Above the Law

Morning Docket: 04.14.26

* DLA Piper prevails in former associate’s pregnancy discrimination case. [New York Law Journal]

* Perkins Coie and Ashurst partners approve merger. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Client AI use could drive up legal fees. [Financial Times]

* Anthropic GC predicts that AI will finally defeat the billable hour. [Corporate Counsel]

* Biglaw tax lawyer pursues Guinness record by completing marathon dressed as Captain Underpants. [Legal Cheek]

* D.C. Circuit tells government they’ve got some ‘splaining to do about how the FTC’s probe into Media Matters amounts to anything but a political attack. [Law360]

* Court tosses Trump’s defamation suit against Wall Street Journal. [Reuters]

Now That The Lawsuit Is Over, Want Me To Lead? — See Also

Professor Applies To Be Dean At School His Agency Investigated: Is this a strong application or an attempt at strong-arming?

Here’s The Best Of DC!: How does your firm compare to the best Biglaw firms in the region?

There’s A New Boutique In Town: Liu Shur Kravis make their mark on the DC scene.

State Judges Are Arming Up: Threats are pushing judges to take safety in their own hands.

Welcome Back From Disability! Now Collect Your Things: K&L Gates gets hit with a hostile work environment suit.

Legal Ethics Roundup: Billing 34.5 Hours In A Day, New ABA Recusal Opinion, Shortcomings In SCOTUS Ethics Rules, Pro Se AI Sanctions, Extra Time For Bar Exam, Purging Immigration Judges & More

Your tour of all things related to lawyer and judicial ethics, with University of Houston law professor Renee Knake Jefferson.

The Startup Bet Lawyers Keep Misunderstanding

Luck and timing shape more than we want to admit.

Ballroom Blitz Blocked

Please!

Animal Farm-ula

It is, perhaps, best to keep pigs out of the process of running farms.

The Top Biglaw Firms In Washington, DC (2027)

These are the most prestigious law firms in the nation's capital.

Trump’s $1.5T Defense Budget To Weather Harsh Scrutiny On Capitol Hill 

Operations in Iran, midterm elections, and GOP intraparty politics could all complicate the defense budget's path to President Donald Trump's desk.

Morning Docket: 04.13.26

* White House ballroom construction resumes for now. [Reuters]

* Winston carries healthy profit growth into its merger with Taylor Wessing. [American Lawyer]

* Fourth Circuit agrees to let Big Ballz have all your Social Security information. Surely nothing can go wrong! [Courthouse News Service]

* Speaking of the Fourth Circuit, Judge Julius Richardson in a concurrence declared that emergency orders were “precedent” which is, um, not at all how that works. [One First]

* Oil companies want a litigation shield like the gun manufacturers have. [New York Times]

* Ed Blum is back with a new effort to purge Black students from schools. [Balls and Strikes]

* Trump elevates another of his personal attorneys to the appellate bench. [Law360]

* Wisconsin switches to the UBE for out-of-state admits. [ABA Journal]

Yale Chokes Back Tears To Declare There’s No Shame In Second — See Generally

Yale Fail: Yale’s two-decade stranglehold on the No. 1 law school ranking ends in a rankings shakeup. Well, at least they have JD Vance — another famous second banana!

Feel Free To Let The Screen Door Hit You On The Way Out: Pam Bondi’s tenure as Attorney General ends just in time for a bar disciplinary investigation, unless Florida invents another reason to absolve Bondi of accountability for her actions.

Epstein, Who?: Meanwhile, Bondi hopes to use her firing to get out of explaining the Epstein files to Congress.

The Annual “Which Gilded Cage Is Most Prestigious” Survey: Vault again ranks the 100 most prestigious law firms in America.

Trolls Gonna Troll: Law school Federalist Society chapter invites Amy Wax to share her thoughts about the problem with women and minorities.

Diploma With A Two-Drink Minimum: Georgetown Law replaces its graduation gala with a school happy hour and many students aren’t happy.

Time Is Relative, Especially On A Timesheet: Lawyer bills more hours than exist in a calendar day, professional hilarity ensues.

The More It Smiles, The More You Should Worry: Legal AI tools optimized for user satisfaction are also the ones most likely to confidently hallucinate a fake circuit court opinion.

The USFL Never Died, It Just Became Federal Policy: Trump deploys the DOJ against the NFL over grievances that predate most of his current staff, because using the justice system as a personal grudge machine apparently has no statute of limitations.

The Pentagon’s Legal Battles Going About As Well As Iran: The Defense Department benchslapped over press policy.

Can’t Take A Dick Joke — See Also

Cops Arrest Woman For Protesting While Wearing A Penis Costume: Can’t believe the prosecution took this case!

Regional Excellence: Check out Vault’s regional ranking of firms.

Justice Sotomayor Tells Law Students To Master AI: What will be the consequences of that mastery?

In Other News, People Still Care About Amy Wax: She got invited to speak by Cornell’s FedSoc chapter.

$35M Is A Lot Of Money!: WilmerHale is facing public scrutiny over a bill that has some wild pay jumps and logged hours.

Nonequity Partners Are Not Happy Campers

The nonequity partner blues.

Lawyers Should Stay Away From A Client’s Office Politics

Not every office is a hive of contented workers performing with the smooth efficiency of a hive mind.

What The Legal Industry Can Learn About AI Hallucinations From Auditors

The unfortunate reality is that hallucinations are a feature of LLM systems, not a bug.

‘I Dissent So Much’: Sotomayor Gets Real About Life On A Divided Court

Behind the scenes, the justices may be cordial, but the votes tell a different story.