Someone's July 4th weekend is off to a good start. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has been cleared of misconduct by the panel of Third Circuit judges that was tasked with investigating him. As you may recall, Chief Judge Kozinski called for an investigation of himself, after it was revealed that he had a "website" -- which wasn't really a website, for reasons previously explained by the judge's wife, Marcy Tiffany -- containing some sexually explicit material.

The Third Circuit Judicial Council's unanimous opinion, authored by Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, is available here (PDF). It was actually filed on June 5, but only made public today. It's thorough and lengthy, weighing in at 38 pages, and describes in detail the extensive investigation conducted by the council (with the assistance of outside lawyers, from Dechert and Morgan Lewis, and a technology consultant).

To those with a deeper familiarity with the facts of the case, as opposed to just the headlines, Chief Judge Kozinski's vindication is not surprising. The judge violated no law; rather, the "website" -- actually just a private family file server, although imperfectly secured for a period of time, as explained in the opinion -- was a personal matter unrelated to his judicial duties. To the extent that the (overblown) public controversy created a problem in an obscenity trial that Judge Kozinski was presiding over at the time, any problem was obviated when the judge recused himself. And let's not forget that the whole controversy was originally kicked up by a disgruntled litigant, Cyrus Sanai, who tried peddling the story for months before someone finally bit -- and who "has been targeting Kozinski for years," as noted by Ted Frank.

So congratulations, Judge Kozinski, on putting this matter behind you. We look forward to catching up with you at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference later this month.

A few updates and links, after the jump.

Remember the Ninth Circuit Curse? We wrote about it back in 2007, noting that "anyone who tries to mess with the Mighty Ninth eventually finds himself (or herself) in deep doo-doo." Several politicians who have advocated splitting the Ninth Circuit -- a sprawling court that can be challenging to administer, to be sure -- have found themselves in some form of trouble or another. E.g., Senators Larry Craig, Ted Stevens, and Lisa Murkowski.

Now they're joined by another. Although his sex scandal is being overshadowed by that of another Republican politician, Nevada Senator John Ensign (pictured) is watching his popularity plummet, after he admitted to an affair with an ex-staffer (who was once on the Ensign payroll, along with her husband). He may face an investigation into his conduct.

If anyone was going to fall victim to the Ninth Circuit Curse, it would be Senator Ensign. As noted on his website, "Senator Ensign has... taken the lead on legislation to split the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." Not only did he push hard for splitting the circuit, but he actually testified in support of the split, at the time of the last big push for dividing the court.

The full tally of victims, after the jump.

Here's some interesting information about the personal finances of Judge Sonia Sotomayor (2d Cir.), nominated last month to the U.S. Supreme Court. A tipster directed our attention to this post from the NYT's Caucus blog, observing: "You can't spend most of your professional life as a judge and get rich. Maybe Biglaw is the way to go."

This excerpt hits the highlights:

[Judge Sotomayor] disclosed few assets other than her home in New York. After 17 years on the federal bench, Judge Sotomayor reported having just $31,985 in cash and no stocks, bonds or securities. She has a $381,775 mortgage on her home, valued at $1 million, and owes $15,000 in dentist bills and another $15,000 in credit card bills.

Fifteen grand in dentist's bills? Well, she does have a nice smile.

In defense of Judge Sotomayor's financial state, she's a single woman, no kids, with a six-figure income ($179,500), high job security, and generous retirement benefits. For competing assessments of Her Honor's finances, see TaxProf Blog.

New Documents Reveal Sotomayor's White House Contacts [The Caucus / New York Times]
Judge Sotomayor's Savings [TaxProf Blog]

There are a lot of things you can do in New Orleans that you can't do anywhere else. But cursing out a judge is apparently not one of them.

Ashton O'Dwyer has made a bit of a name for himself in the post-Katrina universe. A tipster provides some backstory on this former lawyer:

Ashton O'Dwyer has become a bit of a nuisance in Louisiana post Katrina. I am pretty sure that at one point, he actually seceded from the union in an attempt to get financial foreign aid following Katrina. He has been disbarred for abusive language and disrespect of the legal system. He does have several cases where he represents himself pro se.

Recently, Judge Ivan L. R. Lemelle (E.D. La.) held O'Dwyer in contempt of court for saying "screw you" and hanging up, at the conclusion of a status conference.

O'Dwyer fired off a (handwritten) response to the contempt order, defending his conduct:

[A]t the time he told Ivan L. R. Lemelle (as a man, not as a Judge): "screw you," and hung up the telephone during the referenced status conference by telephone, the business of the Court had already been concluded.

Actually, that is not a terrible argument, if the court's business was actually concluded before O'Dwyer made his remark.

But O'Dwyer doesn't leave well enough alone. Did you know that both O'Dwyer and Lemelle are Judge Lemellle is black? That fact becomes important -- at least in O'Dwyer's mind.

More details after the jump.

The Not-So-Honorable Samuel Kent -- the first federal judge to be charged with a sex crime, and now a convicted felon, after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice -- is leaving the bench.

But he's taking his sweet time about it:

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent on Tuesday submitted his ''unconditional resignation,'' which will take effect June 1, 2010.

Kent's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, says the judge decided to resign to avoid the ''spectacle'' of an impeachment process by Congress. The House Judiciary Committee had scheduled a hearing on the matter for Wednesday.

Kent's resignation announcement comes a week after denial of his request to retire on disability due to depression -- which would have allowed him to continue receiving his full salary for the rest of his life.

Yes, that's right -- June 2010. What's going on? Professor Jonathan Turley explains (gavel bang: commenter):

The date is designed to milk the system of as much benefits as possible -- only to resign shortly before any completion of impeachment. Absent a voluntary resignation or impeachment, Kent can continue to receive his judicial salary.

Pretty pretty clever. Count on a federal judge to work the legal loopholes.

Judge Kent Resigns On Eve of Impeachment Hearing -- Effective One Year From Now [Jonathan Turley]
Convicted Federal Judge Submits Resignation Letter [Associated Press]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Judge Samuel B. Kent

This morning we covered the announcement by President Barack Obama of his intention to nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor, of the New York-based Second Circuit, to serve as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. This afternoon, we participated in a conference call between a senior Administration official and several reporters, to discuss the Sotomayor nomination. Here's a quick write-up of the call.

"Obviously it's an historic day here at the White House," the official noted, referencing the fact that Judge Sotomayor, if confirmed, will be the first Hispanic (and only the third woman) to serve on the SCOTUS. He stressed that the president took the choice "very seriously," and read "literally thousands of pages" of judicial opinions and academic writings by the potential nominees. (Of course, as a former law professor, Obama is used to such intellectual heavy lifting.)

Obama interviewed four candidates personally (and Vice President Joe Biden also talked to the final four): Judge Sotomayor; Judge Diane Wood, of the Seventh Circuit; Solicitor General Elena Kagan; and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. He picked Judge Sotomayor based on three factors: (1) her overall level of intellectual capacity and legal acumen, reflected in her academic record, her work as a lawyer, and her judicial service; (2) her approach to judging, including her legal craftsmanship and her ability to win over colleagues on the Second Circuit; and (3) her compelling personal story, which was placed front and center at this morning's press conference.

Then the floor was opened up to questions. Read more, after the jump.

May 2009 must be a month of mixed emotions for Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York mayor (and unsuccessful presidential candidate) Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani the younger sued Duke University for kicking him off the golf team.

On the positive side, he graduated from Duke this month (even if he did miss the graduation ceremony). On the negative side, he lost his breach of contract case against Duke -- and now, thanks to the humorous opinion by a little-known North Carolina judge, he's being subjected to a quadruple bogey of humiliation.

Magistrate Judge Wallace Dixon dismissed Giuliani's suit with golf references playing through the whole 12-page opinion. Here's a sampling of leads from various news sources:

ESPN: Suffice it to say that in U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Dixon's opinion, ousted Duke University golfer Andrew Giuliani's lawsuit against the school did not make par.

New York Daily News: Andrew Giuliani's bid to sue Duke University for kicking him off its golf team ended in the rough this week.

New York Times: A federal magistrate judge with a taste for sports metaphors has found that Andrew Giuliani's lawsuit against Duke University for letting a coach push him off the university's golf team is "a swing and a miss."

San Jose Mercury News: A judge treated Andrew Giuliani's lawsuit with all the gravitas it deserved -- which is to say, there's a legal document in North Carolina that was inspired by "Caddyshack."

The News and Observer: The son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to make a federal case against Duke University for kicking him off the golf team. But a federal magistrate says Andrew Giuliani's case belongs in the drink.

The News & Observer wins the contest for wonkiest golf metaphor. Excerpts from the opinion, after the jump.

* AIG's $33.6 million bonuses paid last week to 418 employees will be under intense scrutiny this week in Washington. Barney Frank does not look pleased. [The New York Times]

* Obama names moderate U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. [The Washington Post]

* U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg will undergo precautionary chemotherapy after her pancreatic cancer surgery. [Reuters]

* I guess my call to reform naughty judges was answered...the nation's federal judges adopted new ethics rules yesterday. [The Associated Press]

* There is growing concern amongst some judges and lawyers that twittering jurors are threatening the integrity of cases presented in court. [CNET]

* Clifford Chance is subletting 25,000 square feet of excess office space to Kilpatrick Stockton. [The New York Observer]

* Some of the assets of Madoff's now-defunct firm may be in Gibraltar--why is this interesting to you guys? It probably isn't, but there are lots of lawyers involved. [Bloomberg]

* Federal Judge Susan Illston, who will be presiding over Barry Bonds steroids case is reputed to be very sharp. [The New York Times]

* During his inauguration, chief judge Jonathan Lippman of the state Court of Appeals in Albany lobbied for pay raises during his speech. [Newsday]

* Citigroup's corporate directors cannot be held responsible for losses resulting from the sub-prime mortgage mess, a Delaware judge says. [The Associated Press]

* "The House delayed a vote on legislation to allow bankruptcy judges to modify the mortgages of troubled homeowners." [The Washington Post]

* The Justice Department will try the accused al-Qaeda operative, who has been long held by the government as an "enemy combatant," as a civilian. The decision could be a factor in the upcoming SCOTUS discussion on presidential powers. [Bloomberg.com]

* A Judge ruled that the billions of dollars Leona Helmsley left to charity do not have to be spent exclusively on dogs. [Courthouse News]

* SCOTUS will look at the separation of church and state when they decide whether "a cross to honor fallen soldiers can stand in a national preserve in California." [The Los Angeles Times]

* Lawyers say Madoff must have had help with his Ponzi scheme. [Bloomberg]

* Attorney General Eric Holder visited Guantanamo yesterday to see what is needed to close the prison. [The Associated Press]

* Meanwhile, a Pentagon official who inspected Guantanamo at Obama's request is under fire from human rights activists for filing a report (which declares Gitmo humane) that is little more than good public relations for the administration. [The New York Times]

* What do you do when your boss gets indicted for securities fraud? You get another job. A team of seven bankruptcy lawyers left Dreier LLP for Epstein Becker Green. [EBG]

* A federal judge encouraged the Obama administration to decide whether to keep pursuing a case against 11 Vietnam War Veterans accused of trying to overthrow Laos's communist government. [The Associated Press]

* Judge says: UBS must respond to the U.S. lawsuit seeking disclosure of 52,000 names of people who allegedly used Swiss accounts for tax evasion. [Bloomberg]

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent lost a motion to have his obstruction of justice charge dropped or moved to a different trial.

Today, he copped a plea and announced his intent to retire. According to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog:

The jurist pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice today and retired from the bench, avoiding a trial on several charges that he sexually abused two female employees....

"Judge Kent believes that this settlement is in the best interest of all involved," his attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said after this morning's hearing. "A trial would have been long, embarrassing and difficult for all involved."

Long and difficult? Sounds about right.

Update: Read more about Judge Kent's fate over here.

Breaking News: Judge Kent Cops Plea, Resigns [WSJ Law Blog]
Judge Kent accepts plea deal and retires from bench [Houston Chronicle]

* Legal experts write a letter to Congress suggesting term limits for Supreme Court justices. [The Washington Post]

* SCOTUS will discuss whether judges should excuse themselves from voting in cases involving big campaign contributors when they hear a case involving a West Virginia judge. [Detroit Free Press]

* 3 jurors who convicted Alfred Trenkler of a bombing that killed a Boston Police officer wrote letters begging the judge for a new trial, after a book about the case convinced them of his innocence. [The Boston Globe]

* Today in Houston, U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent will go on trial, facing accusations that he fondled two female court employees. [The Associated Press]

* Madoff's investors wont have an easy time in court; securities law is not on their side. [The Washington Post]

The revolving door between government and private practice is in full swing. This morning brought the news that Judith Kaye, former chief judge of New York State, has joined Skadden Arps as counsel.

And this afternoon brings more news: Michael Mukasey, fresh off his stint as U.S. Attorney General, will be joining the partnership of Debevoise & Plimpton. Before his service as AG, Mukasey was a partner at Patterson Belknap (and was a Patterson associate before becoming a federal judge in the S.D.N.Y.).

Why didn't Mukasey return to Patterson? Perhaps Debevoise offered more dough. Fueled by a series of large internal investigations, including the international Siemens matter, the firm has seen its partner profits skyrocket in recent years. In 2007, profits per partner at Debevoise hit $2.3 million.

Says a Debevoise tipster: "Now I get to find out if waterboarding is torture."

Update (3:05 PM): The Debevoise press release is now available here.

Update (4 PM): Mukasey gave a short interview to the WSJ Law Blog, in which he explained his decision to join Debevoise: "It's particularly strong in litigation and in conducting major corporate investigations and preparing reports to boards. Also, it has many former government lawyers, including Mary Jo [White]."

Update (5:30 PM): More praise from Mukasey for Debevoise, over at Am Law Daily.

Michael B. Mukasey to Join Debevoise & Plimpton (press release)
A Law Blog Q&A With Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey [WSJ Law Blog]
Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye Joins Skadden, Arps (press release)
Former NYS Chief Judge Judith Kaye Joins Skadden [Am Law Daily]

If you missed our recent event with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) in Los Angeles, and if you're here in New York, feel free to swing by Columbia Law School at around noon tomorrow:

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence

When: Thursday, January 22, at 12:10 PM
Speakers: The Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, Ninth Circuit; David Lat, Founder, Above the Law
Where: JG 106, Columbia Law School, 435 West 116th St. (at Amsterdam Ave.)
Cost: Free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.

Thanks to the Columbia Law School Federalist Society for hosting the event. We hope to see you tomorrow.

Update: If you missed the talk, here's a write-up, from Ben Hallman of the American Lawyer.

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence [Columbia Law School Federalist Society]

Earlier: Kozinski & Lat: The Podcast

* Enjoy the inauguration. Even if work sucks--America is awesome. There is a lot of news concerning the inauguration, but one interesting point is that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is the "designated successor" to run the federal government in case of emergency and will not attend the inauguration. [The Washington Post]

* A federal judge granted Cheney discretion over which records of his actions as Vice President have to be preserved in the national archives. Good idea. Surely we can count on Dick Cheney not to destroy any documents that make him look bad. Especially since he has been so truthful and transparent in the past. [The Washington Post]

* Former public defender Randy Koshnick's representation of cop-killer Ted Oswald could hurt him in his bid for a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court. [The Chicago Tribune]

* Frequent ATL readers are probably sick of reading about Guantanamo. But the war crimes court at the prison convened yesterday, and proceedings were disrupted by the self-proclaimed mastermind of 9-11. [Reuters]

* The International Court of Justice ruled that the U.S. violated a previous order when Texas executed a Mexican national guilty of rape and murder. [The Los Angeles Times]

* The 213 families in China whose babies got sick from drinking tainted milk brought the case to Chinese Supreme Court. [The Associated Press]

* Chicago lawyer Anton Valukas is in charge of investigating Lehman Brother's bankruptcy. [Bloomberg.com]

While David Lat's west coast rampage continues -- he just finished speaking at UCLA -- the good people from the Federalist Society furnished us with a podcast of Lat's lunch talk yesterday with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.).

If you weren't able to make it yesterday, or you live in the part of the country that the Sun God Ra has marked for eternal suffering, check out the podcast below.

Update: A write-up of the talk is available here.

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence [Federalist Society]
Ninth Circuit Judges Remain Collegial, Kozinski Says [Metropolitan News]

* London-based law firm Linklaters was the leading law firm in mergers and acquisitions this year, taking the number 1 title from Sullivan and Cromwell. [Bloomberg]

* Former UK attorney general Lord Goldsmith says the UK should take in prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp if it will help the U.S. close the prison. [BBC News] Australia is not likely to take any prisoners says prime minister Kevin Rudd. The U.S. has asked a 100 countries to help clear the prison. [BBC News]

* Guinea pigs may smell bad but should you go to jail for owning one? Probationers in California could end up in jail for failing to report owning harmless pets like hamsters or goldfish thanks to a ruling by the California Supreme Court. [San Francisco Chronicle]

* A chinese court convicted 11 people for running a counterfeiting ring that "manufactured and distributed pirated Microsoft software throughout the world." [The New York Times]

* Associates were not the only people in the legal community that were displeased with compensation this year. Federal judges lost their request to Congress for a pay raise to account for inflation. Chief Justice John Roberts says the frightfully low pay for judges threatens the quality of the court. [The Los Angeles Times]

* Life at law firms is not looking good for 2009, sorry to say. Lay-offs and lower bonuses will likely continue in the New Year. On the bright side--less work could help you meet that New Year's resolution to go to the gym. [The Chicago Tribune]

* The chairwoman of a Chinese dairy company pleaded guilty to selling tainted milk. [Reuters]

* A federal judge declined Tuesday to release two detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, finding that the U.S. government had proved that they were enemy combatants. [The Washington Post]

* Senate Democrats will not accept the appointment of Roland Burris because he is tainted by the corruption of Gov. Blagojevich. Obama publicly agreed with their decision, despite Rep. Bobby Rush's (D-IL) contention that the U.S. Senate shouldn't turn away a black man. [The Associated Press]

* The 9th Circuit rejected the outrageosly long 28-years-to-life-sentence for a California sex offender who registered his address late to local police. The court says it was "cruel and unusual punishment" for a technical violation. [Los Angeles Times]

* Instead of sending their client's fruit baskets for the holidays, Boston firm Conn Kavanaugh Rosenthal Peisch & Ford donated $10,000 to a local charity. [The Boston Globe]

* An 85-year-old man from New Jersey admits he passed U.S. nuclear secrets to Israel after gaining access to a military library in Dover, New Jersey. [Bloomberg]

* SCOTUS may hear the case of a Texas woman who claims that an extreme religious group forced her to "exorcise her demons", disturbing her so much that she later attempted suicide. [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* On Wednesday, the federal court in Manhattan will start considering information that will infect the investor's in Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Furthermore, Judge Louis L. Stanton of the U.S. District Court will consider whether people who invested in "feeder funds" with other Wall Streeters who invested in Madoff's fund will be covered under the Securities Investor Protection Corporation--a federal fund that protects investors in cases like these. [The New York Times]

* The federal government announced a settlement over a developers who build projects on wetlands in Michigan's Midland and Bay counties--a case that has gone on for decades. [The Chicago Tribune]

*Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerick pleaded not guilty in a federal court to charges of tax evasion and corruption. [CNN.com]

* Store vendors angered by department store's mark-downs may make the stores cover more of the losses. If they succeed, they could get back $ 1.2 billion from Macy's, Saks Inc., Dillard's, Nordstrom, Kohl's and JC Penney. [Bloomberg.com]

* "The 6th Circuit struck down a vehicle safety law in Michigan that banned drivers from hanging any view-obstructing baubles from their rearview mirrors. [Courthouse News Service]

In the interest of completeness, here are a few quick postscripts to stories that we previously covered in these pages, but didn't get around to mentioning during the craziness of last week. They come from the National Law Journal and/or the WSJ Law Blog.

1. Judge Robert Somma: The cross-dressing former bankruptcy judge (at right), who resigned from the bench after a drunk driving arrest, has joined the bankruptcy practice of Posternak Blankstein & Lund, a midsize firm based in Boston, as senior counsel. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

2. American Justice School of Law: This defunct Kentucky law school, which in 2007 was hit with a class action filed by some of its students, has filed for bankruptcy. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

3. L'Affaire Kozinski: The panel of federal judges from the Third Circuit investigating Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (at right) has retained Robert Heim, head of litigation at Dechert, to oversee the probe (which will be staffed by lawyers from Dechert and Morgan Lewis & Bockius). [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

4. University of Michigan's Wolverine Scholars Program: Sarah Zearfoss, dean of admissions at UM Law, has defended the program against allegations that it's an attempt to game the U.S. News rankings. She pointed out that the program is small, likely to result in the admission of just five to ten students (out of a class of 360), and that very few UM undergrads (about 200) would even be eligible for it. [WSJ Law Blog]