Above the Law

Morning Docket: 03.13.26

* CFTC considers prediction market regulation. “CFTC failing” already a solid bet. [Law360]

* Government says tariff refund system 40 percent to 80 percent complete which is… quite the spread. Almost a “they’re just making stuff up” kind of estimate. [Reuters]

* In a reminder that everything is discoverable, Live Nation employees messaged each other over Slack to talk about robbing fans. [New York Post]

* Generative AI still occupies legal gray zones. [Legaltech News]

* Judge Pauline Newman appeals to the Supreme Court over her colleagues’ “pocket impeachment” effort to strip her of her life tenured job. [The Hill]

* DOJ spent months repeatedly emailing the wrong address asking for state election data. [Democracy Docket]

Another Nonequity Tier Debut! — See Also

Sidley Austin Takes The Nonequity Plunge: Welcome to the fold, “Partner”!

DLA Piper Abandons The Verein Structure: Will other firms adopt the move?

From Calling It Quits To Running For Office!: Former DOJ attorney Julie Le is running for Congress.

Costco Customers Fight For Savings!: There’s a class action suit for customers to get their share of the potential tariff refund.

Bot’s Not Nice

Exhausted, overwhelmed, and frustrated is the new bewitched, bothered, and bewildered.

AI Legal Research Startup Descrybe Launches ‘Legal Reasoning’ Tool; Says It Outperforms ChatGPT, Claude, And Gemini On Bar Exam Benchmark

DescrybeLM answered all 200 bar exam questions correctly. The general-purpose models each missed between 13 and 23 questions.

Top Biglaw Firm Debuts Nonequity Partnership Tier, Moving Goalposts Just A Bit Further

Associates who thought equity was the next stop are discovering there’s now another pit stop along the way.

Legalweek’s Annual Judicial Panel: A Clear And Present Danger To Our Judges — And The Rule Of Law

We need to push back on statements by politicians and others denigrating our judges.

Discovery As Truth-Seeking: Win Hard Without Playing Hide-The-Ball

A practical, results-focused tutorial on how litigators can balance expansive discovery rights and privacy concerns without slowing cases down.

Global Biglaw Shakeup: Top Firm To Walk Away From Verein Structure

This is a major structural shift for one of the world’s largest and most profitable law firms.

From ‘Hold Me In Contempt’ To ‘Elect Me To Congress’

Former DOJ attorney Julie Le is turning her 15 minutes of courtroom notoriety into a Democratic primary campaign in Minnesota.

The Line We Cannot Cross: Where AI In Law Is Headed And Why Judgment Still Must Lead

Will there be a point where we need to prevent AI from supplanting us?

Why UHS Is Acquiring Talkspace For $835M

Universal Health Services plans to acquire Talkspace for $835 million to create a national behavioral health platform that integrates virtual therapy with in-person care.

Morning Docket: 03.12.26

* DLA Piper abandoning verein structure. [Law.com International]

* DOJ lawyer who called out immigration system and asked to be held in contempt is now running for Congress. [NY Times]

* Women law professors rise to top of most-cited faculty list. [Reuters]

* Man faces serious criminal penalties for shoving weights in fish. Competitors knew something was… fishy. [Outdoor Life]

* Quinn Emanuel gets contempt ruling overturned. [Law360]

* Democrats want to look into Brad Bondi’s string of successful outcomes with his sister’s DOJ. [Reuters]

* Powerful lawyers had years to prepare for the Epstein files… and didn’t. [Law.com International]

Tiny Hands, Big Attitude — See Also

Donnie Throws Temper Tantrum Over Losing Fight With Biglaw: Tough time to be a DOJ lawyer!

Y’all Call This Supreme?: The public doesn’t think too highly of our highest court.

DOJ Attorney Resigns To Protect His Colleagues: The whole office would have gotten sanctioned with him otherwise.

Lawyer Found Guilty Of Systemic Sexual Abuse Of Children: He was convicted of 27 felony counts related to the sexual abuse of minors and having CSAM.

Merger Talks Are Heating Up: Is your firm next on the list?

War Costs: You — the person reading this — spent about $300 funding the war in Iran so far.

The Reality Of Courtroom Questioning Is Usually Less Dramatic

But it makes for a great movie.