John Elwood @johnpelwood Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

Signing a declaration “under plenty of perjury” beats the previous best legal typo I saw back in 1998, which was an appellate brief seeking to overturn a trial court decision that concluded, “the judgment below should be revered.”

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

THREAD: I had to be in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 19. Assumed flying w/mask was the only way. Watching “Midnight Run,” thought hit me: What about a sleeping compartment on a train? Always wanted to do; never had time. Now I have time-I’m just reading to prep for an argument.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 years

Justice Thomas concurs in Trump v. Hawaii to throw cold water on growing practice of district courts imposing nationwide injunctions and says "[i]f their popularity continues, this Court must address their legality.".

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

To emphasize the positive on a sad night: Kids from the "outer boroughs" (Brooklyn & Queens (kinda Trenton)), born to immigrant fathers (Odessa & Sommatino) & 1st generation mothers, rose to the top of their profession despite naysayers. And remained friends despite differences.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

I've been handling one pro bono case for 9 years, through criminal appeals, habeas, & now deportation proceedings. Successes have been few & frustrations many. But I persuaded ICE to release her to her family. She'll be home tonight for the 1st time since 2013. They're ecstatic.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Nothing more unnerving than when you call the main line at a judge's chambers and someone just answers, "Hello." Only one person answers the main line that way.

Justice Sarah Beth Landau

@JusticeLandau

2 years

This is exactly how I wound up accidentally talking to Justice Scalia.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

When I get the other side’s brief in, I put Post-It tape flags on every point I need to respond to. Then I peel them off as I address the point in the reply brief. When I peel off the last flag, the reply brief is ready.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

14/ Tune in tomorrow for the weekend drive from Salt Lake City to Whitefish, Montana, where we caught our return train, the Empire Builder.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

I had an en banc argument in the 4th Circuit Thursday. I start argument prep by writing down every question that occurs to me. I start with a giant deck; as argument approaches, deck gets smaller & smaller. Spend last day practicing a small number of the most important questions.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

After weeks of calls, emails, letters, I finally succeeded in getting my (high-risk) client released from the Bureau of Prisons. Just got a very welcome text from him: "I'm home." Some good news for once.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 months

I’ve marveled over this Rosslyn building since I moved to DC in 1994. In the future, people won’t believe it existed.

Greg Jaffe

@GregJaffe

2 months

This beauty is supposed to be torn down this summer. Snapped a last picture of one of the country’s few gas station churches ⛽️ ⛪️.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 months

Justice O'Connor asked me my first question during my first Supreme Court argument. You know the current practice of giving the advocate 2 clear minutes to talk at the start of argument. This is the polar opposite. A very tough questioner.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

The Solicitor General's reply brief supporting its (deep breath) motion to vacate the 5th Circuit's stay of the district court's preliminary injunction of the Texas abortion law (got all that?) is unusually hard-hitting. Its reply briefs are ordinarily "government grey." Not here

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

11/ At the top was the Continental Divide. As pretty as the ride up was, the ride back down was even more scenic. Along the way, a total of 10 rafters mooned the train; the attendant told me they call this "Moon River."

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 months

Sandra Day O'Connor spoke at the DC appellate inn of court. She walked up to me and said "Hello John." I must have looked surprised as I silently wondered whether she remembered me from when I clerked for a colleague 20 yrs earlier. With bemused smile: "It's on your name tag."

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Next up in the guitar god parade: Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstein" parts guitar, assembled and painted by the man himself. Maybe the most iconic guitar of the 80s. If this bores you, you'd better mute me for the next 24 hours or so. I took 330 photos in about two hours.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

I'm in Arnold & Porter's NY office for meetings. Any suggestion I timed my visit to coincide w/the Met's exhibit of famous rock instruments is deeply offensive & I reject it. But the exhibit was open, so I went. It's amazing. 1st up: Clapton's "The Fool" Gibson SG, used w/Cream

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

8 years

My daughter made Pokemon cards of me. My major powers apparently are to bore and confuse.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

7/Then began the real meat of the trip: The California Zephyr, leaving Chicago at 2 pm. The first leg took me across central Illinois, within an hour of where I grew up. This landscape is really gorgeous to me. These scene is near Princeton, IL.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

8 years

Don't know what makes me feel older: That Luke Perry is on cover of AARP magazine; or that younger coworker had never heard of Luke Perry.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

I once held an original manuscript letter George Washington wrote in January during some year late in the 18th Century. It was a very cool piece of history, but the main thing I noticed was that he'd written the prior year at the top and had to cross it out and correct it.

Jody Sanders

@jodyssanders

2 years

One day, I'll stop writing 2021 as the date. But not today and not on something I signed and have to redo.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

13/ Sunset on day 3 came near the scenic, hipster-rich town of Helper, UT. I'd like to visit there in earnest some day. We arrived in Salt Lake City about 11:35 pm on June 18, only about a half-hour late. Not bad given how much ground we'd covered.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

I'm glad I paid extra for the display stand for my G7 action figures.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

Public Enema

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

As someone who has resisted the temptation to become cynical during 26 years of living in D.C., nothing gladdens my heart like someone listening and *then* making up their mind.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

2/ Mute now if this bores you. Stir-crazy family joined plan for socially-distanced vacation. Western trains are famous for scenery--& believe it or not, food. Planned to take California Zephyr to SLC & to return on northern route (Empire Builder) to avoid seeing things twice.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

If you don't like an associate's work, tell *them* -- quietly, tactfully, and constructively. If you like an associate's work, tell *everyone* -- especially their bosses. (I even told one of their parents because I happened to see them in person.)

Sean Marotta

@smmarotta

2 years

One of my favorite emails to send is bragging to the other partners about an associate who killed it. No matter how busy, taking a moment to send those emails will brighten the recipients' (and your) day. It extends to everyone else, too. Brag about people to their bosses.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

I rarely retweet myself, but I'm going to make an exception. If 1% of my followers give $5 each, that's ~$215 for brain tumor research; if 5% does, that's over $1,000. If I've ever answered an obscure Supreme Court practice question for you, take 3 minutes and pay it forward.

John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

My buddy Norm Emery is a US Army vet of many Afghanistan & Iraq tours. In 2017, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma-same brain tumor as John McCain. 2 years later, he's still fighting. Norm's raising money for brain tumor research. Please join me in supporting him--and retweet!

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

8 months

I’m starting a campaign to have this artist cover the Supreme Court.

Austen Allred

@Austen

8 months

For real though can I hire this courtroom portrait artist

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

9/Sunset on Day two came in Creston, Iowa, in western part of state. We crossed Nebraska overnight and woke up outside Denver on the other side of the 100th meridian. What a contrast.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

6/We pulled into Chicago via Gary Indiana and Chicago's South Side. Our next train didn't depart until 2 pm, leaving several hours for a quick bit of sightseeing and carry-out Chicago dogs.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

4/ The Capitol Limited from DC to Chicago is timed to get you Chicago about 8:45 am, as the business day begins. We left DC's Union Station about 4:05 pm on 6/16. Fairly quickly got up into the mountains. Some scenic stops along the way, including at Harper's Ferry.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

She just called from her husband's cellphone to say thanks. She's getting a home-cooked meal tonight and seeing her kids in person for the first time in six years. This makes a lot of the "beating your head against the wall" worthwhile.

John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

I've been handling one pro bono case for 9 years, through criminal appeals, habeas, & now deportation proceedings. Successes have been few & frustrations many. But I persuaded ICE to release her to her family. She'll be home tonight for the 1st time since 2013. They're ecstatic.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

10/ After a 25-minute stop in Denver around 8 am -- long enough to pick up fresh breakfast and mug for photo outside client's office -- we got to the best part: the trip through the Rockies. Did some of this in observation car. (Note spotty mask use.)

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

This. Michael Dreeben: 105 Supreme Court arguments Seth Waxman: ~79 Ted Olson: ~63 Tom Goldstein: ~43 Lisa Blatt: 40 Roy Englert: 21 Supreme Court clerkship for all of the above: 0

Sean Marotta

@smmarotta

4 years

Thanks to @KannonShanmugam for saying this. Yes, #SCOTUS briefing is big and important. But the primary skill is being a good brief writer, not some credential. #AppellateTwitter

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

Interesting analysis of the differences among the Trump Supreme Court appointees from David Lat. This corresponds with the thinking of the closest Supreme Court students I know.

Opinion | Trump’s Supreme Court Picks Are Not Quite What You Think (Published 2023)

We now have real data about Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett. The court’s gone hard right, but the three are less unified than they might appear.

www.nytimes.com

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

12/ We came down into Ruby Canyon. The attendant said we spent more than 200 miles tracing the Colorado River.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

Me: Halfway through the document, MSWord started renumbering the paragraphs at 1. I'll manually re-number that paragraph. MSWord: He's renumbering one paragraph? He probably wants to go from a .5" first-line indent to a 1.69" hanging indent for every subsequent paragraph.

John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Me: This paragraph of the draft complaint has the wrong number. I'll manually re-number that paragraph. MSWord: He's renumbering that one paragraph? I'd better reformat every paragraph from that point on in a completely different style.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

McGirt is a great illustration that as a lawyer, you must assume nothing & verify everything. An early mentor defeated a perjury prosecution by showing prosecution couldn't prove a quorum of Senate committee was present, & thus wasn't a "competent tribunal." Think outside the box

Sean Marotta

@smmarotta

4 years

This isn't a knock against the opinion, but McGirt sounds like the sort of thing a jailhouse lawyer dreams up. "So I wasn't validly convicted because Eastern Oklahoma is actually still an Indian reservation." And yet.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

5/Some nice views of the North Branch of the Potomac River. Sunset came near Cumberland, Maryland.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 years

But both Sotomayor and Kagan *did* have receptions at the White House after being confirmed.

Obama Congratulates Soon-To-Be Justice Elena Kagan At White House Reception

At an East Room reception, at times marked with lightheartedness, President Obama congratulated Elena Kagan on winning Senate confirmation yesterday.

www.npr.org

Greg Stohr

@GregStohr

6 years

As Kavanaugh re-takes oath at White House this evening, worth noting that Sotomayor and Kagan didn't take oaths at White House. Obama wanted it that way as a symbol of their independence, administration officials said at the time. #SCOTUS

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

10 months

I enjoy a good banana as much as anyone, but the only reason I see to eat a half dozen at a single sitting -- besides fraternity rush -- is to make sure you approach the lectern with the day's worst event already behind you.

Kimberly Robinson

@KimberlyRobinsn

10 months

Supreme Court argument days start out the same for US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar with a breakfast of five or six bananas. 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 months

THREAD: I had to be in southern France for fambly bidness. I was traveling with an adventurous eater now in culinary school, so though I’m a philistine who likes redneck food, I booked us a series of Michelin-starred restaurants. Mute now to avoid an old lawyer's travelogue. 1/

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

3/ Amtrak’s long-distance trains are double-deckers, with bathrooms, cafes, and some larger family rooms on the bottom, and sleeping compartments, and “roomettes” on top (or coach seating in non-sleeper cars). Gives riders fairly good views.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

It may seem stupid, but it's worthwhile actually saying your answers out loud--it helps develop muscle memory to avoid stumbling over words, distills answers to make them more conversational, & drills cites/case names into your head so you don't need to look at the binder. /end

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Jimi Hendrix's hand-painted Gibson Flying V. Just hanging there like it's not Hendrix's Flying V or something.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

There are law nerds, and then there are Law Nerds.

Raffi Melkonian

@RMFifthCircuit

3 years

I felt like people were not making a big enough deal about the start of Fed 4th, so… I got donuts. #appellatetwitter

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 months

We are now farther from Green Day's breakthrough album Dookie (released Feb. 1, 1994) than Dookie was from the Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (Feb. 9, 1964).

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

8/ Our California Zephyr car was one of last made by Pullman, ~1979-1981; worn but nice. In response to question: intake for A/C appeared to be in hallway by door near A bedroom; low-traffic area. I'm told no circulation b/w bedrooms. We were only BR passengers for most of trip.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

Can't remember the last time I learned so much in a page and a half. I come away liking both of them better.

Irin Carmon

@irin

4 years

I know Ron Klain feels sheepish about this now but it’s such an incredible document, it must be shared.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

Argument this morning in the highest court in the land: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. (27th floor.)

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

@howappealing @smmarotta @RMFifthCircuit @NC_CyberLaw @neal_katyal I'm delighted #SCOTUS granted Jamar Quarles' case today. It'd be my 10th #SCOTUS argument--a professional milestone. But come April, I'll reprise my role pouring water for a junior colleague, this time @JCMarwell . Must give opportunities to next generation, even when it hurts.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

DEPT. OF PET PEEVES: While preparing for a panel discussion I'm going to be moderating, I was reminded of how much it bugs me when people call Solicitors General or Attorneys General "General." It's an adjective!

THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 7-20-03: ON LANGUAGE; General, No (Published 2003)

William Safire Op-Ed column discus

www.nytimes.com

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Some professional news:

Tony Mauro

@Tonymauro

5 years

New: Arnold & Porter Snags #SCOTUS Veteran John Elwood From Vinson & Elkins via @TheNLJ

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Keeping w/ Clapton, next up is "Blackie," Clapton's fave guitar during early solo career--assembled from his favorite pieces of 3 guitars. Used to record "Cocaine," "I Shot The Sheriff," "Wonderful Tonight," & "Lay Down Sally." Sold at auction for $850,000 in 2004.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

The guy on my left and the girl on my right at the 1984 Van Halen show started dating that night and later got married. At the wedding, I gave them the ticket stub because it was the last thing ever to come between them. (Groans abounded. But note price for 16th row center!)

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

Am I the only one who has noticed that Titus Andronicus never tours when the Third Circuit is sitting? (I swear, the likeness is closer in person.) L: Patrick Stickles R: Stephanos Bibas

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 months

Props to whoever parallel parked the Weinermobile in Alexandria, VA.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Jimmy Page's "Number 1," bought from Joe Walsh. Pagey loaned a lot to the exhibit. Also pictured is his hand-painted "Dragon" Telecaster and Supro amp (both used for LZ's 1st album & "Stairway to Heaven" solo). And his theremin (used for Whole Lotta Love & No Quarter).

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

In my 8th grade graduation booklet (1981), I listed Keith Richards as the person I admired most--probably because of his skill in not dying. The exhibit had the Gibson Les Paul Standard Keef played in the Stones' early days. Mick Taylor (later a bandmate) bought it from him.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Bruce Springsteen's famous 1957 (?) Fender Esquire; it's been modified quite a bit over the years.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

I know of a case where the Clerk’s office called the chambers of the judge writing the opinion and sang “happy birthday” on the anniversary of argument. Does that count?

Orin Kerr

@OrinKerr

5 years

Perhaps someone should keep a list of federal appellate cases still undecided a year or more after oral argument. I wonder if the extra attention might encourage at least some judges to make those long-pending cases more of a priority (as they should be).

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

The Fender Esquire that Jeff Beck played with the Yardbirds.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Me: I'll delete this extra "section break (next page)" on the last page to get rid of the extra page at the end of this impossibly fussily-formatted Supreme Court brief. MSWord: Oh, he's deleting the section break? He probably wants to reformat the entire document.

John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Me: I'll delete the file number from the footer before PDFing this document to send it to the client. MSWord: Oh, he's PDFing that document? I'd better put the file number back into the footer.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

One last post. The Assistant to the Solicitor General who was the main person to impart Office's collective wisdom to me (the great Irv Gornstein) said only about 10 questions really make a difference to the outcome of a case. The last of your prep should focus on those. /realend

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

7 days

When I was at DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, I got “we need an answer by close of business” at 5:30. Yes, P.M.

BigLawGuy

@BigLawAttorney

7 days

Only in big law you get “later this afternoon is fine” at 7pm.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

That sure looks like the Moscow underground. If this is legit, that babushka is pure steel.

Belarus Free Theatre

@BFreeTheatre

2 years

Moscow underground. Sometimes the act of resistance doesn’t have to be loud or bold, it just has to be. #Ukraine #SlavaUkraini

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

Heading back from getting carry-out, we noticed some activity at a ball field. So now we’re watching the local little league all-star game and let me tell you, it’s a perfect Saturday night.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

In a related vein, I had a federal appellate judge once joke with me that he viewed an opening parenthesis as an invitation to stop reading and a closing parenthesis as a sign he was back on the clock. Cut my use of substantive parentheses way down.

Raffi Melkonian

@RMFifthCircuit

4 years

I'm reading a brief this morning (not in any of my cases) and it really illustrates an important legal writing lesson - long block quotes, even if you think the language from the cases or the deposition, or whatever, is *killer,* make a brief impossible to read. #AppellateTwitter

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Congratulations to my colleague Allon Kedem for winning a 9-0 judgment from #SCOTUS today in Wooden v. United States. We have 2 cases in the March sitting. Both will be argued by lawyers making their Supreme Court debuts--partner Elisabeth Theodore & associate Andrew Tutt.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 years

+1 on not talking to others. I took the bar w/my sister and she did not observe that beneficial practice. She came to me upset because she'd talked to someone & they couldn't even agree on subject area of one question. Worse still, I disagreed with BOTH of them. We all passed.

Judge Stephen Dillard

@JudgeDillard

6 years

To everyone taking the bar exam this week: Take deep breaths, pace yourself, and don't talk to anyone during breaks. You've got this.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

When I’m in town for a conference, you can always count on me to seek out fine dining. Sandy’s Hamburgers…much unchanged since 1946.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

John Paul Stevens didn’t ask many questions compared to his colleagues, but they always cut to the heart of the matter and were usually hard to answer. Your work was cut out for you when you heard the grandfatherly, “can I ask you a question?” that preceded them.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 years

In a misty St. Louis for the best part of my job: second-chairing oral argument for an associate. Today I’ll be pouring water for Max Etchemendy as he goes before the *en banc* 8th Circuit to argue US v. $579,475–a forfeiture case.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

6 years

OK, Westlaw. Time to hang a red flag on Korematsu.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Me: This paragraph of the draft complaint has the wrong number. I'll manually re-number that paragraph. MSWord: He's renumbering that one paragraph? I'd better reformat every paragraph from that point on in a completely different style.

John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Me: I'll delete this extra "section break (next page)" on the last page to get rid of the extra page at the end of this impossibly fussily-formatted Supreme Court brief. MSWord: Oh, he's deleting the section break? He probably wants to reformat the entire document.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

A multi-talented colleague of mine at the Office of Legal Counsel who had worked on the line at Le Cirque in a former life confirmed that the key to cuisine was adding cream and butter to the point just short of the customer saying, "this is just cream and butter."

Raffi Melkonian

@RMFifthCircuit

1 year

Belorum nervi sunt pecuniae (money is the sinew of war) = butter is the sinew of cookery.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 month

Someone I hired as a summer intern is celebrating her 5th year on the court of appeals. There’s no pretending that I’m anything but a fossil.

Sean Marotta

@smmarotta

1 month

Ah, cool. Just another district judge nominee that graduated the same year I did. Cool, cool, cool. The relentless and inevitable march of time, so on and so forth.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

Today I learned the difference between a "collision" (when two moving objects strike each other) and an "allision" (when a moving object strikes a stationary one). To avoid becoming a statistic, I do not recommend correcting anyone's use of "collision" until the lockdown ends.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 months

The last time I was in trial, there was genuinely one day where I was working continuously for 24 hours, with just a very few minutes for "bio breaks." It was miserable. But I thought it looked ridiculous to bill all 24 hours. So I billed 20.

Andrew Fleischman

@ASFleischman

5 months

I'm looking at these Nathan Wade invoices and he is billing an awful lot of time. I don't do a lot of billables, but is it common to bill 24 hours in a day?

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

Someday, someone will start a rental car company whose business model doesn’t involve a single tired clerk orally requesting every piece of information the customer already entered to get the reservation, while a huge line of waiting customers looks on in despair.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

I've been watching the Supreme Court fairly carefully since 1995. This is the first time I remember Ct hearing oral argument on a stay application. Addresses a common complaint about the "shadow docket." I heard about individual Justices doing this in the 1970s, but not since.

Bob Loeb

@BobLoeb

2 years

The Supreme Court takes the unusual step of setting argument for the stay applications relating to the Biden COVID rules.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

In New York for an argument. During a study break, strolled a few blocks to Trinity’s churchyard to visit its most famous occupant.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 months

I think it's a bad idea to make law students decide what to do for their second summer job before they have even started their *first* summer job.

Sean Marotta

@smmarotta

2 months

BigLaw recruiting becomes judicial clerkship recruiting. I don't know if there is a solution for the collective-action problem, but it's not great for the profession.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

Unlike most reply briefs, which are half the maximum length of the brief they respond to, reply briefs supporting a certiorari petition are only only-third as long. Economy of expression is at a premium. No room for fluff. Draft cert. reply As filed:

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

I have a clemency joke, but you’ll never get it.

Rachel Barkow

@RachelBarkow

4 years

I have a clemency joke, if you’ll give me a second chance to tell it

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Today I argued a case in the 2d Circuit again Jonathan Massey, one of the greats of the appellate bar. I’d been looking forward to it since I hadn’t seen Jonathan since July 1982, when he was my instructor at high-school debate camp. #NerdLife .

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 months

When I was in DOJ, I brought my dress shoes in to be repaired when I was declared non-essential during a government shutdown. Then a fugitive of mine was arrested and I had to show up for the initial appearance. wearing work boots. I looked like a large-animal veterinarian.

Raffi Melkonian

@RMFifthCircuit

5 months

My theory of cowboy boots is that if cowboy boots are authentic to you then they're fine for Court. if I showed up in Cowboy boots if would be about as accurate as if I tried to mimic @TherealmsZ 's Queens accent.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

1 year

Congratulations to my colleague, associate Andrew Tutt, for his unanimous win in Dupree v. Younger today. @ArnoldPorter puts a premium on getting associates argument opportunities.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

That's something no advocate has had to say in years: "So, Justice Thomas . . . "

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 months

The Supreme Court has not relisted any new cases again this week. This is the longest streak without relists I can recall since I began monitoring them 13 years ago. Since #SCOTUS typically relists a case before granting review, this suggests the Ct is not adding to the docket.

John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 months

The Supreme Court has not relisted any new cases again this week; aside from last week's Michaels v. Davis, #SCOTUS has not relisted any new cases since Feb. 16. And am I correct the Court has only granted 1 case since January 22? Court is not adding a lot of cases to its docket.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

An inspiring story of a great American trying to make all our lives better.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

Although scientists have made amazing strides in recent years, I don't think we'll ever truly understand what principle of physics makes smoke detector batteries fail only after 10 pm.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

5 years

I’ve been picking up opposing counsel’s briefs for 25 years. I still hate it—enough that it is 1 of the few things I procrastinate. I rarely think “they’ve got us,” b/c you anticipate and preempt the worst stuff. But it’s a hard slog responding to a welter of plausible arguments.

Saad Gul

@NC_CyberLaw

5 years

@AdamCharnes @BobLoeb @johnpelwood Is this feeling, or worse “they’ve got us” on opening OC brief an experience thing, or does it stay with you (however fleetingly) for life?

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

The kind of detail you notice when you slowly shuffle around Alexandria with an old dog: a cat’s paw prints left long ago in the clay of bricks before firing.

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

I love using notecards b/c you get used to reacting when asked something out of the blue & practice getting back to points you want to make. Also permits practicing while, say, walking around Richmond, taking in the sights -- the VA state capitol & the 4th Circuit. 3/x

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

Remarkable tool that allows you to compare 770 artists' live and studio tracks. Remarkably comprehensive, including even Air Supply (!) and Chilliwack (remember them?).

WFMU

@WFMU

3 years

The Live Music Analyst helps you find search by artist and find their recorded live performances that "stand out the most compared to the studio version:" (h/t @kottke )

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

2 years

Although I rarely refer to it, I like to have 1 skinny binder. On left I keep cites to authorities; on right I have outlines of answers to the most important questions and record cites. In the middle, my "spiel" -- what I would say if uninterrupted. That's the tab "MIPTC." 2/x

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

4 years

Friends don’t let friends “pursuant to.”

Mark Cooney

@jmarkcooney

4 years

Hey, “pursuant to” fans: Alito “under the Jones Act” Breyer “under Chapter 7” Ginsb “under the statute” Gorsuch “under the Act” Kagan “Under the Lanham Act” Kava “Under the Federal Arbitration Act” Soto “under Rule 29” Thomas “under the FDCPA” Roberts “under 28 U.S.C. § 1253”

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John Elwood

@johnpelwood

3 years

An invitation to lawlessness.

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