The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the culmination of decades of debate and political maneuvering over various civil rights proposals. It was in this time that Bob Dylan warned, “Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call. Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall.” Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are a-Changin’ ” on “The Times They Are a-Changin’ ” (Sony Music Entertainment /Columbia Records, 1964).

Administrative Law

Mountain States Legal Foundation v. Glickman (United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1996)

Plaintiffs cannot claim an injury to their grizzly-viewing interests if they do not think there are grizzlies in the area to begin with. “If you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.” B. Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone,” on “Highway 61 Revisited” (Columbia Records, 1965).

Antitrust

Procaps S.A. v. Patheon Inc. (Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 2015)

Iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan musically discussed this type of situation in his “Gotta Serve Somebody” song (on the “Slow Train Coming” album, Columbia Records, 1979). The following lyrics, which place an individual’s status in the universe in context, could easily apply to the legal universe — i.e., a federal magistrate judge handling a case by consent who is asked to disregard language which the binding appellate court has often used and which has not been expressly reversed:

“You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk/You may be the head of some big TV network/You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame/You may be living in another country under another name/But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes you are.”