Above the Law

Check That Email Address Field Before Hitting Send On Those Judge Insults — See Generally

Can’t Blame AI For This Email Disaster: The NCAA handed its Rhode Island case over to Foley & Lardner after its Holland & Knight lawyers were caught suggesting the judge was “dumb” and referring to the plaintiff as “poop man.” It came out because they cc’d opposing counsel.

Whose Bankruptcy Is It Anyway: Lewis Rice’s bankruptcy practice leader is out after unsecured creditors alleged he spent seven months representing the debtors’ owner rather than the estates paying the bills.

Thrice Bitten: A Georgia federal judge sanctioned Skadden and Kirkland $2 million for withholding evidence in a False Claims Act case, directing the money to ethics and professionalism instruction at the state’s law schools.

Managed Servitude Organization: Private equity’s pitch for law firm MSO deals now includes parking equity partners in the non-lawyer entity so the firm can bind them with the non-competes that ethics rules would otherwise forbid. That seems… not great.

A Ballroom Of One’s Own: The Supreme Court stayed an injunction against Trump’s East Wing demolition on the theory that nobody has standing to challenge it, which means the next president is welcome — AND ENCOURAGED! — to point the bulldozers at One First Street citing the same opinion.

Square Feet Don’t Lie: Legal sector office leasing climbed 17% year-over-year to nearly 12.2 million square feet in the first half of 2026, which is not a thing firms do for a workforce they expect to replace with AI.

Whoop, There It Is: Texas A&M posted a 97.7% modified employment score for the Classes of 2023 through 2025, topping a list on which UC Irvine logged the biggest improvement of anyone.

In Memoriam: Erin Piacenti, a 2021 Fordham Law graduate and a vice president at Bank of America, was killed in what police describe as an unprovoked knife attack in Times Square.

You Can Bill $2,000 An Hour And Still Flunk The Discovery Rules — See Also

Turns Out 'I Forgot' Isn't A Great Discovery Strategy: Just ask Skadden and Kirkland.

She Don't Lie/She Don't Lie/Cocaine: Missouri legislative candidate arrested for trying to plant cocaine on primary opponent.

The Most Forgiving Judge In The World: Chief Judge Pryor, already under fire for lenient approach to misconduct claims against Judge Eleanor Ross, swiftly dismissed misconduct claims against Judge Roy Altman.

Please Mr. Postman: Donald Trump is trying to get the Supreme Court to bless his effort to blow up mail-in voting.

7 Hospital Mergers From Summer 2026

A roundup of the seven most notable hospital mergers and acquisitions announced or completed this summer, including Prisma Health’s acquisition of Erlanger Health and Sanford Health’s purchase of North Memorial Health.

Google Business Profile Tactics That Actually Move Rankings

Everything you need to know to make Google work for you.

Skadden And Kirkland Earn A $2 Million Benchslap For Hiding Evidence

'I forgot' is not actually a discovery strategy.

Associate Compensation Scorecard: Biglaw Firms Will Eventually Get Around To Matching Milbank… Right?

The 2026 summer of salary increases -- for boutique firms.

Can Your Firm Compete With Litera’s ‘Trailblazers’?

Takeaways from an ILTACON panel featuring the firms set to ‘keep winning.’  

Why Do Many Law Firms Still Waste Money On Big Offices?

A long-term commitment to expensive real estate can make adapting more difficult.

AI And The End Of The Law Firm: We May Wind Up Being Wrong?

Remember that law firms have a pretty damn good track record when it comes to adapting.

Nominee Charged With Plotting To Plant Cocaine On His Primary Opponent

20-year federal drug conspiracy charge, a campaign manager wearing a wire, and a ballot deadline that expires the day before the detention hearing.

Court Tells HHS To Stop Using AI To Cite Fake Studies, Or Willfully Misinterpret Others In Grant Solicitations

From the lies,-damned-lies,-and-AI dept

Morning Docket: 09.03.26

* Skadden and Kirkland fined $2 million after judge deemed firms engaged in “a widespread, long-running cover-up.” [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* Clients of Pogust Goodhead and Quinn Emanuel say they’re dropping their firms, but the firms argue that they can’t be replaced. [Roll on Friday]

* Louisiana judge rules that LSU can play NFL players. Conference takes school to federal court. [ESPN]

* Bar exam scores on MBE dropped this July. [ABA Journal]

* ICE officer federally charged in shooting. Either the administration wants a distraction or those prosecutors aren’t long for their jobs. [NPR]

* Missouri Supreme Court rejects Trump supported gerrymander, ruling that it must be approved by the electorate. [CNN]

* Multiple jurisdictions of court records exposed as Thomson Reuters C-Track got hacked. [Hacker News]

* New Orleans case over staged car accidents ends in fraud conviction for lawyer, mistrial on murder charges. [NOLA]

* Class actions firm claims Paul Hastings, K&L Gates, Clifford Chance, Quinn Emanuel, and others deserve smaller shares of the fees from the Blue Cross case. [Reuters]

It’s Time To Stand Up For Judges — See Also

New Report Begs Lawyers To Defend Judges — Ask The Florida Bar How That’s Going: A new study wants the profession to step up for a judiciary under siege, a nice idea, if the bar could be bothered.

You Want To Do What Now?: There are a lot of arguments for private equity investment in law firms. Using it as a way to workaround to avoid Rule 5.6 is probably not a great one to brag about.

Trump DOJ Gets It Right: They may be taking this stand for horrible, almost certainly corrupt reasons, but the administration is right that AI training is probably fair use.

Watch That CC Field: Lawyers replaced after cc’ing the other side while casually mocking plaintiff and calling the judge “dumb.”

Do Your Job: California is sick and tired of lawyers filing AI slop.

He Quit The Bench To Fight A Duel — And Killed A Sitting U.S. Senator

The duel that made him infamous is often called the last notable one in American history.

On LawNext: Why Legal AI Pioneer Pablo Arredondo Is Joining Clio To Build Technology For The Courts

Arredondo explains why he is turning his attention to the judiciary — and why he believes the challenge starts with the sheer torrent of material flooding into the courts.