Above the Law

Morning Docket: 07.29.26

* Federal judges call out government attorneys for the 3 “U”s: “unlawful,” “unethical” and “unseemly” conduct. [Pro Publica]

* Gibson Dunn snags big litigation team from Wachtell. [NY Times]

* Judge orders immigration authorities to release man they’d kept under lock and key ever since he witnessed ICE killing Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. [Texas Tribune]

* The Comey indictment is somehow even more flimsy than we all thought. [Empty Wheel]

* D.C. Circuit won’t strike down the Trump plan to use Post Office to block mail-in votes from Democratic states until he actually does something. So we’re going to wait until it actually becomes a logistical disaster to do anything about it. [Courthouse News Service]

* Judiciary Committee Republicans ask Blanche to commit to more aggressive assault on reproductive rights. [Balls and Strikes]

* Administration erases right to a hearing from asylum language — plans to send seekers directly to deportation processing. [Washington Post]

* Talc case parties present $5.5 billion settlement deal. [Law360]

Maryland Thought It Had A Bar Exam Disaster. Turns Out They Were The Lucky Ones.

An hour-long software delay turned out to be one of the least severe tech failures of the NextGen bar exam rollout.

Washington Just Called Off Its Entire Bar Exam

Six hours of tech troubles, no questions answered, and a class of grads told to put their lives on hold until September.

The California Bar Exam Was A Disaster, NCBE And Missouri: ‘Hold My Beer’

This post is about Missouri. There are other states suffering.

More Summer Bonus Action — See Also

Another Day, Another Summer Bonus: Yet another firm is rewarding its associates with more money.

The Biggest Sharks In Biglaw: But which law schools do all of these sharks come from? Find out here.

Tell Us Your Bar Exam Horror Story: Poop, births, fires, tsunamis, ExamSoft — we’ve heard it all, and we’re ready for more.

If Todd Blanche Won’t Commit To His Own Sworn Testimony In Writing, What Is His Word Worth? Two GOP senators on the Judiciary Committee want to know with the vote looming Thursday.

When We Compared Federal Judges To Murderers, We Didn’t Mean Any Disrespect: DHS general counsel borrows the agency’s “worst of the worst” branding for violent criminals it finds and applies it to federal judges, upping the threat level even more.

Paper Tiger: Donald Trump promised not to give up on the birthright citizenship fight. He gave up.

The Dems Helping Donald Trump Load Up The Federal Bench

You know, doing nothing *was* an option.

Selling The Skinny

With the threats from compounders and generics mostly contained, we can take a look at the latest piece of GLP-1 news.

Neil Gorsuch Says He Trusts Sonia Sotomayor’s Motives, Even If He Rejects Her Legal Views

Gorsuch says his friendship with Sotomayor proves profound disagreement doesn't require personal animosity.

Trump Fails To File Promised Birthright Citizenship Rehearing Before Deadline

Shocking!

DHS General Counsel Names Four Federal Judges ‘Worst Of The Worst’ As Threats Against Judiciary Hit 564

The general counsel who told the Senate his role was 'limited' has started publishing a target list.

Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Is Being Held Up By… Todd Blanche

Two Republican senators want the slush fund killed in writing. Blanche testified it was dead, so writing it down shouldn't be hard. And yet...

Where Biglaw Gets Its Lawyers: An ATL Infographic

In honor of Shark Week, here’s a deep dive into the sources of associates for five top law firms.

Webinar: Why Contract Ownership Is Your Most Expensive Blind Spot

Join us for this webinar as the group will dig into what the new global data reveals about why contract ownership remains Legal's most expensive blind spot.

The Bar Exam Is Here, Which Means Something Is About To Go Horribly Wrong

It's a grand tradition of chaos, and we want to hear all about it.

Cha-Ching: Another Firm Joins The Bonus Party

Biglaw keeps waiting while other firms keep writing checks.