The best response to speech we don’t like is more speech, not threats of lawsuits which are often only available to the wealthiest among us to threaten others into silence.
* The Am Law 100 left $4.4 billion on the table last year. Or... maybe. Biglaw offered $4.4 billion in discounts which could mean the industry undercut each other for an overall loss of value. Or it could mean the market gravitated toward what legal services are really worth. An interesting walk through the finances of Biglaw work. [American Lawyer] * Some Selendy & Gay partners are headed to arbitration Quinn Emanuel over a provision in their agreement that Quinn's exercising seeking a portion of their profits on ported business. So much for my wishful thinking that the two firms would come to let bygones be bygones. [New York Law Journal] * Litigation funders are hiring lobbyists to push back against a new push by Senate Republicans to require more transparency -- something those same Senate Republicans spend a lot of time fighting against when it comes to... lobbyists. The circle of life. [American Lawyer] * March Madness continues in court with testimony about Arizona paying players. It's at this point that we recall that Arizona wasn't even the best college basketball team in Arizona this season. [Law360] * EY continues its overseas legal build-out. [Law.com] * Twitter's chief legal officer made $11 million last year to tell everyone that they can't do anything about Nazis. [Corporate Counsel] * Supreme Court crushes class victims again! [Courthouse News Service]
Explore the mindset, cultural shifts, and training strategies that define the AI‑savvy lawyer, revealing why human judgment, standardized competence, and integrated learning—not technology alone—will shape the future of the profession.
* Government wants jurors told that prosecution entirely over the NCAA's rules and overarching structure isn't about the NCAA. [Law360] * Don McGahn joins the ranks of "people getting subpoeaned. [Washington Post] * Speaking of McGahn, he reportedly told people that as White House Counsel he represented "pictures on the wall" and not Trump. What's impressive about this story is this means Trump hasn't replaced the entire White House art collections with Jon McNaughton. [National Law Journal] * Chalking tires for parking enforcement declared unconstitutional. [NBC News] * Wilmer partner joins forces massing near Winterfell. [American Lawyer] * Bob Kraft has inspired other massage guests to sue authorities. Given recent revelations that this may not have been a human trafficking operation as the cops originally suggested, the moral high ground momentum is swinging to Kraft and the gang's side. [Courthouse News Service] * Iowa facing challenge of its comically bad "Ag-gag" law. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]
* "How Tough-on-Crime Prosecutors Contribute to Mass Incarceration." My review of Emily Bazelon's new book, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (affiliate link). [New York Times Book Review] * When it comes to prosecutors, as former prosecutor Joel Cohen explains, it's all about discretion. [New York Law Journal] * Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.) defends Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins's exercise of her prosecutorial discretion -- and argues that Thomas Turco's criticisms of Rollins are unfair. [Boston Globe] * Another ex-prosecutor, Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro, is representing tennis star Naomi Osaka in the "repugnant" lawsuit filed against her by her former coach. [Tennis365] * Former federal prosecutors, many of them now partners at Biglaw firms, represent more than half of the defense lawyers in Operation Varsity Blues, aka the college admissions scandal. [Big Law Business] * High-stakes litigation is just one of many factors contributing to Biglaw's robust profit margin these days -- hovering around 40 percent, its highest value in almost 30 years, according to Madhav Srinivasan of Hunton Andrews Kurth. [Law.com] * Ronald Collins interviews Joan Biskupic about her latest judicial biography, The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts (affiliate link). [SCOTUSblog] * And speaking of SCOTUS, Will Baude believes that the death penalty "is justifiable and constitutional" -- but argues that the Court has not acquitted itself well in its recent handling of capital cases. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
In one shining moment, plaintiffs' attorneys can make bank.
Quinn Emanuel doesn't usually handle misdemeanors, but, here we are.
Legal work isn’t slowing down, and the firms that win won’t be the ones working harder — they’ll be the ones working smarter.
Assuming Asian women working in the massage industry are prostitutes would be a racist assumption... but this may not have been.
What can we learn from this former federal prosecutor, law firm partner, and influential sports personality?
Well, this is... well, actually kind of expected.
* When trying to credibly disavow past comments making light of sexual assault victims, try to do it sometime before your entire career hinges on pantomiming remorse. [National Law Journal] * Steptoe the latest firm to unveil a new strategy to promote diversity. [American Lawyer] * In the latest ABC News "The Investigation" podcast, John Dowd describes the Mueller investigation that's tripped up 30+ actual and alleged wrongdoers "a terrible waste of time." [The Investigation] * EU has logged 59,000 data breaches since GDPR came online. So that's working out great. [Corporate Counsel] * Pierce Bainbridge continues its hiring spree, nabbing an IP litigation star from McKool. [The Recorder] * Soccer officials appeal red cards to Second Circuit. [Law360] * Trump commissions Cyberdyne Systems. [Courthouse News Service]
Once you’ve got your law degree, how do you keep your professional skills up to date? Share your perspective in this brief survey, and you may be eligible to win a $250 gift card.
The values that make us strong yet persevere.
Yeah... that ain't legal.
Working at Skadden prepares you for being a Pats fan.
* In college hoops corruption trial, it seems the defense wants to confuse having a "reason" with having an "excuse." The judge is not here for it. [Law360] * On the same theme, here's an exploration of how billable hour pricing models encourage overbilling that doesn't confuse identifying the impetus of bad behavior with excusing it. [American Lawyer] * Dog Gone! DA drops animal cruelty charges in "authorities accuse lawyer of sex with dog" case, putting an end to the most bizarre of the charges. All the drug and firearm charges though... yeah, he had to plead guilty to those. But Snoopy's honor is restored. [Trib Live] * Google, a company worth billions, gets hit with $57 million GDPR fine, reinforcing that GDPR is a lot of useful bark but very little actual bite -- at least for now. [NY Times] * Legal Aid fighting back against law that lets private investors pay off people's minor tax bills and then seize their homes. [Omaha World-Herald] * Shutdown may start killing people directly -- federal worker needs her insurance back to live. [Courthouse News Service] * Ghost of former national Chief Justice upset according to psychic. [Legal Cheek]
* Michael Flynn's going in for sentencing today. My money is on him not throwing out the plea deal over materiality. [National Law Journal] * Meanwhile, some of his old cronies have been charged for acting as illegal agents of Turkey, which is not the cooperation that's getting the most attention, but it's the cooperation that probably has the most direct impact. [Courthouse News Service] * Judge makes deer poacher watch Bambi. I guess to understand what a wonderful and delightful journey he kicks off when he kills boring adult deer. [LegalCheek] * The top verdicts of the year. [Law360] * Howrey doing with that bankruptcy? [American Lawyer] * Client misconduct is an underappreciated source of sexual harassment. Women in firms feel greater pressure not to report harassment from clients fearing it could damage their careers. Firms often don't even consider the possibility that this is going on. [Corporate Counsel] * Closing arguments due in NCAA's right to profit off of its student ath-o-leets. [The Recorder]