Above the Law
Posts by Above the Law
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.25.24
* Alina Habba likely avoids malpractice claims… because Trump’s case is already a loser. Small miracles! [Business Insider]
* Biglaw needs to confront how it offers feedback and chart a course somewhere between, “fine… I’m too busy for this” and “you’re fired and you’re also ugly.” [American Lawyer]
* Greg Abbott vows to ignore Supreme Court ruling in bid to earn elusive 9-0 defeat. [The Hill]
* Maybe Abbott wouldn’t be forcing another wasteful appellate process if the justices would just explain themselves. [Balls and Strikes]
* Fifth Circuit grants qualified immunity despite law enforcement taking several months to plot malicious prosecution against journalist. [Reuters]
* Mainstream media as shocked by Supreme Court clerkship bonuses as everyone else is. [Washington Post]
* Biglaw makes bigtime real money off fake money. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Supreme Court’s “faithless elector” case may open backdoor to election tampering by state legislatures. [ABA Journal]
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Health Care / Medicine
Breaking The Cycle: Telehealth Treatment For People In Custody Is Key To Recidivism Disruption
Expanding access to telehealth-based treatment programs that include medications for OUD, like buprenorphine or Sublocade, to patients as they leave custody can upend this cycle of incarceration through seamlessly following patients wherever they go next. The TREATS Act creates a legal pathway for this care to continue. - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.24.24
* New push for the Supreme Court curb “two-step” bankruptcy abuse. But the company behind the tactic, which shields a company from legal liabilities by allowing it to spin those to a new entity that then declares bankruptcy, throws such wonderful parties for Clarence Thomas and the gang so it’s probably safe. [Reuters]
* In-house work is now a non-stop geopolitical compliance obstacle course. [Corporate Counsel]
* Ninth Circuit considers California assault weapons ban. Just a reminder that the trial judge in this case terrorized a crying child for kicks and has yet to face any repercussions. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Starbucks union orders up financial disclosures. [HuffPo]
* Solicitor who spent a month in prison for researching a case while on jury duty now suspended for 8 years.[LegalCheek]
* Charges dropped in case of a Dallas lawyer’s murder. [ABA Journal]
* Law firms should keep profit focus on the down low if they want to keep the team happy. [American Lawyer]
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Biglaw, In-House Counsel
In-House Counsel: Tell Us About Your Go-To Law Firms
When you need outside counsel, which law firms do you rely on? -
Health Care / Medicine
Healthcare Docket: Will Florida’s Plan To Import Drugs From Canada Open The Floodgates?
No matter the outcome, it’s certain that the cost of drugs will not be an issue easily resolved anytime soon even though several other states also have laws allowing for drug imports. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.23.24
* Supreme Court rules 5-4 that Texas can’t implement its own immigration policy. Would be really interesting to hear WHY four justices thought the Supremacy Clause was mere puffery, but they didn’t issue any opinions because of course they didn’t. [Washington Post]
* Florida backtracks from plan to use taxpayer funds for Trump legal defense fund after Ron DeSantis suggests he’d veto it. Besides, he needs that money to keep paying lawyers to lose to Disney. [Politico]
* First Circuit blesses Mexico’s lawsuit against American gun manufacturers marketing high-powered weapons to cartels. [Reuters]
* Generative AI complicates attorney-client privilege when it asks the client “hey, I gotta ask if you did this because, hoo boy, you wouldn’t believe the last guy’s answer.” [Bloomberg Law News]
* Meanwhile, legal challenges to generative AI like to characterize it as regurgitating copyrighted work. But is that metaphor a hallucination? [Legaltech News]
* Supreme Court agrees to hear wrongful conviction case where state supreme court wants to go through with death penalty, while the prosecutors want the conviction overturned. [ABA Journal]
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Biglaw, Small Law Firms, Sponsored Content, Technology
How 160 Legal Tech Decision-Makers Are Combating Cybersecurity Threats
Do law firms recognize the gravity of the challenges they’re facing? -
Courts, Health Care / Medicine
Ex-Pfizer Employee Convicted For Insider Trades Ahead Of Positive Paxlovid Data
The former Pfizer statistician worked on the clinical trial for the COVID-19 drug Paxlovid. A jury found the employee guilty of insider trading for transactions made before clinical data for the antiviral were publicly announced. - Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get… -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.22.24
* Lawyer disciplined for stealing ambulance and driving it 60 miles, which is objectively cooler than commingling client funds. [ABA Journal]
* Donald Trump “may testify” in E. Jean Carroll case. Which should read “may further add to damages.” [Reuters]
* No origination credit? How will I profit off my colleagues’ work? [American Lawyer]
* DOJ investigations into Jim Crow murders keep failing to result in prosecutions. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Had to follow “my compass” says Joe Tacopina of leaving Trump’s legal team. And by “compass” he means “tired of being upstaged by an incompetent garage lawyer and starting to fear the bills wouldn’t get paid.” [<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp-video/mmvo202561093983” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>MSNBC]
*Now Sidney Powell’s LAWYER faces disciplinary charges. [Forbes]
* Alec Baldwin facing new charges in film set shooting. [Yahoo]
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Government, Health Care / Medicine
CMS Finalizes Rule Streamlining Prior Authorization Process
CMS finalized a rule on Wednesday that included set deadlines for affected payers to complete prior authorization requests. Several organizations came out in support of the rule. -
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.19.24
* Billing rates are up, but expect write-offs to go up too. In fact, firms might end up making less when it’s all said and done. Somehow I have faith that Biglaw will find a way to turn a profit. [American Lawyer] * Law firm installs slide in office. Look, working from home is great […]
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Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
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Government, Health Care / Medicine
AMA President: Medicare Physician Pay Cuts Will Have ‘Dire’ Impact If Not Reversed
The Medicare physician pay cuts that went into effect January 1 is a ‘disaster for the profession,’ said Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, president of the AMA, during an interview at CES 2024. Getting the pay cut reversed is a top priority for the organization. -
Government
DoD ‘Completely Rewrites’ Classification Policy For Secret Space Programs
Under the new approach, there must be a technical rationale for stamping a space program as special access, not simply because of a service policy decision, said DoD space policy czar John Plumb. -
In-House Counsel, Sponsored Content
What's Driving The Commercial Disputes Leadership Diversity Gap
GCs on tangible solutions to improve diversity in the leadership of commercial litigation and arbitration. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.18.24
* Lawyer sentenced 4 to 23 months for trading representation for sex acts. Yet again the billable hour triumphs over alternative fee arrangements. [ABA Journal]
* Things look bleak for Chevron, soon-to-be toppled by a literal red herring. [Slate]
* Supreme Court also considered whether a pure omission amounts to securities fraud. [Bloomberg Law News]
* In the UK, Conservatives launch negative campaign against Labour leader for having been a lawyer. [LegalCheek]
* Fifth Circuit blocks Texas book ban. [NBC News]
* Private equity practices poised for growth as dealmakers embrace the end of the-little-recession-that-couldn’t. [American Lawyer]
* Bill Barr’s new law firm adds a bunch of the other former White House lawyers who pushed back against the insurrection making them “too disgraced from working with Trump for most firms… not quite disgraced enough to work for a firm that could ever work for Trump again.” Good luck in that niche. [Reuters]
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Courts, Fashion
Uniqlo Hits Shein With Lawsuit Over Alleged Dupe Of Viral Shoulder Bag
The Japan-based company is accusing Shein of copying its TikTok-favorite accessory. -
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Government, Health Care / Medicine
Vertex’s CRISPR Gene Therapy Lands Another FDA Nod In A Rare Blood Disease
The FDA approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy Casgevy for treating beta thalassemia, an inherited blood disease that leads to low levels of functioning hemoglobin. Last month, the one-time treatment won its first FDA nod for treating sickle cell disease.