Tobacco / Smoking

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.19.17

* Holy smokes! What subject just led the en banc Eleventh Circuit to issue almost 300 pages worth of opinions? [How Appealing] * I'm all in favor of anonymous blogging, but there's no denying that it can be hazardous to one's Article III ambitions. [BuzzFeed] * It's not just President Donald Trump's handshakes that can be dangerous (just ask Justice Neil Gorsuch); he's weaponized the hug as well, as James Comey learned. [Althouse] * A high-profile visitor over at the Volokh Conspiracy: renowned First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams will be blogging about his new book, The Soul of the First Amendment (affiliate link). [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Speaking of books, here's Professor Lisa Pruitt on J.D. Vance's (critically acclaimed, bestselling) memoir, Hillbilly Elegy (affiliate link): "I knew Yale law degrees were valuable, but Vance’s seems to be working miracles." * And here are some reflections from Professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson on whether fear should be part of the law school experience. [PrawfsBlawg] * Mark your calendars: June 14 in San Francisco, Battle of the (Law Firm) Bands! [Family Violence Appellate Project]

By David Lat
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 07.21.14

* NO, NO, NO, NOTORIOUS! Previously unpublished documents from the Clinton White House have been released, and it looks like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was criticized for her “laconic” nature. Not cool, Bill. [Legal Times] * Document review jobs aren’t going anywhere, folks. Exhibit A: Winston & Strawn’s e-discovery practice is bringing in the big bucks, earning the firm more than $20 million in revenue last year. [Capital Business / Washington Post] * More lawyers are being treated for substance abuse for drugs and alcohol than ever before. In fact, a founding partner of Farella Braun + Martel, one of California’s largest firms, was once a “functioning alcoholic.” [Am Law Daily] * A Florida jury apparently set on “sending a message” to tobacco companies awarded $23.6 billion in punitive damages to a chain smoker’s widow against RJ Reynolds. That was a costly message. [Reuters] * June 2014 marked the fewest people who sat for the LSAT in 14 years, but it may get even lower if a new ABA proposal which would allow the test to be waived for 10% of students passes. [Central Florida Future] * Dan Markel, FSU Law prof, criminal law theorist, and PrawfsBlawg founder, RIP. [Tallahassee Democrat]

By Staci Zaretsky
Benchslaps

Morning Docket: 11.28.12

* Chief Justice John Roberts gave a Solicitor General’s Office attorney a vicious tongue-lashing for failure to be upfront about policy changes between presidents. Now that’s what we’d call a verbal benchslap! [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * When asked if they’d be following Cravath’s bonuses, a dozen Am Law 100 firms didn’t even care to respond or discuss the matter. It seems the partners would rather keep their associates squirming with suspense a while longer. [Am Law Daily] * Watch out, world, because Catholic University of America just hired a Biglaw senior partner to lead its law school. Say hello to Dean Daniel Attridge, formerly managing partner at the D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis. [National Law Journal] * A federal judge ordered tobacco companies to disclose in product warnings that they chemically induce smoking addictions to turn a profit, but those fools will keep puffing their cancer sticks anyway. [WSJ Law Blog] * This just in from Flori-duh: you know you’re probably going to have a bad day in court when the judge won’t declare a mistrial even though the prosecutor technically wasn’t a member of the state Bar. [Miami Herald]

By Staci Zaretsky