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Elena Kagan completed a swift transition from top US government lawyer to judge on the highest US court Saturday after being sworn in to become the 112th US Supreme Court justice. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the judicial oath that marks the beginning of her tenure as the fourth woman to sit on the top US court. Kagan pledged to “faithfully and impartially” administer justice to people from all walks to life, grinning broadly as her new colleague offered his congratulations. “Welcome...

For the US Supreme Court, the only qualification is to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate per Art III of the US Const. No law degree is required, although in modern practice, a law degree and extensive judicial experience is a must to prevail in the age of electronic media. For US District Courts and US Courts of Appeals, and other inferior courts, a law degree is required because those courts are established by Congress rather than the Constitution and Congress has required...

The Justice Department has announced that no criminal charges will be filed in the Bush administration’s dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys in late 2006. The decision, however, is not an exoneration of the Bush officials, including former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales. The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility concluded in a lengthy 2008 report that Mr. Gonzales and others had made a series of “inaccurate and misleading”...

When a potential client calls our firm and tells us that they are charged with a criminal offense, one the first things we generally ask them is whether they are charged in state or federal court. There have been several instances where we have represented two individuals at the same time who are charged with similar offenses but one has been charged in federal court and one has been charged in state court. Indeed, this has happened several times where we have simultaneously been representing two...