The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today affirmed a $159.6 million damages award to three nuclear utilities in the long-running spent nuclear fuel battle with the federal government. Yankee Atomic Electric Co., Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co., and Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co., (the Yankees) were the first of approximately 50 lawsuits charging the federal government with breach of contract for its failure to accept and dispose of radioactive waste from the nation’s Read More...

A group of federal judges who charge that Congress violated the Constitution by withholding pay increases will get a hearing before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit today issued an unsigned order directing the parties in Beer v. U.S. to file briefs on whether the Compensation Clause of Article III of the Constitution prohibits Congress from withholding periodic salary adjustments for Article III judges provided for in the Ethics Reform Act of Read More...

[We have the following announcement via H-Law.] The Supreme Court Historical Society annually makes an award for the best student paper submitted during a calendar year.  The Hughes-Gossett Student Award consists of a cash stipend and publication in the Journal of Supreme Court History.  Papers must have been written while a student, but that may be as an undergraduate, graduate, or law student, and must deal with some aspect of Supreme Court history.  This is a broad measure, Read More...

Credit [LeGaL–the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York–is sponsoring] a one-of-a-kind LGBT legal history tour in celebration of June Pride. The tour, led by our own Rick Landman and joined by Professor Arthur Leonard will take us from the historic site of the Stonewall riots to neighborhood corners where gay rights were demanded to community statues reflecting our relationships and numerous other sites in historic Greenwich Village. Along the way, we’ll discuss the Read More...

Whenever you can claim woman’s clothing is to blame for you inappropriate comments, you’ve gotta do it… Continue reading » Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. Tags: Depositions, Divorce, Divorce Train Wrecks, Greenberg Traurig, Jeanne McDowell, Marshall Davis Brown Jr., Mary-Olga Lovett, Michael Brown, Phillip Hilder, Rachel Brown, Robert Kuehm, Rudeness, Texas Read More...

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Reader Todd R. Noebel, SPHR Manager, Professional Support Services, with McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, Virginia, sent an email: “Since you linked to 10 must-haves for the women, maybe the men in the profession would appreciate this.” Here is Todd’s list — and it’s a good one!1. Tailored Suit – Everyone needs at least one suit that fits them perfectly. One that will fit any occasion.  I’m not talking bespoke (unless you can afford it – and once in Read More...

Nancy L. Merritt is a paralegal who has spent her entire career working in the Delaware Valley. This year (2012) marks her 25th year in the paralegal field, and her 18th year with her current firm, Archer & Greiner, P.C., in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Nancy has worked in just about every area of the law:   matrimonial, real estate, environmental, labor, personal injury, estates, litigation.  Her focus now is on commercial litigation and a growing/relatively new field for Read More...

Two Virginia men pleaded guilty today in federal district court in Washington, helping to close what one prosecutor described as "the largest procurement fraud scheme in U.S. history." As part of a plea bargain, Kerry Khan, a 54-year-old former midlevel procurement officer with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. His son, 31-year-old consultant Lee Khan, pleaded guilty to one Read More...

Two former Dewey & LeBoeuf energy attorneys based in Washington have left the firm for Van Ness Feldman, the latter announced Thursday. Lawrence Acker and Brian O’Neill, formerly of counsel at Dewey, join Van Ness Feldman with the same title. Acker focuses his practice on matters pertaining to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, particularly gas and electric projects. He has handled FERC enforcement investigations; appellate litigation; compliance planning; contract formation and Read More...

Pierce Butler (Library of Congress) The survival of the docket books kept by Owen Roberts and Pierce Butler during their years on the U.S. Supreme Court is not exactly a secret.  Robert Post, for one, drew heavily upon Butler’s in “The Supreme Court Opinion as Institutional Practice: Dissent, Legal Scholarship, and Decisionmaking in the Taft Court,” Minnesota Law Review 85 (2001): 1267-1383.  That said, I suspect that even very good constitutional historians overlook them Read More...

Matthew C. Mirow, Florida International University College of Law, has posted Pre-Constitutional Law and Constitutions: Spanish Colonial Law and the Constitution of Cádiz, which is forthcoming in volume 12 of the Washington University Global Studies Law Review.  Here is the abstract: The Constitution of Cádiz or the Spanish Constitution of 1812 is presently undergoing world-wide and extensive study because of its bicentennial and because of its important place in the development of Read More...

Some great news for the American public was revealed recently: there is now one lawyer for every 257 Americans. I sure hope my 257 Americans can afford my hourly rate. As Edward Tan at Findlaw’s Greedy Associates Blog opines, “If you’re looking to hire an attorney, it’s definitely a buyer’s market.” Why so many shysters attorneys, you ask? Tan has a likely answer: Big Law (not to be confused with Big Love). “A combination of ‘inept management Read More...

My post of the day before yesterday, concerning a “warranty” offered by Greenway Solutions that would cover a portion of losses suffered by a bank’s business customer by reason of an online account takeover (provided the customer uses an approved online security product from a third-party vendor), caused Jon Meyer of Greenway Solutions to reach out to me. Jon wanted to discuss some points I raised in my story and to provide some clarification. After a very pleasant Read More...

A Biglaw partner in Texas apparently warned opposing counsel not to ‘f***’ with him. I have no reason to doubt his sincerity… Continue reading » Follow Above the Law on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. Tags: Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Bill Warren, Chad Arnette, Cozen O’Connor, Depositions, Kelly Hart, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, Legal Ethics, Litigation, Litigators, Mallory Beagles, Martin J. Sweeney, Martin Sweeney, Marty Sweeney, Rudeness, Texas Read More...

* Associates should assume that making partner is like rising up in a drug organization. And really, who wouldn’t want to work at New Jack LLP? [Litigation & Trial] * Wait, Justice Souter has a “secret” Citizens United dissent? That sounds cool. Utterly useless, but pretty cool. [Slate] * Signs that your firm is in trouble? How about if your firm name can be made into endless puns on ATL? I Cleary have one firm in my sights. [Greedy Associates] * I always kind of picture Matt Read More...

Rejected: Virginia’s General Assembly has rejected for a judgeship an openly gay Richmond prosecutor who challenged the military’s now-defunct “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, has advocated for gay marriage and is raising twins with his partner, The Washington Post reports. Facebook IPO: Facebook Inc. is boosting the number of shares for sale in its initial public offering to 421.2 million, allowing the world’s most popular social network to raise as much as Read More...

Updated 4:38 p.m. Slouched in his chair and speaking in a low voice, Brian McNamee presented himself as an unwilling participant in the high-profile probe of steroid use in Major League Baseball. McNamee told jurors this afternoon in the perjury case against Roger Clemens that he had no choice but to tell the truth, as hard as it was, to federal agents. Prosecutors want to dispel any notion that McNamee was out to get Clemens. The government’s chief witness against Clemens, McNamee also Read More...

Justin Crowe, Political Science, Williams College, has just published Building the Judiciary: Law, Courts, and the Politics of Institutional Development with Princeton University Press.  Here is the press’s description: How did the federal judiciary transcend early limitations to become a powerful institution of American governance? How did the Supreme Court move from political irrelevance to political centrality?  Building the Judiciary: Law, Courts, and the Politics of Read More...

Congratulations to Legal History Blog’s own Clara Altman, Brandeis University, for being one of nine Miller Center National Fellows for the 2012-13 academic year.  Her project is “Courtroom Colonialism: Philippine Law and U.S. Rule, 1898–1935.”  As the Miller Center of Public Affairs explains, Credit: Miller Center of Public Affairs The Fellowship grants each Fellow a one-year $20,000 stipend to support her or his research and writing which may focus on American Read More...