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Afternoon Briefs: New York City law department hacked; Stanford Law wasn’t involved in fake flyer fracas

By Debra Cassens Weiss

June 8, 2021, 4:30 pm CDT

New York City law department is hacked

Lawyers in New York City’s law department have no remote access to the the computer system after a computer hack, a spokesperson said Monday. An investigation has been launched. The system was still down Tuesday morning. (The New York Daily News here and here, Law360)

Stanford Law School distances itself from fake flyer fracas

An investigation into a Stanford Law School student’s satirical Federalist Society flyer was conducted by the central university, not the law school. Jenny Martinez, the law school’s dean, stressed that message in a June 3 communication to the Stanford law community. No one in the law school had any role in placing student Nicholas Wallace’s degree on hold, Martinez said. Wallace’s fake flyer promoted a fake Federalist Society event titled, “The Originalist Case for Inciting Insurrection.” (Law.com, Martinez’s message)

LegalZoom plans to go public

Legal services company LegalZoom is planning to sell stock in an initial public offering, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to a press release, 10% of all new LLCs and 5% of all new corporations in the United States were formed through LegalZoom last year. The company’s revenue increased from $408.4 million in 2019 to $470.6 million in 2020. (LawSites, Above the Law, Law.com, LegalZoom press release)

Yale Law School divided over Amy Chua allegations

There is no hard proof that Yale Law School professor Amy Chua held drunken dinner parties with students in violation of a no-socializing agreement, according to the New York Times. Three students involved said Chua instead had groups of two or three advice-seeking students at her home on a handful of occasions. According to the New York Times, “the episode has exposed bitter divisions in a top-ranked institution struggling to adapt at a moment of roiling social change. Students regularly attack their professors, and one another, for their scholarship, professional choices and perceived political views.” The allegations against Chua led to her removal from teaching a small-group class. One professor deemed it a case of “tattletale espionage.” New York Magazine also had a story on Chua’s woes. (The New York Times, New York Magazine)