Above the Law

‘This Is Crazy’: Health Experts Call For Changes To The No Surprises Act

Industry leaders say the No Surprises Act is protecting patients from surprise bills, but its Independent Dispute Resolution system is being overused and exploited, driving up costs and prompting calls for reform.

Morning Docket: 03.30.26

* ‘Don’t blame your associate’ for messing up AI. Sure, but then why even have associates? [ABA Journal]

* The DOJ seeks superseding indictments in all the cases invalidated by pretending Alina Habba was the US Attorney. [New Jersey Law Jounral]

* Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee votes to block judges from replacing illegal appointees like Habba. Note that they didn’t fix the illegality, just the ability to do anything to fix it. [Roll Call]

* Department of Defense’s block on Anthropic suspended for now. [Reuters]

* BofA agrees to deal to get them off Epstein’s Island. [Law360]

* Dutch order Grok to stop being nonconsensual porn generator as if Grok does anything else. [Law.com International]

Birthdays Come And Go, But Billable Hours Are Forever — See Generally

Biglaw Partner Drops Future Therapy Fodder: Asked how she juggles being a working mom, a newly minted partner offered a refreshingly horrifying answer: sometimes you miss your own kid’s birthday party.

The AI Pipeline Crisis Nobody Wants To Talk About: AI won’t replace lawyers, but it might create a critical shortage of good ones.

Major Regional Firm Calling It Quits: Atlanta’s Taylor Duma is shutting down after 21 years, given “the influx of firms into the Atlanta market.”

One Law Firm Commits To Doing Something About Broken Recruiting Model: Susman Godfrey is done trying to fight over recruits who haven’t even finished their first set of exams.

Former Attorney Generals… They’re Just Like Us!: Bill Barr spotted in a 3-hour TSA line at Houston’s IAH, courtesy of the president he sacrificed his reputation for.

Trump Says His Own Supreme Court Appointees “Sicken” Him: Girl, same.

My Cousin Vinny Somehow Managed To Get More Realistic Through The Studio Revision Process: In a fun exercise, Litera used the draft screenplays from My Cousin Vinny to show off its document comparison tool and AI assistant.

Jay Clayton’s SDNY Throws ICE Under The Nearest Available Bus: Clayton’s office informed the court that they’ve been accidentally lying to judges for months and it’s all ICE’s fault.

ATL March Madness Bracket Enters The Elite Eight: Voting continues through Monday to decide the Trump lawyer most deserving of their eventual disbarment.

Where The Head Goes The Body Follows — See Also

Midsize Firm Closes After Partners Leave: Taylor Duma closes for good this month.

Is This It For Section 230?: Does the design/content distinction unfairly punish websites for their user’s faults?

Judge Throws Out White Student’s Discrimination Suit Against Howard: Maybe he’ll appeal next February.

Is Your Firm “A Breeding Ground For Misconduct?”: This workplace harassment lawsuit accuses White & Case of being just that.

Harvard Law Students Push School To Divest From ICE: That includes the tech giants and law firms that allegedly work with ICE.

How Appealing Weekly Roundup

The week in appellate news.

Maximize Your Reach: Turning CLE Content Into Long-Term Success

Think of it as giving your presentation a second life.

Legal Professionals Should Usually Get A Lunch Break

Lawyers and legal professionals need to eat, too.

White Law Student Has Multi-Million Discrimination Suit Against Howard University Thrown Out

At least he tried?

Vision, Ownership, And Profit: What Law Firms Must Fix First

We explore the issues that quietly erode performance inside many firms on this episode of 'Be That Lawyer.'

Midsize Law Firm Closing Its Doors After 21 Years Following Partner Exodus

A shrinking roster and a booming Atlanta market prove to be an unsustainable combination.

How Law Firm Pricing Power Really Works And Why Negotiation Alone Is No Longer Enough

New data on global outside counsel rate trends from our friends at Persuit.

Everyone Cheering The Social Media Addiction Verdicts Against Meta Should Understand What They’re Actually Cheering For

From the bad-defendants-make-bad-law dept

Could There Be A ‘Soft Opening’ Of H.R. 1 Medicaid Changes?

Experts are split on whether H.R. 1 Medicaid changes in 2027 will roll out gradually or on schedule.

Morning Docket: 03.27.26

* Do you know who won the 2020 presidential election? Because this Trump judicial nominee doesn’t! [National Law Journal]

* UK voting to restrict jury trials. [Roll on Friday]

* Anthropic already secures legal victory in “what the hell is wrong with the Pentagon” case. [Law360]

* Google is not due diligence says department of duh. [Law.com]

* Maduro needs legal bills paid. [PBS]

* “White & Case employee claims he was photographed naked while unconscious at firm retreat” [Legal Cheek]

* Georgia would like its ballots back. [Reuters]

Justices Barrett And Gorsuch Have Fallen Out Of Favor — See Also

Trump Nominateith, Trump Complaineth When He Doesn’t Get His Way: Trump got big mad at his justices at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner.

And Then There Were Eight: Which of these lawyers is most in need of a disbarment?

Michael Flynn Grabs ‘Em By The Treasury: To the tune of $1.25M.

Litigant Swears Up And Down She Isn’t Zooming In From Behind The Wheel: The live footage suggests otherwise.

Jay Clayton’s SDNY Throws ICE Under The Bus: Credibility still matters.