Qualcomm

* Is Kirkland really worth twice as much as the next most valuable Biglaw firm? That seems like an inordinately massive gap. [American Lawyer]

* Young lawyer went to police station drunk, carrying cocaine. He’s no longer a young lawyer. [Legal Cheek]

* Michael Avenatti’s now charged with stealing from Stormy Daniels. Remember when fighting a partner over whether or not he deserved a share of billables was considered an Avenatti scandal? [Law360]

* Lawyers, especially criminal defense and legal aid attorneys, can take on the emotional burden of their clients’ troubles causing personal trauma just in case you needed a better argument to go into ERISA. [Daily Business Review]

* Qualcomm shellacked by antitrust ruling and Judge Koh went straight at the lawyers working in-house at the company. [NY Times]

* Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers have gone to court to get almost half a million in back pay from the producer. [Page Six]

* Roughly 70 percent of Biglaw declined to follow Milbank in raising salaries to the $190K scale. [American Lawyer]

The latest patent battle between industry titans reinforces the fact that to every litigation problem there is a solution that makes sense for both sides.

* Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s nonpartisan plan to pack the Supreme Court almost seems too good to be true — and that’s likely because it might be unconstitutional. [Slate]

* The Trump Organization wants Michael Cohen’s lawsuit seeking legal fees for his defense to be tossed out, claiming Trump’s former fixer created “fictitious ‘contract’” to ensure they’d be bound to him. (But even if it existed, they probably wouldn’t want to pay up anyway.) [Big Law Business]

* In case you missed it, Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, has tapped Chicago finance partner Mary Wilson, “an enthusiastic, exceptionally passionate lawyer and leader,” as the first woman to serve as its U.S. managing partner. Congratulations! [American Lawyer]

* After years tied up in patent and antitrust litigation, Apple and Qualcomm settles in the middle of opening statements at trial yesterday afternoon. Now the feuding companies will have to behave, at least for the next six years. [The Recorder]

* Remember Jeffrey Wertkin, the Akin Gump partner who disguised himself in a wig to try to sell a copy of a whistleblower complaint to Fortinet? The network security company just settled that False Claims Act case for $575K. [Law.com]

When will Sony get its due? At it turns out, the company is already getting paid...

As long as Apple is politically deemed too key to exclude in trade battles, trying to bring Apple to heel will remain a daunting challenge.

Recent developments confirm that it is still too early to consign BlackBerry to the recycle bin.

* Powerful essay from a Cornell Law professor on the need for empathy in the criminal justice system. [Verdict]

* It’s Apple v. Qualcomm, with $1 billion on the line. [Fortune]

* An inspiring story of a graduate of a lower-ranked law school who has found success. [Breaking into Biglaw]

* What’s the future of ethics? [Law and More]

* An analysis of the decisions of Trump’s shortlisters. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* On the legal consequences of the lack of supervision at work. [Guile is Good]

* The Chinese Business Lawyers Association is hosting a free CLE in New York tomorrow night at Fordham Law School. You can RSVP here. [CBLA Law]

Adam Bier was still a self-described "baby lawyer" when he was wrongfully sanctioned in the landmark 2008 Qualcomm e-discovery case. The appealed sanctions were finally vacated, more than two years after they were first imposed. Bier shared his story with attendees at the Legal Technology Leadership Summit, joined onstage by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Waxse and Frank Cialone, who defended several of the outside counsel in Qualcomm. Read on to learn the details of Bier's nightmare experience. Can you imagine yourself in his shoes?