Above the Law

Morning Docket: 01.13.25

* Mark Kelly hires Arnold & Porter to sue Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department for threatening to illegally slash his pension. [The New Republic]

* Jerome Powell hires Williams & Connolly to deal with DOJ threats. [New York Times]

* It’s striking that critics of the Maduro capture cite specific text from the Constitution and international treaties, and the Deputy Attorney General cites “nuh uh.” [The Hill]

* Speaking of Maduro, the Maduro counsel kerfuffle takes another turn, with Judge Hellerstein rejecting Bruce Fein’s attempt to join the case based on claims that the deposed president’s friends wanted him to. [NY1]

* BBC seeks to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit. [Reuters]

* Supreme Court rubberstamps government dropping FIFA corruption case. [Law360]

* New book chronicles scandal that induced women into unnecessary and expensive surgeries to seek higher damages. [Law.com]

Associated With Excellence — See Also

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Since When Is Jerome Powell Leading The Resistance?: DOJ opens criminal probe because he didn’t lower interest rates like Trump wanted.

Kristi Noem Wants ICE Above Inspection: She wants you to give notice a week in advance before any oversight happens.

Visibility Creates Opportunity: How Lawyers Build Trust, Authority, And Growth 

A conversation with Colleen Joyce, CEO of Lawyer.com.

Build Once, Earn Often: Dorna Moini On The New Economics Of Scalable Legal Products

Why every lawyer needs a second revenue stream, even if they don't know it yet.

Will Venezuela Cost Trump The Nobel Peace Prize?

Perhaps resolving wars requires more than putting people in a room for a few minutes and asking them to say that they're now friends.

CES 2026: The Trends. The Vibe. And Some Final Thoughts.

Want to know where legal tech is going? Look at where consumer tech is going because that’s where we will go too.

Legal Ethics Roundup: ‘Rogue Judges’ Senate Hearing, TX Ends ABA Oversight, Judge Charged Over ‘Book Of Grudges,’ Predictions For 2026 & More

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

Relativity’s Case Strategy Tool Goes Live, Promising To Help Lawyers Drowning In Data

What if AI was there to help instead of shadow replace you?

Anthropic Follows OpenAI Into Healthcare: How Do Their Platforms Compare?

AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI are both expanding their large language models into healthcare.

Morning Docket: 01.12.26

* Trump DOJ opens a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the stock market takes expected nosedive. [CNBC]

* An update on Supreme Court clerkship hiring. [Original Jurisdiction]

* Supreme Court will take up case over FCC’s power to levy fines. [Law360]

* Weird confusion over Nicolas Maduro’s counsel. [New York Law Journal]

* Has Tom Goldstein’s luck run out? [Reuters]

* Joyce Vance has a new interview with Marc Elias about election law. [Civil Discourse]

* Salt-N-Pepa lose copyright suit. [ABA Journal]

* Lawyer suspended for contempt even though he died 2 years ago. [Miami Herald]

The New Year Is A Time For Endings — See Generally

Midsize Law Firm Begins New Year By Closing: Firm's resolution appears to have been to shed all its offices.

Judge Ho Trades Common Decency For Chance To Suck Up To Trump: The president's fans are sending violent threats to federal judges. Judge Ho wants to make clear to anyone who might choose a future Supreme Court justice that he doesn't think those threats should be that big of a deal.

ICE Kills Minneapolis Woman And Will Probably Evade Justice: Prosecuting the ICE agent who killed Renee Good presents an uphill battle. Unfortunately, civil relief could prove just as elusive.

The Third Amendment Doomsday Clock Ticks Closer To Midnight: Hilton cut off a franchisee after the Department of Homeland Security attacked the global chain over social media because the local management did not want to deal with the protests related to housing ICE agents.

See Ya!: Judge placed on leave after video of racist and homophobic remarks went viral has now lost her job.

Fake U.S. Attorney Can't Take A Hint: Judge losing patience with Lindsey Halligan pretending to be a prosecutor.

Chief Justice's Annual Report Cites Founding Father Who Would Have Zero Tolerance For This Nonsense: The man who gave Donald Trump absolute immunity framed his latest report around Thomas Paine.

Government Attacks Abrego Garcia’s Reputation As He Awaits Trial — See Also

Garcia Wants To See Some Consequences When They Violate Court Orders: He’s pushing for sanctions.

Too Bad To Punish: Ethics authority opts out of charging Brendan Carr.

A Record-Setting Year For M&A!: Which businesses will be the next to combine?

So Long, Judge Ryan!: “New Racist” judge finally calls it quits after collecting free money for 15 months.

Appearing Healthy Is Good For Business: Your colleagues might not be as healthy as they’re letting on.

A Big Year For Change At Law Schools Around The Country

The law school dean merry-go-round went round and round.

Reed: Congress ‘Would Have To’ Codify Trump’s Defense Industry Stock Buyback Mandates

The top SASC Democrat stopped short of supporting Trump's executive order, as a few defense firms said they're on board, at least publicly.

Generative Engine Optimization: How To Make Your Law Firm Visible In AI Answers

What is GEO, should you be worried about it, and how can you make sure your law firm is visible in all these AI search answers?