Tag: Sally Yates

* “President Trump views the Roberts Court as his potential, perhaps literal, ‘get out of jail free’ card.” While Trump thinks he’s got allies on the high court, Chief Justice Roberts has attempted to put the president in his place numerous times — to no apparent avail. [Washington Post]

* AG Bill Barr says he may not show up at this week’s Mueller report hearing before the House Judiciary Committee unless Chairman Jerry Nadler changes the proposed questioning format. Au contraire, says Nadler: “The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period.” [CNN]

* Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired after refusing to defend the Muslim travel ban, says that the Trump would “likely be indicted on obstruction” if he weren’t president. [The Hill]

* In case you missed it, Anna Delvey-Sorokin, the “socialite” who skipped out on more than $250K in fees due to three Biglaw firms, was recently convicted on grand larceny charges. [American Lawyer]

* A former Baker & McKenzie paralegal who alleged she was sexually harassed, sued the firm for $200 million, and later withdrew her suit is now on the hook for $35,445 in attorneys’ fees after disobeying court orders to substantiate her claims. [Big Law Business]

* According to a lawsuit filed against the NFL and the New England Patriots by Aaron Hernandez’s family, the former football player who was serving a life sentence for murder at the time of his death had a “severe case” of CTE. Jose Baez, the family’s attorney, said Hernandez had “the most severe case [researchers] had ever seen for someone of Aaron’s age.” [CBS Boston]

* A man after Trump’s own heart: During a recent speaking engagement, Justice Neil Gorsuch explained why he believes judges ought to be conservative on the bench, saying that “the job of the judge to apply it, not amend the law … even when he might well prefer a very different outcome.” Later, he said judges must stick to interpreting laws instead of rewriting them. [Associated Press]

* Uh-oh. Skadden is under fire for work the firm did for Paul Manafort five years ago. Apparently Manafort asked the firm to write a report justifying the jailing of a client’s political rival, and it’s coming back to haunt them. The DOJ wants the firm to hand over all documents having to do with the matter. [New York Times]

* After being fired by President Donald Trump for her refusal to defend the travel ban, former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates has found a new home, at least for this semester. Yates will serve as a Distinguished Lecturer from Government at Georgetown Law. Congratulations! [Law.com]

* In an effort to bring on-campus residential life back for law students — and thanks to alumni donations totaling $60 million — Yale Law is expanding its campus for the first time in almost 100 years. Construction on the new dorm is expected to be completed by the end of next summer. [Yale Daily News]

* After the spectacular failure that was the “skinny repeal” bill, President Trump has called for the filibuster to be abolished to prevent Senate Republicans from “look[ing] like fools.” Sorry, but a bipartisan majority has already opposed eliminating the filibuster for legislation, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no desire to do away with it. [CBS News]

* “If we are not careful, when we wake up from the Trump presidency, our justice system may be broken beyond recognition.” Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who refused to enforce President Trump’s travel ban, wrote an excellent op-ed piece for the newspaper of record on the need to protect the Justice Department — and the rule of law — from Trump. [New York Times]

* A preemptive congratulations? Word on the street is that Deputy White House counsel Gregory Katsas is currently leading the pack when it comes to consideration for the vacancy on the D.C. Circuit. As mentioned previously here at Above the Law by my colleague David Lat, “If Greg Katsas wants it, then he’ll probably get it” — and right about now, it seems like Greg Katsas wants it. [NPR]

* White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci’s expletive-laced public meltdown has people wondering what he was really like when he went to Harvard Law. Aside from the “leaked tapes” from Professor Laurence Tribe’s constitutional law class, we bet you didn’t know that Scaramucci once fouled President Obama on a basketball court before he graduated. [Law.com]

* “Drain the swamp. Drain the sewer that is the DOJ. MAGA.” Jury deliberation begins today in Martin Shkreli’s fraud trial. Will the disgraced pharma bro be sent to jail for his alleged crimes, or will he be set free into the wilds of Manhattan to relish in his own douchebaggery? We suppose we’ll soon find out. Best of luck to Mr. Shkreli, as he may need it. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Paging Don McGahn. There’s a cleanup on aisle 1600. [Politico]

* Rod Rosenstein speaks. [Slate]

* Which SCOTUS briefs are the easiest to read? [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Paul Ryan may not be able to rally the necessary tax reform troops. [The Hill]

* Sally Yates thinks the Flynn controversy was a bigger deal than the White House does. No kidding. [New Yorker]

* You may be able to visit North Carolina with a clear conscience soon. [Huffington Post]

* Not everything is a competition. [Katz Justice]

* Dealing with the bad stuff. [Law and More]

* Wanda Sykes’s is a big fan of Sally Yates. Wanda Sykes is all of us. [Jezebel]

* If this happens I will be gladly paying my New York State income taxes from now on. [Salon]

* No, Tiffany Trump cannot take (most of) these classes next year because, you know, she’ll be a 1L. [Slate]

* Some of these people are making it a habit to argue in front of SCOTUS. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* JDs don’t have the same power as MBAs. [Law and More]

* It’s like it never even happened. [The Root]

* Sure, this they’ll prepare for. Health-care reform? Not so much. [The Hill]

* Neil Gorsuch’s death count is only likely to increase. [Huffington Post]

* Arkansas accepted a “donation” of potassium chloride that it’s using in lethal injections. [McClatchy]

* This lawyer’s comments are absolutely awful. [U.S. News]

* AG Jeff Sessions’s thoughts on Hawaii aren’t surprising, but they are still infuriating. [Slate]

* Is this the most conspiracy-theory-filled deposition ever? [Salon]

* Sally Yates has been invited to testify before the House Intelligence Committee. [Politico]

* Is the truth even relevant anymore? [Law and More]

* North Carolina lawmakers say they’ve reached a deal to repeal the state’s controversial bathroom bill. I wonder how those negotiations went: “Hey, this law is awful and is costing our state billions. Let’s get rid of it.” “Okay.” I mean that’s probably not how it went, but it’s how it should have gone. [Reuters]

* Five University of California law schools are sharing the wealth after an improper foreclosure verdict results in a big punitive damages award. The judge directed a portion of that money to go to the law schools — $4 million each — earmarked for consumer law education and direct legal services. [Law.com]

* Hawaii successfully converted the TRO on the Trump administration’s Muslim Ban 2.0 into a preliminary injunction. [Hogan Lovells]

* Seattle is the first city to sue over the Trump administration’s threats against sanctuary cities. [LA Times]

* Bridgegate results in prison sentences. Bridget Kelly was sentenced to 18 months, and Bill Baroni got 2 years. [New York Times]

* Doublespeak — the environment edition. [Politico]

* Is Sean Spicer is lying about whether the White House really wants former acting Attorney General Sally Yates to testify to Congress? [The Hill]

* Judge Andrew Napolitano is back at Fox News, and back to conspiracy theories. [CNN]

* The Trump administration is trying to keep former acting attorney general Sally Yates quiet on the administration’s Russia ties. [Huffington Post]

* SCOTUS scores victory for science, Eighth Amendment. [Slate]

* Graduating from NYU Law does not mean you are capable of doing everything. [Salon]

* As one might expect in this political climate, ICE agents appear to be shooting first, asking questions later. [The Slot]

* Update your workwear. Everyone is tired of seeing you in your winter finest. [Corporette]

* Is this why lawyers go rogue? [Law and More]

* It turns out former Acting AG Sally Yates may have first gotten under the administration’s skin when she warned them about Michael Flynn’s dealings with Russia. [Boston Globe]

* That’s a good question… where is Don McGahn in all this? [The Careerist]

* Crowell & Moring’s PPP up $412,000 over the previous year. So, I guess they could afford that associate salary increase. [National Law Journal]

* A lot of companies talk about valuing diversity. HP is withholding legal fees from firms that fail their diversity staffing requirements. [Corporate Counsel]

* New AI system finds tax law answers in Australia. Now, if it can just prove whether or not a dingo ate that baby…. [The Australian]

* Federal judge thinks Holland & Knight may have improperly doubled their pleasure. [Law360]

* Biglaw has stepped up in a big way in response to the Muslim travel ban. Orrick is contributing to the cause with sound data collection, creating a cloud-based system to track the victims of the order. [Big Law Business]

* Tostito’s is selling a breathalyzer to discourage DUIs. The product is, quite literally, all that and a bag of chips. [Huffington Post]

* A new survey says GCs are itching to cut ties with their underperforming law firms. [Corporate Counsel]

* Sally Yates has a fat paycheck waiting for her in Biglaw. [Law.com]

* Andy Puzder learned his trade from a mob lawyer investigated by the FBI. The real key to this article is the most pretentious picture of Puzder imaginable. [Politico]

* America’s sweetheart Anthony Weiner may face child pornography charges. [The Hill]

* The apocalypse for organized labor may be right around the corner. [Deadspin]