Patrick Bryant
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patrickbryant.bsky.social
Patrick Bryant
@patrickbryant.bsky.social
Appellate federal public defender. Alexandria, Va. Speaking only for myself; usual disclaimers apply.
Come work with me!

The Eastern District of Virginia Federal Public Defender's Office is hiring an appellate attorney! We're excited to find someone excellent to join our team doing the best law job around. Apply now!
www.fd.org/sites/defaul...
February 4, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Given how good TikTok users are at coming up with euphemistic workarounds for terms that get censored, I expect we'll soon start seeing posts extolling electric vehicles because of the need to phase out Internal Combustion Engines.
January 26, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Guy looks like a Roz Chast cartoon come to life
we need to go back to athletes not trying to be fashionable
January 26, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Wife: "Maybe I should do some more pickling."

Me: "You could pickle some of those socks you've been knitting."

Wife: "You mean combine two of my hobbies?"

Me: "Yeah...you'd be a knit-pickler!"

She did not enjoy that one as much as I did.
January 24, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Me: *forwards email to group I am a member of*

My computer: *notification ding*

Me: Oh, who sent me an email?!
January 21, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Patrick Bryant
Need your help, #lawsky! Looking for a North Carolina attorney, preferably one in Wake County (Raleigh area), who can provide advice and guidance on potentially filing a 50C civil no-contact order. Thanks, y'all!
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Anytime someone has to make a belated reservation for an oral argument, and all the good hotels near the courthouse are already full, I'm always like "Well, you can either get a room at a place out by the airport and drive in like a commuter...or there's always The Moxy as a last resort."
No one wants to hear media complain about hotels but The Moxy chain was designed specifically to piss me off
Godfrey doing live shots from a Panera, we love to see it.
January 16, 2026 at 6:28 PM
I was looking something up in a guide for Microsoft Word, and I think it's a little *too* basic. It had a line like "The space bar is the long horizontal piece at the bottom of the keyboard. Press it to insert a space after a word or punctuation."
January 16, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Story of my life
January 15, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Patrick Bryant
GREAT JOB ALERT: The Appellate Immersion Clinic at Georgetown Law is accepting applications for fellows!

This is an incredible opportunity to do great work with incredibly smart, good people. @immersionclinic.bsky.social @brianwolfman.bsky.social

www.law.georgetown.edu/experiential...
Graduate Fellowships
www.law.georgetown.edu
January 11, 2026 at 1:12 PM
This is basically classical music by now.

"Free Bird" is old enough that it's the equivalent of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan doing their routines to "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy."

But cooler, of course, because Skynyrd rules.
Tomoki Hiwatashi killed his program to Free Bird!
January 10, 2026 at 9:03 PM
January 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Amazed that this isn't the most popular sports franchise among the youths.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_...
Ottawa 67's - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 5, 2026 at 9:56 PM
It would have seemed weirdly propitious to hit 2,000 exactly on January 1, but as of today I have been tracking my calories for 1,999 consecutive days (even though the free version of the My Fitness Pal app is about as useful as a pad and pencil now).
January 2, 2026 at 4:42 AM
Got off an Amtrak at Penn Station in New York once and realized that I had been sitting a few rows behind Justice Breyer for several hours.
December 30, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Make a Bond movie academic

Diamonds Are Forever: A Gem-Based Exception to the Rule Against Perpetuities
make a Bond movie academic

The Spy Who Loved Me: Birthright Citizenship and the Law of Alien Enemies
make a Bond movie academic

Spectre: {Insert bacronym here}
December 26, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Been saving this one for a moment when I really needed it, and that time has come. My favorite Christmas compilation:
youtu.be/8V2IrH1owdw?...
Darlene Love "Christmas (Baby ... )" Collection on Letterman, 1986-2014 (st.)
YouTube video by Don Giller
youtu.be
December 24, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Today's typo observation: The "s" in "reverse" is very important if you're describing what you would like the court of appeals to do with the district court's ruling.
December 22, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Reposted by Patrick Bryant
As the year comes to a close, TCM remembers the actors, filmmakers and creatives we lost this year.

Gone, but never forgotten: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF8_...

Song title and artist: "In the Western Wind and the Sunrise" by Dave Simonett and the Sunrise.
December 19, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I legit thought this was the dad from the "I learned it by watching you!" PSA.
December 17, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I'm very saddened to learn (and to learn belatedly) that Steve Minor passed away a few months ago. Only 60 years old. He was one of the original law bloggers, starting the Southwest Virginia Law Blog in 2003. Sharp, funny, generous, a standout lawyer. I'll miss him.
www.instagram.com/p/DMMCQnPsDas/
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December 12, 2025 at 1:20 AM
December 8, 2025 at 10:47 PM
I have reached the "catching typos in a brief I filed months ago" stage of oral argument prep.
December 7, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Every once in a while during a SCOTUS argument, someone will call the Justices "judges," and sometimes they get snippy about that. One time when it happened, (I think) Justice Stevens very kindly noted that Article III uses the word "judges" to include the ones on the Supreme Court.
Reminder: John Roberts is the Chief Justice of the United States. He is not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme, but if you get it wrong, SCOTUS watchers will judge you!
November 21, 2025 at 10:22 PM
November 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM