Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.04.26

* Nonequity partners growing increasingly dissatisfied just because equity partners have invented a new model to derail their colleagues' careers while wringing labor out of them without sharing profit. Weird. [American Lawyer]

* Epstein files include emails accusing Kathy Ruemmler of having an affair with Epstein's personal attorney. [NY Post]

* Elon Musk will face SEC suit over Twitter acquisition actions. [Law360]

* Judge isn't buying Musk's claim that OpenAI stole trade secrets. At least from Musk. [Courthouse News Service]

* NY creates corps of official legal observers to monitor ICE. [Reuters]

* EEOC hired lawyer known for pushing discrimination against men claims [The Intercept]

* Sandra Day O'Connor the matchmaker. [ABA Journal]

Morning Docket: 02.03.26

* Clintons agree to congressional testimony about Epstein while the guy who met his wife through Epstein is nowhere to be found. [Reuters]

* King & Spalding accused of undermining former client. [American Lawyer]

* Law opens door to more crypto fraud. [CNN]

* Former Biglaw attorney charges law students for interview tips. [Legal Cheek]

* Gibson Dunn and S&C working on xAI and SpaceX merger. [Law360]

* Eagle Ed has wings clipped. [ABA Journal]

* The government might have deceived judge in Washington Post case. [NY Times]

Morning Docket: 02.02.26

* Biglaw grapples with Epstein list cameos. [NY Post]

* Delaware Supreme Court rewrites settlement to give Elon Musk the kind of personal party he desperately kept asking Jeffrey Epstein for. [Delaware Business Court Insider]

* Oh, right, here's the background on that quip. [Daily Beast]

* Trump's election law pronouncement blocked. [Courthouse News Service]

* State Supreme Court cool with law school renaming. [ABA Journal]

* In the UK, Supreme Court chief warns of AI deciding cases, replacing time-honored system of relying on inbred nobles. [LegalCheek]

* Cristina Rodríguez begins tenure as Yale Law dean. [Yale Daily News]

Morning Docket: 01.30.26

* Trump suing the IRS for $10 billion over leaking of the tax documents that he promised repeatedly he was going to release and never did. Surely Pam Bondi will fight this case zealously to protect taxpayers! [CNN]

* Someone tried to free Luigi using a pizza cutter. [Reuters]

* Deputy AG Todd Blanche apparently held six figures worth of crypto investments while using his job to shut down crypto investigations. [ProPublica]

* California Chief Justice wants limits on ICE presence in courthouses. [The Recorder]

* Proposed judiciary AI rule may come away from criticism stronger than ever. [Law360]

* Study finds jurors perform just as well in person as they do online. [ABA Journal]

* Senate may repeal law that allowed colleagues to sue the government over federal investigations. [Politico]

Morning Docket: 01.29.26

* Trump accuses Minneapolis mayor of "very serious violation of the law" because the mayor is obeying a Supreme Court precedent written by well-known leftist... Antonin Scalia. [Time]

* Meanwhile, a Minnesota federal judge blocked Homeland Security's current indiscriminate sweep and ordered the release of those recently detained. [Courthouse News Service]

* Seventh Circuit digs into AI privacy settlement that gave plaintiffs a cut of the defendant. [National Law Journal]

* Judges will come together to better understand AI and its implications for the justice system. [Legaltech News]

* Spider-Man testifies in Goldstein trial. [Law360]

* Lawsuit hopes to block FEMA staffing cuts. [Reuters]

* Inter American back in ABA compliance. Congrats. [ABA Journal]

Morning Docket: 01.28.26

* Kirkland drama reveals that when the bell rings, private equity clients trump litigation clients. [Financial Times]

* Lawyer representing the agent who killed Renee Good drops out of GOP race for governor, says ICE has gone too far. [WSJ]

* ABA convenes with a hefty agenda. [ABA Journal]

* A look at how Minnesota firms are dealing with the disruption brought on by ICE's operation. [American Lawyer]

* As Minnesota situation worsens, congresswoman attacked at town hall meeting, sprayed with unknown substance. [CSPAN]

* State lawmakers look for avenues to bring local charges against federal agents who commit crimes. [Reuters]

* New York considers legalizing dancing. [Lowering the Bar]

Morning Docket: 01.27.26

* The $4000 billable hour has arrived. [Reuters]

* Motorcycle gangs and pending domestic violence charges may be behind the plot to kill an Indiana judge. [ABA Journal]

* Remember when Foley & Lardner fired a new associate after she expressed support for the citizens of Gaza? After winning a preliminary battle over certain claims, the firm will have to go to court. [Reuters]

* This will totally shock you, but big banks may still be loaded with misogyny. [Law360]

* Former Biglaw partner returns to the U.S. from Asia transformed as a poet. Isn't that the Colonel Kurtz story arc? [Law.com International]

* Media begins to worry about law students when AI fully arrives. Maybe ask more questions about how AI is supposed to fully arrive when the biggest AI company is teetering on collapse? [NY Times]

* The Atlantic invites torture enthusiast John Yoo to write an article explaining why we shouldn't have international law. [The Atlantic]

Morning Docket: 01.26.26

* Prime suspect in massive jewelry heist takes advantage of ICE and gets himself deported... to escape trial! Get ready with that Ocean's 11 sequel script. [The Guardian]

* Minnesota District Chief Judge delivers blistering response after Eighth Circuit allows DOJ to file end run mandamus over insufficient arrest warrant. [One First]

* More voices calling for local prosecutions against ICE agents. [NY Times]

* Should California create its own bar exam? Despite the real risk that the state's professional leaders would throw the baby out with the bath water following last year's disastrous experiment, it seems the majority still understand it's the right path forward. [ABA Journal]

* Retired NY Supreme Justice Arthur Engoron reflects on his career. [New York Law Journal]

* Disgraced former administration lawyer Jenna Ellis criticizes White House for public relations screening First Lady's documentary immediately after ICE murdered a man in Minnesota. [Daily Beast]

* Kyle Cheney of Politico collected over 2300 cases of federal judges growing increasingly frustrated at the lawlessness from the Department of Homeland Security. [Twitter]

Morning Docket: 01.23.26

* Federal judge may block Trump's ballroom. Just because presidents don't have any legal authority to unilaterally decide to destroy and rebuild government buildings. [CNN]

* Reed Smith lawyer who pretended to have cancer loses license to practice in UK. [Roll on Friday]

* Meanwhile, Florida bar authorities let Matt Gaetz keeps law license because they didn't think statutory rape should get in the way of a law practice. [Florida Bulldog]

* Trump files $5B lawsuit against JP Morgan for turning away his business after January 6. Is anyone else old enough to remember when Republicans believed in the free market? [Law360]

* Yes, why did a state AG use MLK Day to publish an attack on laws against racial discrimination? [Miami Herald]

* Biglaw fights over office space in New York. So much for working from home. [New York Law Journal]

* Jack Smith testified before Congress and Trump supporters probably wish he hadn't. [Reuters]

Morning Docket: 01.22.26

* ICE instructed its agents that they don't need warrants to bust into houses. These Crim Pro issue spotters are just getting lazy. [Civil Discourse]

* Meanwhile, Eighth Circuit lifts restriction against ICE pepper spraying random protesters. [The Guardian]

* Elizabeth Holmes looking for Trump to offer clemency. Maybe she should offer to cut him in on her next company. [Law360]

* The conservatives on the Supreme Court will quickly trade in their contrived, ahistorical "philosophy" to save their personal stock portfolios. [Balls and Strikes]

* Biglaw made big bucks off of lobbying. [National Law Journal]

* Judge blocks government from searching materials seized from Post reporter. [Washington Post]

* Law firm hosted its annual MLK Day oratory competition for fourth- and fifth-graders. [Foley & Lardner]

Morning Docket: 01.20.26

* ICE refusing to grant detainees access to legal counsel. "Imagine the chaos," one agent said, describing the bare minimum of a constitutional society. [ABC News]

* DOJ Civil Rights chief threatens to charge Don Lemon under the KKK Act. [NBC News]

* After state defections, ABA's law school accreditation council reminds everyone that it's independent of the ABA. [ABA Journal]

* "What Happened To Pam Bondi?" asks this deep dive about a woman who fought hurricane victims because she wanted to take away their dog for herself. [The Atlantic]

* Former judges announce new initiative to save the leal profession's dignity. Looking through this roundup, it's possible the damage is already done. [NY Times]

* In-house counsel expect cybersecurity suits. [Corporate Counsel]

* Supreme Court will take up Roundup verdict. [Law360]

Morning Docket: 01.16.26

* ICE detaining Native Americans and then telling their tribes that they will only release information about the people they've illegally detained if the tribes agree to sign over sovereignty to assist in immigration sweeps. [Washington Post]

* Massive college basketball point shaving scheme charged. I guess this is why you always take the under. [NBC News]

* Speaking of gambling, Tom Goldstein trial began yesterday. [National Law Journal]

* Florida follows Texas in dropping ABA accreditation. Smart law students should follow their friends to out of state schools. [Inside Higher Ed]

* Judge suspended for giving defendant a dollar to cover her bond. [ABA Journal]

* Appeals court decides along party lines that federal judges can't stop deportations even if they're unconstitutional until the immigration adjudication process is complete. Anything to make constitutional rights more difficult to exercise! [ACLU]

Morning Docket: 01.15.26

* Sure it makes the United States and international pariah and has resulted in the president stashing seized oil profits in an offshore account, but law firm lobbying practices are making bank! [National Law Journal]

* Hilarious, yet terrifying. ICE isn't doing any sort of vetting in its hiring, as this journalist got a job offer. [Slate]

* Renee Good's family hires lawyer who represented George Floyd's family. [Washington Post]

* Meanwhile, a Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota is providing legal counsel to Good's killer. [Minnesota Star Tribune]

* 1L barred from campus following social media posts. [Law.com]

* Saks Fifth Avenue moves to Skid Row. [Law360]

* FBI searched home of journalist in pursuit of whistleblower. [NPR]

Morning Docket: 01.14.26

* Supreme Court heard challenges to laws targeting trans athletes and the argument went about as you'd expect. [Balls and Strikes]

* Senior federal prosecutors resign in response to the Justice Department's efforts to paper over the murder of Renee Good. [CBS News]

* Tom Goldstein trial could feature celebrity witnesses. [Law360]

* School voids exam -- that students already took -- after similarities to past exams came out. [Legal Cheek]

* Supreme Court tariff decision looms large. Don't plan on that $2000 rebate check that Trump promised and promptly forgot about. [Reuters]

* Judges ask defense attorneys to either challenge the new prosecutorial leadership team that the DOJ imposed or waive the challenge. You know, the government could resolve this if they just legally appointed someone to the job. [New Jersey Law Journal]

* Eli Manning announced as keynote speaker for Legalweek. Another job stolen from Danny DeVito. [ABA Journal]