Above the Law

Morning Docket: 07.20.26

* After the Trump family and his administration prevailed upon Romanian officials to release suspected international sex traffickers, the Tate brothers are now set to be extradited to the UK. [Forbes]

* Litigation funders getting squeezed on both sides. Some states have attempted to ban their work, and elsewhere investors are putting money behind law firms directly rather than work with a funder. [Bloomberg Law News]

* ACLU gearing up to take on state surveillance tactics, which are much more Orwellian than you might think. [WIRED]

* Woman who began law school at 47 now heads an all-woman law firm. [People]

* Hawaii Supreme Court rejects effort to graft U.S. Supreme Court due process musings onto a state constitutional issue… and then launches a wide-ranging critique of SCOTUS running roughshod over constitutional law generally. [Slate]

* Trump calls on federal judges to rewrite science textbook to better match his administration’s priorities. [Reuters]

* James Comey advises Todd Blanche to “bone up on the rules.” Todd Blanche then presumably started trying to figure out if “bone up” can be prosecuted as a violent threat. [NBC News]

* Judge’s lawyer says his client is still fit for the bench despite record of… problematic comments. [ABA Journal]

Bad News Out Of Biglaw — See Generally

Opening The Gates (To Push People Out): K&L Gates cut roughly 10 percent of its business-services staff — accounting, marketing, and IT, several of them with more than a decade at the firm.

U.S. Attorney’s Fifty-Four Minutes Of Fame: Roger Rogoff was sworn in as U.S. Attorney and fired by the administration fifty-four minutes later, cleared out for the same first-assistant shell game that keeps rendering indictments worthless.

Crystal-Balling The Next Rankings Circus: Pepperdine’s Paul Caron ran the ABA numbers to project the 2027 U.S. News law school rankings, and the suspense is whether Yale — knocked out of the top spot for the first time ever this year — can claw its way back.

Unitary Executive Theory Steps On A Rake: After successfully getting the Supreme Court to bless the idea that Donald Trump controls everything the government does — except the Fed — a federal judge cited that right back to him over his attempt to sue the federal government to give himself a sweeping release and his cronies a slush fund.

Always Be Charging: The Department of Justice has told all 93 U.S. Attorney’s offices that every line prosecutor must keep at least 25 open matters at all times.

No Honor Among Capitulators: The DOJ hit all nine Biglaw firms that bought their way out of Trump’s executive orders with subpoenas and deposition notices, demanding their communications with Boris Epshteyn and dragging in the very firm leaders who signed the $940 million in deals to avoid this in the first place.

Welcome To The Gaslight District: Legal scholars reviewing Kathryn Ruemmler’s closed-door House Oversight testimony about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein called it “classic gaslighting.”

Speaking Of Gaslighting: Amy Coney Barrett, who once told the public to “read the opinion” before judging the Court, informed Congress that it is inappropriate to expect the justices to actually explain their shadow-docket opinions.

Recuse Me While The Whole Bench Bails: Lawsuit to block Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove from becoming dean of Kentucky Law over faculty objections kicked upstairs after every judge acknowledged a conflict in a case against their colleague.

DOJ Remains Dullest Tools In The Shed — See Also

The DOJ Gabs About Its Biglaw Subpoenas: I don’t think it’ll work out the way they planned it in their head.

House Oversight Caught With Their Pants Down: Alan “Underpants” Dershowitz cancels Monday Epstein interview at the last minute.

Holding The Powerful… Not Accountable At All: Amid mounting court findings of DOJ misrepresentations, a federal court in Michigan calls out the government for an AI hallucination designed to keep a man locked up. No sanctions.

Trump’s Called In An FBI Forensics Team: The Reflecting Pool saga takes [more] of an absurdist turn.

It’s Getting Hot In Here: So stop your billables! Hogan Lovells Cadwalader lawyers get to work remotely thanks to a broken A/C.

Healthcare Groups Praise Unanimous Committee Approval Of MA Prior Auth Bill

The House Ways and Means Committee unanimously advanced a bill to reform Medicare Advantage prior authorization requirements.

Voice Search For Lawyers: Why Your Firm May Already Be Losing Clients

Understanding and optimizing for voice search is increasingly vital to online search visibility, especially for capturing the all-important local search activity.

The BigHand Legal Report: More Trouble For Ostriches

Bottom line? The ostrich law firms that keep their heads in the sand are going to lose business.

Things Are Heating Up At This Newly Merged Global Megafirm — Literally

New megafirm sends London lawyers home after its air conditioning gives out during a heatwave.

DOJ Cites Fake Case To Keep Man Locked Up By ICE, Judge Declines To Do Anything About It

Judge spent two-thirds of her order explaining why fake citations are unacceptable, then shrugs off holding anyone accountable.

Lawyers Should Spend More Time Studying Legal History

Many underlying challenges have remained remarkably similar from one generation to the next.

How Appealing Weekly Roundup

The week in appellate news.

Writers Guild Of America Also Sues Paramount, Citing Looming Merger Layoff Bloodbath

From the do-not-pass-go,-do-not-collect-$200 dept

Morning Docket: 07.17.26

* Last night, Trump delivered a speech ostensibly about sweeping election security conspiracies, but it was mostly a commercial for the 25th Amendment. [Election Law Blog]

* Madison Square Garden sues WIRED over article claiming the stadium “used surveillance to track celebrities’ race, gender identity, and sexual orientation.” Can you believe a despicable owner who already admits to routinely using face recognition to ban lawyers from events could do such a thing? [USA Today]

* Trump selling financial firms early access to his posts. Because it’s not insider trading when it’s government officials creating market moving events! [WSJ]

* Todd Blanche was told his confirmation might depend on meeting with Epstein survivors. So he did… and the survivors describe Blanche’s conduct at the meeting as “abrasive” and “condescending.” Truly shocking for a guy who dedicated the past year to covering up the Epstein files. [ABC]

* M&A deal breach litigation increases. Surely that’s not a sign that companies see disturbing shifts in market conditions, right? [Bloomberg Law News]

* Boutiques recruiting big time talent with higher compensation. [Reuters]

* Barrister suspended for role in planning gangland hit. Remember, this is a customer service industry. [Roll on Friday]

* Simpson Thacher accused of never explaining key issues to client. He’s suing for $100 million. [Law360]

Biglaw Summer Associate Recruiting Has Officially Become Ridiculous

Will anyone do anything about it? Unlikely!

Stop Acting Like A Squirrel With Your Legal Business Development

Building a book of business requires direction, consistency, and a willingness to cross the road.