Summer Zervos

Morning Docket: 11.02.18

* Justice Brett Kavanaugh isn't the only one who's relying upon calendars as a defense to sexual misconduct allegations. President Donald Trump says he'll turn over portions of his calendars and journal entries to combat allegations that he forcibly kissed Summer Zervos, a former Apprentice contestant. [USA Today] * Do you support term limits or a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices? If yes, then a majority of Americans agree with you. Fix the Court polled 1,000 people, and 78 percent of them said they'd like to restrict the length of service for SCOTUS justices. [The Hill] * Per a new survey conducted by Diversity Lab and ChIPs called the Inclusion Blueprint, the Biglaw firms with the best policies to build gender equity are Brooks Kushman and Sheppard Mullin. We may have more on this later. [Big Law Business] * Shocking absolutely no one, now that Cooley Law is magically in "compliance" with the American Bar Association's accreditation standards, the school has dropped its lawsuit against the ABA. This is terribly convenient, isn't it? [ABA Journal] * Ieshia Champs, the 33-year-old single mother of five children whose inspirational graduation photos went viral this past spring, recently found out that she passed the Texas bar exam. Congratulations! All of your hard work paid off! [Fox 10 KSAZ]

Morning Docket: 09.10.18

* Fun fact of the day: According to David Brock, a onetime member of "Kavanaugh's cabal," the D.C. Circuit judge has an "unhealthy obsession with the Clintons -- especially Hillary." He urges senators to vote no on Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. [NBC News] * After repeatedly denying that he had an affair with Stormy Daniels, President Donald Trump now says he he "will not bring any action, proceeding, or claim" against her for speaking out despite her nondisclosure agreement. All she has to do is give back the $130,000 hush-money payment she received from Michael Cohen. [Washington Post] * The Democratic Coalition has lodged a perjury complaint against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh with the Justicec Department, and will soon file an ethics complaint with the D.C. Circuit. Oh, the irony that the grievance will be reviewed by SCOTUS nominee in waiting, Chief Judge Merrick Garland. [Mediaite * President Trump will provide sworn answers to written questions in the defamation suit filed by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos. Considering Marc Kasowitz thinks his client is "immune" from this suit, things could get interesting. [Reuters] * The U.S. legal sector has lost jobs for the second month in a row, and legal employment is now slightly down year-over-year. Hopefully these job numbers rebound, because law schools have started accepting record class sizes again. [American Lawyer]

Character And Fitness For The Presidency — Even POTUS Is Accountable For Personal Bad Conduct

Perhaps it is a good thing that, at least for now, a president cannot avoid a lawsuit for misdeeds that have nothing to do with the duties of the office.

‘No One Is Above The Law,’ Declares Court Allowing Defamation Suit Against Trump To Proceed

Not sure if this is what Trump had in mind when he talked about 'opening up the libel laws.'

Morning Docket: 07.10.17

* Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit is soon expected to publicly announce her retirement, and once she takes senior status, President Trump will have the ability to appoint another conservative judge to one of the nation's most powerful courts -- one that often serves as a training ground for future Supreme Court justices. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)] * Shortly after his father became the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump Jr. reportedly met with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer who had Kremlin ties, after he was allegedly promised damaging information about then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. For his part, Trump's eldest son has denied any Russian collusion having to do with the 2016 presidential election. [New York Times] * When it comes to the AT&T / Time Warner merger, "[t]he business community is watching intensely to see what an antitrust D.O.J. will look like in the Trump administration and how much of the rhetoric from the campaign trickles down into policy." Meanwhile, Makan Delrahim, President Trump’s nominee for antitrust chief, hasn't had his Senate hearing yet. [DealBook / New York Times] * Marc Kasowitz has moved to dismiss a sexual harassment suit filed against the president by former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos, claiming that thanks to the SCOTUS ruling in Bill Clinton's sexual harassment case, presidents cannot be sued in state court for personal conduct while in office. If this flies, will it give rise to more federal filings against the president? [The Hill] * "These are dedicated people doing very difficult work and not paying them is like not paying teachers, cops, social workers, or firefighters. The public should be outraged." Court-appointed lawyers in Massachusetts who represent the indigent are struggling financially thanks to the state's budget woes. Some of these attorneys are owed thousands of dollars. [Boston Globe]

Morning Docket: 03.29.17

* Almost 2,000 lawyers have signed on to a complaint filed by the Lawyers for Good Government with the Alabama State Bar Disciplinary Committee which alleges that Attorney General Jeff Sessions violated the state's rules of professional conduct when he falsely testified under oath during his confirmation hearing that he "did not have communications with the Russians," and thus should be disbarred. [Alabama Political Reporter] * A superior legal defense from a superior legal mind? A former contestant on The Apprentice who accused President Donald Trump of groping her in 2007 is now suing him for defamation. Trump's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson, claims that the president is immune from private litigation thanks to the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Perhaps he ought to take another look at Clinton v. Jones. [USA Today] * Sources say that Seyfarth Shaw partner Alexander Passantino is under consideration to run the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. He served as deputy Wage and Hour Division administrator from 2006 to 2008, and if offered the job, he'll be in charge of overseeing some pretty major policy issues, like rolling back the Obama-era expansion of overtime pay to millions of American workers. [Big Law Business] * General counsel from 185 companies signed on to a letter delivered to Congress, beseeching lawmakers to continue to support the Legal Services Corp. which could go without necessary funds under President Trump's budget plan. They've requested that $450M be allocated to the organization in order to create a "level playing field for the many lower and moderate-income families who cannot afford a lawyer." [WSJ Law Blog] * Angelo Binno, a blind prospective law student who alleged that the LSAT's logic games test is discriminatory, was denied Supreme Court certiorari earlier this week. Not to worry, because his lawyer says that the fight will go on: "I’m not going to stop until he gets into law school because I know he will be a great lawyer even though he cannot diagram that on a test. This battle is far from over." [National Law Journal]