A cherished, century-old Acoma shield was stolen from the pueblo in the 1970s. Decades later, it showed up in a French auction catalog.

Congress last week sent a bill to President Joe Biden’s desk that aims to crack down on the export of Native American patrimony, defined as objects with lasting historical or cultural significance.

The law — known as the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony, or STOP, Act — makes it a crime punishable by fines and a year and a day in jail for those who export items like the Acoma shield. The penalty is 10 years for a second offense. The law allows some exceptions, like in cases where a tribe has relinquished possession of an item.

It also empowers US Customs and Border Patrol to size such things and return them to their rightful owners. And it offers support to a coalition of tribes across the

…
Read More

StructureFlow, a London company whose platform enables visual modeling of complex corporate transactions, has raised $3.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round.

The company, launched in 2019, said it will use the funding to accelerate development of its visual modeling platform and to boost its sales and marketing efforts, with a particular focus on expansion in North America.

The funding round was led by UK-based venture capital firm Venrex, with participation by angel investors Chris Adelsbach and Tariq Khan. The round brings the company’s total seed funding to $8 million.

StructureFlow’s software is already used by some of the world’s largest and most prestigious law firms, including three of the five UK ‘Magic Circle’ firms and a number of Am Law 100 US firms, the company said.

The software enables real-time collaboration around complex corporate transactions, including brainstorming deal structures, designing steps plans, and mapping transactions and disputes.

…
Read More
Notorious BIG At Billboard Music Awards

Notorious B.I.G. (Photo by Larry Busacca/WireImage)

Sometimes Your Words Just Hypnotize The Court: Federal judge is apparently the only one in the courtroom who paid attention in the 90s.

To All The Partners In The Office I Was Hustlin’ In Front Of/Sued Me When I Was Just Tryin’ To Bill Some Hours To Feed My Daughter: Firm employment agreement charges associates for not making hours, which is… a strategy.

It’s Unbelievable: That Alex Jones keeps telling courts that he’s bankrupt… and yet keeps coming up with millions of dollars from between the couch cushions.

Mo Money, Not Mo Problems: Simpson Thacher, Mayer Brown, Sidley, and Ross Aronstam

…
Read More
ARGUMENT ANALYSIS


By Ronald Mann

on Dec 7, 2022
at 11:57 pm

Unless they find another case in the next few weeks, the argument Tuesday in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley will bring a close to this term’s encounters with the Bankruptcy Code. As I explained in my preview of the argument, Bartenwerfer presents a statutory puzzle: whether the language of the code permits a person in bankruptcy to discharge a debt incurred through the fraud of her husband.

The question comes from the language of Section 523(a)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code, which  protects – and thus preserves from the discharge – any creditor’s claim for “money … obtained by … actual fraud.” The claim in the case was incurred through the fraud of David Bartenwerfer; Kate Bartenwerfer, who did not herself commit fraud, is nevertheless liable for that fraud because David was acting as her partner (in selling the house that

…
Read More

UC Davis’ Kevin R. Johnson, dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law, School of Law, and professor, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, issued the following letter today (Nov. 28).

Dear UC Davis School of Law Community,

Beginning today (Nov. 28), UC Davis School of Law will no longer provide data to US News & World Report for use in compiling its law school rankings. This decision has been made after receiving guidance from the law faculty, campus leadership, students, alumni and others.

Kevin Johnson

Major flaws with the US News rankings are well-documented. Although law schools have worked in good faith with the magazine on improvements, US News has failed to significantly change the rankings methodology. The survey techniques, accuracy and fairness of the rankings remain problematic, which results in misleading rankings of law schools. Even small changes in one variable can lead to a dramatic shake-up of

…
Read More

Divorce AttorneyIf you are in the state of affairs of going by a divorce or perhaps your partner has already filed for a divorce, chances are you’ll want to take into account getting a divorce legal professional. I think that the rationale behind the divorce dictates the kind of habits that one can have in the course of the break-up or separation of belongings. Many have been know to just grow out of love and in agreement with each other that it is the proper factor to do and accept it for what it’s. Nonetheless, when there’s a specific purpose for the divorce corresponding to infidelity, many negative feelings arise and thus take over both events. One celebration, as the one that is harm, could change into vindictive in many ways as a result of quantity of pain they may really feel and the opposite party may just reply to the …

Read More

Do your professional new year resolutions include writing and engaging with other FCIL research enthusiasts? Consider contributing in 2023 to DipLawMatic Dialogues! The blog offers an informal venue to share your expertise with your colleagues – and one that also requires only a limited time commitment! A few series for which we welcome either periodic (ex. quarterly) or guest columnists include the:

  • Teaching FCIL Research Series: Share your perspectives on teaching FCIL-related research topics – whether in single sessions or for-credit courses, whether you are teaching FCIL research for the first time, or are an experienced instructor teaching in new ways, and whether you teach JD students or other audiences;
  • New FCIL Librarian Series: The SIS loves to hear from new FCIL librarians – whether you are new to the profession, or an experienced librarian serving in an FCIL-focused role for the first time (irrespective of job title!)
…
Read More

More than 200 million active users now rely on Microsoft 365, and they create more than 100 petabytes of new content each month within the platform. The market for collaboration tools such as Teams, Zoom and Slack exceeds $17 billion, with a projection to more than double in the coming years. As these tools have grown in user adoption worldwide, their features and capabilities have also expanded at a rapid pace.

One of the latest collaborative features within Microsoft Teams is Loop, a tool that was released for early access in August. It allows users to synchronously create, capture ideas and share content with others in real time, from anywhere. The features in Loop are a boon for productivity and remote work collaboration. Yet, when information created in or modified using Loop comes into scope for a legal or regulatory matter, these features also introduce several

…
Read More

Thanks to Thanksgiving, the regular Friday Legaltech Week panel has not met for two weeks. But we are back today at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the latest developments in legal tech and legal innovation, and there is a lot to talk about.

Attendance is free, but, if you have not already done so, you need to register, which you can do here. Register once and you are signed up for all future sessions.

Our lineup changes from week to week, but our regular panelists include:

…
Read More

Comments

First, Yale University’s top-ranked law school declared it would end cooperation with the US News & World Report rankings. Within hours, Harvard University’s law school, ranked fourth, followed suit. Then, what began as a high-profile protest against the rankings became a mass revolt that now encompasses four University of California law schools, four from the Ivy League and several other big names in legal education.

On Friday, the University of Washington law school, ranked 49th, and the University of Pennsylvania’s, ranked sixth, became the latest to join the rebellion.

The US News method for ranking law schools “is unnecessarily secretive and contrary to an important part of our mission,” the Carey Law School at U-Penn. said in a statement, citing increased investment in need-based financial aid and efforts to promote careers in public-interest law.

Other law schools have echoed those points, claiming that the ranking

…
Read More