* Jake Tapper holds the line on actual facts of the Epstein prosecution. [Huffington Post] * New York is for Biglaw. Mid-size law, not as much. [New York Law Journal] * Arnold & Porter opens new office in Seattle. [Bloomberg Law] * Trump finalizes deal with Qatar over "unconditional gift" of private jet. Still shady AF. [CNN] * Awful sign of the times: executions are up in 2025. [The Hill] * Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney plays coy with Congress. [Politico]
* Trump withdraws Habba's nomination so he can avoid statute the prevents nominee from serving as Acting U.S. Attorney... even though the statute actually says she's blocked from holding the job if her name was ever submitted for nomination. But surely the devoted textualists on the Supreme Court will hold fast to the law! [NY Times]
* The Supreme Court is totally going to overturn NYT v. Sullivan by throwing Candace Owens under the bus, aren't they? [CNN]
* A response to the Barnett-Wurman effort to rewrite birthright citizenship. The title references the "Dunning School" which is not about the Dunning-Kruger effect even though that's a better description of the scholarship being critiqued. [Cornell Law Review]
* The pigs finally caught Chuck E. Cheese. [People]
* You may be able to indict a ham sandwich, but LA grand juries will not indict ICE protestors. [TPM]
* January 6 prosecutors sue Pam Bondi over retaliatory dismissals. [NBC News]
* The firms fighting back against Trump are likely using their profits to fund the battle. [American Lawyer]
Leveraging agentic AI to triage, prioritize, and automate the law department inbox.
* Ninth Circuit able to read the plain text of the 14th Amendment, which is news in 2025. [Reuters]
* Trump administration trying to do the opposite of that old, "look for the union label" ad. Fails, again. For now. [Bloomberg Law]
* Dude, the FBI totally told Trump he was named in the Epstein files months ago. No wonder he's crashing out. [Wall Street Journal]
* Elena Kagan is piiiiised at the Supreme Court, which, same girl. [Law and Crime]
* Federal judge trying his best to make sure Trump administration doesn't totally screw Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We'll see how that works. [Huffington Post]
* Columbia University inks deal with Trump administration to end "sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty." [Politico]
* Pam Bondi fires Alina Habba's replacement from her First Assistant job apparently because she doesn't understand that her appointment has nothing to do with being First Assistant. Crackerjack legal team! [Politico]
* The first Trump DOJ said Ghislaine Maxwell was untrustworthy and motivated to lie about anything to save herself. Second Trump DOJ says, "ooh, really?" [MSNBC]
* While global Biglaw firms cowered before Trump, small firms fought back. [NY Times]
* Judges reject first DOJ bid to unseal Epstein records. Whaddya know... the Trump administration muffed the effort to release Epstein material?!? No way they did that on purpose! [NY Law Journal]
* Man brings knife to courthouse where marshals carry guns, apparently forgetting the Chicago Way. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Cocoa slave labor suit fails at DC Circuit. [Law360]
* Court lets White House continue locking out media outlets it wants to extort for favorable coverage. Real healthy democracy we got here. [Reuters]
* DOJ trying to unseal Epstein grand jury records knowing those won't add anything but hoping it sounds official enough to get their own followers off their backs. [New York Law Journal]
* John Roberts is responsible for every bit of this. [The Atlantic]
* Breonna Taylor killer sentenced to 3 years after Trump DOJ asks for... nothing. [CNN]
* Trump administration invents zombie U.S. Attorney role. [ABA Journal]
* FTC commissioner's reinstatement following illegal firing put on hold. [Reuters]
* Etan Patz case results in new trial. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Effort to break up the Ninth Circuit heads to Senate. [Law360]
* Partners are holding back firm tech?!?! No way. [Legaltech News]
* Trump slaps Rupert Murdoch with $10B suit. Or more accurately "SLAPPs." [CNBC]
* Ohio considers dropping requirement that lawyers come from ABA accredited law schools. [Reuters]
* Kirkland's business world COO a sign of the times. [American Lawyer]
* Court calls Supreme Court's bluff and demands to see administration's plans for gutting federal agencies -- [Bloomberg Law News]
* "The Chevron truck's back and it's better than ever" doesn't have the same ring. [Law360]
* Canadian lawyers bemoan loss of civility in profession, which for Canadians probably means someone forgot to say, "bless you" after a sneeze. [Canadian Lawyer]
How a former insurance agent built a Houston injury practice around systems, empathy, and disciplined advocacy.
* Wall Street Journal found a Trump birthday message for his buddy Jeffrey Epstein. [WSJ] * In response, Bondi will now release a vague assortment of additional Epstein documents. [BBC] * Bove advances out of committee as Republicans suppress whistleblower inquiry. [Roll Call] * Author class certified in suit against AI manufacturer over material downloaded […]
* DOJ fires Epstein and Diddy prosecutor. So... did Trump go to some freak offs? It also happens to be James Comey's daughter so watch your seashells! [CNN]
* ICE lawyers refusing to be identified in public proceedings. Everyone wants to be the secret police as long as they get to stay secret. [The Intercept]
* Schulte's COVID rent case rejected. [Reuters]
* Who, What, When, Where… but WHY?!? Why did was it crossing the road? [WKRC]
* Jane's Addiction move fight to courtroom. [Law360]
* Meta board tried to keep Zuck shielded in the metaverse during privacy scandals. [National Law Journal]
* "What AI Is Already Doing to the Legal Industry." Yeah, we know, we have a lot of stories about fake cases and sanctions. [Bloomberg]
* Epstein video had 3 minutes cut out of it but no one was smart enough to realize the metadata would show it. [WIRED]
* Trump administration asks court to help them fire Corporation for Public Broadcasting members. No wonder Elmo's calling for the Epstein files. [UPI]
* Jeanine Pirro nomination barreling forward like it's doing 119 in a 65 zone. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Cleary hires AI product lead. [Legaltech News]
* Feds probed state judges for possible arrest. [Reuters]
* Student protester arrests ordered from the top say agents in least surprising reveal. [Law360]
* Reminder for prospective law students: the new Trump budget bill capped student loans so... more crushing debt! [ABA Journal]
* Supreme Court allows Trump to move forward with plan to eliminate the Department of Education. Why? Well, that might require writing an opinion and they're not going to do something like that. [One First]
* Plaintiff side firms can be just as lucrative for associates as Biglaw... and people are just now figuring that out. [Left Side of the V]
* Government argues that it should not have to reveal its agency reorganization plans, even though the only basis for last week's Supreme Court order was that the government had to reveal its plans and the courts can evaluate this issue then. It's almost as though one justice knew this was all a lie. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Sixth Circuit nominee confirmed. [Law360]
* Administration installing more nationwide abortion advocates in key positions. Surely nothing to worry about at a time when the Supreme Court has deferred absolute authority to the executive. [Balls and Strikes]
* DOJ announces it's mainstreaming the theory that media outlets refusing to be compelled to publish misinformation is ACTUALLY an antitrust violation. [The Verge]
* A look at Nevada's decision to reject the NextGen bar exam and what comes next. [Law.com]
Designed to reduce manual docket work by prioritizing what litigators need most: on-demand full docket summarization that explains the whole case to date, followed by on-demand document summaries for filing triage, and AI-powered natural language searching for faster search and retrieval.
* More states adopt NextGen bar exam instead of more rational alternative of not having a bar exam. [Law.com]
* Dershowitz says he knows who's on the Epstein list that Bondi says doesn't exist but can't go into details because of confidentiality obligations. [Newsweek]
* Bondi fires ethics chief. Was he the one saying she couldn't release doctored Epstein footage? [Bloomberg Law News]
* SEC gives up on liquidity rule suit as part of new "make America susceptible to depressions again" strategy. [Law360]
* DOJ claims it can deport people to third countries on six hour notice. [Reuters]
* Texas law school deans fighting to keep ABA accreditation after state supreme court hinted at taking it away to appease Trump grievances. [Inside Higher Ed]
* Chinese hackers tried to infiltrate Wiley Rein. [CNN]
* Justice Jackson says "state of our democracy" keeps her up at night. Girl, same. [NY Times]
* Litigation finance survived the big tax bill. But threats still loom. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Judge blocks birthright citizenship order, taking advantage of Supreme Court class action workaround until they inevitably decide to there's a problem with the class. [CBS]
* "Clarence Thomas leading SCOTUS charge to gut Voting Rights Act." That's not really fair to John Roberts who has really given it his all to gut voting rights. [CNN]
* Kellogg bought in $3.1B deal courtesy of Davis Polk and Kirkland. The new owner is the Ferrero Group so start your morning off with a big bowl of "Special F." [Law360]
* Backlogged courts resisting AI. Why? It's worked out so great everywhere else! [Law.com]
* "A judge has delighted barristers with his sketching skills...." [Roll on Friday]
* Supreme Court keeps ban on Florida's immigration law. Which seems like a win until you realize they're just trying to stop a normal state from passing protections by holding the line on preemption. [Law360]
* Lawmakers declare EEOC attacks on Biglaw a "shakedown." [Reuters]
* DOJ asks Texas to eliminate congressional seats held by Black and Latino Democrats. [Politico]
* It's that fun time of the cycle where we learn how much partners make from the financial disclosure forms they've disclosed to become Trump officials. [National Law Journal]
* We're watching in real time as the right-wing balance of power shifts from FedSoc to Vermeule. [Verfassungsblog]
* Biglaw wary of getting involved in the New York mayoral race after realizing every political instinct they have is wrong. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Kasowitz departures raise questions about the future. [American Lawyer]
* Musk demanded his Grok AI be less liberal and it started calling itself MechaHitler. Reminder, Elon is suing Media Matters for suggesting that X can put Nazi content next to advertiser spots. [Guardian]
* Both Goodwin and Eckert Seamans suffered data breaches this spring. [American Lawyer]
* Eighth Circuit rules that your cable company can make it impossible to cancel. For freedom! [Law360]
* Supreme Court issues another non-opinion striking down orders blocking Trump's planned mass layoffs and impoundment. [National Law Journal]
* DOJ drops case against Puerto Rico governor after she pulled an Eric Adams and publicly declared support for Trump. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Lower courts keep issuing injunctions against Trump actions despite Supreme Court vibe check. [Reuters]
* Judge tells people to stop calling staff and "cracking open Moore's Federal Practice." Just like everyone keeps on their mantle. [ABA Journal]
* IRS decides churches can directly endorse political candidates without losing tax exempt status... but other non-profits can't. [NY Times]
* Meier Watkins getting the band back together, bringing in another winning member of the Dominion case. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Fifth Circuit decides that Apple -- a California company -- is not liable for suppressing a union in New York. [Law360]
* Reddit suit against Anthropic stayed over scraping without a license as the AI company tries to anchor the case in federal court. [The Recorder].
* Amazon facing suit claiming Alexa violates user privacy despite being unable to consistently perform other basic tasks. [Reuters]