Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.10.26

* OpenAI accused of hiding evidence in NY Times copyright case. Reached for comment, ChatGPT said, "I'm sorry, you're right, I was supposed to produce that." [Law360]

* Lawyer dressed as police officer to spy on ex-girlfriend at Nando's. [Roll on Friday]

* Ninth Circuit judge Ryan Nelson will have his parking lot tussle with another motorist heard by the Fourth Circuit. Here's a helpful guide for him. [LA Times]

*Every federal judge in the Middle District of Tennessee recused themselves from defamation case against Candace Owens. No reason given. [MSN]

* After killing Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, ICE says there's no bodycam footage because of "back-to-back Democrat shutdowns." [Houston Chronicle]

* And now the federal government is pressuring witnesses to Araujo's killing to quickly self-deport -- which is what we generally call witness tampering. [Eliza Orlins]

*ABA successfully connected a death row inmate to pro bono attorneys who got him freed. [ABA Journal]

* Accounting firms see problems with SEC's proposal to drop quarterly reporting. Like, you know, the fraud. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Simpson Thacher heading to malpractice trial in Florida. [Reuters]

* Judge wants to hear more about how the DOJ suddenly decided to drop its case against Sullivan & Cromwell client Gautam Adani as soon as he promised investment projects. [Bloomberg]

Morning Docket: 07.09.26

* Trump asks Supreme Court to rehear birthright citizenship case, in case the English language has changed since last week. [CNBC]

* Judge Ross denies recusal request in civil case based on the claim that she barely supervised clerks on her civil docket. Or maybe her clerk denied the request. [Bloomberg Law News]

* State AGs finalize antitrust suit over Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. [CNN]

* ABA wants to see more Trump admin documents surrounding Biglaw intimidation campaign. [Law360]

* Judge refers to Smartmatic case as "The Most Whack-a-Mole of All of My Cases," which is true to the extent Whack-a-Mole is a game about malicious prosecution. [Daily Business Review]

* AI founder admits role in the big Biglaw insider trading scheme. [ABA Journal]

* Judge Dugan fined but not sentenced to any prison time over conviction for not allowing ICE to nab people from her courtroom. [NY Times]

Morning Docket: 07.08.26

* Yale Law School is working behind the scenes to convince Yale University to stop trying to cut a deal with the Trump administration. [NY Times]

* Latham cleaning up on AI power demands. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Former Wisconsin judge faces sentencing for refusing to allow ICE to use her courtroom to kidnap migrants. [Reuters]

* Biglaw pro bono chill may be thawing a bit. [American Lawyer]

* DOJ sent letters to threatening to prosecute election officials if noncitizens vote. Which they won't, since we've had years of investigations unable to prove it even happens in any significant way. [NBC News]

* Eleventh Circuit strikes higher education provision in Florida's Stop W.O.K.E. Act, with Trump appointee writing for the court "[i]f the First Amendment offers any boundary of protection at all for public university classrooms, this statute crosses it." [ACLU]

* Government wants judge to stop release of documents covering Todd Blanche's role in Epstein coverup currently due right before his confirmation hearing. [The New Republic]

* Kalshi loses effort to keep New York from treating it as a gambling site. Because it is... a gambling site. [Law360]

Morning Docket: 07.07.26

* Breaking down the Supreme Court financial disclosures. [National Law Journal]

* Blanche brings his ethical dumpster fire to Congress for confirmation hearings set for next week. [The Hill]

* "Taylor Swift Sends Poet's $25M IP Suit To The Dismissed Dept." I see what you're trying to do Law360, but it's very tortured. [Law360]

* Everything's A-OK at A&O Shearman as the firm teases 'material' profit growth. [American Lawyer]

* "Supreme Court Trans Sports Ruling Adopts Originalist Vision For JV Volleyball Rosters." [The Onion]

* Lawyer disciplined in two states over sex with clients claims. [ABA Journal]

* Meta claims states are seeking $1.4 trillion in damages over child safety risks. So the obvious response is to build a gambling site! [Reuters]

* Sidley raids peers for capital markets boost. [Bloomberg Law News]

Morning Docket: 07.06.26

* FIFA Peace Prize recipient Donald Trump sent elite lawyers to get FIFA red card lifted. Finally, an advantage to a lawyer culture that never takes vacations like the rest of the world. [Yahoo Sports]

* West Point professor wins injunction against speech restrictions in detailed opinion. [New York Law Journal]

* Montana Senate candidate cut a deal as the former U.S. Attorney to allow police officer to serve under a year for sexually abusing a 6-year-old. [Huffington Post]

* Kentucky Law changes rules to ensure Trustee involvement in future dean hiring. [ABA Journal]

* A Supreme Court breakdown. [Law360]

* "When their interests align, Trump and Roberts both win at Supreme Court," alternate headline, "Mainstream Conservatives Always Win At Supreme Court." [Reuters]

* Knicks win highlights gaps in intellectual property law. [Bloomberg Law News]

Morning Docket: 07.02.26

* New interview with Justice Breyer talks about the decision to retire. [Bloomberg Law News]

* DOJ loses effort to commandeer state voting rolls. [National Law Journal]

* Speaking of elections, a judge has blocked the Post Office's claim that they'll simply not deliver mail-in ballots. [Reuters]

* Former Above the Law editor and birthright citizen David Lat offers his takeaways from Trump v. Barbara. [Original Jurisdiction]

* Panel of experts -- including Above the Law alum Elie Mystal -- discuss the Supreme Court Term.[Legal AF via YouTube]

* FDIC expert explains "I would've been fired" for making the decisions Silicon Valley Bank made. [Law360]

* Two panels put on by Seattle Law breaking down the Supreme Court's Trans athlete ruling. [YouTube]

Morning Docket: 07.01.26

* In an exquisite use of concurring opinions, Ketanji Brown Jackson goes off on Clarence Thomas and his revisionist history of the 14th Amendment. [Bloomberg Law News] * The left can't afford to get cocky about the birthright citizenship decision. [Huffington Post] * Hey! SCOTUS's election law decision yesterday *could* have been worse! [Slate] * TikTok settles with plaintiff rather than take the social media use case to trial in California. [Reuters] * Mere months after being confirmed to a district court seat, Anna St. John gets a nod for the Fifth Circuit -- that is the fastest of fast tracks. [Law.com] * It's time for Donald Trump to pay the price, the E. Jean Carroll $5+ million judgment that is. [The Hill]

Morning Docket: 06.30.26

* Hogan Lovells Cadwalader makes its premiere tomorrow, with plans for growth on the horizon. [Bloomberg Law News]

* A little lost in the Supreme Court shell game yesterday, the Court quietly snuffed out Trump's bid to get out of the E. Jean Carroll case. [NY Times]

* More NBA players indicted over gambling scheme. [ESPN]

* Man detained for playing Darth Vader's march at National Guard troops occupying Washington secures settlement after ACLU steps in. [Washington Post]

* White-collar defense attorney: "It is general knowledge in our practice that for $2 million, you can have a pardon." [The Atlantic]

* Justice Sotomayor discloses that Bad Bunny gave her tickets to his show, which is sort of like accepting free luxury vacations from parties with direct interests before the Court and then trying to conceal it, except in the way that it's not like that at all. [CNN]

* Texas Supreme Court halts Houston area program providing legal services to low income individuals accused of immigration violations, claiming it's unconstitutional to give public funds to anyone without a "legitimate public end." Texas does, in fact, have a lottery. [ABC13]

Morning Docket: 06.29.26

* Supreme Court building extensive police force to further insulate their echo chamber. But don't worry, these new cops will still dutifully fail to finger Sam Alito for leaking opinions. [Politico]

* Baker Botts bets bots boost billing. [Bloomberg Law News]

* John Yoo brings torture memo energy to special prosecutor team to investigate wingnut conspiracy theories. [CNN]

* Ashurst Perkins Coie merger lands. [Legal Cheek]

* Trump threatens new 100 percent tariffs to further tax the American people. [Law360]

* DHS says migrants need to seek permanent immigration status or get out... which is why ICE patrols courthouses where immigrants are scheduled to appear to try to get permanent status. [Reuters]

* New Mexico looks to set up alternative licensing path. [ABA Journal]

Morning Docket: 06.26.26

* Todd Blanche "conceded" to breaking Epstein file disclosure law. Judge gives DOJ a week to fix it. [Politico]

* Republicans flail trying to explain how they oppose birthright citizenship and still root for a USA soccer team led by a beneficiary of birthright citizenship. [Courthouse News Service]

* North Carolina passes litigation funding ban to make sure only big corporations can afford justice. [American Lawyer]

* NRA charity division sues NRA accusing the larger organization of stealing funds. Don't they know the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun? [Reuters]

* Former Facebook executive challenges company's effort to keep her silent. [Law360]

* In-house lawyers want firms to send more secondments. [Roll on Friday]

* Roblox suit alleges child labor violations. [Bloomberg Law News]

Morning Docket: 06.25.26

* Minority representation among the legal profession up slightly, despite the hostile pressures of the last couple years. [American Lawyer]

* Powerful lawyers expect AI to disrupt the traditional law firm. Or at least that's what AI is telling them to say. [Bloomberg Law News]

* This disruption has already hit China, where some young lawyers are seeking new careers as AI replaces junior jobs. [South China Morning Post]

* Former judge settles case against judiciary alleging she was harassed for dressing too fancy. [ABA Journal]

* Ghislaine Maxwell argues that her rights were violated because accuser suits functioned as de facto prosecutions. [Reuters]

* This may come as a shock, but Trump's pick for top IRS lawyer is one of his personal lawyers. [New York Times]

* State bar offering complimentary AI access to members. [Florida Bar]

Morning Docket: 06.24.26

* Law school betting on Socratic method to combat AI "deskilling." [ABA Journal]

* Foley Hoag embracing role as anti-Trump Biglaw firm. [American Lawyer]

* Stephen Miller drove new executive decision to allow states to institutionalize people with disabilities. No legislation, just vibes. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Legal tech firm sues over government's Anthropic restrictions. [Reuters]

* ICE decided it could extend its period of temporary detention from 12 to 72 hours. Federal judge reminded them that the Administrative Procedures Act still exists. [The Recorder]

* Amazon ordered to negotiate with union. [Reuters]

* Kirkland bankruptcy giant heading to Paul Weiss. [Financial Times]

Morning Docket: 06.23.26

* HR consultant wins case with AI lawyer. [The Guardian] * Judges fighting cameras in courtrooms cite deepfakes… the last refuge of the scoundrel.[ABA Journal] * California considers non-lawyers to tackle legal aid work. [Reuters] * States sue California over plastic recycling law, claiming “blatant and unprecedented attempt to impose its own policy preferences on […]

Morning Docket: 06.22.26

* Lateral moves aren't just about money anymore. [Law.com]

* Cameras in federal courtrooms bill advances, before courts inevitably take position that Congress can't impose rules on them. [Reuters]

* Trump administration's argument in defense of Elon's data center claims the executive branch is the only authority on whether a statute has been violated. [One First]

* JD Advantage? Millionaire MAGA lawyer claims victory in Colombian presidential election. [ABC News]

* New York keeps mandatory retirement age for judges. [Law360]

* Conservative judges hustling hard with performative opinions and provocative public remarks in quest for Trump's favor and future Supreme Court nomination. [Bloomberg Law News]

* BARBRI acquires Lega. [Legal Cheek]

Morning Docket: 06.18.26

* Luigi Mangione intends to invoke a mental defect defense. Without knowing all the details... would UnitedHealthcare have covered that condition? [Law360]

* John Morgan talks about becoming the biggest brand in legal. [Law.com]

* Lawsuit alleges GOP candidate for governor lives in another state. [The New Republic]

* Feds sue New Mexico after bar examiners refuse to admit military spouse. [ABA Journal]

* DOJ bumbling its prosecution over Kanye West leak. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Trump settles lawsuit with his niece over tax disclosure. [Reuters]

* Overrated: building a business around AI for lawyers. Underrated: Building a business around telling lawyers if the AI they bought actually works. [Business Insider]