Above the Law

Posts by Above the Law

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.26.26

* Tom Goldstein convicted on tax evasion charges. [Politico]

* Hillary Clinton set to testify in Epstein probe, meanwhile an investigation reveals the DOJ hid documents related to Donald Trump's dealings with Epstein. [Reuters]

* Biglaw vlogger quits the law. [Legal Cheek]

* Former prosecutor charged with strangling family member. [ABA Journal]

* Democrats want an explanation for DOJ firing Antitrust chief amid administration efforts to steer deals toward donors. [Law360]

* Arrest made in murder of a retired lawyer in an assisted care facility. [WGME]

* Former plaintiffs' side lawyer facing prison for defrauding clients. [Daily Report]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.25.26

* Majority of Supreme Court justices skip out on Trump's State of the Union. [Daily Beast]

* Isaac Hayes estate secures settlement in copyright dispute with Trump campaign over unauthorized use of the singer's work. [Rolling Stone]

* Judges want control of crumbling judicial infrastructure. [ABA Journal]

* Court blocks government access to Washington Post reporter's devices it seized. [Reuters]

* SEC announces new enforcement approach. [Law360]

* As technology provides a better picture of a company's real-time situation, the whole concept managing legal risk needs to change along with it. [Catylex]

* Inquiries about tariff refunds have made life "chaotic" for trade attorneys. [National Law Journal]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.24.26

* NY Bar Exam's response to snowstorm canceling flights nationwide... the show must go on! [ABA Journal]

* More FOIA suits over Biglaw Pro Bono Payola deals. [National Law Journal]

* Neal Katyal says his clients want their tariff refunds. If they get them, we'll all surely see those rebates passed on to the consumer the same way they passed on the tariffs, right? [NPR]

* Former ICE lawyer testifies that the system is dangerously broken. See, now, here's a lawyer abiding by his ethical duties as opposed to many, many others. [NBC News]

* Gibson Dunn loses case over former partner's retirement pay. [Reuters]

* Thomson Reuters CoCounsel hits a million users. [Artificial Lawyer]

* State of the Union poised to get awkward for Supreme Court. [MSNow]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.23.26

* Law firms gear up to fight for tariff refunds. [Reuters]

* Albany Law student dead after what's described as a terrorist attack on Hoover Dam. [Syracuse.com]

* Fake law firm and fake courts scammed immigrants. [Guardian]

* ABA takes steps to eliminate its law school diversity standard. Put aside the wisdom of the decision... how long does it take the ABA to vote? Because this has been a headline for at least a year. [Law.com]

* Florida AG gets $100K to teach a two-hour course as an adjunct. Presumably that's standard compensation at the law school and not at all the naked plundering of public resources. [ABA Journal]

* Todd Blanche fires the legal U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to clear the way for another illegal appointment. [Law360]

* Republicans dusting off the independent state legislature theory. [Democracy Docket]

* Joe joined the Dan Abrams Show to discuss attorney discipline for Trump administration lawyers. [The Dan Abrams Show]

See Also

Supreme Court Justices Spend Opinion Sniping At Each Other — See Generally

SCOTUS Justices Spend 170 Pages Airing Office Drama: Supreme Court nukes Trump's tariffs and treat us to all their petty grievances. Except for Thomas who just wrote some ramblings about the powers of the crown.

Another Biglaw Firm Decides Two's Company When It Comes To Partnership Tiers: Global giant unveils shiny nonequity track and tweaked lockstep, pushing the single-tier partnership model doomsday clock closer to midnight.

Trump Judge Admits The Constitutional House Is On Fire: If it's not yet a “constitutional crisis,” it's rounding third with a head of steam.

DOJ Plays 'Name The Crime' And Loses: Trump administration wanted to prosecute Democratic lawmakers but never bothered to figure out a single statute that got broken.

No Facts, Pound The Law. No Law, Pound The Table. No Table, Pound The... Uh Oh: Texas prosecutors argue that a defendant masturbating during testimony wasn't "inappropriate" if the judge and jury didn't notice.

Another Am Law 100 Firm Discovers AI Is Not A Lawyer: Major firm accused of filing a hallucination-laced brief. When will this end?

Pentagon Decide Its Lawyers Need To Be Dumber: Defense Department tells future military lawyers that they can no longer attend the best law schools in the country.

Deposition Advice Of The Year Goes To “I’ll F---ing Kill You”: Brevity is the soul of wit and depostion responses.

Judge Declares Mistrial Over Shirt: Lawyer's civil rights celebration shirt causes judge to cry bias.

Law Professor Arrested On 50 Counts Of Child Sexual Abuse Material: Barry University law professor and interim associate dean arrested in Florida; prosecutors say hundreds of thousands of images were found.

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.20.26

* Files reveal Kathy Ruemmler conferred with Jeffrey Epstein on Secret Service prostitution scandal. On the one hand, it's important to confer with experts. On the other... [Yahoo Finance]

* "A furious daughter has sent an email to hundreds of law firms alleging that a legal recruiter had an affair with her father. The outraged daughter sent the email with the subject heading of “WHORE”..." [Roll on Friday]

* DHS issues new order asserting more authority to potentially detain legal refugees. [PBS]

* JPMorgan Chase argues Donald Trump fraudulently added them to his $5B debanking LOLsuit. [CNN]

* Practicing for 17 years after losing license earns $30,000 sanction. [ABA Journal]

* Trump nominating his lawyer from E. Jean Carroll losses to the Eighth Circuit. [National Law Journal]

* DOJ claims former Google engineers took trade secrets to Iran. So, soon, the Iranians will have their search results buried under 30 sponsored links too. [Law360]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.19.26

* Biglaw lawyers are charging $3400/hour and clients are paying. Because no matter how much they gnash their teeth, they always do. [WSJ]

* Remember the episode of JAG where the military lawyer paradropped into a Minnesota habeas mess and instantly got held in contempt for failing to comply with court orders? No? Well, it's real life now. [Fox 9]

* The Artist Formerly Known as Prince... Andrew arrested in connection with Epstein investigation. Meanwhile, our [CNN]

* More lawyers sanctioned for AI-generated brief errors. [Reuters]

* DOJ defections flood the labor market with qualified attorneys. [CBS News]

* "Roberts, Alito Face New Criticism of Stock Ownership After Rule Change." Actually, it's the same old criticism, but it's nice we get to talk about it again. [National Law Journal]

* Law professor arrested and charged with possession of child porn. Somehow this is not about Jeffrey Epstein. [News 6]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.18.26

* Federal judges granted limited freedom to respond to "illegitimate forms of criticism and attacks." [ABA Journal]

* Law firms continue to drive the commercial real estate market, with Linklaters committing to expand office by 50 percent. Maybe Biglaw isn't planning to lay everyone off and switch to AI after all. [New York Law Journal]

* Trump administration sued over removing Pride flag from Stonewall monument as if it's a national monument for its drink specials. [NY Times]

* Justice Department isn't acting like it used to say Criminal Defense Lawyers For Understatement. [NPR]

* CFTC asserts its regulatory authority to affirmatively shield websites skirting gambling laws from meaningful regulation. The president's son is deeply invested in Polymarket... probably just a coincidence. [CNBC]

* Judge declares mistrial over lawyer's attire. [Guardian]

* Harvey signs Suits star whose character inspired its name as spokesperson. [LawSites]

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.17.26

* Law student convicted over fake bomb threat. [Legal Cheek]

* Jeanine Pirro can't win a case in D.C., so she's hoping to win one in New York by suing her hometown for a $250,000 slip and fall. [The Independent]

* Law schools and students worry about new lending cap. [Reuters]

* Attorney disbarred over alleged harassment campaign against "Law by Mike." [La Jolla Village News]

* NFL discrimination claim will head to court after league effort to force arbitration fails. [Law360]

* Steve Bannon and Boris Epshteyn sued over crypto promotion. [National Law Journal]

* Judge cites Orwell in striking down Trump bid to erase mentions of slavery from historical exhibits. [CNN]

See Also

Layoffs, And Mergers, And Epstein, Oh My! — See Generally

Top 10 Biglaw Firm Decides The Future Is Smaller: Hundreds of support staff are out, and leadership cites AI as a key factor. Should lawyers be worried? If AI comes for the attorneys, it's going to be a matter of the firm's business model.

You'll Never Guess Who Ken Starr Called “My Friend, My Brother”: Oh, of course you will... it was Jeffrey Epstein.

Those Kathryn Ruemmler Emails Deserve A Closer Look: The soon-to-be-former Goldman Sachs legal chief tried to downplay her Epstein connections. Here's why they still mattered.

Biglaw Pumps The Brakes On Early Recruiting: For once, law students may get to finish a semester before firms start treating them like draft picks.

The World’s Richest Law Firm Goes Country: Biglaw’s financial juggernaut joins Nashville market.

Jeanine Pirro's Office Not Ready For Its Closeup: The latest epic fail from Pirro's tenure as U.S. Attorney involved bringing one of her old assistants out of retirement to pursue a case while running his dance photography studio.

Perkins Coie Eyes Retention Bonuses As Merger Nerves Set In: Nothing says “we’re excited about this tie-up” like quietly calculating how much it costs to keep partners from bolting.

HBCU Law School Told “Black” Is Off-Limits For Black History Month: In latest culture-war absurdity, administrators thought the safest word is no word at all.

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.13.26

* Goldman Sachs Chief Legal Officer Kathy Ruemmler announces resignation amidst Epstein fallout. [Above the Law]

* Kirkland ends its concierge service that acted as personal assistants for associates. [Legal Cheek]

* Donald Trump takes the position that he's too busy as president to be sued. He also takes the position that he has plenty of time to file lawsuits against others. [Reuters]

* AI won't automatically make legal services cheaper. I'll go one better... it won't make them cheaper in any event. [Lawfare]

* Apple cleared of patent infringement. [Law360]

* Antitrust chief out as right-wing activists gain upper hand in pushing megamergers for their clients. [National Law Journal]

* Fun with patents... the human launcher! [Lowering the Bar]

* Analysis shows there's now effectively no laws against pollution in the United States. [The Guardian]