NRA v. Vullo Finally Ends: The High Price of Principles

By

What happens when an unstoppable force meets a bureaucratic wall? For years, the legal battle between the NRA and Maria Vullo was framed as a grand constitutional showdown—a fight for the very soul of the First Amendment.

But if you look closer, the story isn’t just about free speech. It’s about the "efficiency of litigation." We often think of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of truth, but in this case, the clock simply ran out. With the recent denial of cert, a decade-long crusade ended not with a bang, but with a ledger. It turns out that in the world of high-stakes law, the most expensive victory is the one you never actually win.

I’ve unpacked the "rest of the story" regarding the NRA’s unsuccessful retaliatory litigation over at the Duke Center for Firearms Law.

Read the full analysis here: In the End, Vullo Prevails Against the NRA

Popular posts from this blog

Careful With Those Lawyer Jokes....

By
Image
I kind of enjoy lawyer jokes, but the media tried to make it sound like this was a case of egregious overlawyering. Notice at the end of the article that these guys complain they've been standing outside Long Island courthouses mocking lawyers " for years " without being arrested: "The pair said that for years they have stood outside courthouses on Long Island and mocked lawyers." Duh. You didn't expect one of those evil, assertive lawyers to get sick of it and complain at some point? As a practitioner, I didn't enjoy standing in line outside the courthouse in the freezing New England weather any more than the rest of the people - actually probably less, because most people appearing on charges seemed to bring friends and family with them to keep them company. These protestors really must not have enough to do! Get a job or something! If somebody finally decided he'd had enough, how was he supposed to know these guys were there that day fo...
Read more

Special-Interest Law Schools

By
I mentioned this article earlier in passing. The link in the title leads to the relatively even-handed treatment of Jerry Falwell's new Christian law school in Legal Affairs. (The first class of students there must have completed their first set of final exams by now). I would not be interested in teaching there myself, and worry about their bar passage rate, etc., but most of the criticisms in the media have been overblown. I like special interest law schools. They form a nice complement to the rest of our institutions, the 200 or so law schools that collectively graduate nearly 40,000 new but mostly generic practitioners every year. It enriches our legal system to have a subset of lawyers whose skills are devoted to and oriented around a particular social cause, instead of whatever case walks in the door and pays the bills. (My stint as a legal aid lawyer left me biased, though). It enriches social movements and NGO's to have lawyers who do more than take occasional pro bo...
Read more

The Complete Administrative Law Lecture Series (142 Videos) by Professor Dru Stevenson

By
Image
  🏛️ New: The Complete Administrative Law Lecture Series is Now Public I am pleased to announce the public availability of the complete Administrative Law lecture series for the Fall 2025 semester. This series includes 46 new videos posted in the last seven months, covering the core principles of the administrative state and essential topics for the bar exam and legal practice. The videos cover the full spectrum of agency power, including rulemaking, adjudication, and the critical role of judicial review. As a Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL), this is the definitive, up-to-date guide for current legal analysis. Why This Content is Essential Now (H2) The Supreme Court’s recent decisions have fundamentally reshaped the landscape of Administrative Law, making new, up-to-date analysis essential for students and practitioners alike. This series includes new videos focused on: ⚖️ Statutory Interpretation and Deference (H3) New analysis on the Chevron doct...
Read more