SCOTUS kicks off new term with key cases lined up, conservative judge takes helm at 5th Circuit, bar exam pass rates are up, and more ?
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:
?? US Supreme Court opens new term with important cases ahead
The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its new nine-month term on Monday with arguments in two cases and important disputes lined up for the coming days, weeks and months on guns, transgender rights, online pornography, workplace discrimination and more.
After a blockbuster previous term and action on a variety of cases during the summer on an emergency basis, the court opened its annual term, as is customary, on the first Monday of October. Its 6-3 conservative majority has continued to move U.S. law rightward in recent years.
On a warm and sunny autumn day in the U.S. capital, scores of people lined up outside the court's white marble building to get to witness the term's first arguments — cases concerning a procedural dispute on unemployment compensation and the proper jurisdiction for class action litigation targeting pet food companies.
The court before these arguments also rejected a series of appeals.
It denied a bid by an Alabama fertility clinic to avoid a wrongful death claim in a civil lawsuit over the destruction of a couple's frozen embryo in a case that has caused concern over the legal landscape for in vitro fertilization.
It also declined to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to enforce in Texas federal guidance requiring hospitals to perform abortions if needed to stabilize a patient's emergency medical condition.
The justices opted not to hear a challenge by Elon Musk's social media platform X on free speech grounds of a judge's order that barred the company from telling Donald Trump about a prosecutor's seizure of direct messages and other data associated with the former president's Twitter account.
The court also denied appeals in two high-profile criminal cases.
?? Conservative 5th Circuit judge takes helm at key US appeals court
Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who authored major rulings against abortion rights, gun control and Obamacare, was named on Friday as the new chief judge of the New Orleans-based court.
Elrod, appointed to the bench by then-President George W. Bush, succeeds Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman, a fellow Bush-era appointee who had served as chief since 2019.
The selection of chief judge is based on criteria, including seniority and age. A chief serves a seven-year term or until age 70. Chief judges are also responsible for an array of administrative matters at their courts, including reviewing judicial conduct complaints.
Elrod, 58, will oversee a court that is considered the country’s most conservative-leaning. Twelve of the 5th Circuit’s 17 active judges were appointed by a Republican president, including six by former President Donald Trump.
Elrod authored a 2-1 5th Circuit ruling last month that revived a challenge to a Biden-era law requiring drug companies to negotiate prices with the government’s Medicare program.
In another major decision, Elrod last year backed restrictions to the abortion pill mifepristone. The U.S. Supreme Court this past term overturned the ruling.
Also last year, Elrod wrote the majority opinion in a 13-3 ruling that struck down a rule banning “bump stock” devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns. The justices in June agreed that the ban was unlawful.
?? Another US state joins legal services reform push, citing lawyer shortage
Another U.S. state is clearing a potential path to allow alternatives to traditional law firms for delivering some legal services, this time in Indiana.
The?Indiana Supreme Court,?in a Thursday?order,?directed a court-created innovation committee to "develop initial parameters for a legal regulatory sandbox" and submit them to the court for approval by March 1.
The order follows a July report by a court-appointed commission on ways to address a shortage of lawyers in Indiana. The commission recommended the state seek funding for overhead and staff to create a sandbox program "to encourage and facilitate innovations aimed at easing the attorney shortage."
The Indiana commission also recommended providing grant funding to law firms that use a non-profit business model to increase access to legal services for individuals with "modest means." The state's high court on Thursday ordered funding and the development of a framework for the proposal.
Other states have also weighed or implemented regulatory changes to rules that govern who can practice law.
Supporters argue that loosening barriers for entrepreneurs and other non-lawyers to hold a stake in providing legal services can make legal advice more affordable, spur innovation and expand access to justice. Critics counter that the changes could lead to abuses if providers are not fully bound by professional ethics rules that licensed lawyers must obey.
?? Bar exam pass rates are up in most states as more scores roll in
The July 2024 bar exam is shaping up to be a strong one for test takers, with pass rates largely trending up — signaling good news for both law graduates and legal employers.
More than half of U.S. states had reported exam results as of Friday morning and 18 of the 26 posted higher overall pass rates than in July 2023. Ten states saw improvements of five percentage points or more. Two states had the same pass rate as last year, while 6 were down — mostly by small margins.
August data from the National Conference of Bar Examiners suggested that July was a good cycle for test takers. The national average score on the multiple-choice portion of the two-day attorney licensing exam was 141.8 — up 1.3 points from July 2023, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners. That’s the highest average MBE score since 2013, with the exception of 2020 when the attorney licensing exam was modified due to the COVID pandemic.
Officials with the national conference attributed some of that gain to the unusually large size of the entering class of 2021 and their strong academic credentials. Applicants to law school increased 13% in 2021 — a surge attributed to the pandemic — which enabled schools to be more selective about who they admitted.
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File and have a great day!
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