Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.22.18

* Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws when he made payments to women "in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office ... for the principal purpose of influencing the election." In response, Rudy Giuliani, who apparently prefers to look at the bright side of things and because the truth isn't the truth, said, "There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen." [New York Times] * Oopsie... Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury on 60 counts on charges related to the misuse of more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses (like family vacations and school tuition) and then trying to conceal it by filing false campaign finance records. [USA Today] * Venable is merging with New York IP firm Fitzpatrick Cella, and the deal is expected to close on November 1. The combined firm will have 800 lawyers, a major presence in the Big Apple, and revenue that's expected to top $620 million. [American Lawyer] * We know that law school enrollment is up, but at some law schools, it's really up. Several schools have seen their first-year enrollments climb by double-digit percentages, which is a welcome change for some schools. [Law.com] * Speaking of law schools, if you're trying to get into an elite school, then your GPA obviously needs to be really high. But how high are we talking here? All of the top 10 schools have median GPAs of 3.7 or higher. Good luck out there! [U.S. News]

By Staci Zaretsky on August 22, 2018 8:28 am

(Paskova/Getty Images)

* Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws when he made payments to women “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office … for the principal purpose of influencing the election.” In response, Rudy Giuliani, who apparently prefers to look at the bright side of things and because the truth isn’t the truth, said, “There is no allegation of any wrongdoing against the president in the government’s charges against Mr. Cohen.” [New York Times]

* Oopsie… Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury on 60 counts on charges related to the misuse of more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses (like family vacations and school tuition) and then trying to conceal it by filing false campaign finance records. [USA Today]

* Venable is merging with New York IP firm Fitzpatrick Cella, and the deal is expected to close on November 1. The combined firm will have 800 lawyers, a major presence in the Big Apple, and revenue that’s expected to top $620 million. [American Lawyer]

* We know that law school enrollment is up, but at some law schools, it’s really up. Several schools have seen their first-year enrollments climb by double-digit percentages, which is a welcome change for some schools. [Law.com]

* Speaking of law schools, if you’re trying to get into an elite school, then your GPA obviously needs to be really high. But how high are we talking here? All of the top 10 schools have median GPAs of 3.7 or higher. Good luck out there! [U.S. News]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.