UCLA School of Law

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.17.17

* Ty Cobb, a former federal prosecutor, has resigned from his post as a partner at Hogan Lovells to join President Trump's legal team as the investigation into the campaign's possible collusion with Russia continues to expand. Cobb, who's related to the baseball player of the same name, leaves behind more than 30 years of history at the firm to collaborate with Marc Kasowitz, which should be interesting, to say the least. Dat stache, tho... [Bloomberg; New York Times] * In other news, yet another member of President Trump's legal team, Jay Sekulow, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press and CBS's Face the Nation yesterday in an attempt to solidify claims that his client, the commander-in-chief, had no knowledge of Don Jr.'s emails and meeting with the Russians, and that "there was nothing illegal to cover up" anyway. [Newsweek] * Meanwhile, it looks like Trump's lawyers knew about Don Jr.'s emails and meeting with the Russians more than three weeks ago, which makes the president's assertion that he'd learned of it "a couple of days ago" all the more far fetched. In fact, per a recent FEC filing, President Trump’s reelection campaign paid $50,000 to Don Jr.'s criminal-defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, on June 26, two weeks before the email scandal was made public. [Yahoo News; Daily Beast] * "I think a politician or a public figure of note can have a Twitter account of public note which would not be deemed to be a public forum. But in the Trump Administration, what he says on his tweets are as much public in nature as a press conference." Renowned First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams explains why the litigants who sued President Trump for blocking their Twitter accounts might just have a shot when it comes to winning their case. [Big Law Business] * "I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian." An Airbnb host has been taken to task by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing after canceling a UCLA School of Law student's cabin reservation based on race. Airbnb must also develop a discipline system for discriminatory hosts. We may have more on this later. [The Recorder]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 04.18.17

* BYU and Pepperdine are the "most ideologically balanced faculties." You know, if you want to give more fuel to the snowflakes. [TaxProf Blog] * When will Neil Gorsuch retire? [Empirical SCOTUS] * UCLA Law has a $20 million movie deal. Sort of. [Law.com] * CFPB sues law firm. Wow, there's still a CFPB? [Law360] * Zara apparently branching out into the Noe-Nazi market. And here I thought Hugo Boss had that locked up. [Fashionista] * Do you know your state's official bird? Well, this legislator thinks you shouldn't have to and is waging the single most important policy fight in his state. [Lowering the Bill]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.15.16

* Ted Cruz may not like dildos, but he doesn't seem to mind legal weed. Earlier this week, the Republican presidential candidate said that while he opposes federal legalization of cannabis, states should be free to experiment because the Constitution allows for it. Colorado's legalization of recreational marijuana is safe and sound, for now. [Denver Post] * "It was a very pleasant meeting, but it has changed nothing." Senate Republicans may want nothing to do with confirming D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, but they've sure been taking their sweet time telling him "no" during their courtesy meetings with him. Some of these seemingly pointless meetings have gone on for more than an hour. [New York Times] * Chief Judge Garland may be wasting his time with these lengthy meetings, though, because if the jurist isn't confirmed before the upcoming presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders said during last night's Democratic debate that if he wins, he'd ask President Obama to withdraw his nomination, as he doesn't think that Garland would pass his progressive litmus test on Citizens United. Are you still feeling the Bern? [TIME] * Lawmakers in several states have passed bathroom bills that enable bigotry in the name of protecting religious rights, but what you may not have known is that there is one lawyer behind them all. Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel -- who was recently in the news for representing Kentucky clerk Kim Davis -- says he's doing it to push back against the Supreme Court's Obergefell ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. [CBS News] * Professor Richard Sander of UCLA School of Law, whose claim to academic fame is his "mismatch" theory of affirmative action, has been trying to get more than 30 years' worth of data from the State Bar of California for quite some time in an effort to continue his research into the "large and persistent gap in bar passage rates among racial and ethnic groups," and now he's finally going to get his day in court. [WSJ Law Blog] * David Gherity, a former Minnesota lawyer who was falsely accused of setting his girlfriend on fire using accelerants like alcohol, lotion, hair spray, and fingernail polish remover, has filed a civil rights suit against the police and prosecutors who kept him in jail for about two months. Gherity, who was suspended from practice in 2004, alleges a violation of the "protected interest in his good name." [Twin Cities Pioneer Press]

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

By Staci Zaretsky