitution arrest back in February, is looking at a pre-trial diversion program if he's willing to admit the charge. [CBS DFW] * Just weeks after his brother took over hosting duties on The Late Show, Edward Colbert has been named managing partner of Kenyon & Kenyon LLP. [Law360] * The Republic of Guinea may have to cough up a lot of guineas in unpaid legal fees to Dentons after Judge Royce Lamberth rejected its sovereign immunity request. [Legal Times] * Honestly, who doesn't bring a couple dildos along when visiting a Rent-A-Center? [Courthouse News Service] * Dewey know what horrors await law firm managers if convicted? It's more than a little troubling that a couple million people face this fate, but we only get glossy coverage of these conditions when some millionaire lawyers might end up there. [The Am Law Daily] * Gibson Dunn under fire for not keeping original notes of its Bridgegate interviews because defense lawyers don't know how these new-fangled "computer" things work. [The Record]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.04.15

* When we first reported on this former law school dean's arrest for prostitution, we weren't sure if he was the alleged john. Now we know: SMU Law's John Attanasio allegedly offered to pay an undercover officer $100 for "specific sexual acts." [Dallas Morning News] * It seems that a lawyer in Nebraska lost his "special pen" at the courthouse, and he'd really like it to be returned to him. It's not just any pen -- it's a $500 Montblanc Meisterstück. Help this man get his prestigious pen back. [Omaha World-Herald] * The early numbers on Cadwalader's ranking in the Am Law 100 seems to indicate that would-be chair James Woolery got the hell out while the getting was still good. The firm's profits per partner dropped by 15.3 percent in 2014. Ouch. [Am Law Daily] * "Being in the law school business looked like a good idea. Those days are over." Enrollment continues to decline at law schools across the country, and in Virginia, class sizes are about 20 percent smaller than they were in 2011. [Roanoke Times] * When it comes to the recent murder-suicide of two Tulane Law students, "[p]eople are really surprised and baffled about what happened" because they say there were no warning signs. If you’re depressed, please seek help. [New Orleans Advocate] * Given the fact that children's vaccinations have become a topic presidential candidates are debating, you should know that almost half the states allow anti-vaxxer parents to opt-out. Thanks for the measles, everyone! [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 02.25.13

* The horror! The horror! Sacrilege! Constitutional law nerds nationwide will weep at the very thought of someone suggesting that our country’s governing document be amended to abolish life tenure for Supreme Court justices. [Los Angeles Times] * Quite frankly, it’s pretty amazing how quickly the preclearance section of the Voting Rights Act went from being seen by states as something that wasn’t “onerous” to being “arbitrary and burdensome.” That’s politics for you. [It's All Politics / NPR] * Jim Woolery, an M&A superstar formerly of J.P. Morgan, has made the jump to Cadwalader after only two years at the bank. Upgrade or downgrade from his Cravath partnership? [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)] * Some law professors stop teaching classes to tend to their divorce proceedings, but others law professors teach classes from their hospital beds so their students aren’t thrown to the wolves. [Tex Parte / Texas Lawyer] * It you want to be employed, make damn sure you nail your interview because “[t]he stakes are higher than ever” — fewer than 13 percent of permanent law jobs were obtained from OCI in 2011. [National Law Journal] * Greenlight Capital’s case against Apple might have been perceived as a “silly sideshow” by some, but it looks like Judge Richard Sullivan of the S.D.N.Y. purchased front row tickets. [DealBook / New York Times] * Speaking of silly sideshows, the DOJ recently joined the fray with Floyd Landis and his False Claims Act suit against Lance Armstrong. Perhaps it’s time for the disgraced biker to take his ball and go home. [Bloomberg] * Alan Westin, privacy law scholar and professor emeritus of public law at Columbia, RIP. [New York Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 06.14.12

* Kleiner Perkins responded to Ellen Pao’s gender discrimination suit, and it’s not pretty. Not only does the firm’s answer deny her allegations, but it also calls into question her work product. [San Jose Mercury News] * Joe Amendola’s preferred strategy at the Jerry Sandusky trial seems to be the use of the “tried and tested technique” of ignoring all of the alleged accusers’ tears and making them cry all over again. [New York Times] * Who in their right mind would attempt to fake being a lawyer these days? Michelle Fyfe, a 43-year-old woman from Texas, is accused of forging a law degree from SMU Dedman School of Law. [Dallas Morning News (sub. req.)] * Say hello to Baltimore Law’s new dean, Ronald Weich, the former assistant attorney general who penned the notorious false gun letter to Congress. Surely this ex-DOJ official will stand up to Bogomolny. [The Hill] * This must be like getting it caught in your zipper — but much, much worse. A Brooklyn man claims that members of the NYPD “strangled his penis,” so he’s suing. [Huffington Post via Courthouse News Service] * Reuben G. Clark Jr., a founding partner of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering (Wilmer­Hale), RIP. [Washington Post]

By Staci Zaretsky