Above the Law

Revenge Ages Well — See Also

This Former Legal Secretary’s “I Quit!” Is Still Worth Talking About: If you bring your home life to work, your secretary might tell your spouse you were cheating!

Kirkland Questionnaire Perks Up Ears: Is this a sign of attendance policy consequences to come?

Hey Man, Sorry Would Have Sufficed!: Apologizing for lazy AI citations should never require this much purple prose.

States Sue Trump Administration So Kids Can Attend Summer Programs: Billions of dollars earmarked by Congress were taken away from children.

Midsize Firm Associate Dies In Texas Flood: We extend our condolences to her family and friends.

Thinking Differently About AI: Lawyers Need To Stop Using AI Like A Glorified Admin

As humans, we don’t just create a masterpiece off the top of our heads. We work through things. We reject parts and accept parts. AI can help.

Promising Young Midsize Firm Associate Dies In Texas Floods

The managing partner of the firm called the associate's death a 'devastating loss.'

Admit It: Trump’s Done A Few Things Right

Even a stopped clock is right two times a day.

Legal Ethics Roundup: The Ethics Of DOJ Firings, Jackson On The State Of Our Democracy, Wasteful SCOTUS Paper Filings, AI SCOTUS Arg & More

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

Judge Orders ICE Goons To Stop Racial Profiling And Start Following The Constitution

Reasonable suspicion requires more than being Hispanic at Home Depot.

Hospital M&A Has Hit The Brakes — But Activity Could Pick Up In The Second Half Of 2025

While traditional mergers may remain sluggish, analysts expect a rise in outpatient partnerships and rural hospital conversions toward the end of the year.

Morning Docket: 07.14.25

* More states adopt NextGen bar exam instead of more rational alternative of not having a bar exam. [Law.com]

* Dershowitz says he knows who’s on the Epstein list that Bondi says doesn’t exist but can’t go into details because of confidentiality obligations. [Newsweek]

* Bondi fires ethics chief. Was he the one saying she couldn’t release doctored Epstein footage? [Bloomberg Law News]

* SEC gives up on liquidity rule suit as part of new “make America susceptible to depressions again” strategy. [Law360]

* DOJ claims it can deport people to third countries on six hour notice. [Reuters]

* Texas law school deans fighting to keep ABA accreditation after state supreme court hinted at taking it away to appease Trump grievances. [Inside Higher Ed]

* Chinese hackers tried to infiltrate Wiley Rein. [CNN]

Summer Associate Really Wanted To Sink Her Teeth Into The Work — See Generally

Summer Associate Really Bit Off More Than She Could Chew: A summer associate decided to make a lasting impression -- via bite marks. Multiple chomped colleagues later, she’s learned Hannibal Lecter isn't the ideal lawyerly role model..

MAGA Meltdowns Down Realizing Superman Is Undocumented: Suffering a "Crisis on Infinite Cable Networks," Republicans freaked out this week because Superman is a literal undocumented alien.

Pam Bondi Solves Epstein Case By Losing All The Evidence: The only thing distracting Republican rage from Superman is Pam Bondi pulling an Al Capone's vault on that Epstein client list she swore was “on my desk.” Either her desk is a portal to another dimension or she lied.

This Demand Letter Response Brought To You By The Letters F and U: Lawyer's scorched Earth response involves less Latin, more "pardon my French."

Welcome to Equity! Please Deposit Your Soul And Way More Money: You might be shocked at how much firms charge their partners.

Get In The Office, Or Get Out: The RTO hammer drops again, because nothing builds morale like a badge swipe and having to risk a Summer Associate bite.

Elite Latham Litigator Joins Firm That Didn't Trade Integrity: Latham’s top appellate attorney defects to Jenner & Block in wake of Trump deal.

With Corrupt Allies Like These, Who Needs Imagined Enemies?: Trump administration put in tight spot after El Salvador admits prisoners sent to their prison remain under U.S. control, undermining weeks of DOJ representations to the courts claiming the opposite.

Be Sure To Fully Consider The Question Before Answering A Bar Exam Question... Especially If You ARE The Bar Exam: California's February disaster was the predictable result of moving too fast.

Keep Your Mouth To Yourself — See Also

You Can Only Bite Your Colleagues So Many Times: Summer associate fired for repeatedly biting her co-workers. Not making this up.

A Few Good Blondes: This Legally Blonde x A Few Good Men mashup is the video you didn’t know you needed.

Looking Back, The Bar Exam Was A Wreck: It looked that way back then too!

This Firm Must Not Know About The Streisand Effect: You should definitely go read the thing they don’t want you to see.

MAGA Desperate To Prove LITERAL ALIEN Isn’t An Illegal Immigrant: Hard to argue with folks that haven’t done the reading.

Want To Be A Biglaw Equity Partner? It’ll Cost Ya!

It costs money to make money.

Merck Breathes Life Into Its Respiratory Prospects With $10B Deal To Buy Verona Pharma

Verona Pharma brings to Merck the inhaled drug Ohtuvayre, which is FDA approved as a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Stat(s) Of The Week: Legal Marketing In The AI Age

How are budgets trending? 

Building A Firm That’s Better Than Biglaw

A look inside the process of creating your own law firm.

Starting A Law Firm Can Have Negative Career Consequences

There are many reasons why people choose to start their own law firms, but lawyers need to carefully consider this option.