Harvard sued over antisemitism, LSAT leader jumps to law school association, sleeping lawyer warrants new trial for murder defendant, and more ??

?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here are today's top legal stories:

??? Harvard is sued by Jewish students over 'rampant' antisemitism on campus

Harvard University has been sued by Jewish students who accused it of allowing its campus to become a bastion of rampant antisemitism.

In a complaint filed in Boston federal court, six students accused Harvard of selectively enforcing its anti-discrimination policies to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment, ignoring their pleas for protection, and hiring professors who support anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda.

The students are seeking an injunction to stop Harvard's alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, religion, and national origin.

Academic institutions around the world have been rocked by disputes over free speech and the right to protest since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in Gaza.

Other schools that have faced similar lawsuits include New York University , the University of California, Berkeley , and the University of Pennsylvania .

Read more about the case.

?? LSAT leader jumps to law school association

Law School Admission Council President Kellye Testy will step down this summer to become the executive director of the Association of American Law Schools, the AALS said.

Testy has led the council since 2017 and oversaw a number of key changes to the Law School Admission Test. Those changes included expanding the number of annual LSAT testing dates from four to eight and moving the paper-and-pencil exam to digital tablets in 2019. She also oversaw administration of the LSAT during the COVID pandemic, which forced the exam to move online in 2020.

Testy is set to assume her new post on July 1, when she will replace AALS retiring executive director Judith Areen. Her move comes at a time when many of the nation’s biggest legal education organizations are seeing changes at the top.

Read more.

?? Sleeping lawyer warrants new trial for murder defendant, Massachusetts court says

A man who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 deserves a retrial after his criminal defense lawyer, who has since died, failed to stay awake during his trial, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled .

The court found that Nyasani Watt was deprived of his constitutional right to counsel when the lawyer, Willie Davis, fell asleep multiple times during his 2013 murder trial. It also noted that multiple witnesses, including two prosecutors who tried the case, backed Watt's contention that the lawyer was sleeping.

Chief Justice Kimberly Budd wrote for the full court:

"Here, where defense counsel fell asleep repeatedly at trial, and potentially during at least one crucial witness's testimony, we do not have confidence that justice was done."

Watt, along with his codefendant Sheldon Mattis, was convicted of murdering 16-year-old Jaivon Blake and wounding 14-year-old Kimoni Elliott in September 2011. Watt, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

In granting him a new trial, the court also vacated Watt's conviction and remanded the case back to the lower court.

Read more.

?? Did Winston & Strawn cross an ethics line in a copycat court filing?

Plagiarism is a career-ending sin in academia or journalism, but in the legal profession, it falls into a gray area.

Columnist Jenna Greene looks at a copyright infringement suit filed by six-lawyer Hsuanyeh Law Group against Winston & Strawn, alleging the Big Law giant copied its 10-page motion in a patent suit "nearly verbatim."

Legal ethics experts say cribbing from other lawyers’ work is common — but the propriety of doing so is "complicated."

Read the column here.

?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great weekend!

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