Above the Law

Legal AI Needs An Escalation Layer

The legal profession has spent considerable energy teaching AI to answer. The next phase requires teaching it when an answer is not enough.

With Reconciliation Uncertain, Pentagon Eyeing Plan To Retool FY27 Priorities With Congress

In exclusive comments to Breaking Defense, the Pentagon's comptroller acknowledged that some efforts may need to be pushed from FY27 into FY28 with help from lawmakers.

Morning Docket: 09.14.26

* Looks imminent? Anyone want odds? [Law360]

* Deep dive into how the federalist society got us here. [The Atlantic]

* How Legora aims to take on legal industry giants. [Business Insider]

* ACC going after another in house counsel group accusing them of training on proprietary data. [ABA Journal]

* Hallucination from a judge. [Reuters Legal]

* The lawyer behind Young Thug’s YSL trial and his passion for criminal defense work. [Complex]

* Must be Yale fans. [Huffington Post]

Missouri Keeps Beating Dead Horse Of A Map — See Generally

If At First The Supreme Court Tells You To Stop: Missouri Republicans keep unsuccessfully sending its gerrymander to the Supreme Court.

Try, Try Again: And the Supreme Court keeps telling them to pound sand.

Fifty-One Shades Of ‘Rigged’: DOJ and Education Department say Berkeley Law illegally favors Black students… where 51 of 1,128 students are Black.

Scale Model: Weil announced the loss of its corporate chair and a half-dozen M&A partners to Cravath by explaining that they had left for “a smaller platform.”

Deep In The Heart Of Private Equity: Kirkland & Ellis passed Jackson Walker to become the largest firm in Texas at 549 lawyers, twelve years after it first opened an office there.

Baby Steps To $455K: Liu Shur Kravis, a D.C. litigation boutique founded in April by three former federal prosecutors, matched the Milbank scale five months into its existence.

1 & Done & Done: Elon Law Dean Zak Kramer promised his students a tattoo if the class hit an 85% first-time bar passage rate, and got “1 & Done” inked on his forearm after they posted 91.96%.

Detector Gadget: Law professors have Pangram mania as they clutch their pearls over the possibility that fellow scholars might use AI to draft law review articles. Here’s a novel proposal: just read the submissions and see if they’re any good.

Life, Uh, Finds A Way To Sue: Minor Character Theater’s long-suffering Wonka general counsel is back, and he’s handling compliance for John Hammond.

That’s Some Epic Biglaw Shade — See Also

The One Thing Nobody Has Ever Called Cravath… ‘A Smaller Platform’: Until Weil, which just lost its corporate chair to the firm, gave it a shot.

Hear Me Out: Should we really care that a federal court opinion reads like Gen Z slang?

We Sure Could Use More Human Rights Lawyers These Days: So now is a great time to discuss the top schools for human rights law.

Say Bye-Bye To Another Trump Ally: Joe diGenova just resigned and stomped off in a huff.

How To Create Authority Pages That Beat Competitors On Google And ChatGPT

Your law firm’s ‘authority’ pages are there to showcase your expertise and establish your practice as a source of reliable information.

Lawyers Should Abandon Some Outdated Practices

Meaningless traditions can consume a surprising amount of resources.

The Future Of Legal AI Isn’t About AI

It's about understanding how legal work actually gets done.

Trump Ally Stomps Off After Discovering ‘Grand’ Conspiracy Is Actually Mid At Best

Never get high on your own supply.

The Best Law Schools For Human Rights Law (2026)

If you're interested in human rights law, you need to see this list.

Is This Federal Appellate Opinion Too Informal?

Federal judge describes facts as 'deets.'

Biglaw’s First-Year Associate Hiring Plunge May Be Just The Beginning

Firms are preparing to welcome even smaller classes in the years ahead.

When Clients Ask About AI, How Should Firms Respond?

Lessons from elementary school.

This Law Professor’s Mission Is Giving Voice To The Voiceless

Closing the legal accountability gap.

How Appealing Weekly Roundup

The week in appellate news.