Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.17.25

* DOJ fires Epstein and Diddy prosecutor. So... did Trump go to some freak offs? It also happens to be James Comey's daughter so watch your seashells! [CNN]

* ICE lawyers refusing to be identified in public proceedings. Everyone wants to be the secret police as long as they get to stay secret. [The Intercept]

* Schulte's COVID rent case rejected. [Reuters]

* Who, What, When, Where… but WHY?!? Why did was it crossing the road? [WKRC]

* Jane's Addiction move fight to courtroom. [Law360]

* Meta board tried to keep Zuck shielded in the metaverse during privacy scandals. [National Law Journal]

* "What AI Is Already Doing to the Legal Industry." Yeah, we know, we have a lot of stories about fake cases and sanctions. [Bloomberg]

Morning Docket: 07.16.25

* Epstein video had 3 minutes cut out of it but no one was smart enough to realize the metadata would show it. [WIRED]

* Trump administration asks court to help them fire Corporation for Public Broadcasting members. No wonder Elmo's calling for the Epstein files. [UPI]

* Jeanine Pirro nomination barreling forward like it's doing 119 in a 65 zone. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Cleary hires AI product lead. [Legaltech News]

* Feds probed state judges for possible arrest. [Reuters]

* Student protester arrests ordered from the top say agents in least surprising reveal. [Law360]

* Reminder for prospective law students: the new Trump budget bill capped student loans so... more crushing debt! [ABA Journal]

Morning Docket: 07.15.25

* Supreme Court allows Trump to move forward with plan to eliminate the Department of Education. Why? Well, that might require writing an opinion and they're not going to do something like that. [One First]

* Plaintiff side firms can be just as lucrative for associates as Biglaw... and people are just now figuring that out. [Left Side of the V]

* Government argues that it should not have to reveal its agency reorganization plans, even though the only basis for last week's Supreme Court order was that the government had to reveal its plans and the courts can evaluate this issue then. It's almost as though one justice knew this was all a lie. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Sixth Circuit nominee confirmed. [Law360]

* Administration installing more nationwide abortion advocates in key positions. Surely nothing to worry about at a time when the Supreme Court has deferred absolute authority to the executive. [Balls and Strikes]

* DOJ announces it's mainstreaming the theory that media outlets refusing to be compelled to publish misinformation is ACTUALLY an antitrust violation. [The Verge]

* A look at Nevada's decision to reject the NextGen bar exam and what comes next. [Law.com]

Morning Docket: 07.14.25

* More states adopt NextGen bar exam instead of more rational alternative of not having a bar exam. [Law.com]

* Dershowitz says he knows who's on the Epstein list that Bondi says doesn't exist but can't go into details because of confidentiality obligations. [Newsweek]

* Bondi fires ethics chief. Was he the one saying she couldn't release doctored Epstein footage? [Bloomberg Law News]

* SEC gives up on liquidity rule suit as part of new "make America susceptible to depressions again" strategy. [Law360]

* DOJ claims it can deport people to third countries on six hour notice. [Reuters]

* Texas law school deans fighting to keep ABA accreditation after state supreme court hinted at taking it away to appease Trump grievances. [Inside Higher Ed]

* Chinese hackers tried to infiltrate Wiley Rein. [CNN]

Morning Docket: 07.11.25

* Justice Jackson says "state of our democracy" keeps her up at night. Girl, same. [NY Times]

* Litigation finance survived the big tax bill. But threats still loom. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Judge blocks birthright citizenship order, taking advantage of Supreme Court class action workaround until they inevitably decide to there's a problem with the class. [CBS]

* "Clarence Thomas leading SCOTUS charge to gut Voting Rights Act." That's not really fair to John Roberts who has really given it his all to gut voting rights. [CNN]

* Kellogg bought in $3.1B deal courtesy of Davis Polk and Kirkland. The new owner is the Ferrero Group so start your morning off with a big bowl of "Special F." [Law360]

* Backlogged courts resisting AI. Why? It's worked out so great everywhere else! [Law.com]

* "A judge has delighted barristers with his sketching skills...." [Roll on Friday]

Morning Docket: 07.10.25

* Supreme Court keeps ban on Florida's immigration law. Which seems like a win until you realize they're just trying to stop a normal state from passing protections by holding the line on preemption. [Law360]

* Lawmakers declare EEOC attacks on Biglaw a "shakedown." [Reuters]

* DOJ asks Texas to eliminate congressional seats held by Black and Latino Democrats. [Politico]

* It's that fun time of the cycle where we learn how much partners make from the financial disclosure forms they've disclosed to become Trump officials. [National Law Journal]

* We're watching in real time as the right-wing balance of power shifts from FedSoc to Vermeule. [Verfassungsblog]

* Biglaw wary of getting involved in the New York mayoral race after realizing every political instinct they have is wrong. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Kasowitz departures raise questions about the future. [American Lawyer]

Morning Docket: 07.09.25

* Musk demanded his Grok AI be less liberal and it started calling itself MechaHitler. Reminder, Elon is suing Media Matters for suggesting that X can put Nazi content next to advertiser spots. [Guardian]

* Both Goodwin and Eckert Seamans suffered data breaches this spring. [American Lawyer]

* Eighth Circuit rules that your cable company can make it impossible to cancel. For freedom! [Law360]

* Supreme Court issues another non-opinion striking down orders blocking Trump's planned mass layoffs and impoundment. [National Law Journal]

* DOJ drops case against Puerto Rico governor after she pulled an Eric Adams and publicly declared support for Trump. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Lower courts keep issuing injunctions against Trump actions despite Supreme Court vibe check. [Reuters]

Morning Docket: 07.08.25

* Judge tells people to stop calling staff and "cracking open Moore's Federal Practice." Just like everyone keeps on their mantle. [ABA Journal]

* IRS decides churches can directly endorse political candidates without losing tax exempt status... but other non-profits can't. [NY Times]

* Meier Watkins getting the band back together, bringing in another winning member of the Dominion case. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Fifth Circuit decides that Apple -- a California company -- is not liable for suppressing a union in New York. [Law360]

* Reddit suit against Anthropic stayed over scraping without a license as the AI company tries to anchor the case in federal court. [The Recorder].

* Amazon facing suit claiming Alexa violates user privacy despite being unable to consistently perform other basic tasks. [Reuters]

Morning Docket: 07.07.25

* Judge accused of using position to advance family cheesesteak business. Good story to share if you're wit' an ethics Whiz. [Legal Intelligencer]

* Robbing Paul to pay Paul?: Paul Weiss partner moves to Paul Hastings because, again, everything is fine at Paul Weiss! [Bloomberg Law News]

* Justice Kagan's concurrence in D.V.D. makes the most sense when you understand the divide between those who think cold legal formalism can sway these people and those who think we've entered a fight for the soul of law. [One First]

* Judge Posner said it all years ago -- all the textualism and originalism is just a smokescreen. Too bad Justice Breyer hasn't learned that lesson yet. [Dorf on Law]

* Street preacher case heading to the Supreme Court, just in time for its new "strict scrutiny, why the hell not?" stance on religion. [Law360]

* Jay Willis really wants to know how much they pay Noah Feldman to keep writing this stuff. [Balls and Strikes]

* Skadden partner takes over as GC at Chinese social media platform Little Red Book. Apparently its founder claims the name was inspired by Bain & Company and his time at Stanford Business and not THE MOST FAMOUS BOOK IN CHINA. [Law.com International]

Morning Docket: 07.03.25

* Deal market boom creates M&A lateral feeding frenzy. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Abrego Garcia lawyers detail beatings and torture at El Salvador slave labor camp. [NY Times]

* Supreme Court leaned into culture wars this Term. You think? [Reuters]

* Pour one out for your local immigration lawyer because they're really going through it right now. [American Lawyer]

* Prosecutor disbarred over recordings. [ABA Journal]

* Lawsuit says DHS arbitrarily targeting minorities in Los Angeles. The allegations are so shocking it makes you wonder what this article looked like before the AI bias bot got to it. [Law360]

* Wisconsin Supreme Court ends ancient abortion restriction. [Mother Jones]

Morning Docket: 07.02.25

* Latham passes Kirkland in M&A leader role. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Diddy jury reaches partial verdict... still hammering out the conspiracy charge. [Hollywood Reporter]

* Trump effort to strip Haitian immigrants of legal status blocked by federal court in order that will eventually get struck down when Supreme Court decides English common law clearly requires the courts to say "Simon Says" three times first. [Reuters]

* Jury slaps Google with $314 million verdict over data use. [Law360]

* Law firm mergers up 21 percent. [American Lawyer]

* Proskauer lawyers warn corporate legal departments that the "infinite workday" culture carries legal risks. Corporate legal responds by asking ChatGPT "can AI replace my employees yet?" [Corporate Counsel]

* Supreme Court takes up case that suggested internet providers can be liable for users. [ABA Journal]

* Jay-Z suit against Tony Buzbee dismissed. [NY Times]

Morning Docket: 07.01.25

* Trump administration appeals Perkins Coie loss. [Law360]

* Harvard Law School appoints new dean. [Law.com]

* Trump drops lawsuit against pollster that showed him losing Iowa and refiles in state court. [NBC News]

* But the defendants filed an objection that Trump's bid to drop the case -- for the sole purpose of getting into state court before the new anti-SLAPP law takes effect -- was procedurally improper. [Des Moines Register]

* Simpson Thacher names new practice heads. [American Lawyer]

* Apple suffers antitrust setback. [Bloomberg Law News]

* DOGE aiming to change SPAC rules, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with cost-cutting or efficiency but would help rich people exploit the system better. [Reuters]

Morning Docket: 06.30.25

* Susman Godfrey successfully defeats the Trump executive order aimed at the firm. [Law360]

* Meanwhile, Mark Zaid's case against the Trump administration's retaliation efforts goes on. [National Law Journal]

* 50 Cent continues to have deep thoughts about the Diddy trial. [HipHopDX]

* Paul Weiss management committee member bolts for Proskauer. And it's not a litigator. Everything's going great over at Paul Weiss![American Lawyer]

* Deep dive into how DOJ's public corruption unit got sidelined. [Reuters]

* Paul Hastings sets $2.5 billion revenue goal. [Bloomberg Law News]

* New York Legal Aid going on strike. [Gothamist]

Morning Docket: 06.27.25

* McDermott & Schulte approve merger. [Law360]

* Looming deadline in Perkins Coie case may signal if the DOJ sees any path forward. [National Law Journal]

* Former Justice Anthony Kennedy says "democracy is at risk." Yeah, buddy, and whose fault is that? [Politico]

* "Veteran DOJ Watchdog’s Exit Spurs Fears of Lax Trump Oversight." Spurs? [Bloomberg Law News]

* Justice Department to harass the University of California over hiring practices. Their faculty is 77 percent white or Asian and has a higher proportion of white people than the state does but... sure. [Reuters]

* Lawyer accused of hitting Fat Joe's process server with car. [ABA Journal]

* Ken Chesebro disbarred. [NBC News]

Morning Docket: 06.26.25

* Judges are delaying retirement under Trump II -- and it's not just the liberals! [Bloomberg Law]

* Another Trump L in court as a federal judge held the presidents abrupt closing of Job Corps without Congressional approval is likely illegal. [Reuters]

* Benson is leaving Kasowitz Benson Torres. Time for some new letterhead. [New York Law Journal]

* Judge cites none other than The Simpson while handing Trump a loss (this time over EV charging stations). [Law and Crime]

* The GOP's big beautiful bill means the Senate parliamentarian is getting a lot of attention all of a sudden . [The Hill]

* The Fed plans to ease capital requirement for big banks. This is giving big 2007 vibes! [Law360]