Law in Popular Culture

Oliver Stone Got Insights from Eliot Spitzer for Latest Wall Street Film

Oliver Stone tapped New York’s former attorney general and governor for help with his new movie featuring Gordon Gekko called Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Stone told Reuters that he got some “very good insights from people like” Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as governor in 2008 in the midst of…

May 13, 2010 12:05 PM CDT

Clinton Adviser Vernon Jordan Makes Cameo Appearance on ‘Good Wife’

Forget Matt Damon and Demi Lovato. As far as viewers of The Good Wife are concerned, it wasn’t mainstream celebrities but a former Bill Clinton adviser who was expected to spark their attention during the critical May television sweep ratings. Vernon Jordan made a cameo appearance as himself about 35…

May 12, 2010 7:59 PM CDT

Today’s News: Obama Picks Kagan, GOP Lawmakers Launch SCOTUS YouTube Channel

After this morning’s announcement by President Barack Obama that he had selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his choice for the U.S. Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice John Paul Stevens, the media whirred into gear with details about her background and the confirmation battle that just about any…

May 11, 2010 12:01 AM CDT

School-Sponsored MSU Student Blog Gives Applicants Snapshots of Law School Life

Hey, prospective legal eagles. Want to know what law school is really like? A new student blog at the Michigan State University College of Law may not provide all the answers. However, Kristen Flory, director of the school’s marketing and communications department, promoted the idea and apparently sees Spartan bLAWg…

May 10, 2010 7:15 PM CDT

Deja Brew? Lawsuit Alleges Too-Hot Starbucks Tea; Observers Riff on ‘94 Mickey D Coffee Case

Remember the furor over the famous $2.9 million jury verdict in 1994 concerning McDonald’s serving too-hot coffee? It seems that Starbucks may have brewed up a sequel. The lawsuit news of the week, garnering international headlines, had to be Zeynep Inanli’s complaint that she had been served unreasonably hot tea…

May 7, 2010 7:29 PM CDT

Art Project and Late-Awarded Law License Recall Exclusion of Black Lawyers

Two news stories this week—about an art project in Iowa and a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision—call attention to a history of discrimination against black lawyers. In Pennsylvania, a man twice denied admission to law practice in the 1800s because he was black has been awarded a law license posthumously. The…

May 7, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Fed’l Judge Subpoenas Raw Footage from ‘Crude’ Documentary About Chevron Suit

Saying that the filmmaker had not met his burden of establishing that some 600 hours of raw footage from the documentary Crude is confidential and hence arguably protected by an investigative reporting privilege, a federal judge in Manhattan has okayed a subpoena requiring director Joe Berlinger to turn over the…

May 6, 2010 11:43 PM CDT

ABA Offers Refunds to Those Boycotting Arizona Conference

The Equal Justice Conference to be hosted by the American Bar Association next week is being held in Phoenix. And that has put the ABA on the hot seat as individuals and organizations unhappy about the state’s controversial new immigration law call for a boycott of the event. ABA President…

May 6, 2010 10:27 PM CDT

Restaurant Requires Liability Waiver for Drinkers of Super-Hot Cocktail

The owner of Mercadito probably doesn’t really believe anyone is likely to sue the Chicago restaurant over its super-hot cocktail, the Vato Loco. But in an apparent marketing ploy to promote the $12 drink as the “Hottest Cocktail on Earth,” those who order it must sign a liability waiver, reports…

May 5, 2010 8:26 PM CDT

Judge Takes Court Docket Offline to Prevent Jurors From Accessing It During Trial

Concerned that jurors might improperly access public information from the online court docket, an Oklahoma judge ordered it taken down for the duration of the trial in a medical malpractice case. But a mistrial still resulted, because the jurors could not agree on a verdict, reports the Tulsa World. Tulsa…

May 4, 2010 10:04 PM CDT

Latest Scott Turow Legal Thriller Puts ‘Innocent’ Rusty Sabich in New Murder Trial

After a 23-year gap, attorney and best-selling author Scott Turow has brought the lead character of one of his best-known legal thrillers back into the spotlight again as the defendant in a new murder case. Rusty Sabich, now over 60 and an appellate judge, is still in his stilted marriage…

May 4, 2010 8:46 PM CDT

US Supreme Court Closes Its Historic Front Door to the Public; 2 Justices Openly Disagree

In a move that has provoked a rare open disagreement among the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the nation’s top court will close its historic front door to incoming members of the public, starting tomorrow, in order to enhance security. The front door will still be used as an…

May 3, 2010 10:15 PM CDT

Eyes Widen as Above the Law Blogger Attends NALP Panel on Online Rumor Mills

Fellow attendees stared at him as though he had three heads and vampire fangs when he went to a National Association for Law Placement program this morning on navigating online rumor mills, says Above the Law blogger Elie Mystal. But there is no silver bullet that can kill the insider…

May 1, 2010 12:01 AM CDT

Harvard Law Student’s Racist E-Mail Goes Viral; Dean Calls It ‘Sad & Unfortunate’

The dean of Harvard Law School has now weighed in concerning a student’s racist e-mail that reportedly went viral on the Internet this week. Dean Martha Minow describes the e-mail in a statement today to the law school community as “troubling” and a “sad and unfortunate incident” that “prompts both…

Apr 29, 2010 6:32 PM CDT

Federalist Society Launches New US Supreme Court Website

The Federalist Society has launched a new website that is intended to serve as a one-stop destination for news, documents and “commentary from across the legal, political and philosophical spectrum” concerning U.S. Supreme Court nominations. It is also intended to educate and promote public debate about the role of the…

Apr 28, 2010 8:04 PM CDT