*Women receive substantially lower "potential" ratings despite receiving higher performance ratings *Differences in potential ratings account for half of the gender promotion gap *Women’s lower potential ratings do not reflect future performance: women subsequently outperform male colleagues

On the blog: In approving Trump's transphobic policy of listing sex assigned at birth on passports, SCOTUS said govt was "merely attesting to a historical fact," thus echoing the obtuseness of Plessy v Ferguson's statement that Black folks were only choosing to see segregation as white supremacy. 👇

Even though it mustered only 356 words to justify putting Trump's spiteful anti-trans passport policy back into effect, #SCOTUS managed to show us two of the flawed analytical moves it keeps making *only* in Trump cases to provide cover for granting emergency relief. My latest, via "One First":

A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women 🧵

NEW: Foreign food safety inspections have hit a historic low after Trump staffing cuts. The dramatic shift in oversight comes as the U.S. has never been more reliant on foreign food. “It’s only a matter of time before people die,” one expert said.

Fondly remembering my elementary school metal lunchbox that looked like a little suitcase. Was it Scooby doo themed? I can't remember.

@jvagle.me One word: mayo

A case I litigated in the Court of Appeals is at SCOTUS today: I think it’s fascinating. Assume a plaintiff sues a Texas and non-Texas entity. The defendants remove to federal court. The district judge keeps the case on improper joinder grounds: the Texas entity shouldn’t have been sued. /1

Very interesting and worthwhile analysis

@proffoohey.bsky.social @dalie.bsky.social what do you think about this? There's a story here somehow connecting the anti-consumer bankruptcy reforms and mass torts...

On the blog, I preview the issues in Wednesday's SCOTUS oral argument in the tariff case. I also discuss the prominent quotations of Trump's idiocy in the SG's lead brief, which cannot be persuasive but are probably included as a warning to the justices not to cross the mad king who loves tariffs.

Timeline cleanse: I present a series of photos of irritated animals

Pay to Plead, @claireraba.bsky.social and my article on California debt collection is available! Drawing on more than $2M debt collection cases covering 80% of CA's population from 2009-2020, we draw a detailed picture of how mass debt lawsuits operate as a regressive system of wealth transfer. 1/3

4th Cir. revives bellwether case from localities against drug distributors they allege are partially responsible for the opioid epidemic. Held: under West Virginia law conditions resulting from over-distribution of opioids can constitute a public nuisance. www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221...

Another torts exam just dropped

Two of my favorite topics, issue preclusion and MDLs! www.law360.com/articles/240...

I am glad to see the judges that used GenAI to hallucinate opinions have written letters coming clean, but the two letters contain parallel language in parts that suggests they were coordinated before being sent. www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/do... www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

Your torts exam....

Post your favorite malapropism: "It takes two to tangle"

tort lawyers

Johnson & Johnson is facing the first lawsuits in Britain over allegations that its talc products cause cancer. KP Law said it filed the case on behalf of more than 3,000 people reut.rs/42HgenU

Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social

This was a great newsletter. Made me laugh and I learned something.

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵) www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Oral argument today in Bowe v US presents one of the most profound constitutional questions: Just how much power does Article III's Exceptions Clause give Congress to strip SCOTUS of appellate jurisdiction? I offer some history and context in my latest column for @justiaverdict.bsky.social 👇

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand: Supreme Court granted cert

NEW An EPA report found that PFNA, a chemical in the drinking water of some 26M people, interferes with development and likely causes liver problems & male reproductive harms. The report was done in April, scientists told me. But the agency hasn't released it www.propublica.org/article/epa-...

My book w/@profsorelle.bsky.social will be out in January! These ideas have brewed since I interned at Queens Legal Services 20 years ago. The book is for anyone who cares about people, justice, power & democracy. Much more to share more in the coming months! press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Originalism, originalism, originalism.

Name the 1L subjects: Contracts, crim, torts

Jotwell Torts: Kenneth W. Simons, Does the Hand Formula Express Efficiency or Justice? Or Both?, JOTWELL (October 6, 2025) (reviewing Emad H. Atiq, The Disaggregated Hand Formula, 114 Cal. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2026), available at SSRN (Mar. 1, 2025)), torts.jotwell.com/does-the-han....

If the Supreme Court is going to be a jury and find facts as well as law, they should be 12, as is traditional.

“The PACER system, which charges a fee for each item downloaded, does not exclude the required payment for accessing the clerks’ placeholder documents.” www.courtwatch.news/p/exclusive-...

The 9th Circuit is weighing whether law firm size should factor into attorney fee awards, after a judge refused to grant Big Law-caliber rates to lawyers at a small firm for fear of setting a precedent reut.rs/48uSnf5

I spoke to @bloomberg.com about a new SEC proposal that would gut securities class actions by sending securities cases into mandatory arbitration. TLDR: States would have to go along--and even then--it could backfire--sparking costly forms of mass arbitration. news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/s...

OMG game changer! I just discovered the "citations" section of Westlaw's preferences. No more parallel citations to L.Ed and S.Ct.! You can also specify italics instead of underlining and add quotation marks before and after selected text you want to quote.

This is a fascinating case. Sewer service and robo-complaints have been a serious issue in debt collection litigation. Here the shoe is on the other foot.

Favorite post ever on social media.

🍎🍯

I went to the library to get High on Extraordinary Legal Remedies.

A federal appeals panel appeared skeptical that units of American International Group Inc. should be obligated to pay for a firearm retailer’s defense costs in litigation alleging the seller fueled violence by marketing and selling “ghost guns.”

I regret to report: another day another mediocre SCOTUS justice book ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...

If you want some descriptive statistics of litigation in the federal courts, my co authored article providing them is out in JELS! doi.org/10.1111/jels...

On the blog, I summarize and link to my new essay in the UC Davis Law Review online: "Play in the Joints Beyond the Religion Clauses." It critiques recent SCOTUS cases that shrink the zone between what Free Exercise requires and Establishment forbids. It also praises buffer zones more broadly. 👇

Universities are such magical places . . . (❤️ @alahav.bsky.social)

I've been thinking a lot about Judge Sutton's decision in Thomas Moore v Obama in connection with what the district courts are faced with today. He was right then to follow what the law was, and the district judges are right now. See below for a good take: www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/09/what...

Must read from @dorfonlaw.bsky.social www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/09/work...