Above the Law

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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*.

Challenging Truisms And Embracing A Cockroach Mentality

What will it mean to be a lawyer and legal professional in the future? What will our new value proposition be?

Five New AI-Powered Business Models For Solos And Smalls In 2026

The AI age does not point toward a single future for law practice or for the wholesale extinction of lawyers. Instead, it opens multiple viable paths.

BriefCatch Raises $6M Series A To Accelerate Acquisitions And Development

BriefCatch says the round comes amid its highest revenue growth rate to date, with 126% net enterprise revenue retention among large law-firm customers.

Morning Docket: 12.30.25

* Another former partner sues Kasowitz alleging unpaid compensation. [NY Law Journal]

* The Post Office will no longer postmark mail on the day it’s sent. The goal is to prevent mail-in voting, but… so long mailbox rule![Brookings]

* Alex Spiro writes California governor warning him that his clients will leave California if the state attempts to make them actually pay taxes. [Yahoo]

* Jeffrey Toobin profiles Tom Goldstein’s predicament. Key takeaway… it seems as though he might not have been quite as good at poker as he thought. [New York Times Magazine]

* Professor redesigns contracts course to recognize the role AI plays in modern practice. [Law.com]

* Legal Cheek’s most read stories of the year. [Legal Cheek]

Best Of ’25 — See Also

Chief Justice Roberts Get Outed By A Handshake: Hard to play impartial after the buddy buddy display.

Bye Bye, OCI: Latham dropped out of the time-tested recruitment method.

You’re Arresting Me For What?: Former cop arrested over a Facebook meme.

Words Have Consequences: Biglaw recruiter fired after racist rant.

A T14 Law Degree Won’t Protect You From The Wrath Of Hans Gruber

Hans Gruber's recitation of Takagi’s resume was an early demonstration of the research that went into the takeover of Nakatomi Plaza.

Best Of ’25: Video Of Racist Rant Costs Biglaw Recruiting Director Their Job, Because, Yeah

Maybe don't yell the N-word in public if you work in legal recruiting.

From Risk Aversion To Risk Calibration: What Senne Mennes Taught Me About Building Legal Systems That Learn

Slow and steady is the death of innovation.

Best Of ’25: Watch The Exact Moment John Roberts Realizes He Whored Himself Out

Trump blows up the myth.

The Deepfake Courtroom Problem: A Colorado Blue Ribbon Study Sheds Some Light And Offers A Start To Solutions

Deepfakes and evidence created or enhanced by AI are going to become increasingly prevalent. How can we successfully confront the problem?

Best Of ’25: Man Files Civil Rights Lawsuit After Being Arrested Over A Meme

About time!

Another National Security Concern!

It's almost like the administration is ginning up national security concerns that don't really exist.