Above the Law - Thinking Like a Lawyer

A leaked draft opinion informed the world that the far-right wing of the Supreme Court has broken from Chief Justice Roberts and intends to overrule Roe v. Wade outright based on... "we've got five votes now, so suck it." The gang discusses the opinion, the demise of stare decisis, the obsession with the leaker, and a law professor's problematic response to it all. Joe didn't even use the sound board this week, so you know it's serious.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

If you're tuning in today to hear our thoughts on the leaked Dobbs opinion and what that means for the future of both reproductive rights and the entire superstructure of the 14th Amendment going forward... well, you'll have to wait a week. Putting together a quality show takes time and that means we recorded this before that revelation. But that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot to cover! We have a breakdown of the latest Am Law 100 ranking of law firms, recaps of the "interesting" lawyering both in and before the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial, way too much talk about the legal woes facing Ron DeSantis as he goes after Disney, the racist standup career of Alex Jones's lawyer, and some pointers on how and how not to report on legal news.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

That was an exhausting week for legal happenings! Marjorie Taylor Greene flummoxed a poor judge during a hearing into her ability to satisfy the 14th Amendment's proscription against seditionists in office. Justice Kagan had just about enough of Neil Gorsuch and let us all know. Alex Jones took his defamation woes to Bankruptcy Court -- after transferring millions among different legal entities, of course. The Biden administration set its sights on undermining Miranda rights, Johnny Depp has a better grasp on hearsay than most law students, and we got a major arrest in the Dan Markel murder case.And all that's before we even get to one of the least qualified federal judges in American history deciding that there's no statutory basis for the CDC to regulate proactive public health measures based on... some curious wordplay.Phew. Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

Penn Law's Amy Wax is back at it, appearing on Tucker Carlson to talk about the problem with Black people and Asians. We cover Wax's shenanigans and the impact they have on the law school's credibility a lot, but it does make us wonder where we draw the line between informing the public and just feeding a troll. We also talk about Kim Kardashian's ongoing quest to become a lawyer reaching a new high water mark and Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli losing his Biglaw attorneys.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

There's not an explicit rule of professional responsibility for this, but the general commandment to serve the public ought to stretch far enough to keep the Court from running a propaganda arm. Amy Coney Barrett blasted a sound byte reassuring the public that the Court isn't a corrupt, partisan institution because it issues "opinions," knowing full well that she was about to obliterate half a century of environmental regulations on the strength of an unsigned paragraph that very week. We also have to revisit the Yale Law School culture fight, which seems less a fight than a unilateral assault on free speech in favor of "you have the right to shut up and listen."Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

US News and World Report released its annual law school rankings last week and delivered chaos upon the legal world, dropping Harvard from its top three perch. As we break down some key insights from the rankings, we remind everyone not to get too hung up on these numbers. Speaking of numbers that lawyers should get hung up on, it looks like a lawyer screw up cost a bank around $600M so that's not great. And speaking of being the opposite of great, unhinged text messages from Ginni Thomas raise questions about the fitness of Clarence Thomas to serve on the Supreme Court. Don't worry, no one will end up doing anything about it.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

Free speech is rarely pretty. But there was no shortage of hand-wringing last week over Yale Law students who -- checks notes -- protested an event and then left promptly when asked by faculty. If that doesn't sound bad, but that's because you're not vested in the ongoing effort to redefine free speech as protecting the people with microphones and punishing dissent. We also talk about a wildly inappropriate in-house counsel and the story of a town that ticketed an elderly couple to the tune of $30K and the federal judge who was not pleased about it.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

Before its fight with AT&T is over, One America News will owe Vedder Price a good deal in billables. But is it worth it for Vedder Price? The gang discusses the pros and cons of taking on civil work -- especially questionably winnable work -- for unpopular clients when other clients are begging for a squeaky clean counsel reputation. Meanwhile, law enforcement routinely pushes probable cause to the limit, but arresting 64 people for an ounce of weed proved too far. Finally, remember to vote in the annual Above the Law bracket!Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

Joe and Chris discuss the latest nonsensical efforts to derail Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination and ask the audience to guess which baseless attack comes next. They also breakdown the happenings between ABA TECHSHOW and Legalweek 2022, which marked Chris's first foray into the wild world of legal technology. And Joe has a nasty non-COVID cold that he caught at these shows so don't let that throw you off.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.

Cravath proved they’re still the Biglaw compensation leader by coming over the top of Davis Polk’s raises. Now the question is — who will follow them? Which lawyers are still working for Russia? A British politician goes ahead and NAMES NAMES. The dog whistles are getting LOUD: it sure is interesting that the only Supreme Court nominee that is fielding questions about her LSAT score is a Black woman.Special thanks to our sponsor, Posh Virtual Receptionists, LLC.