Above the Law

Moderna To Pay Up To $2.25B To Settle Patent Suit Over COVID-19 Vaccine Technology

If Moderna's full financial payout to the companies is reached, it would rank among the largest disclosed patent settlements in biopharmaceutical industry history.

Morning Docket: 03.05.26

* Senate votes to NOT have a vote on approving Iran strikes. When the Framers conceived of the separation of powers, they never planned for, “what if one branch doesn’t want any powers?” [CNN]

* DOJ removed 47,635 files from the public Epstein database — including allegations involving President Trump — assuring reporters the files are merely being “redacted” and would return shortly. If you believe that, we have an island to sell you. [Salon]

* OpenAI prepares for IPO with Wachtell and Cooley. [The Information]

* The search for lateral talent in Saudi Arabia. Exciting new opportunity, must be comfortable with Iranian rocket attacks. [Law.com International]

* Charting the revolving door: A dive into the financial ties between Trump officials and the industries they’re supposed to regulate. [Pro Publica]

* Jury told Chance the Rapper stiffed his manager. Well, of course… it’s not like he’s Community Chest the Rapper. [Law360]

* Democratic governor set to pardon convicted MAGA election interference figure. [Guardian]

* From DOJ lawyer to polyamory author. A standard career path. [ARL Now]

Does Good Behavior Mean Being Agreeable? — See Also

Dissents Are Down Since Pauline Newman’s Shadow Impeachment: Do judges agree more or are they afraid to dissent?

Kathryn Ruemmler Set To Give Testimony On ‘Uncle Jeffrey’: Expect questions about the expensive gifts and buddy-buddy attitude.

Pam Bondi Wants To Be The Law: Should she be the only one who determines if DOJ lawyers act ethically? Hell no on 3.

In New York But Not Of New York: UK firm opens up shop in the Big Apple with no intention of doing American law!

Radiohead Tells ICE To Turn The Volume Down: They join the musicians preventing their tunes from sound tracking administration propaganda.

On This Week Of Thinking Like A Lawyer: Behold the tarnished legacy of Chief Justice John Roberts.

World’s Deadliest Sharks Only One-Third As Deadly To Minnesotans In 2026 As ICE, Trump’s Stupid War

'That's the way it is' ... now.

What Happens To Your Resume After You Hit Send: What Legal Recruiters Wish You’d Done Differently

The resume is not the Cheesecake Factory menu.

Trump’s Fear Of Looking Like A Loser Becomes DOJ’s Embarrassing Legal Headache

A frantic 24-hour pivot in the Biglaw cases suggests optics may matter more than outcomes.

Pam Bondi Wants Sole Power To Decide If DOJ Lawyers — Including Herself — Act Unethically

Pam Bondi wants to halt state bars from investigation ethical breaches on her watch... forever.

Federal Circuit Dissents Plummet After Pauline Newman’s Ersatz Impeachment

Do judges feel less safe about disagreeing with their colleagues?

John Roberts Suffers The Slings And Arrows Of Pure Rage Trump

And the bar examiners prove once again that they don't care about anyone but themselves.

Discovery As Truth-Seeking: Win Hard Without Playing Hide-The-Ball

A practical, results-focused tutorial on how litigators can balance expansive discovery rights and privacy concerns without slowing cases down.

Kathryn Ruemmler To Give House Testimony After ‘Uncle Jeffrey’ Emails Spark Firestorm

Kathryn Ruemmler isn't done being dragged for her connection with Jeffrey Epstein.

Supreme Court Kills IEEPA Tariffs — Importers Cheer, Consumers … Not So Much

Let's review how tariffs actually get collected in the United States.

How Congress Is Reacting To The Iran Conflict

Breaking Defense's Aaron Mehta is joined by Stacie Pettyjohn of the Center for a New American Security to discuss Sen. Tim Kaine's push for a war powers vote and how it might play out.

Morning Docket: 03.04.26

* Judge Breyer calls out Elon Musk’s lawyer for giving “false impression” to the jury in Twitter case, but she was just staying on brand as a Grok representative. [Law360]

* More states consider alternative licensure paths. [ABA Journal]

* Supreme Court seemed unconvinced that defendants can waive their rights to appeal and then be stuck with an arbitrary sentence. [National Law Journal]

* With its sparse decision striking down California law preventing schools from outing students, the Court drapes itself in dangerous power. [Vox]

* A refresher on the Court of International Trade, the folks deciding all the tariff refunds. [New York Law Journal]

* Homeland Security probes alleged comments Greg Bovino made about Jewish lawyer. [Guardian]

The Trump Administration Can’t Even Give Up Properly — See Also

The DOJ Necromances Back Their Biglaw Executive Order Case: Good luck unringing the $940M bell.

Remember To Bring Booze To Con Law: Gorsuch put the alcoholism back in the Founding Fathers.

Skadden Gets Sanctioned In Multimillion-Dollar Case: The court found bad faith in their Virginia Action filing.

White House Gets Moral Talking To From Kesha: She doesn’t want her music associated with ‘mak[ing] light of war.’

Pro Bono Is Great, But How Bono?: Paladin and PLI help pro-bono-minded law students find their path.