Last month we named John Edwards, the legendary trial lawyer and former presidential candidate, an honorary Lawyer of the Day -- "honorary," because we didn't view the reports of his alleged conduct to be sufficiently substantiated (even by our admittedly loose standards).

But now that Edwards has admitted to cheating on his cancer-stricken wife -- he points out, in his defense, that her cancer was in remission when he started the affair -- we're making it official. Congratulations, Mr. Edwards.

P.S. Edwards denies, however, that he is Rielle Hunter's baby-daddy. He claims the affair ended too early for him to be the father of Hunter's baby girl, Frances Quinn.

Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate [ABC News via Drudge (of course)]

Earlier: Lawyer of the Day: John Edwards?

Actually, no. We're not naming John Edwards -- the prominent plaintiffs' lawyer and former Democratic presidential candidate, and possible Obama running mate -- our Lawyer of the Day. We don't view the reports of his alleged conduct to be sufficiently substantiated just yet.

Right now the story appears only in the National Enquirer:

Vice Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards was caught visiting his mistress and secret love child at 2:40 this morning in a Los Angeles hotel by the NATIONAL ENQUIRER.

The married ex-senator from North Carolina - whose wife Elizabeth continues to battle cancer -- met with his mistress, blonde divorcée Rielle Hunter, at the Beverly Hilton on Monday night, July 21 - and the NATIONAL ENQUIRER was there! He didn't leave until early the next morning.

You can read the full piece, which contains a number of highly specific details that make it seem more credible, over here.

Additional discussion of the article, after the jump.

This is really political rather than legal news, so we will keep our commentary to a minimum. But it's big news that we thought you'd like to know right away.

Of course, all three of the involved candidates / ex-candidates -- Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama -- are lawyers. And John Edwards, whose endorsement was coveted by the candidates and assiduously pursued, was a very successful practicing lawyer -- one of the country's top trial lawyers -- and not just a politician with a law degree. So there is a sufficient legal nexus here.

Edwards to endorse Obama [CNN / Political Ticker]

Official announcements haven't been made yet, but they're imminent. Two prominent attorneys are about to drop out of the presidential race: former U.S. Attorney and Associate Attorney General Rudy Giuliani, and super-successful trial lawyer John Edwards.

Random factoid: Giuliani and Edwards both attended top law schools, NYU and UNC - Chapel Hill, respectively. These schools are respectively ranked #4 and #36 by U.S. News. [FN1]

But the remaining candidates who happen to be lawyers went to Harvard (Barack Obama and Mitt Romney) and Yale (Hillary Clinton). These two schools, national institutions for many years, are ranked #2 and #1, respectively.

Loyola 2L claims to be "retired" from the blogosphere. But if here were still around, he might wonder aloud: Are American voters "tier-ist"?

P.S. And who cares about these stupid rankings anyway? A number of top law schools may be overrated.

[FN1] And the law school rankings didn't exist back when Edwards and Giuliani attended.

Update: First, it appears that some of you have misread this post. We doubt that many voters know or care about where a candidate went to law school. We just (1) pointed out a "random factoid," and (2) suggested that people who are obsessed with law school rankings, like Loyola 2L, might try to read something into this.

Second, from an observant tipster:

"It might be worth noting that according to the exit polls the most influential lawyer yesterday was none of the ones you mentioned."

"Rather it was T3 graduate Gov. Charlie Crist (Cumberland Law), whose endorsement seemed to boost McCain past Romney while at the same time destroying any hope Rudy had since Rudy had been courting Crist for weeks."

McCain Wins; Giuliani Set to Drop Out [New York Times]
John Edwards to Quit Presidential Race [AP]
The Most Overrated Law Schools: A Student Perspective [TaxProf Blog]
Which top school do law students think is most overrated in US News? [Brian Leiter's Law School Reports]

Earlier: One Fewer Lawyer in the Presidential Race

* "T.Owes." [ESPN]

* Rebates to $500? [CNN]

* AG Mukasey won't label waterboarding. [MSNBC]

* Sen. McCain wins Florida, Rudy to bow out. [New York Times; Washington Post]

* Federal inquiry into stolen artifacts expands. [New York Times]

* Margaret Truman, only child of President Truman and author of mysteries set at the Supreme Court and the FBI, RIP. [AP]

Ed. notes: First, B. Clerker is unavailable this morning, so we're doing Morning Docket ourselves. Second, by the time you read this, we'll be attending this event. But we've arranged for previously written posts (like this one) to be published in our absence.

* John Edwards tries to put a noble spin on the financial desperation of his flailing campaign. Stick a fork in him; he's done. [WP; NYT]

* Jena One released on bail. [AP]

* Fourteen "high-value" terrorism suspects will be allowed to request lawyers. KSM will use his to sue Teleflex. [WP]

* In Pakistan, the Supreme Court gets involved in elections too. From the gallery: "Go, Musharraf, go!" [AP via WP]

* Set your TiVo, judicial groupies: Justice Thomas will be on 60 Minutes this Sunday. Thankfully, his interview -- in which he's rumored to call Anita Hill "a nappy-headed ho" -- doesn''t conflict with the season premiere of Desperate Housewives. [WSJ Law Blog]

As we mentioned in passing yesterday, infamous plaintiffs' lawyer William Learch will be pleading to a federal conspiracy charge, related to his involvement in Milberg Weiss's secret scheme to make payments to name plaintiffs in class-action cases. Under the deal that was so skillfully cut by Lerach's lawyer, John Keker of Keker & Van Nest, Lerach will cough up $8 million in forfeiture and fines and serve one to two years in federal prison.

Is Bill Lerach getting off easy? Quite possibly. But a judge still has to sign off on the deal.

Not surprisingly, Lerach spread his cash around liberally among several Democratic candidates for president. But his favorite was fellow plaintiffs' lawyer John Edwards. From Ben Smith over at Politico:

Edwards and Biden each gave away money from Lerach; no word yet on whether Hillary will give back the money he gave her 2006 Senate campaign.

Edwards, though, is particularly tied to him. Though he's giving away the $4,600 from Lerach, Lerach is also listed as a bundler, and employees of the lawyer's firm are his third-largest group of donors, mostly giving in the first quarter.

If we had to choose between disgraced Democratic fundraisers, we'd pick Norman Hsu over Bill Lerach any day. That Hsu is so cute -- he looks like a Treasure Troll! And he didn't intend to skip out on court the other day. He was "sick and confused," you see, and "may have thought he was boarding a Bay Area Rapid Transit train when he instead caught an Amtrak train heading out of the state."

The Lerach Case [Politico]
Fortunes Darken for Lawyer Melvyn Weiss [New York Sun]
Bill Lerach Agrees to Plead Guilty [WSJ Law Blog]
Is Bill Lerach Getting Off Easy? [WSJ Law Blog]
Hsu Didn't Intend To Skip Court, Spokesman Says [CBS5.com]

We're heading off for a lunch meeting. So we won't be at our computer when former senator (and trial lawyer extraordinaire) John Edwards holds his noon press conference.

The Edwards campaign hasn't disclosed what the announcement will be. But according to Ben Smith of The Politico, Edwards "is suspending his campaign for President, and may drop out completely, because his wife has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that sickened her in 2004, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer."

Please use this open thread to discuss anything interesting that happens while we're gone, including the Edwards announcement. We also hope Alberto Gonzales doesn't step down as Attorney General while we're away.

(Actually, maybe AG Gonzales will survive the U.S. Attorney firestorm. It seems that in the past day or two, the departure buzz has quieted slightly. Should Alberto Gonzales be upgraded from critical to stable condition?)

Update: Whoops! Even the MSM gets things wrong sometimes. Ben Smith's mea culpa appears here.

Edwards to Suspend Campaign [The Politico]
Getting It Wrong [The Politico]

* I won’t comment on trial lawyers in general, but I’ll admit to instant suspicion of boyish-looking politicians. I’d rather trust creepy-looking John Edward. [Crime & Federalism]

* Wiki is as wiki does. [TaxProfs Blog]

* I have a lot of questions... Like how could the impact of Valle’s body force the elevators door open? How did Adams go from controversial HBO show to club manager? Who goes to BED these days? And what kinds of people base their lifestyle choices on a “featured in ‘Sex and the City’” seal of approval? [Reuters via Yahoo! News]

* Apple v. Apple has settled. [E! Online]

As we recently noted, both Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards are distinguished lawyers and public servants.

But it's time for them to bow out of the 2008 presidential race, in recognition of the inevitable: Senatrix Hillary Rodham Clinton is UNSTOPPABLE!

Divas of Yale Law School, represent!!!

Update (3:48 AM): Now running at the top of the Drudge Report:

Liz Taylor backs Hillary Clinton in presidential race [Reuters via Drudge Report]
Hillary Clinton 19 Points Ahead of Barack Obama [Time]
Poll: Many Black Voters Don't Identify With Obama [CBS News]

Earlier: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: The Lioness Roars, "I'm In"

The big news of the weekend: the announcement by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton that she's opening a presidential exploratory committee. This is, of course, the first step towards a (now inevitable) White House bid.

If you haven't done so already, check out Senator Clinton's videotaped announcement. It's excellent.

Senator Clinton's intelligence, work ethic, experience and toughness all lie beyond the dispute. But the video highlights her charm, conviviality, and sense of humor. Regardless of whether you're a Hillary fan or Hillary hater, we think you'll be impressed by the video.

It's very well-produced. The nice touches include the lovely side table, featuring pink roses and a discreet photo of her and Bill; Senator Clinton's deft invocation of her Midwestern roots, replete with a Midwestern accent (listen to how she says "part"); and, of course, her flawless make-up. She looks great even in extreme close-up -- which can't be said for most of us. Can you believe she's 59 years old?

There is a legal angle to this paean to Hillary (Yale Law School class of 1973). Discussion continues after the jump.