Above the Law

Morning Docket: 01.05.26

* Refresher on the legal arguments for “killing 80 people to arrest the leader of a sovereign nation for possessing a machine gun.” [One First]

* Student groups appeal to the ABA to intervene and stop the rapid associate hiring cycle. [Law.com]

* Rough year for law schools begins as Trump’s student loan caps start to bite. [Reuters]

* Another lawyer disciplined for billing more hours than exist in a day. [Legal Cheek]

* Lawyer seeks back legal fees from O.J. Simpson estate. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

* Judicial nominations poised to slow this year with lack of vacancies. [ABA Journal]

* Kat Von D wins tattoo IP case at Ninth Circuit. [Law360]

Doing Good Work Used To Pay Off — See Also

Trump Rule Made A Lot Of Public Service Work Ineligible For Loan Forgiveness: There goes helping your fellow man.

Third Amendment Aficionados Perked Up For A Bit: The National Guard can’t sleep on your couch!

Government Immigration Attorney Watch List Gets Leaked: That’s a scary thing to know is out there.

In Bonus News: Norton Rose Fulbright starts the year off right!

Year-End Bonuses Are Uncommon At Some Law Firms

Annual bonuses aren't a reality at some smaller firms.

CES 2026: The Whole Wide AI World Along With Lots More

Legal tech is legal tech, it’s not consumer technology, right? Wrong.

Morning Docket: 01.02.26

* Elon Musk’s lawyer is a clown. Seriously (though no red nose). [The Independent]

* Trump says he’s removing the National Guard units he illegally deployed before. [Reuters]

* Law firms increasing billing rates. [Wall Street Journal]

* State judges will now join California bar exam micromanagement effort. [ABA Journal]

* Jack Smith lays out criminal cases against Trump. [Courthouse News Service]

* Florida lawyer faces discipline after challenging Ron DeSantis. [Tampa Bay Times]

* Legal tech companies that moved into new frontiers last year. [Legaltech News]

Even AI Knew Something Was Up — See Also

That Time ChatJAG Pointed Out The Obvious: Immediate egg on Hegseth’s face.

Look At All That Prestige!: Vault’s Biglaw rating struck a little off for not factoring in the pro bono payola firms.

Take That, Ed Martin: Georgetown Law had no qualms with fighting back.

Now That’s A Commute!: Could you imagine regularly flying in for class?

On This Week Of Thinking Like A Lawyer: This year of Thinking Like A Lawyer!

What Should We See In 2026?: Here’s a list of hope and appropriate snark.

Best Of ’25: Pentagon Unveils New GenAI Platform, It Immediately Starts Flagging Pete Hegseth’s War Crimes

The Defense Department's new ChatJAG turned out to be better than the human chain of command.

Stat(s) Of The Year: ATL 2025 Data Roundup

Highlights from Above the Law’s survey research over the last year.

Best Of ’25: Vault 100 Rankings: The Most Prestigious Law Firms In America (2026)

These rankings come from an alternate universe, where Trump hadn't yet threatened some of the most elite law firms in the nation.

A Look Back At The 2025 Dumpster Fire

Three trends dominated this year's coverage.

Best Of ’25: Georgetown Law To Ed Martin: F All The Way Off

It's good to be a Hoya.

If You Are Applying To Law School And Want A Few Minutes Of Free Financial Or Career Advice, Email Me

We can talk about whatever you'd like, be it the financial calculus of going to law school, or how to best set yourself up for the career you want.

Morning Docket: 12.31.25

* Lawyer who battled home owners’ association over his Christmas decorations used his settlement to buy more Christmas decorations. [ABA Journal]

* Former Paul Weiss pro bono chief, who quit amidst the firm’s Trump deal, will take over as NYC’s law department. [NY Law Journal]

* The annual mainstream media piece reporting to the rest of the world that, yes, there’s a lot of money in Biglaw. [NY Post]

* Recapping the big lateral moves of the year. [American Lawyer]

* Negligent stage diving… there’s a new one. [Lowering the Bar]

* Trump administation aims to circumvent asylum obligations by immediately deporting anyone requesting asylum to “safe” countries like *checks notes* Uganda. [Politico]

* Possible answer to AI hallucinations: mandatory hyperlinks. [National Law Review]

Recall A Biting Memory — See Also

Touchy With The Teeth: Sidley associate fired after (politely) gnawing on her co-workers.

Keep The Congratulations On The Hush Hush: Kirkland opts out of advertising their newest partners.

Prof. Files Fed Suit After Kirk-Related Censorship: Bold move, University of Tennessee.

Amy Coney Barrett Outlines The King Decision: Excuse me, President for life*.

Trump’s Law Firm Executive Order Appeals Exist To Haunt Biglaw, Make Sure His Threats Never Die

Trump may be losing in court but he's trying to win when it comes to fear.