Tag: Alex Spiro

* With productivity in decline, are we set to see a boom in alternative fee arrangements. No… but isn’t it pretty to think so? [American Lawyer]

* Alex Spiro is arguing that Elon Musk’s false tweets were just “technical wordsmith inaccuracies.” Not sure how it’s a technicality to say “funding secured” when funding had not, in fact, been secured, but kudos for trying. [Ars Technica]

* Rupert Murdoch faces questions in the ongoing Dominion defamation case where he’ll testify like Mr. Burns negotiating with kidnappers, “$5000? $6000? I swear, that’s all I’ve got.” [Reuters]

* After forcing Hector LaSalle to suffer the foregone indignity of getting rejected by the committee, Kathy Hochul has at least taken a tentative step back from her threat to sue fellow Democrats on “because you made me sad” grounds. [Bloomberg]

* Flo Rida wins $82 million in dispute with energy drink company. Much like the club, the company’s lawyers couldn’t handle him. [Billboard]

* “How Tough-on-Crime Prosecutors Contribute to Mass Incarceration.” My review of Emily Bazelon’s new book, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (affiliate link). [New York Times Book Review]

* When it comes to prosecutors, as former prosecutor Joel Cohen explains, it’s all about discretion. [New York Law Journal]

* Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.) defends Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s exercise of her prosecutorial discretion — and argues that Thomas Turco’s criticisms of Rollins are unfair. [Boston Globe]

* Another ex-prosecutor, Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro, is representing tennis star Naomi Osaka in the “repugnant” lawsuit filed against her by her former coach. [Tennis365]

* Former federal prosecutors, many of them now partners at Biglaw firms, represent more than half of the defense lawyers in Operation Varsity Blues, aka the college admissions scandal. [Big Law Business]

* High-stakes litigation is just one of many factors contributing to Biglaw’s robust profit margin these days — hovering around 40 percent, its highest value in almost 30 years, according to Madhav Srinivasan of Hunton Andrews Kurth. [Law.com]

* Ronald Collins interviews Joan Biskupic about her latest judicial biography, The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts (affiliate link). [SCOTUSblog]

* And speaking of SCOTUS, Will Baude believes that the death penalty “is justifiable and constitutional” — but argues that the Court has not acquitted itself well in its recent handling of capital cases. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* “I Thought I Could Be A Christian And Constitutionalist At Yale Law School. I Was Wrong.” So writes Aaron Haviland, a 3L at Yale Law School. [The Federalist]

* But if you can survive YLS as a conservative, you might thrive in the world beyond — just ask Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who’s now a powerful voice on judicial nominations. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* How often does the Notorious RBG see a brief citing the Notorious BIG? Check out this fun read, filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of a constellation of hip-hop stars represented by Alex Spiro and Ellyde Thompson of Quinn Emanuel. [Supreme Court of the United States via New York Times]

* Yes, I’ve been on a hiatus from Twitter — and maybe I’m on to something, if you agree with Stephen Cooper. [Spectator]

* “For your information,” Georgia trial judges, “the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.” [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* Retired Judge Nancy Gertner (D. Mass.) believes that U.S. sentencing needs reform — but Paul Manafort’s case is far from the ideal vehicle for it. [Washington Post]

* Congratulations to Fastcase on its latest alliance, this time with credit-reporting giant TransUnion. [Dewey B Strategic]

* And congrats to Neota Logic on its new Dashboard feature, which sounds nifty. [Artificial Lawyer]

* Irina Manta, a recent addition to the roster of Volokh Conspirators, assesses some of the attacks leveled against D.C. Circuit nominee Neomi Rao. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* In other nomination news, Thomas Jipping explains why conservatives should temper their excitement over those 44 judicial nominees who just got reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* Michael Dorf’s take on Chief Justice John Roberts joining the four liberals on the Supreme Court to put the Louisiana abortion law on hold: the right to an abortion is “not in quite as much immediate danger as one might have thought. And that’s not nothing.” [Take Care]

* Lawyer to the stars Alex Spiro, partner at Quinn Emanuel, talks about how he’s approaching the representation of his latest celebrity client, rapper 21 Savage. [Complex]

* On the occasion of his 15th blogiversary (congratulations!), Rick Garnett reflects on the past and future of blogging. [Mirror of Justice via PrawfsBlawg]

* Jean O’Grady chats with Pablo Arredondo of Casetext about the platform’s newest features. [Dewey B Strategic]

* And in other legal technology news, congrats to legal AI innovator Luminance on securing another $10 million in funding (reflecting a total valuation for the company of $100 million). [Artificial Lawyer]

* Last Thursday, Alabama executed Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray and did not allow his imam to be present (even though Christian inmates can have the prison chaplain present) — a manifest injustice, according to Stephen Cooper. [Alabama Political Reporter]

* In the latest installment of his ongoing series offering advice to trial lawyers, David Berg sets forth an essential rule of cross-examination. [YouTube]

* Regarding the nomination of Patrick Bumatay to the Ninth Circuit, “Why are Democrats fighting the judicial nomination of a qualified gay minority?” Good question! [The Federalist]

* Speaking of highly qualified minority nominees under attack, Carrie Severino argues that it’s the critics of D.C. Circuit nominee Neomi Rao, not Rao herself, who are being inflammatory. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* And KC Johnson, reviewing the collegiate writings by Rao that have generated the attacks against her, argues that Rao’s views on campus sexual assault — from 25 years ago, so who knows whether or not she still holds them — are “align[ed] both with statute and today’s mainstream opinion.” [City Journal]

* Litigation over a watchdog commission for handling complaints of prosecutorial misconduct in New York State involves a lot of legal luminaries, including Jim Walden and Jacob Gardener of Walden Macht, Jim McGuire and Daniel Sullivan of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, and Andrew Rossman, Kathleen Sullivan, and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel. [New York Law Journal]

* Could Nick Sandmann and the Covington boys file libel lawsuits over some of the commentary on their controversy? It could be an uphill climb, according to Eugene Volokh (a First Amendment expert, and hardly anyone’s idea of a leftist). [Reason / Volokh Conspiracy]

* But if Covington cases do get filed, they could give rise to some interesting issues of civil procedure, as Howard Wasserman notes. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Many lessons can be learned from the Fyre Festival debacle — and one of the legal ones is that FTC disclosures actually matter. [All Rights Reserved]

* If you’re a liberal or progressive appellate litigator interested in taking on the Trump Administration, check out this new job posting from the good folks at the CAC. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* Adam Feldman examines the historical record to look at how Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s brutal confirmation process could affect his jurisprudence. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* And Joel Cohen looks at how Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation fight might affect his judging of the accused. [Law and Crime]

* Meanwhile, David Oscar Markus argues that criminal defendants in federal court get treated much worse than Justice Kavanaugh. [The Hill]

* Jemele Hill points out the support and sympathy for Justice Kavanaugh from a possibly surprising quarter: African-American men. [The Atlantic]

* Packing the Supreme Court? There ought to be a constitutional amendment about that, Jim Lindgren says. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* In fact, is it time for progressives to fight against, rather than within, the courts? Howard Wasserman offers thoughts on the recent Slate debate between Daniel Hemel and Christopher Jon Sprigman. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Patrick Gregory reports on the latest controversy in the world of lower-court nominations: the ABA’s “not qualified” rating of Eighth Circuit nominee Jonathan Kobes. [Big Law Business]

* Edmund Zagorski has multiple legal challenges to his execution (which is now on hold); former federal defender Stephen Cooper looks at the one based on the method of execution. [Tennessean]

* Congratulations to Pedro Hernandez on the dismissal of his case — and to his counsel, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, on the great result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2YPLmtwkug

* Congratulations to Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro and Jose Baez, of Casey Anthony fame, on a big win: a full acquittal in the securities-fraud trial of David Demos. [Bloomberg]

* Do you feel that the Supreme Court is taking its sweet time in releasing opinions this Term? Adam Feldman confirms that it’s not your imagination. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* Consovoy McCarthy Park, the elite litigation boutique led by a group of conservative former SCOTUS clerks, welcomes its newest partner: Jeffrey Harris, former associate administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and former law clerk to Chief Justice Roberts. [National Law Journal]

* Are law school graduates getting “good” jobs? Professor Derek Muller has a novel idea: why don’t we ask them? [PrawfsBlawg]

* The Colorado congressional race featuring two NYU Law alumnae, incumbent Diana DeGette and challenger Saira Rao, reflects a divide in the Democratic Party more broadly. [NBC News]

* Criminal defense lawyer Joel Cohen argues against reading too much into an individual’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment — even if the individual happens to be Donald Trump or someone connected to him. [The Hill]

* Criminal defense lawyer Elizabeth Kelley interviews Stanford law professor Paul Goldstein about his biting and funny law school satire, Legal Asylum (affiliate link). [AuthorChats]

* Speaking of books, if you’d like to support the Jersey City Free Public Library — and enjoy some delicious Filipino food by celebrity chef Dale Talde — please join me this Thursday, May 17, for what should be a great evening! [Jersey City Free Public Library]