Labor / Employment
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* Leonard Leo used his Federalist Society contacts to secure $1.6 billion donation, which Politico suggests might “raise questions about its nonpartisan, non-political status.” Nope. We had no questions. [Politico]
* Joe Tacopina’s second day of cross-examination somehow managed to be worse according to Mitchell Epner. [Daily Beast]
* Though he may not be around for long, as eyes turn toward whether or not Joe Tacopina is conflicted out of the Donald Trump case because of past interactions with Stormy Daniels. What are the odds this is all heading toward some half-baked mistrial motion? I’m guessing around 1 in… 1. [Law360]
* All that Zooming and Teamsing (yet another reason Teams sucks — no good way to convert the product name into an activity) during the pandemic left the Justice Department a treasure trove of material. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Hollywood writers go on strike. Now you’re stuck with all the online journalists for your entertainment needs. [Reuters]
* Midsized law firms are embracing emerging companies practice while bigger firms grow more cautious. [American Lawyer]
* UK regulators investigating the abuse of NDAs. [LegalCheek]
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Most people don’t have $100 million severance clauses, but they should figure out what they do have.
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Somewhere, an Elon stan is studying the secrets of alchemy to explain why this is all just a 4D chess move.
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Oops! Biglaw Partner Sent Private Strategy Presentation To Adversary In ‘CC’ Snafu
It’s okay, I’m sure it wasn’t potentially damaging…
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* Is anything going on today? [BBC]
* Anything at all? [USA Today]
* Dan Snyder and Cadwalader settle their massive malpractice suit so Snyder can focus full time on his team’s inevitably heartbreaking collapse. [Law360]
* Speaking of Washington’s football franchise, the heiress of its former owner is facing criminal charges for allegedly saying, “hurry up Jew” before beating a lawyer in the head until he bled. Lovely organization Washington’s got there! [Fox News]
* After months of bad press, America’s tech giants are calling for a federal privacy law. Or, more accurately, after California passed a privacy law, America’s tech giants are calling for a neutered federal law to preempt California’s. [Reuters]
* Since Rod Rosenstein might be leaving our public lives as early as today, here’s an in-depth look at one of his most bonkers cases. [Washingtonian]
* DLA Piper adds the former ambassador to Argentina as a special advisor. In other news, David Mamet’s son used to be the ambassador to Argentina? Was anyone else tracking that? UPDATE: OK, I feel vindicated that I hadn’t missed something huge. DLA Piper confirms that he’s not actually David Mamet’s son. I would’ve thought that would have been a bigger deal. [National Law Journal]
* Amazon’s commitment to screwing over its workers and leaving taxpayers to foot the bill runs right up to the NLRA line. But it’s cool since that law won’t survive Kavanaugh’s first year. [Gizmodo]
* Why PwC’s new Fragomen partnership is a big deal. [Law.com]
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* The New York American Inn of Court presents, “Fast Times at Ruth Bader Ginsburg High.” You’ll never think of Phoebe Cates the same way again. [New York Law Journal]
* In the wake of decades of sexual abuse, Michigan State turned to former Republican governor John Engler to serve as interim president and steer the school back from this tragedy. His response is to smear the victims. The only shocking thing about this is that anyone expected a different result. [Detroit Free Press]
* Apple is making it harder for law enforcement to crack into your phone. If they can follow this up with a longer lasting battery, we might forgive them for removing the headphone jack. [CNN]
* A reminder that the next shoe in the Supreme Court’s attempt to resuscitate Lochner is about to drop. [Vox]
* United Lex and LeClairRyan’s new deal has the legal technology community buzzing. But banking on law firms to embrace change hasn’t always panned out. [American Lawyer]
* When the revolution comes, they’ll point to our highly developed law of golf balls as proof of our decadence. [Law.com]
* Due process suit brought by journalists on the infamous United States kill list will go forward. [Courthouse News Service]
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* Harvey Weinstein has turned himself in to the NYPD. [Vox]
* Happy GDPR Day! [Wall Street Journal]
* Emmet Flood attended the DOJ’s briefing for congressional leaders because defense attorneys are always allowed to attend internal conversations about law enforcement tactics in ongoing investigations. [Talking Points Memo]
* Elon Musk may want to put away the Twitter machine for a bit now that he’s stepped into possible labor law violations. [Engadget]
* The Samsung-Apple war continues with a jury awarding Apple $539 million for IP infringement. [Law360]
* Professor Steven Calabresi is arguing that Robert Mueller’s whole job is unconstitutional. We’ve really come a long way from conservatives hailing the appointment of a no-nonsense lifelong Republican, haven’t we? [The Hill]
* Also, Calabresi is completely wrong. [Legal Skills Prof Blog]
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* “What did Rudy say? Oh. OK, so, you see, the thing is, Cohen was paid back, but through his monthly retainer so I didn’t know he was paying hush money to porn stars that I definitely didn’t sleep with because that might trigger an out in my prenup… are we done here?” [Twitter]
* A look at Biglaw firms still owed big bucks by bankrupt clients. [American Lawyer]
* Yale Law is so far ahead of the curve, they’ve got 1Ls suing Jeff Sessions. [Connecticut Law Tribune]
* A webcam is drawing attention to the osprey nest on the roof of Oregon’s Law School. Anything to keep attention off the blackface-wearing professor they still employ… [Around the O]
* In case you were looking for another reason to feel revulsion over the Washington NFL team, the cheerleaders allege the team asked them to be literal escorts for wealthy sponsors on a trip to Costa Rica… that they didn’t get paid for. [CNN]
* Which law firms boast the best legal tech game? [Legaltech News]
* The Second Circuit is bringing back the lawsuit over abuse of the no-fly list. The government allegedly dumped people on the no-fly list if they refused to be informants[Law360]
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* Good news for Holland & Knight, who successfully escaped a $34.5 million malpractice rap. [American Lawyer]
* Wisconsin passes a law requiring disclosure of litigation financers because juries should be gravely suspicious of anyone who can afford to seek legal redress from a corporation. [National Law Journal]
* Cleary Gottlieb partner loses battle over rent-stabilized penthouse. While that sentence doesn’t make him sound particularly sympathetic, he’s actually the good guy here. [New York Law Journal]
* Executives and board members should be more involved in cybersecurity efforts according to the Department of Obvious Things. [Corporate Counsel]
* Sexual assault defendant pleas down to charge of “seduc[ing] and debauch[ing] any unmarried woman.” That’s offensive on so many levels. [Detroit News]
* Workers comp can’t cover paralegal injured playing for firm softball team. [ABA Journal]
* Law firm conducting use-of-force review simultaneously representing deputy accused of shooting and killing two men while on duty. Foxes, hen houses, etc. [KOB 4]
* Did you know some law schools are now accepting the GRE? Because the Times just figured that out. [New York Times]
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* The possibility of Donald Trump turning the Russia case over to Alan Dershowitz is too delicious of a train wreck to imagine. Stop teasing me! [The Hill]
* Andrew McCabe’s GoFundMe has raised over half a million dollars. All you need is a righteous claim and a sophisticated lobbying firm behind you. [Slate]
* LeBron has decided he holds intellectual property rights over barbershops or something. [National Law Journal]
* While DLA Piper is out there swiping lawyers, they’re also earning plaudits for a tech solution designed to retain clients. [American Lawyer]
* Joon Kim returns to Cleary Gottlieb. [Wall Street Journal]
* Jury selection underway in extortion case over Waffle House CEO’s syrup. [Daily Report Online]
* The Supreme Court declared it’s ready, willing, and able to engage in linguistic gymnastics to get out of labor protections. So… we’ve got that going for us. [Law360]
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* The Supreme Court heard argument in Janus yesterday and, well, labor rights were fun while they lasted! [National Law Journal]
* Marvin Washington’s pot decriminalization suit dismissed, continuing the Jets losing streak. [Law360]
* The explosion of Emoji keyboards presents a problem for eDiscovery. So bust out those Rick & Morty stickers if you want to keep your insider trading habits from prying eyes. [Legaltech News]
* How does a receiver deal with Bitcoin? How can currency with no “home” be seized? A Jones Day partner is figuring that out. [The Recorder]
* Supreme Court debates whether or not Amex can prevent merchants from offering incentives to keep people from using their Amex card. So if it gets more difficult to use your corporate card, blame the justices. [Courthouse News Service]
* The head of legal relationship management for Barclays discusses the bank’s model for dealing with outside counsel. [Big Law Business]
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* Harvey Weinstein is bringing on famed defense attorney Ben Brafman who is conveniently not representing the New York Times at the moment. [Reuters]
* Appellate attorney spoke candidly about the lack of funding for his death penalty appeal, prompting the state quickly remedy the situation to avoid the specter of injustice. Nah, just kidding, they fired the attorney. [Salt Lake Tribune]
* Texas judge ordered to take a class on listening. There are probably a few other judges that could use a refresher course on that. [Texas Lawyer]
* There’s a new GC at the NLRB and he’s fired up and ready to begin dismantling the agency and turning a blind eye to the constituents he’s supposed to serve. [Law360]
* Election day swept some Biglaw lawyers into office. [National Law Journal]
* Locke Lord hit with £500,000 over a London partner’s “dubious” financial arrangements. [American Lawyer]
* Companies continue to delay sweeping information governance changes. But soon they might be unavoidable if clients want to keep discovery costs down. [Legaltech News]
* A $30 million lawsuit against Morgan Lewis for alleged conflicts will go forward. [Legal Intelligencer]
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Labor / Employment, On The Job, Technology
Why You Don’t Need to Worry About Microchip Implants
The employee microchip has too much risk and very little reward, according to tech columnist Jeff Bennion.
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Labor / Employment, Old People, On The Job, Technology
Of Hoodies And Hoverboards: Age Discrimination In Tech
Is there such a thing as age discrimination in the World of the Future – the tech industry?
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eDiscovery, Litigators, Technology
No Preliminary Injunction For You! The Latest On The Battle Between eDiscovery Providers
The latest evidence in the case suggests that the allegations of the complaint are not close to the truth.
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Labor / Employment, On The Job, Silicon Valley, Technology
‘I’m a Creep,’ And Other Silicon Valley Mea Culpas: So What?
Employment lawyer Richard Cohen asks: What can be done about the persistent problem of sexual harassment?
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Labor / Employment, On The Job, Technology
This Case Is Waymo Uber Than Most Other Trade Secrets Cases
Even the smartest, most tech-savvy folks can get caught in trade-secret shenanigans.