Above the Law

Trouble For Midsize Law Firms: Is The Titanic Sinking?

Several factors got midsize firms to this point.

FIFA World Cup 26: Safe From Drones, Watched By Everyone?

Behind every match, every fan festival, every watch party, and every packed stadium sits an enormous security operation that most of us will never see.

Firm Matches Milbank’s New Salary Scale, Sealed With A Kiss…el

Exciting news for associates.

Salary Match Mania Continues At Elite Litigation Boutique

The D.C. litigation boutique is the latest firm to adopt the new market rate.

Another Boutique Firm Beats Biglaw To The Punch On Associate Pay

While many large firms remain on the sidelines, elite boutiques are moving quickly on associate pay.

Elite Litigation Powerhouse Susman Godfrey Goes Above Market On Associate Pay

Associates will earn between $5,000 and $10,000 above the new market rate.

Morning Docket: 06.10.26

* En banc rehearing of case about Kat Von D’s Miles Davis tattoo will leave one side kind of blue. [Courthouse News Service]

* Federal judge cancels trials and punishes both sides for fake AI cases. [New York Times]

* As we wait on the birthright citizenship case, Trump’s administration seems to be preemptively violating the Fourteenth Amendment. [Balls and Strikes]

* “Prosecutor admits to accessing databases to spy on romantic rival.” [ABA Journal]

* Surprising no one, the DOJ took the shadow docket ruling installing Alabama’s racist election maps and felt emboldened to declare the EEOC’s employment discrimination enforcement efforts illegal. [Reuters]

* Trump getting a new Fifth Circuit nominee, so Ken Paxton has a future after November. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Kalshi asking for employer info to avoid some instances of market manipulation. Notably not “is your dad personally ordering the strike you just bet on.” [Law360]

* Judge tells government to stop trying to get out of tariff refunds. [New York Law Journal]

Small Firm, Big Compensation — See Also

AZA Bumps Up Their Pay Scale: Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing P.C. pay their associates for their excellence!

You Get What You Pay For: Trump’s lawyers keep missing easy deadlines.

Fired Law School Dean Files Sexual Discrimination Suit: Despite clear successes, he was fired several months after marrying his husband.

Just A Nomination For Now: Will Todd Blanche actually get confirmed?

Dead Lawyer Theory: Will LLMs and laziness push out actual human lawyering?

Biglaw Partner Headed For The Federal Judiciary

Returning the 'blue slip' makes this relatively smooth sailing.

Meeting Clients Where They Are In An AI World

Using AI in an educational way moves the relationship more to one of a team with a lawyer, client, and AI tools all working together to get better results.

The Emersonian Lawyer: The Compass And The Resume

The resume follows what is legible, while the compass follows something harder to name.

Sorry, Associates, But Those Knicks Seats Were Always Going To Clients

Elite firms turned a playoff game into a business development opportunity.

Gay Law School Dean Sues For Discrimination, Alleging He Was Fired Because He Married His Husband

‘This is outright homophobia,’ said a faculty member after the termination.

Dead Lawyering Theory: Too Much Of Litigation Is Fake

Will most legal arguments be written by LLMs?

The Legal Tech-To-English Dictionary (2.0): Artificial Intelligence In Legal Tech

There are lawyers out there right now, using ChatGPT and still answering emails in an AOL account — and not just because they’re hipsters!