Roundup

Home > Roundup (Page 2)

Posted 20 Feb 2014 in Roundup

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. Tom Goldstein. Paul Clement. And this blog's own, Kira Klatchko. This is just a small selection of the remarkable panel of speakers that IMLA and the State and Local Legal Center will feature at the Supreme Court Practice Seminar scheduled for March 4, 2014.  It will be a true "can't miss" event. See the agenda and full list of speakers here.  Register here. And stay for the State and Local Legal Center's 30-year annniversary reception, which you can register for here. Image courtesy of Flickr...

Posted 23 Dec 2013 in Roundup

Be sure to check out details of the Supreme Court Practice Seminar that IMLA and the State and Local Legal Center will host on March 4, 2014. Lisa Soronen, executive director of the State and Local Legal Center, has invited some remarkable Supreme Court practitioners. It is a can't-miss program for anyone intersted in the Court. You can register here....

Posted 22 Nov 2013 in Roundup

Yesterday, in a move with significant implications for appellate practice, the U.S. Senate modified its filibuster rules to allow a simple majority to approve individuals nominated to serve on district and appellate courts. This is likely to have a direct impact on President Obama's recent nominees to the D.C. Circuit: Patricia Millett, Nina Pillard, and Robert Wilkins. Ezra Klein provides 9 reasons why the change is a huge deal as a general matter. And Steve Klepper of the Maryland Appellate Blog suggests that the change may also have a...

Posted 25 Oct 2013 in Roundup

The Third Circuit decided this week that installing a GPS device on a car requires police to obtain a search warrant. The case, United States v. Katzin, builds upon the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Jones, which held that placing a GPS device on a car is a "search" for Fourth Amendment purposes. Katzin addresses when that search is reasonable. The court considered various exceptions to the warrant requirement in other contexts, but concluded that none applies here. The court recognized that it was the first...

Posted 25 Oct 2013 in Roundup

Richard Wolf of USA Today covers the Supreme Court's use of "wild hypotheticals." As Kevin Russell explains: "They are not so much trying to get an answer from you as they are trying to demonstrate a flaw," says Kevin Russell, a frequent Supreme Court litigant. "Sometimes they're just picking on the poor advocate … or sending signals to other justices on the bench."  ...

Posted 25 Oct 2013 in Roundup

The Federal Circuit recently said no, in a case highlighted today at Julie Tappendorf's must-read blog Municipal Minute. In the case, the District of Columbia and the City of Houston attempted to trademark these two marks: The court ruled that Section 2(b) of the Lanham Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1052(b)) prohibits the local governments from registering the marks. It provides: No trademark by which the goods of the applicant may be distinguished from the goods of others shall be refused registration on the...

Posted 22 Oct 2013 in Roundup

The State and Local Legal Center hosted an excellent Supreme Court Preview Webinar this afternoon. The panelists -- Tom Hungar, Kannon Shanmugam, and David Savage -- discussed the following cases: Town of Greece v. Galloway -- Is the Town's legislative prayer practice consistent with the Establishment Clause? EPA v. EME Homer City Generation -- Did the EPA properly enact rules addressing State air pollution under Clean Air Act's "good neighbor" provision? McCullen v. Coakley -- Does a Massachusetts law forbidding speakers from entering or remaining on a...

Posted 14 Oct 2013 in Roundup

What Kind of Appellate Lawyer Was Justice Roberts? The American Lawyer has an excellent article with that title. Here's Roberts's approach to oral arguments: And then there were the infamous index cards. As he contemplated a case, Roberts  would write down all the possible questions he thought justices might fire at  him—dozens, if not hundreds. He'd organize them into four or five topics: A, B,  C, D, and maybe E. Then, he would shuffle them and fashion answers that would  make...

Posted 27 Sep 2013 in Roundup
SupremeCourt2(1) Next Term Over at Cities Speak, Lisa Soronen of the State and Local Legal Center outlines upcoming Supreme Court cases that could affect local governments: And Wednesday, Irene Zurko discussed the case of Sprint Communications v. Jacobs. For a full preview, register to hear from Tom Hungar, Kannon Shanmugam, and David Savage on October 22nd here. (2) More on Town of Greece SCOTUSblog has some interesting commentary on Town of Greece, a case that we previously addressed here. Eric Rassbach says that those challenging the Town's prayer practice have reached a "'Hail Mary'" moment" where "facing imminent disaster" they "stake[e] everything on one desperate, final gambit:"

Posted 19 Aug 2013 in Roundup
Some fun items about the Supreme Court. (1) The Supreme Court’s Best Writer Legal-writing guru Ross Guberman recently guest blogged at the Volokh Conspiracy. He’s the author of Point Made, which dissects appellate briefs from leading attorneys. He turned his attention to the Supreme Court’s best writers. Here’s his case for Chief Justice Roberts. And here’s his case for Justice Kagan. They’re both great picks.