Federalist Society

* ADA complaint filed by former TV anchor fired for drunkenness. On behalf of the ATL staff, we’re watching this one closely. [Chicagoland Radio and Media]

* Some of these made their way into the pages of Above the Law before, but this is an excellent compilation of “12 Unbelievable Courtroom Moments Caught on Tape.” [Robert Reeves Law]

* Rhinos, sharks, and the Secretary of Commerce walk into an Elie post… [Redline]

* A look back at FedSoc’s 2014 National Lawyers Convention. It sounds like it ended with Bailey’s and hot chocolate with Justice Don Willett, so that can’t be bad. [Wonkette]

* Butthurt police detective suing defense lawyer for criticizing the investigation. [Washington Post]

* BP argues that fining them more than they’re willing to pay for poisoning the Gulf of Mexico would be “legal chaos.” As opposed to that regular chaos of dumping millions of barrels of oil into the water and getting a slap on the wrist for it. [Breaking Energy]

* Banker with ties to Linklaters, Skadden, and Latham & Watkins awaiting trial for murdering two prostitutes in Hong Kong. Just go ahead and put whatever American Psycho joke you think of here. [Roll on Friday]

* Should litigation financing be disclosed? [Litigation Funding Central]

* A collection of stories about the diversity issues at Harvard Law School. Sounds like a delightful place if you’re white, male, and heterosexual. [Socratic Shortcomings]

A high-profile judge prevails against her critics.

ATL editors David Lat and Joe Patrice debate: When is a chicken sandwich just a chicken sandwich?

Chick-fil-A: because it tastes like hate.

Does the First Amendment contain a "reasonableness" requirement?

Highlights from Justice Thomas's hilarious and heartwarming remarks at last night's Federalist Society dinner.

Here are some highlights for Chief Judge Kozinski's remarks at Yale Law School yesterday.

* Just in time for Halloween, here’s a real Night of the Living Dead scenario. In Ohio you only have 3 years to challenge a ruling that you’re legally dead. After that, regardless of how f**king “alive” you are, you have to stay dead. [WTAE] * Remember the epic Ninth Circuit benchslap oral argument? Well, the government read the writing on the wall and has confessed error and vowed to use the video of the oral argument as a training tool for its attorneys. We hope they’ll consider using the ATL write-up as supplemental reading material. [The Volokh Conspiracy] * Corporette offers some good advice on how to write great cover letters. A good start is not writing one like this guy we profiled awhile ago. [Corporette] * A fund has been set up to help the man injured in the alleged hit-and-run involving a Hastings student. [We Pay] * Law schools tell us they’re moving toward a model encouraging practical skills… and keep hiring more professors without any practical skills. #fail [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * Does anyone remember 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford? Let’s say you do. Here are revised lyrics for 1Ls. [Law Prof Blawg] * Infographic telling us what we all knew — the bubble done burst. [Online Paralegal Programs] * The Ole Miss FedSoc has readopted Colonel Reb, the now departed Ole Miss mascot, who the student body rose up and tried to replace with Admiral Ackbar solely because the collected student body figured out this was racist (prompting one of my friends to create this brilliant image). So as Elie asks, “Is it really news that the Ole Miss FedSoc is raceist?” [Ole Miss] * A visit with Bill Coleman Jr., the first African-American Supreme Court clerk. [Judicial Clerk Review] * More about the Stephentown incident in which 300 kids broke into a guy’s house and live-tweeted the $20,000 in damage they did. Some parents have threatened to sue him for identifying the kids who ruined his house — because blaming the victim is awesome! [IT-Lex] * Today in contrarian arguments, fracking could solve the global water crisis. [Breaking Energy]

Which prominent lawyer just won a prestigious prize?

A group of civil rights organizations recently filed a misconduct complaint against Judge Edith Jones of the Fifth Circuit. A former Jones clerk, Tamara Tabo, comes to the judge's defense.

* Let’s get ready to rumble! Some of the Supreme Court’s most controversial opinions yet are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks — and maybe even today. Stay tuned for news. [CNN]

* Let’s see what happens when Obama nominates three judges at once to the D.C. Circuit. How many of them will be confirmed as quickly as Sri Srinivasan? Probably not many. [New York Times]

* White House counsel and leading litigatrix Kathryn Ruemmler is best known for her fabulous shoes, but this week, she’s taking some flak for her involvement in the IRS scandal. [New York Times]

* “I don’t know whether the Lord Himself could get confirmed at this point.” It looks like poor Attorney General Eric Holder doesn’t have very many people left to turn to thanks to executive and congressional inaction. [Bloomberg]

* When it comes to recent diversity efforts in Biglaw there’s an ebb, but not really a flow, and it’s all being blamed on the recession. Also, “diversity fatigue” is apparently a thing now. [New York Times]

* The $200 million gender discrimination suit filed against Greenberg Traurig over the firm’s alleged “old boys club” has been settled for an undisclosed amount. You go girl! [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]

* According to Judge Murray Snow, Arizona’s most beloved sheriff, Joe Arpaio, has been violating the constitutional rights of all of the Latinos whom he supposedly “hadn’t” been racially profiling. [Reuters]

* My, how things change: David Blankenhorn, a man who once testified as an expert witness in support of Proposition 8 at trial, has come forward to condemn anti-marriage equality laws. [Los Angeles Times]

* Stewart Schwab, the dean of Cornell Law School, will step down in June 2014. Perhaps the next dean will crack down on the number of cam girls pleasuring themselves in the law library. [Cornell Chronicle]

* Law schools tend to be “bastions of liberalism,” which makes it hard for students to find intellectual diversity. It’s a good thing we’ve got the Federalist Society to balance things out. [Washington Times]

* People who think Washington needs another law school propose one for students “who can’t afford to … go into debt … to get their legal degree.” This won’t sit well with the legal academy. [News Tribune]

* With Lindsay Lohan stuck in rehab, Amanda Bynes decided it was her turn to go wild. The retired actress says she’s suing the NYPD for unlawful arrest and sexual harassment. [New York Daily News]

* Alton Lemon, the Supreme Court plaintiff behind the eponymous Lemon test, RIP. [New York Times]

* Given the name and origins of the Tea Party movement, it actually makes perfect sense that their groups got grief from the IRS. [Washington Post]

* Wachtell Lipton weighs in against the practice of shareholder activists offering special compensation to director nominees. [Dealbook / New York Times]

* A law professor, Joshua Silverstein, argues that schools should embrace grade inflation. (But haven’t most of them done this already?) [WSJ Law Blog]

* Facebook shareholders might not “like” this news, but Ted Ullyot is stepping down as general counsel after almost five years. We’ll have more on this later. [National Law Journal]

* The Brooklyn DA’s office is reopening 50 murder cases that were worked on by retired detective Louis Scarcella (who looks oh-so-savory in the NYT’s photo of him). [New York Times]

* In news that should shock no one, Nicholas Speath’s dubious discrimination case against Georgetown Law has been dismissed. [The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times]

* Not long after leaving Cravath for Kirkland, Sarkis Jebejian is putting together billion-dollar deals for private-equity clients. [Am Law Daily]

* Professor Jeffrey Rosen reviews an interesting new book, The Federalist Society (affiliate link), authored by Michael Avery and Danielle McLaughlin. [New York Times]

* An analysis of Vijay Singh’s suit against the PGA. Any legal analysis that requires that much use of the phrase “deer antler spray” is worth it. [Sports Law Blog] * The highest paid state employee by state. If you’re a lawyer, you want to live in Maine. [Deadspin] * A visual representation of every Federalist Society event. [UChiLawGo] * Cheez-Its are really, really good. [Legal Juice] * “The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a bear cub with a gun. Or something.” [Bear Lawyer] * Professor Nick Rosenkranz wonders if a 50/50 quota is appropriate to generate intellectual diversity at law schools since Harvard Law seems to think that gender diversity merits a 50/50 quota. The answer is no. Thanks for playing. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Our own rankings guru Brian Dalton sat down for an interview about the new ATL Top 50 Law Schools rankings. [PrawfsBlawg] * And Elie went on Bloomberg to discuss our inaugural rankings, too….

* Thoughts go out to all those in Boston. [CNN] * I hope you’ve all got your taxes finished. Here’s a fun fact: most tax cheats live in the South and the West. The two areas of the country filled with people who think taxes are evil cheat more? Go figure. [NBC News] * Remember, it’s not polite to say “thank you.” [Las Vegas Law Blog] * And now the rare, “self-benchslap.” [Associated Press] * A detailed look at how the Federalist Society became so powerful in American law schools. Unfortunately, it neglects the “they tend to order better pizzas for their events” gambit. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * Remember the new, depressing, public domain Happy Birthday song? The sponsor of that contest, WFMU, is at it again with a new contest to create modern, entertaining covers of public domain ditties. Despite my ragging on the birthday song, this is a pretty cool idea. [Free Music Archive] * Are you a young lawyer complaining about your lot in life? You’re at this site, so statistically you are. Well, quit your bitchin’! [Associate's Mind] * The Texas Supreme Court does not value emotional attachments to dogs. This is surprising because I can think of at least 10 country songs on this very point. [Law and More] * Mocking law school couples with a GIF from Veep? Get out of my head, UChiLawGo! [UChiLawGo] * Boob-induced failure. [Legal Juice]

Greetings from Las Vegas, where two Above the Law editors will debating legal education tomorrow. While in town, we also paid a visit to the site of a major ATL story.

Chief Judge Kozinski identifies his favorite opinion, explains why he reads Playboy, offers tips for getting ahead in the legal profession, and warns you not to bring mom to your oral argument.

That was the subject of a recent debate between Professor Hadley Arkes and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. Check it out....

Highlights from Justice Scalia's remarks at the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention this past weekend.

Some highlights from Justice Alito's (very funny) speech last night at the annual dinner of the Federalist Society.

The Ninth Circuit hearts the First Amendment.