Politics
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Evolve the Law Podcast: Tim Wu
Acclaimed author Tim Wu has written a little book about bigness. He breaks down “The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age” with Ian in this week’s ETL podcast.
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* McDermott Will & Emery has a new plan to protect Michael Cohen: get Michael Avenatti’s pro hac motion denied. That seems… weak. [National Law Journal]
* Another list of possible successors to Eric Schneiderman. Still no one talking about Eliot Spitzer… that guy has experience! [Law360]
* David Lat argues that the end of blue slips is a good thing for the judiciary over the long-term. He’s totally right, and regardless of the naked cynicism involved, it’s refreshing that Senate Republicans have decided to ditch their states’ rights principles over this. [New York Times]
* Interesting election-related legal issue: can Facebook ban international advertisers from buying ad space related to the upcoming midterms? The answer seems to be yes. [Corporate Counsel]
* Have lawyers finally embraced the cloud? [Legaltech News]
* Managing clerk isn’t known as a particularly lucrative position. But a former Simpson Thacher clerk figured out how to make ends meet. Unfortunately, he’s going to have to go to jail for it. [American Lawyer]
* Lawyers for white guy accused of murdering a black student argue that his Facebook posts are too offensive to be shown to the jury. They say stuff about him hating black people and, really, what’s the probative value of that in a case where the defendant had no apparent motive other than racial animus? [Daily Beast]
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* A question that has crossed the mind of every Biglaw corporate associate: “How much of lawyering is being a copy-and-paste monkey?” [3 Geeks and a Law Blog]
* Kenneth Jost notes out how Justices Ginsburg and Gorsuch like to butt heads — and scores the fight 2-0 in RBG’s favor. [Jost on Justice]
* And speaking of rumbles at One First Street, which pairs of justices have the most disagreements with each other, as reflected in majority and dissenting opinions? Adam Feldman has answers. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* Saira Rao, former Cleary Gottlieb associate and author of the clerkship novel Chambermaid (affiliate link), takes on a new challenge: running for Congress. [American Bazaar]
* Data privacy is the name of the game these days, and Thomson Reuters is ready; TR showed off its new, Watson-enabled Data Privacy Advisor at Legalweek here in New York. [Dewey B Strategic]
* Amidst all the hoopla and robot fights at Legalweek, it would be easy to overlook the latest news from Neota Logic — but you shouldn’t. [Artificial Lawyer]
* Should more states move away from requiring unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases? Joel Cohen argues that 11 is not enough. [Law & Crime]
* Can a U.S. court punish someone for their speech, on the theory that he breached an agreement not to speak, while keeping the speech-restrictive agreement secret? Eugene Volokh thinks not (with good reason). [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* Dewey see an end in sight for legal proceedings related to the collapse of the Biglaw giant? Former executive director Stephen DiCarmine was supposed to be in court today to face fraud claims from the Securities and Exchange Commission, but it looks like the parties might have a deal. [Law360]
* If you will be in New York City next weekend and are interested Asian-American leadership in the legal field, consider attending Columbia APALSA’s annual conference — where Kathy Hirata Chin will be honored for her efforts to promote diversity in the legal profession. [Columbia Law School APALSA]
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* In case you missed it, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times has noticed a trend when it comes to Chief Justice Roberts and who he’s been aligning himself with at the Supreme Court. He may not yet be a moderate, but he seems to be shying away from “the reliably right-wing triumvirate” of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. [New York Times]
* “The document speaks for itself.” All three of former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates’s lawyers are withdrawing as counsel, and will only explain why in documents filed under seal. Only his Biglaw attorney who is known for his plea deals remains. Gates is under indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. [POLITICO]
* According to the latest year-end report from the Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Legal Specialty Group, law firm revenue and profits were up in 2017, and demand had increased for legal services. As usual, the most profitable firms at the top of the market outperformed their smaller counterparts. [American Lawyer]
* Trump administration policies having to do with immigration, specifically the H-1B visa program for foreign workers, may force many Biglaw firms to move to their practices to the cloud sooner than they would have liked. In times of “political uncertainty” like these, Biglaw can’t rely on “offshore labor arbitrage” for IT outsourcing. [TechTarget]
* The GC of the American Red Cross has resigned following the publication of a report that he praised a former colleague who was the subject of an internal investigation and pushed out of the organization for alleged instances sexual misconduct. [Corporate Counsel]
* Disgusting: A Georgia lawyer who asked a witness to recant an eyewitness account of her son’s molestation has politely gave up his license to practice law after pleading guilty to felony witness tampering and attempting to suborn perjury. [Big Law Business]
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* The effort to hijack “religious freedom” to legalize discrimination continues to be plagued by members of Satanic Temples invoking the same law to secure personal freedoms that governments routinely curtail. [Huffington Post]
* Cy Vance is barring donations to his campaign from lawyers with business before his office, resolving a conflict that was obvious to everyone but him. [ABC News]
* Mary Jo White admits Debevoise made a mistake in naming confidential witnesses in its report that functionally exonerated the University of Rochester in a massive sexual harassment investigation. Well, when they’re described as “confidential” witnesses this would seem to be a mistake. [American Lawyer]
* Prosecutors want to retry Senator Menendez and have a list of demands for the new trial like, “not letting defense attorneys talk.” [New Jersey Law Journal]
* HLS students open a startup bringing AI into document categorization following in the proud tradition of Harvard undergrads who dropped out to become tech moguls. [Legaltech News]
* Discrimination suit against Winston & Strawn hinges on what it means to be a “partner.” In other words, can firms placate attorneys with empty titles without accepting the consequences? [Litigation Daily]
* Pennsylvania’s gerrymandered map gets the benchslap. [NPR]
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Trump Doesn’t Understand Surveillance Powers; House Votes To Give Him More Of It
Sounds like a sound plan.
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* Trump’s people want a new Special Counsel to investigate the Special Counsel over a potential conflict that has nothing to do with the first Special Counsel. Things are going well. [Huffington Post]
* Boutiques give out big bonuses and they can do it because handing out big bonuses is barely any skin off their noses. But, that won’t stop some Biglaw firms from trying to screw over their associates. [American Lawyer]
* Public companies, by and large, aren’t identifying cybersecurity as a risk on their SEC filings. That’s… likely a problem. [Corporate Counsel]
* It’s possible that Biglaw has come around on litigation finance. [Law360]
* Obama alums are flocking to elite law schools. I have a feeling that’s not going to happen with this administration’s refugees.
[National Law Journal]* Are we looking at a hot lateral market next year? [American Lawyer]
* With Star Wars about to drop, let’s check in on Kylo Ren’s insanity defense. [The Legal Geeks]
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A Brand New Email Screw-Up For Abbe Lowell
Email address auto-fill is a real bitch to master, y’all.
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House Passes Amendment Rolling Back Jeff Sessions’s Civil Asset Forfeiture Expansion
The House isn’t going to roll over and take this.
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* The Ninth Circuit, President Donald Trump’s judicial archnemesis, affirms Judge Derrick Watson’s (modified) preliminary injunction against the “grandma ban.” [How Appealing]
* Donald Trump Jr. opens up to the Senate Judiciary Committee about that infamous June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer. [New York Times]
* Consolidation continues in the legal-services world: Counsel On Call acquires e-discovery company DSicovery LLC (DSi). [ABA Journal]
* The Trump administration sides with the anti-gay-marriage baker in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case that will be decided this coming Term by SCOTUS. [How Appealing]
* ICYMI: Deborah Farone — Cravath’s chief marketing director for the past 14 years, and the “gold standard” in legal marketing — is leaving Cravath to start her own consulting firm and to write a book on law firm marketing (to be published next year by the Practising Law Institute). [Law.com]
* Cooley raids Wilson Sonsini for talent for the second time in three months, this time hiring emerging growth specialists Jon Avina, Calise Cheng, and Rachel Proffitt. [Big Law Business]
* Legal research startup Casetext — led by CEO Jake Heller, COO Laura Safdie, and VP Pablo Arredondo — continues on its upward trajectory. [ABA Journal]
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* President Donald Trump rejects reports that he’s considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller, while offering a less-than-ringing endorsement of his relationship with Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “It is what it is.” [New York Times]
* Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, whose house was the subject of a predawn raid by the FBI, parts ways with WilmerHale and goes back to his former lawyers at Miller & Chevalier. [National Law Journal]
* Meanwhile, the Trump administration files its opening brief in the Supreme Court in the travel ban litigation. [How Appealing]
* Georgetown Law launches a new con-law center, the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, led by star SCOTUS litigator Neal Katyal, former National Security Council official Joshua Geltzer, and former Justice Department official Mary McCord. [ABA Journal]
* Some Democratic senators claim that the White House isn’t consulting them enough about judicial nominations. [Politico]
* The hype may exceed the reality on alternative-fee arrangements — but not at pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline, which takes an aggressive and innovative approach to AFAs. [Am Law Daily]
* Settling the “pink slime” litigation cost Disney/ABC how much? [How Appealing]
* Also not cheap: the costs of bad-faith discovery spoliation. [Big Law Business]
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* The past and future of law reviews. Somehow whenever I think of the future of law reviews, I think of this. [The Faculty Lounge]
* Has anyone else noticed Trump’s lawyers sound a lot different all of a sudden? [Vanity Fair]
* Lisa Bloom’s got a lawsuit against Usher over supposedly giving women herpes. Frankly, that’s not the worst thing Usher’s unleashed on an unsuspecting populace. That’s what he has to answer for. [Jezebel]
* The marijuana crackdown may be coming soon. [Slate]
* This reads like a New York City government scandal, but then you read the details and it’s just… not. [New York Daily News]
* This guy really doesn’t like legal AI. [Legal Cheek]
* It’s been a few days, but here’s a recap of The Legal Geeks’ presentations at SDCC. [The Legal Geeks]
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* Buyer’s remorse: Trump says he wouldn’t have hired Jeff Sessions if he’d known Sessions would follow the law. [New York Times]
* Your grandma is now officially part of your close family according to the Supreme Court. [SCOTUSBlog]
* A fitting end to Trump’s “Made in America Week”? Star of “O.J.: Made In America” may get out today (or… get approval to get out in a couple months to be more accurate). [NBC News]
* White & Case slapped with record fine over conflict of interest. [Law.com]
* Andy Pincus mouths off about CFPB arbitration rule: “quite an extraordinary moment to see this agency, notwithstanding the election, six months into the new administration, issue this very dramatic and far-reaching rule.” You mean the election where Trump got 3 million fewer votes? Yeah, the CFPB may be more plugged into the will of the electorate than you are. [National Law Journal]
* New York City has extended the right to counsel to tenants. Here’s one City Councilman’s statement on the measure. [City & State]
* Second Circuit backhands federal prosecutors over foreign compelled testimony. [Forbes]
* When GCs become propaganda mouthpieces… a look at what ISP GCs are saying about the need to repeal net neutrality rules. [Corporate Counsel]
* Things that are a problem: Revenge Porn. Things that aren’t a problem: Revenge Editing. Someone explain that to this college. [Chronicle of Higher Education]
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eDiscovery, Politics, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Technology
Are Donald Trump’s Tweets Self-Authenticating?
A big issue for litigators today: how to preserve, produce, and introduce social media evidence at trial.
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Taking A Stand: Tiffany Dehen’s $100 Million Lawsuit Against Twitter And Her Law School
When does a parody account cross the line into harassment?
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* Ben Wittes on James Comey’s prepared testimony (which he’ll deliver tomorrow): “the most shocking single document compiled about the official conduct of the public duties of any President since the release of the Watergate tapes.” [Lawfare]
* Could the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program be eliminated — retroactively? Thoughts from Professor Gregory Crespi. [SSRN]
* The California Supreme Court appears less than enthused about a ballot measure that would compel the courts to decide death penalty cases more quickly. [How Appealing]
* Behind every great bestseller is… a tiger mother? How Amy Chua mentored J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy (affiliate link). [The Atlantic]
* Picking up on Shannon Achimalbe’s post from earlier today, here’s additional financial advice for young lawyers. [SoFi]
* Legal technology is a godsend — but what do you do when problems arise? [Reboot Your Law Practice]
* Mark your calendars: one week from today, on June 14 in San Francisco, it’s the Battle of the (Law Firm) Bands! [Family Violence Appellate Project]
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Need Biglaw To Get To alt.legal? (Raj Goyle Didn’t)
Meet Harvard Law grad Raj Goyle, a high-end lawyer turned legal entrepreneur who never bothered with Biglaw.
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Biglaw, Sponsored Content, Technology
Remaining Confident In The Face Of Change: Practical Law
Visit us here to learn how Practical Law can help you stay up-to-date on regulatory changes in the current legal environment.
