Wal-Mart

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.25.22

* If corporations are people, what's next, rivers? Well actually... [NCRonline] * Alabama's attempt at redistricting was thrown out. Does the Voting Right Act still have some teeth left after all? [Reuters] * The use of affirmative action in college admissions is probably next up on the Supreme Court’s chopping block. [USA Today] * Woman is arrested in Texas after trying to buy someone's child at a Wal-Mart for $500k. There are some things you just can't roll back prices on, libertarians. [NBC News] * Police sent the wrong guy to jail because his name was too similar to someone else's. Guess a rose by any other name is bitter after all. [Independent] * The "Right to Repair" movement has some executive backing. Celebrate by doing it yourself! Or paying a third-party vendor. You do you. [Vice]

By Chris Williams
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.29.16

* Legal showdown averted (for now): the feds were able to access the data on the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone without any help from Apple. [Washington Post] * A Harvard Law School grad stands accused of a $95 million fraud scheme -- yikes. We'll have more on this later. [ABA Journal] * Does a sentencing delay violate the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial? Some on SCOTUS seem skeptical. [How Appealing] * Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announces his intention to veto the Free Exercise Protection Act, which critics claimed would have protected discrimination as a form of religious liberty. [New York Times] * Hillary Clinton takes Republicans to task for their handling of the current Supreme Court vacancy. [Wisconsin State Journal via How Appealing] * Some thoughts from Professor Noah Feldman on the recent Seventh Circuit ruling about the use of form contracts on the internet (which nobody reads). [Bloomberg View] * Save money (on taxes), live better: a federal judge strikes down a tax levied by Puerto Rico on mega-retailer Wal-Mart. [Reuters] * The Bracewell law firm, now sans Giuliani, elects Gregory Bopp as its new managing partner. [Texas Lawyer]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 08.17.15

* A look back at the impact Justice Scalia's signature snarky style has had on the high court. [Jost on Justice] * Decry "big government" all you want, but this is a great use of its power: one Wal-Mart declared a public nuisance. [Law and More] * A horse! A horse! My law license for a horse! One attorney faces sanctions for his love of racing horses. [Legal Profession Blog] * The NLRB might have dashed Northwestern's football players' unionization hopes, but they still won a lot of concessions. [Fox Sports] * More than 50 days after the landmark Obergefell case, there are still pockets of the country where same-sex couples can't get married. [BuzzFeed] * What can the RNC offer Donald Trump to GTFO of the Republican primary? [Funny or Die]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.30.15

* The National Association for Law Placement released slightly improved jobs numbers for the law school class of 2014, so yay? [National Law Journal] * The battle royale that pits local musicians versus Biglaw heavyweight Skadden continues to rage on. [Washington Post] * Guess what? Prosecutors don't like the Second Circuit's higher threshold for insider trading cases and now they'd like the Supreme Court to do something about it. [Wall Street Journal] * A group of merchants including Amazon, Wal-Mart and Starbucks want the $7 billion settlement negotiated over interchange fees with Visa, Mastercard and American Express in an antitrust case vacated due to attorney Gary Friedman's alleged misconduct. [Law360] * Don't cha love it when media scandals become real life litigation? All your deflategate legal questions answered. [Stradley Law]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.28.15

* As it turns out, Marilyn Mosby, State's Attorney for Baltimore, has been a legal all-star for much of her adult life. Not only did she file charges against police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, but she won a case in front of Judge Judy. Watch the video below. [New York Daily News] * “No one needs more than 18 years in the high stakes and extremely powerful position of Supreme Court justice.” If you're against lifetime terms for SCOTUS justices, you're going to love Fix the Court's new initiative for voluntary term limits. Who'd actually follow through with this? [Legal Times] * The DOJ brought a landmark case against FIFA officials, but there's likely going to be a problem getting those who were charged extradited from Switzerland. Legal experts say it'll be at least six months until we can get them in the U.S. penalty box. [WSJ Law Blog] * Sure, Dewey & LeBoeuf's former chief financial officer may have referred to the firm's "fake income" and hoped for a "clueless auditor," but come on, that doesn't mean that he was involved in anything fraudulent. He's just a really "blunt" kind of guy. [Am Law Daily] * UC law students are thanking Gov. Jerry Brown they're exempt from supplemental tuition increases -- "[they] are paying a ton already for [their] degrees." Good thing legal education is in the toilet, otherwise they'd be paying the fee hikes. [Los Angeles Times] * Comedian Tracy Morgan has settled his personal injury lawsuit against Wal-Mart over the tractor-trailer truck crash he was involved in last summer. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, but we imagine someone will leak them online soon. [Reuters] https://youtu.be/f6aN3_hKdwk

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 10.01.14

* Weil Gotshal is tired of winnowing its workers, so this time around, the firm is relinquishing some of its real estate. The firm will have the same address as usual, but its space will be smaller — 20 percent smaller. [WSJ Law Blog] * It’s not just leaders of Biglaw firms who are looking to downsize. Leaders of midsize firms are trying to do the same thing, but with their management responsibilities instead of their people. Charming. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] * Lawyers are typically stereotyped by the uninformed as being some of the richest people in America. As luck would have it, some lawyers are the richest people in America. Which ones? We’ll have more on this later. [Am Law Daily] * “If I could redo a year ago, I would still go. Just because I know that [law school] still opens doors.” We’ve got a correction: Silly 2L, Columbia Law — not law school in general — still opens doors. [USA Today] * Tracy Morgan has spoken out for the first time since his tragic accident this summer, but only after Wal-Mart blamed him for getting hurt in the first place. It’s a rollback on pure class. [New York Daily News]

By Staci Zaretsky
9th Circuit

Non-Sequiturs: 01.15.14

* Wal-Mart may recall loads of donkey meat from their stores. Not because they sold donkey meat — they intended to do that — but because there was fox meat mixed in. What does the Fox Say? Nothing, because it was ground into donkey meat. The end. [MSN Money] * Of course Colorado got rid of mile marker 420. But it’s not because they don’t like weed — it’s legal there, after all — check out the real reason. [Lowering the Bar] * Judges are reading briefs on iPads now? Here’s how you write a brief for a judge who has an app for “law.” [Columbia Business Law Review] * A listing of this lawyer’s previous representations. In the words of our tipster: “Don’t know what’s worse: Courtney Love or the Gambino crime family.” [Andrew Mancilla, Esq.] * The Ninth Circuit gave the go-ahead for about 60,000 tech workers to sue Google, Apple, and other companies for artificially driving down wages by agreeing not to poach each others’ employees. Hey, give these folks some love, not every one of them is going to go start a new video game company. [Reuters] * A lot of Cuban-American families in Miami blow a lot of money on quinceañeras. Here’s a way to recoup some funds: throw a completely innocent party and wait for the cops to come by and commit police brutality. This guy netted $90,000 that way. [Miami New Times]

By Joe Patrice
2nd Circuit

Morning Docket: 10.08.12

* Should Biglaw firms bill by the result instead of by the hour? When some of the results-oriented strategies involve reading less and writing faster to improve work efficiency, we’re not sure how well this would work in a law firm setting. [New York Times] * Roller coaster of employment: after losing 1,400 jobs in August, the legal sector added 1,000 jobs in September. Alas, there are way more than 1,000 new bar admittees gunning for all of those paralegal and secretarial positions. [Am Law Daily] * “They were throwing furniture at both of us.” Both sides on the Jacoby & Myers non-lawyer firm ownership case took a beating before the Second Circuit during oral arguments, but who won? [New York Law Journal] * Come November, Floridians will vote on constitutional amendments that deal with abortion and separation of church and state. Meanwhile, half the voters won’t even read the entire ballot, so there’s that. [New York Times] * A love triangle + an Arkansas Wal-Mart = a judicial suspension for Circuit Judge Sam Pope after an all-out brawl with… Bill Murray? Hey, at least this guy’s estranged wife got three punches in. [National Law Journal] * Tyler Clementi’s family won’t file suit against Rutgers University and Dharun Ravi — instead, they’ll use the publicity from their son Tyler’s suicide for “positive purposes,” like supporting gay and lesbian youths. [CNN] * “This guy is a bully, and he uses the court system to do it.” Robert V. Ward Jr., the former dean of UMass Law, had to deal with Gregory Langadinos, a serial law school litigant, and it wasn’t exactly pretty. [Boston Globe]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 09.17.12

* Wal-Mart allegedly ripped up a woman’s hundos because a cashier thought they were fake. The bills were, in fact, real, and now the woman, who just wanted to do some Christmas shopping, is suing. Beat that, Ebenezer Scrooge! [Daily Mail] * A few weeks back, we challenged law professors to come up with 50 Shades of Grey-based hypos. This fellow took us up on it. So here you go: 50 Shades of Admin Law. [Lawprawfblog] * Hey Romney, you can take our lives health care, but you’ll never take our pornography! [Forbes] * “Now enterng the Klu Klux Klan Memorial Highway.” Yeah, I agree, that really doesn’t have such a great ring to it. [Thomson Reuters News and Insight] * If you just started your 1L year and are already thinking, “I’ve made a huge mistake,” you may still have time to escape with your bank account intact. [Texas Lawyer] * Speaking of, a recent Delaware Supreme Court opinion worked out to $35,000 per hour for winning attorneys in the case. Now the losers, Grupo Mexico, have appealed by arguing, “You guys made a huge mistake!” [WSJ Deal Journal] * Remember that HLS grad and former prosecutor who went a little bonkers in an airport Peet’s Coffee? Yeah, well, this time, the bar threw her out. [State Bar of California via Daily Journal (subs. req.)]

By Christopher Danzig
Bloomberg

Non-Sequiturs: 05.31.2012

* For everyone who’s ever wondered, “I’m an attorney, but I also love playing lacrosse. Where can I enjoy my dual passions?” Well, here’s your answer. [Wall Street Journal] * More analysis of today’s DOMA smack down. [Leonard Link] * Still speaking about DOMA, check out these interesting similarities between Judge Michael Boudin, who wrote the court’s DOMA opinion, and 50 Cent. (Spoiler: they’ve both been shot a gazillion times, duuuh.) [Think Progress] * How do you turn your summer associateship into a full-time offer? I might suggest presents, nepotism, or, ahem, “favors.” Or for more traditional folks, I suppose you could take this “practical” advice. [The Careerist] * What can business executives learn from Wal-Mart? That having holiday sales so huge people are willing to die to be there might not be such a terrible idea? [Harvard Business Review] * What happens when the pool of college graduates dries up in a metropolitan area? Kitten starvation, ice storms, and zombies. [New York Times] * On a policy level, this maybe isn’t a great idea. And I realize I might sound like a hypocrite. But, honestly, if sodas were banned, I would be really upset for like 20 minutes, and then I would just go on a crazy 20-year coconut water binge. [New York Times] After the jump, check out Bloomberg Law’s interview with the judge from Raj Rajaratnam’s insider trading case…

By Christopher Danzig
Airplanes / Aviation

Morning Docket: 04.26.12

* Dewey need to take a look at the Biglaw industry in general before more firms implode? Hell yes, says an author who’s written on the economics and management of law firms. [DealBook / New York Times] * Wal-Mart was served with its first shareholder suit over its alleged bribery scandal, because the only thing on rollback this week is the price of the company’s stock shares. [Reuters] * Does diplomatic immunity give you a free pass for getting handsy with the maid? Guess we’ll see next week, when a judge rules on DSK’s motion to dismiss his civil suit. [New York Daily News] * As long as you’ve got money, the TSA will totally look the other way if you’ve got suitcases filled with drugs. Vibrators, on the other hand, are simply out of the question. [Bloomberg] * As of yesterday, Connecticut became the seventeenth state to kill the death penalty. But not so fast, death row inmates. You still get to die. Isn’t that nice? [CNN] * Franchise agreements be damned, because even judges can understand that sometimes, you just need to eat a delicious sandwich while you’re getting a lap dance. [KTVN]

By Staci Zaretsky
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 04.25.12

* Arizona’s immigration law is heading to the Supreme Court today. Meanwhile, former Senator Dennis DeConcini lobbed the worst insult ever against his state. How embarrassing for you, Arizona. [New York Times] * Will Wal-Mart regret not disclosing its bribery investigation sooner? Not when the delay saved millions in criminal fines. What Wal-Mart will regret is being forced into disclosure by the NYT narcs. [Corporate Counsel] * Delete all the oil from ocean, and then maybe we’ll care about this. A former BP employee was charged with obstruction of justice for deleting texts having to do with the Deepwater Horizon disaster. [Bloomberg] * The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners has granted Duncan Law an extension on its bid for ABA accreditation. Woohoo, five more years of allowing students to “negligently enroll.” [Knoxville News Sentinel] * “Once you cross the six-figure mark, you think, what’s a few thousand dollars more?” You’re doing it wrong: you’re supposed to be bragging about a six-figure salary, not a six-figure debt obligation. [Baltimore Sun] * New Jersey residents don’t always have the great pleasure of nearly being killed by two high-speed Lamborghinis, but when they do, they prefer that police officers be suspended and sue over it. [ABC News]

By Staci Zaretsky