Valparaiso University School of Law

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.16.18

* Valparaiso celebrated earlier in the week after reaching an agreement to send its beleaguered law school to Middle Tennessee. Tennessee's education officials have killed the idea of hosting another middling law school with extreme prejudice. [Chicago Tribune] * Ninth Circuit judge displays deliberate ignorance in what appears to be a looming decision to keep college athletes out of court. [Courthouse News Service] * Whenever you doubt the stupidity of humanity, remember people accused of global financial fraud tend to email each other explicit descriptions of what they're doing. [Law360] * Boies Schiller will act as special prosecutor in the Joe Arpaio appeal in what should be the easiest appellate layup ever. [The Recorder] * Republican judge dismisses lawsuit against Republican politician. [Huffington Post] * Jeff Sessions tells the Heritage Foundation that he doesn't approve of this idea that courts might consider themselves some kind of "check" or "balance" on the executive branch. [National Law Journal] * Ralph Baxter thinks Biglaw needs to change its business model to succeed. [American Lawyer]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.11.18

* If you've been following the Adidas wire fraud saga you know they have more than their share of headaches. So they've hired a senior in-house person from Bayer. See what I did there? [Corporate Counsel] * Middle Tennessee becomes the new home for Valpo students... subject to approval. I'm old enough to remember when Valpo adamantly denied they were in trouble? Ah, 2017! [Daily News Journal] * Former Biglaw partner gets 5 year prison term. [New Jersey Law Journal] * Litigation finance earmarking $50 million for women-led matters. [American Lawyer] * A welcome development in the Robert Indiana case. [Law360] * Who's excited about class action fee settlements! [NY Times]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.12.18

* President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, claims that he used his home equity line to pay off Stormy Daniels out of the goodness of his heart, and while people have been focusing on the fact that he may have violated campaign finance laws, not many have mentioned that he likely violated New York's ethics rules, would could get him disbarred. [Slate] * Remember the time that Judge Katherine Forrest ruined the internet with a single ruling? Several media outlets are preparing to appeal to the Second Circuit, saying the copyright decision could change the internet as we know it. [Big Law Business] * Dean Andrea Lyon of Valparaiso Law -- the school that's not closing, per se, but will stop accepting students and is hoping to merge with another school or move locations -- will be resigning on June 1. No one knows what will happen to the school, and soon there won't even be a dean. These poor students... [Indianapolis Business Journal] * Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a foodie, and in honor of her upcoming birthday -- and because "[s]he eats real food and plenty of it" -- here are a few of the Notorious One's favorite places to dine in her hometown of New York City. [am New York] * The February bar exam has come and gone, and with it, hundreds of jobs across the entire legal services industry. According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 200 fewer people were employed in the legal sector last month than in January. Hopefully things improve before graduation. [American Lawyer] * "Katy Perry represents everything we don't believe in. It would be a sin to sell to her." Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, 89, who had been locked in litigation with the singer and the archdioces for several years over the sale of her former convent, collapsed and died in court on Friday during a post-judgment hearing. [NPR]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.05.16

* Although it may seem far from what's occurred given some questionable statements and tweets about freedom of speech and freedom of religion, House Speaker Paul Ryan says that he's discussed the Constitution "extensively" with President-elect Donald Trump, including the separation of powers. Let's see if any of Ryan's Con Law lessons have an impact. [Huffington Post] * Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is dropping her recount bid in Pennsylvania because of an inability to afford the $1 million bond required by the state to proceed; after all, "petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means." She may not be done with her efforts to prevent President-elect Trump from securing an electoral victory, though. She'll probably try her hand at a federal case. [New York Times] * After months of sometimes violent protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to turn down the permit necessary to grant an easement to build a segment of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe, which could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands. Will President-elect Trump reverse this decision after he is inaugurated? [Reuters] * Cook County Circuit Judge Valarie Turner -- who allowed former law clerk Rhonda Crawford to don her robes and hear cases in her stead -- has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and memory loss, which has led the Judicial Inquiry Board to declare her "mentally unable" to perform her job. It is unclear whether Turner had been diagnosed prior to this summer's incident with Crawford. [Chicago Sun-Times] * Valparaiso is facing down a tough decision after years of admitting students with less-than-desirable credentials: Continue to do more of the same, or "face reality and close its law school." Given the way that things like this generally proceed with law schools, we suppose we can expect the school to try for at least a few more years with diminishing returns for graduates before it decides to throw in the towel. [Chicago Tribune] * Katherine Magbanua, the woman indicted on first-degree murder charges and accused of acting as a conduit between two alleged hitmen and whoever ordered Professor Dan Markel’s murder, can access the grand jury testimony of Luis Rivera, who has already taken a plea deal and is working with prosecutors. [Tallahassee Democrat]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.17.16

* Don't say we didn't tell you this, but according to the latest report from Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group, the great Biglaw salary increase of 2016 is now being cited as a strain on law firm profits. Expenses are now growing faster than revenues at many firms. We'll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily] * This is one promise that President-elect Trump is sticking to: Kellyanne Conway, his campaign manager, has confirmed that he will choose a Supreme Court nominee from the list(s) he released earlier this year: "You’ve seen the list of 21. The list has not changed." You can see Trump's shortlist(s) here and here. [Big Law Business] * "Every good person has an obligation to both to continue being heard and to continue doing the right thing. We can’t afford for a president to fail." Justice Sonia Sotomayor has spoken out about the results of the presidential election, and she thinks that we must guide President-elect Trump to make the right decisions for the country. [WSJ Law Blog] * The American Bar Association's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has sanctioned not one, but two law schools for their lax admissions standards. Valparaiso Law has been publicly censured and Charlotte Law has been placed on probation. We'll have more on this later today. [National Law Journal] * Judge William Duffin of the Eastern District of Wisconsin has denied a request made by state prosecutors to delay "Making a Murderer" subject Brendan Dassey's release from prison. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel says he will appeal Duffin's ruling to the Seventh Circuit. Dassey is scheduled to be released on Friday. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.30.16

* In case you haven't been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that recently raised salaries: Kaye Scholer, Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst, and Kasowitz Benson. If you’re worried you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law] * Brexit isn't just the financial undoing of a nation anymore: Boston Beer, the brewer of Sam Adams Boston Lager, has filed an intent-to-use trademark application to turn Brexit into a hard cider made from apples sourced in the UK. Just close your eyes, think of England, and take a swig before the next time you look at your 401(k). [WSJ Law Blog] * This term at the Supreme Court was a big letdown for conservatives. First, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, and then the high court continued to shift leftwards, leading liberals to prevail in some of the Court's most influential decisions, from affirmative action to abortion rights. Better luck next term, conservatives. [Washington Post] * Even though the school has offered buyouts to all of its tenured faculty and laid off staff, Dean Andrea Lyon says the worst is over for Valparaiso Law. Meanwhile, the school's former dean says it could close, but doesn't think it's likely. Right now, he's more worried about whether Valpo's former students will survive. [Indiana Lawyer] * Trinity Western University may have to take its law school aspirations to the Supreme Court of Canada. As it stands, there are three provinces that refuse to accredit the law school based on the fact that students and staff must sign a discriminatory covenant to abstain from sexual activity unless it's between husband and wife. [CBC News] * Former TV Judge Joe Brown can no longer practice law in Tennessee because he's been placed on disability inactive status. Brown had a petition for discipline filed against him this fall after an unseemly outburst in court, which he now blames on complications from diabetes medication, hypertension, and stress. Get well soon. [Commercial Appeal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.20.16

* Does your schedule already include three summer lunches this week? Here's how to avoid packing on the pounds. [Corporette] * Judicial overload in federal courts in South Carolina is getting out of hand. [Greenville Online] * A look at how the Jones Day brand might be hurting. [Law and More] * Taking the abstraction out of the homelessness problem. [Guile is Good] * That New York Times article about Valpo Law School is creating a lot of buzz. [TaxProf Blog] * An in-depth look at the sad story of Biglaw partners who were de-equitized. [Law360]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.17.16

* Happy Friday! Let's start by giving props to the firms that announced pay raises yesterday: Morgan Lewis, Andrews Kurth, Ashurst, Crowell & Moring, Orrick, and Dechert. [Above the Law / 2016 Salary Increase] * Speaking of the Great Pay Raise of 2016, law firm leaders want to reassure irate in-house counsel: don't worry, you won't see this (directly) reflected in your rates. [Big Law Business] * Biglaw Game of Thrones: who are the leading contenders to succeed Jeffrey Stone and Peter Sacripanti as co-chairs of McDermott? [American Lawyer] * The Second Circuit plays a sad song for record companies in a closely watched copyright case. [How Appealing] * And in other copyright news, SCOTUS (sorta) clarifies the standards for awarding attorneys' fees in copyright cases. [New York Times] * Look for indictments to issue from the grand jury in the Dan Markel murder case. [News4Jax] * Noam Scheiber of the Times takes a close look at struggling Valparaiso Law -- and it's not a pretty picture. (Expect more on this later.) [New York Times] * Ex-prosecutor gone bad: a Cleveland criminal defense attorney just got convicted after agreeing to launder thousands of dollars for someone he thought was a cocaine dealer. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

By David Lat