Welcome back

UPDATED
Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. The Marlins are over .500. The Canes are playing (update -- ugh, they lost). One week till the Dolphins. All is good. (Except that the Crocodile Hunter died). (update -- and except that it is pouring rain on election day. For all your state court judicial election updates, check out Rumpole).

A couple notes...

1) Starting salaries for new associates are up, at least in NY, to $145,000. Any news on Miami salaries?

2) "A former law student has filed a federal class action against St. Thomas University School of Law of Miami, claiming that it is illegally accepting and then expelling more than 25 percent of its first-year class to boost its flagging bar pass rates." Here's the Complaint.

3) According to the Washington Post, terrorism prosecutions are down. "In 2002, federal prosecutors filed charges against 355 defendants in international terrorism cases, the study said. By last year, that number had dropped to 46, fewer than in 2001. Just 19 such cases have been prosecuted so far this year, the study said." Here's the report.

Updated Monday morning:

4) Pictures from the NACDL seminar in Miami.

5) Hunton & Williams in trouble due to defections? Julie Kay's article suggests yes.

Here's a quiz for you:

Which of the following (inconsistent) positions is correct?

A. Defendants accused of being spies for the Cuban government can get a fair trial in Miami despite the anti-Fidel/Cuban sentiment.

B. A Defendant (an immigration agent) accused of civil rights violations in the Elian Gonzalez case could not get a fair trial in Miami because of anti-Fidel/Cuban sentiment.

C. Defendants (anti-Castro activists) accused of weapons offenses are brought to trial in Ft. Lauderdale because they'll be viewed as "terrorists [instead of] heroes." (no fair trial in Miami because of the anti-Fidel/Cuban sentiment).

D. All of the above.

The U.S. Government chose D -- sometimes Miami is a fair venue for trial; sometimes not. Read Jay Weaver's article here.

Another new gossip blog

There's a new legal gossip blog out there -- Above the law -- written by David Lat, the original anonymous blogger (apologies to Rumpole -- Miami's anonymous legal blogger).

Lat plans on doing all kinds of funny stuff. Here's a good example: "Lawyer of the Day" -- showing the court proceeding of a defense lawyer who shows up drunk to court. You can watch the video below:


Drunk Vegas Lawyer causes mistrial Part 2!




Lat also plans on following lawyer weddings, lawyer houses, lawyer hotties, and so on. Here's his latest on weddings, tracking announcements in the NY Times. There was nothing like this when my wedding announcement came out.

Judging the judges

There's a new website out there, The Robing Room, which is rating the federal judges. Here's the Southern District page. Go vote.

Courts closed

All Southern District courthouses are closed tomorrow and Wednesday. Good luck.

Ernesto

Chief Judge Zloch has closed the Key West couthouse today. All other courthouses are open. More updates on the District courthouses here. And you can track the storm here.