“My grandma passed away at the top of last year / At the funeral drowning ’cause I couldn’t hold back tears / But after all that’s happened this past year / Part of me sees grace in the fact that she’s not here / As a grandson, this statement is a fact / No elderly should ever be victim of […]
Texas is a complete disaster area right now, so why not add a state bar scandal to the mix?
Based on our experience in recent client matters, we have seen an escalating threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) information technology (IT) workers engaging in sophisticated schemes to evade US and UN sanctions, steal intellectual property from US companies, and/or inject ransomware into company IT environments, in support of enhancing North Korea’s illicit weapons program.
* According to House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), special counsel Robert Mueller is making “a mistake” by not putting President Trump under oath for in-person testimony, since “he's made plain in the past [that] he feels it's perfectly fine to lie to the public.” [NBC News] * Per his lawyer, Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann will be suing CNN for at least $250M because the news network was “probably more vicious in its direct attacks” than the Washington Post. [The Hill] * Lynne Patton, purported “law school grad” and actual prop for Rep. Mark Meadows, will soon be seen on reality TV, with Trump’s permission, of course. [CNN] * Texas lawyers have filed suit against the State Bar of Texas, claiming that the use of their mandatory dues to fund diversity programming and other legislative initiatives is unconstitutional. [SE Texas Record] * Women are dominating the playing field at this year’s SXSW festival and conference, making up about 68 percent of the attorneys who will be featured as speakers or panelists during the event. [Texas Lawyer] * In a split vote, the Maryland Court of Appeals reinstated “Serial” podcast subject Adnan Syed’s murder conviction, ruling that even though he may have had ineffective assistance of counsel, that wasn’t enough to overcome the rest of the evidence against him. [Reuters] * Bill Powers, former UT president and former UT Law dean, RIP. [Statesman]
* Please clap: Jeb! Bush has been tapped by Buchanan Ingersoll, a firm that employs almost 500 lawyers across 18 offices, to act as a "strategic consultant." Bush will not be lobbying for the firm, but believes that "putting [his] knowledge and experience together with Buchanan’s professional acumen will help Buchanan’s clients grow and prosper." [Big Law Business] * Greg Gegenheimer, a white, male lawyer, has filed suit against the State Bar of Texas, accusing the organization of using an unconstitutional racial classification that discriminates against its white members. The Bar requires that at least four of its governing board members be racial minorities or women, and Gegenheimer wants to be considered for one of the minority seats that will soon be vacant. [WSJ Law Blog] * "We need to learn to adapt so we can make the most of this talent. Any good leader needs to understand and figure out how to be relevant and resonate with their workforce." Andrew Glincher, CEO of Nixon Peabody, thinks that Biglaw firms need to commit to collaboration and teamwork in order to succeed in the new economy, and to do that, they need to learn how to work better with their millennial lawyers. [Forbes] * Bill Cosby will not be able to keep prosecutors from using his questionable 2005 civil suit testimony against him during his criminal sexual assault trial. Specifically, in exchange for being "promised" that he would not be prosecuted, Cosby testified that he gave women Quaaludes before engaging in allegedly consensual sexual acts with them. A judge recently ruled that no such written promise was ever made with Cosby. [Reuters] * "Good people don't smoke marijuana." If Senator Jeff Sessions is confirmed as attorney general, then years of work to normalize the use of medical and recreational marijuana could be quickly cached. As our very own marijuana law columnist has discussed, Sessions could interfere with the rights of millions who voted to legalize medical and recreational forms of the drug and arrest growers, retailers, and users. [POLITICO]