Chemerinsky: Precedent seems to matter little in the Roberts Court

How much weight does the Roberts Court give to precedent? This is the crucial underlying question now that the U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which puts the fate of Roe v. Wade before the justices. The case concerns a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.

Jun 3, 2021 11:37 AM CDT

Stanford lifts graduation hold on law student who made satirical flyer for fake Federalist Society event

Third-year Stanford Law School student Nicholas Wallace was informed on the last day of classes that the school was placing a hold on his degree as it investigated a complaint about his satirical flyer promoting a fake insurrection event sponsored by the Federalist Society.

Jun 3, 2021 10:12 AM CDT

Law professors aim to show value of diversity in new study

Articles published by student-run law reviews were cited more often after they adopted diversity policies for selecting editors, according to a study that will be published in the Columbia Law Review.

Jun 2, 2021 9:56 AM CDT

Negotiating the trauma of working with prisoners, pro bono and after hours

How do attorneys remain committed to work that affords few successes and often few forms of traditional validation, including commensurate compensation? Public interest lawyer Taeva Shefler spoke with lawyer Mallika Kaur and recent law school graduate Melissa Barbee about her volunteer work with prisoners’ rights and the lessons learned.

Jun 2, 2021 9:14 AM CDT

US can’t consider race or sex in distributing pandemic funds to restaurants, 6th Circuit says

The U.S. Small Business Administration gave an unconstitutional preference to minority- and women-owned restaurants in allocating COVID-19 relief funds, a federal appeals court ruled last week.

Jun 1, 2021 12:30 PM CDT

Lawyer is fined after he flips the bird during Zoom oral arguments

A Michigan lawyer has been fined $3,000 for raising his middle finger during oral arguments in a Zoom hearing.

Jun 1, 2021 9:54 AM CDT

This firm is fighting mandatory COVID-19 vaccines with legal filings and warnings

The New York law firm Siri & Glimstad is fighting mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations with litigation and warning letters dispatched to schools and employers.

Jun 1, 2021 9:06 AM CDT

Challenging COVID-19 restrictions can boost business, but beware of political consequences

Public mandated restrictions to stop or slow the transmission of the disease, including mask mandates, limitations on public gatherings and business closures, have become a divisive political issue. Several Republican and right-leaning lawyers have filed lawsuits challenging these public health measures, leading to some successes in court along with both encouragement and negativity from the public.

Jun 1, 2021 9:03 AM CDT

A year after his COVID-19 recovery, Above the Law founder David Lat makes some big changes

In May 2020, lawyer and author David Lat was starting his recovery from a life-threatening bout with COVID-19. A little over a year later, Lat, founder of Above the Law, decided to leave his job as a legal recruiter, go back to writing full time, and leave New York City for the New Jersey suburbs with his husband and their 3-year-old son. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced those changes.

Jun 1, 2021 9:02 AM CDT

More police departments are training officers in de-escalation techniques, but does it work?

Could police have avoided killing—whether the victims were armed or not? Advocates of de-escalation believe that many such deaths can be prevented. Yet what de-escalation means and how effective it is remain subject to debate.

Jun 1, 2021 3:30 AM CDT

Do varying legal definitions of race leave room for abuse?

The federal government does not have precise legal definitions of what it means to be a member of a particular race. And with no centralized federal guidance, federal and state agencies have pieced together definitions, applying them in disparate settings. In recent years, these inconsistent definitions have been criticized for allowing undeserving people to fit themselves into racial categories to benefit from contracts, jobs or university admissions slots intended for racial or ethnic minorities.

Jun 1, 2021 3:15 AM CDT

Bigoted attacks must be met with stronger protections

For a variety of reasons, including voluntary reporting and a lack of police training or acknowledgment of bias incidents, tracking hate crimes is challenging and imperfect.

Jun 1, 2021 2:40 AM CDT

Working remotely for the first time? Here are lessons from a lawyer who’s done it for 13 years

“The pandemic has done what I never thought possible, validating what I have known for some time: When one works from home, one is actually working. Despite the industry’s negative projections during the early stages of COVID-19, our firm had a profitable year with all of us working from home,” writes Tracey Mihelic, senior counsel at Husch Blackwell.

Jun 1, 2021 2:30 AM CDT

This voting rights advocate and ‘Jeopardy!’ champ is ready with the right answers

In addition to appearing on Jeopardy! last year, Zach Newkirk was involved with a lawsuit against then-President Donald Trump on behalf of those injured during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Lafayette Square.

Jun 1, 2021 2:20 AM CDT

The new frontier of health care is here, but will DNA privacy be lost?

Advocates are concerned about the privacy of data collected by genetic testing companies; what control consumers have over their DNA data once it’s been submitted to 23andMe and other genetic testing firms; and what recourse consumers have if companies’ assurances of privacy prove unreliable.

Jun 1, 2021 1:30 AM CDT