Oh boy. 9th Cir. sanctions two attorneys for briefs containing multiple nonexistent cases, misattributed quotations, and gross misrepresentations of real cases as a result of undisclosed AI usage who then doubled down and lied when caught. Sanctions in next. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

One of my all-time favorites, from a few weeks ago

In Baltimore for the Capital Area #legalwriting conference and visited the terrific Maryland Center for History and Culture. One treat: a reproduction of Key’s original, handwritten poem, which shows that Key first wrote “*through* the dawn’s early light” before changing it to “by”

I don't think I've posted about my Punctuated Law site since the old #AppellateTwitter & #legalwriting days. But with July 4th coming up, some folks might be interested in our unique Declaration merch, including adult & kid tees, art prints, and hoodies. punctuatedlaw.myshopify.com/collections/...

I don't think I've posted about my Punctuated Law site since the old #AppellateTwitter & #legalwriting days. But with July 4th coming up, some folks might be interested in our unique Declaration merch, including adult & kid tees, art prints, and hoodies. punctuatedlaw.myshopify.com/collections/...

Seems like a great job! #LegalWriting

I watched a webinar that was ostensibly about how law schools can better prep students for using AI. But it was woefully short on details. One partner at a major firm said “We expect new attys to use AI effectively on day 1.” But no mention of any specific use-cases. 1/

A friendly #legalwriting reminder: please don’t turn every long organization name into an acronym/initialism. Here, there’s only one YMCA in the complaint. So just use “YMCA” as the short form; the reader will know what you mean. armedforcesbrewingco.com/wp-content/u...

One of those great things about adulthood: waking up, seeing that your tap water is tinted orange-brown, and realizing, “Welp, that’s today’s project.”

This reminds me of something I heard years ago at one of our many, terrific #legalwriting conferences: “We tend to think that students mainly care about how much we know. But just as often, they want to know how much we care.”

Students, if you’re thinking about dropping a note to that teacher or professor about what their class/project/mentorship has meant to you, but you worry it will be cringe or cheesy, let me just tell you they will coast on the fuzzy feelings prompted by that note for months, if not years

Law students should be taking State Constitutional Law. If your law school doesn’t offer it, ask for it.

When I was in law school, working for the Justice Department was this prestige career that students dreamed about having someday. Now, Trump has so thoroughly poisoned its reputation that it’s dangling $25K to get people to *consider* jobs that literally thousands of lawyers would have killed for.

Interested in a state supreme court clerkship? @statecourtreport.org has a database featuring clerkship opportunities from 25 states and more than 80 justices. We hope it's a good starting point for applicants! statecourtreport.org/state-judici...

Art of the Heal

I know legal scholars are supposed to stop making legal arguments and just make moral/political ones, but can I get an exception here?

Props to my afternoon #legalwriting students—who managed a very simple, but effective April Fool’s Day prank: precisely swapping their regular seats two that the entire classroom was a mirror image of the normal arrangement. It messed with my brain way more than I could have expected.

Teaching law students the practical skills of lawyering—writing, research, and analysis—is an important job.

First time really digging into using AI in oral argument prep, using a couple of different methods, to mixed results. Pros, so far: 1. oral argument questions that I wouldn't necessarily anticipated. Like participating in a decent moot. 2. offered some decent one-liners.

I know it's a lot easier when someone sends you a redline, but really you should know how to compare versions in Word. It's a basic skill in the lawyer toolbox.

1000% agree. Question: What are some other basic Word skills that should be in every lawyer’s toolbox? Asking as a prof teaching great future lawyers. #AppellateSly #LawSky

When I was growing up in Winter Park, FL (15 minutes from downtown Orlando) in the late 80s/early 90s, there was a 100+-acre orange grove next to the middle school. It’s now a subdivision w/ dozens of million-dollar homes.

Prof. John C. Jeffries Jr. ’73 says #UVALaw classmate Robert S. Mueller III ’73 was “a person of real character and integrity.” @law360.bsky.social

100%

“I refuse to acknowledge the validity of your show-cause order because it’s not signed by an Article III judge” is giving off some strong sovereign-citizen vibes.

Everyone stfu the Sixth Circuit issued *gigantic* AI sanctions storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This seems like a big deal.

Once again, a self-professed champion of "Western Civilization" shows disdain for its basic concepts, such as "the unexamined life is not worth living," attributed to Socrates, who is not exactly "modern."

Happy Selection Sunday to all who celebrate.

✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here. Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning: Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime. And recognized as such by the US Government. From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.

Judge VanDyke's opinion was so offensive that 29 of the Ninth Circuit's senior and active judges, including a few Trump appointees, issued these rebukes:

As a point of comparison, the US spent $21 billion in FY 2022 to feed billions of breakfasts and lunches to kids in schools across our whole country for an entire year under the universal school meals program that was later discontinued.

I've already read this like seven times, and it's still just so jarring to watch. Ezra just full-stopping after eight — Eight! — words prove her wrong is just brutal.

Judge: the challenge is, when you file something with the court that is not forthright, it makes me question everything else you say

Last semester, one of my courses was 2:10-3:10. The first week, I felt a bit rushed toward the end of class, but I wrapped up right on time, and the students quietly walked out—at 3 pm sharp. Props to the first-week 1Ls who overcame the collective action problem, kept quiet, and just left.

My periodic reminder (especially with law-firm interviews in full swing): Law students looking for BigLaw jobs should absolutely consider whether the firms they’re interviewing with align with their own personal and professional values.

My periodic reminder (especially with law-firm interviews in full swing): Law students looking for BigLaw jobs should absolutely consider whether the firms they’re interviewing with align with their own personal and professional values.

Unironically love my opposing counsel, who called me back after a meet and confer today because he forgot to ask how my family in Israel is doing (which reminded me to ask about his extended family in Iran). He's wrong about EVERYTHING substantive, of course, but just a good human being

At her investiture ceremony, Virginia Chief Justice Cleo Powell ’82, the first Black woman to hold the position, reflected on her journey as a jurist. @vpm.org

Could someone please reset the "Hours without an embarrassing DOJ filing" clock to 0?

Speechless. Government moves to not move to dismiss law firm EO appeals.

Congrats to Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, Susman Godfrey, and Wilmer Hale, and congrats to their lawyers at Clement & Murphy, Cooley, Munger Tolles, and Williams & Connolly. You've shown integrity and conviction when many of your peers showed that they have none.

🚨BREAKING: Virginia voters will head to the polls starting Friday to weigh in on a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map in response to GOP gerrymanders in other states after a court ruled* that election preparations can move forward. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Over generations, DOJ built a reputation as the gold standard. In one year, they burnt it to the ground.

DOJ's recent 6th Circuit filing misspelled: Voters as “Votors” Emergency as "Emeregency" United States as "United Staes" And, it included a non-party in the caption. These are the people who want access to your sensitive voting records and who my team fights in court every day.

This is the wife of the second most powerful person in the American government, openly cheering on the censorship of stories and narratives and values that conflict with her own. It's appalling, and Democrats should absolutely fight back hard.