Rutgers Law – Newark

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.08.15

* “Take it from me, dealing with the complex criminal legal system can be difficult and intimidating for most people." This ex-Troutman Sanders partner may be facing nine felony charges, but who cares? He's starting his own firm. [Am Law Daily] * It's kind of cute when law school deans lie to themselves to make themselves feel better. For example, the dean of Oregon Law says now is "excellent" time go to go law school, and he doesn't make decisions “based on what moves the rankings needle.” [Daily Emerald] * Per the latest Altman Weil survey, the first quarter of 2015 was one of the best ever for law firm mergers. The pace with which law firms merged was the second-quickest since the company started tracking mergers to begin with in 2007. [Philadelphia Inquirer] * The Rutgers Board of Governors has approved of the proposed merger between Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden Law. Now they just have to wait for the ABA's rubber stamp, which they'll obviously get -- the ABA would rubber stamp a shoe. [NJ Advance Media] * "[T]he law is a noble profession – but it’s also an oversubscribed one, due in large part to excessive federal lending." Maybe if the government stopped handing out student loans like candy, law schools would be forced to lower their tuition rates. [Washington Post] * The University of Virginia's chapter of Phi Kappa Psi is definitely going to try to sue Rolling Stone over its fraternity gang-rape story, but the question is whether "bad journalism [will] amount to legal liability." What do you think about this? [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.31.15

* Reunited and it feels so good... to have more tuition money in our pockets: following more than 40 years apart, Rutgers-Camden Law and Rutgers-Newark Law may merge to create the Rutgers School of Law, one of the largest law schools in the country. [NJ.com] * In case you missed it, the courtroom erupted into chaos in the final moments of the Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins trial because a juror "made a mistake" and decided to change his vote mid-verdict. Come on, give the guy a break -- he's almost 90. [WSJ Law Blog] * Lawmakers are awfully interested in the way that the SEC is doing its job, and they're drafting new laws in the hope of helping the agency out. We'll let you know how helpful this was in a few years if those bills are ever passed. [DealBook / New York Times] * After an incredibly unsuccessful defense of its ban on same-sex marriage, Wisconsin is going to have to shell out more than $1 million in legal fees to the ACLU -- the largest single payout yet by a state in the history of cases of this kind. [National Law Journal] * If you're looking to transfer to another law school after your first year in the trenches, here are three things that you absolutely, positively must do to ensure your chances of being accepted elsewhere. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.16.15

* The mystery of Kevin Durant's "law degree" is solved. It's some kind of Sprint promotion. Ho hum. [You Tube] * Not to be one-upped by the shenanigans that go on in New Orleans, a Baton Rouge attorney was arrested for allegedly stealing "'several items' — including a four-wheeler and a tractor" from an elderly client. [The Advocate] * Religious conversion efforts are getting a little out of hand in Idaho. [Legal Juice] * The Rutgers "merger" is old news, but one professor explains how the whole proposition is just a case of the central university "pulling a fast one." [TaxProf Blog] * Miami attorney Irwin Block, whose pro bono death row advocacy efforts inspired a Pulitzer Prize-winning report, has died at age 87. [Miami Herald]

By Joe Patrice
6th Circuit

Morning Docket: 03.24.14

* Justice Antonin Scalia isn’t quite ready to publicly weigh in on whether computer data is considered a protected “effect” under the Fourth Amendment. “[T]hat may well come up [before the Supreme Court],” he says. Thanks NSA. [Business Insider] * “[I]t doesn’t take many bad apples in a barrel to cause a stink.” No matter how hard Biglaw firms try to keep their confidential information locked down, someone’s going trade on it. It looks like STB is learning that the hard way. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)] * The day after Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by Judge Bernard Friedman, couples who rushed to marry were met with some serious Sixth Circuit sadness. Way to stay and spoil all of the celebrations, judges. [New York Times] * “We’re not the Cleveland Browns,” says one of Case Western Law’s interim co-deans. With that kind of a glowing endorsement, we don’t see how this law school could possibly fail. [Crain's Cleveland Business] * Rutgers Law-Newark has a new low-bono fellowship program “believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.” Some other law schools might have a bone to pick about that statement. [New Jersey Star-Ledger]

By Staci Zaretsky
Basketball

Morning Docket: 04.12.13

* Earlier this week, after some political wrangling, Senator Chuck Grassley proposed the Court Efficiency Act in the hope of paring down the D.C. Circuit. But really, come on, what are the odds of that happening… again? [National Law Journal] * Biglaw partners, rejoice, for it seems that your legal secretaries will be unable to sue you for defamation over emails written to your wives. Spousal privilege, baby! (N.B. This doesn’t apply to your girlfriends.) [New York Law Journal] * Which law schools placed the highest percentage of grads in federal clerkships? This info comes from the rankings guru himself. We may have more on this later. [Morse Code / U.S. News & World Report] * The Rutgers basketball scandal claimed another scalp yesterday after the school’s former general counsel resigned. Rutgers Law dean John Farmer will be stepping in for a brief assist. [Star-Ledger] * So, do you remember that environmental report Steven Donziger allegedly had made up in the Chevron case? Yeah, the consulting firm just disavowed all of the evidence in the report. Oops! [Businessweek] * Say so long to your retirement money, sweetie: Junie Hoang, the actress who sued IMDb for revealing the fact that she was over the hill, received a less than favorable jury verdict. [Houston Chronicle]

By Staci Zaretsky