Minimum Competence

On this day in 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Born in France somewhere around 1412, she emerged as a pivotal figure during the Hundred Years' War. Joan, a peasant girl, claimed to receive divine visions that called her to rally the French against the English invaders. Numerous theories have been floated by modern scholars as to the underlying cause of the visions, but that makes little...

We have another Andrew Johnson-related “this day in legal history” for today – on May 26 in 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson concluded without conviction.  In 1868, President Johnson faced impeachment, and his fate rested on a single vote in the Senate trial. Johnson had become president after Abraham Lincoln's assassination and had a strained relationship with Republican le...

We have a fun “this day in legal history” for today – it's the anniversary of the start of the Scopes Monkey Trial.  The Scopes "monkey trial" took place in 1925 and involved the prosecution of high school teacher John T. Scopes for teaching evolution, which was prohibited by Tennessee's Butler Act . Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the Tennessee Supreme Court later overturned the convi...

We have an interesting “this day in legal history” for today – its Benjamin Cardozo’s birthday. If he were alive today he’d be 153 years old and thus very dead. Who is he? Well… Benjamin Cardozo, born on May 24, 1870, in New York City, was an influential associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1932 to 1938. He was known for his creative approach to common-law judging and legal es...

We have an interesting “this day in legal history” for today – on May 23, 1788 South Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the eighth state.  South Carolina's journey towards statehood can be traced back to the early days of the United States. Initially, the area was encompassed within the original territory defined in the 1663 charter establishing Carolina, which included both North...

We have a potentially perspective-shifting “this day in legal history” for today. On this day, May 22, in 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the General Amnesty Act. Under the provisions of the act, all but around 500 Southern male voters had their voting rights reinstated after losing them for, you know, starting the Civil War. For a reference point, total numbers for the army of the Confede...

We have an interesting this day in colonialism, I’m sorry legal, history today: on May 19, 1848 Mexico ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, ending the Mexican–American war and ceding about half of Mexico’s territory to the United States. The treaty did not explicitly list the territories to be ceded and avoided addressing the disputed issues that led to the war, such as the validity of Texas'...

We have a regretful this day in legal history today, which is the flipside of yesterday’s anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education . Plessy v. Ferguson , widely regarded as a low watermark for the court and the origin of the “separate but equal” doctrine overturned in Brown was decided on this date in 1896. The case involved a Louisiana state law that permitted segregation by race, providing for...

We have an important “this day in legal history” entry for today. On this day in 1954 the Supreme Court held, in Brown v. Board of Education , that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. The case overturned the previous doctrine of “separate but equal” that had been established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. The case was brought by Oliver Brown, whose daughter was d...

We have an interesting this day in legal history entry for today, on this day, May 16, in 1868 President Andrew Johnson was acquitted in his impeachment trial. President Johnson was Abraham Lincoln’s running mate in the 1864 election and was a sop to the south – prior to sharing a ticket Lincoln had never met him. After the Civil War, President Johnson clashed with Congress over the reconstruction...

We have a fun this day in legal history entry for today, on this day, May 15, in 1911, the US Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act, holding that Standard Oil’s monopoly “unduly” restrained trade. The ruling resulted in breaking Standard Oil up into 34 independent companies. These companies became known as the "baby Standards." The breakup aime...

The federal government has ended COVID-19 border restrictions known as Title 42, which blocked many migrants at the border with Mexico. These restrictions have been replaced with a new asylum regulation aimed at deterring illegal crossings. However, legal challenges have been filed against the new asylum bars, with advocates arguing that they violate U.S. laws and international agreements. The new...

U.S. News & World Report has released its new law school rankings after a boycott by nearly one-third of law schools and a three-week delay due to data problems. Changes in the methodology of the publication led to notable shifts among elite law schools and significant movement among many schools further down on the list. The changes increased the weight of employment outcomes and bar passage rate...

Apple has lost its lawsuit against Corellium, a company that provides virtual iOS devices for security research purposes. The court ruled that the use of Corellium’s CORSEC simulator falls under copyright law’s fair use doctrine. This means that third-party virtual iOS devices are allowed and Apple cannot stop it. The ruling allows security researchers to run virtual desktops and OSs for research...

Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have requested billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow to provide a detailed account of any gifts or payments made to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his family. The request comes as a battle over the high court's ethics intensifies. The senators asked the Texas real estate magnate to disclose any items of value, pointing out that man...

It appears law firm financials are heading in a positive direction. The Thomson Reuters Institute's Law Firm Financial Index rose 14 points in the first quarter of 2023, marking the first increase since Q2 2021. The index found that billing rate growth remained healthy, up almost 6% over the past year, and law firm direct expenses grew more slowly in Q1. Practices such as litigation and labor and...

Update 7/10/24 : This piece has been updated to reflect the overturning of Chevron under Loper . Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Chevron deference was a crucial principle in administrative law which was established after a landmark Supreme Court case, Chevron U.S....

The US Supreme Court is set to clarify the burden-shifting framework for whistleblowers in a case involving a former UBS Securities research strategist. The case hinges on whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires whistleblowers to show that their former employer fired them with retaliatory intent or if it is sufficient to prove that the protected disclosure was a contributing factor to the decision...

Thanks for reading Minimum Competence! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. I truly appreciate your readership. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a new rule that requires hedge funds to share significant investment losses with regulators in near real-time. This marks a significant shift for an industry that is known for its secrecy and is expected...

The Chevron doctrine is a legal principle that has been in place since a Supreme Court decision in 1984. It states, in sum, that when Congress passes a law that is unclear or ambiguous, the courts should defer to the interpretation of that law made by the relevant federal agency responsible for administering it. The doctrine has been used in countless cases and has provided support for agencies to...

A Senate panel is set to hold a hearing on Tuesday to scrutinize ethics concerns relating to US Supreme Court justices, following revelations about luxury trips and real estate transactions involving members of the nation's top judicial body. None of the nine justices will appear at the hearing, but lawyers and academics versed in the subject will provide testimony. The news outlet ProPublica has...

JPMorgan Chase & Co has agreed to acquire First Republic Bank in a government-led deal after it was seized by regulators. The transaction will see the acquisition of around $173bn of First Republic’s loans, $30bn of securities and $92bn in deposits. The deal makes JPMorgan even larger, and critics have said it will likely lead to consolidation in the financial industry. The transaction is expected...

This week we’re looking at the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which just died in the Senate when, on Thursday, Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would have allowed it to be added to the Constitution. Senators voted 51 to 47 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed, falling short of the 60 votes it needed. For those unaware, the way a motion to invoke cloture works is after cloture is invoke...

An Ohio prisoner, Joshua Turner, has filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern over his alleged exposure to chemicals from the February derailment of a freight train operated by the company in East Palestine, Ohio. The lawsuit claims that his rights under the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution were violated, seeking compensation for health concerns, including respiratory issues and skin rashes....

Disney has filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis alleging that he has been using the government's power to damage the company amid a prolonged dispute over a contentious classroom bill. The complaint claims that DeSantis orchestrated a campaign to penalize Disney, which now threatens the corporation's business. This escalates the lengthy fight between DeSantis, who is expected to b...