Alex Murdaugh
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.17.23
* Mistrial in the Breonna Taylor case. [CNN]
* DEI consulting is booming after the Supreme Court rollback of affirmative action. [Bloomberg Law]
* Progress on an alternative to the bar exam in California. [Reuters]
* Judge in Google search case keeping a very open mind. [Law360]
* Alex Murdaugh one step closer to a new trial. [Law & Crime]
-
Crime
Alex Murdaugh Lawyer Seeks New Trial On Grounds That Jury Heard Too Much Evidence
'Jurors heard too much about my client's motive' might not be the slam dunk new trial argument he thinks. - Sponsored
Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
Please help us benchmark your firm against your peers through this (always) brief and anonymous survey and enter for a chance to win a $250… -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.31.23
* Ron DeSantis rammed through massive tort reform in December to the delight of Florida residents who barely understand torts. They’re about to find out what it all means when insurance companies refuse to pay up for Idalia. [Mother Jones]
* Remember the Second Amendment exists to protect your right to hide guns in your belly fat. [People]
* NY AG says Trump overinflated his net worth by upwards of $2.2 billion in a shock to absolutely no one. [CNN]
* Texas GOP’s “Death Star” legislation, designed to give the state legislature the power to strike down local laws and ordinances destroyed like all Death Stars because of tiny, yet fatal, flaw. In this case it’s because it’s entirely unconstitutional. Wow… that’s much bigger than the womp rats I used to target in my T-16 back home. [Law360]
* Alex Murdaugh loses phone privileges. [NY Post]
* Squire Patton Boggs partner set to take break from violent, rough and tumble Biglaw world to referee Rugby World Cup. [LegalCheek]
* In new phase of Hollywood strike, workers have filed comments with the FTC asking it to probe industry consolidation. And while fair compensation is a great reason to break up Hollywood, at least someone has to be mad about WarnerBrosDiscovery doing… any of the things it’s done. [Bloomberg Law News]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.05.23
* Law school admissions return to normal. Law school regrets to return to normal in about 3 years. [Reuters]
* Trump wants judge recused over $35 political contribution. Yeah… that oughta do it. [Law360]
* Not sure “Why Alex Murdaugh is a disgrace to lawyers everywhere” is a headline anyone needed, but go on. [MSNBC]
* Associates don’t have much control over their hours, so why make that the primary metric for layoffs? Um… it’s easy? [American Lawyer]
* Disbarment doesn’t wipe away the fees. Anna Delvey needs to pay up. [NY Post]
* Time to consider the real victims of the TikTok bans: legal industry influencers. [ABA Journal]
* Clifford takes a Chance in launching Houston office. Actually this seems like a pretty solid move, but they aren’t called Clifford Prudentdecisionmaking so the wordplay opportunities were limited. [Bloomberg Law News]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.25.23
* Biglaw is amidst an era of upheaval where firms can no longer rest on their reputations.”Nobody wants their career careening from guardrail to guardrail. They don’t want huge peaks and valleys. They want stability.” Welcome to late-stage capitalism, pal. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Texas House digs into Ken Paxton’s financial issues. Ken Paxton calls the Speaker of the House a drunk. Everything is very normal in Texas. [Law360]
* Have we created a generation of lawyers incapable of schmoozing? [Roll on Friday]
* Panama grants legal rights to turtles. Cowabunga. [AP News]
* Alex Murdaugh indicted for fraud. Kind of the least of his worries at this point. [Reuters Legal]
* “Are Second Hundred Firms the New 100?” No. Next question. [American Lawyer]
-
Crime
Items From The Murdaugh Double Murder Estate To Be Auctioned
The items go on sale later this week. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.10.23
* NY prosecutors signal that Donald Trump is about to be indicted. It’s probably a misdemeanor for falsifying records to bribe Stormy Daniels into silence, but it’s something. [Huffington Post]
* Speaking of bribery, the trial of the Fox executives accused of bribing soccer officials results in split verdict. The only proper result for a case about a sport that drags on forever and ends in a draw. [Courthouse News Service]
* Alex Murdaugh is appealing his conviction based on… well, the filing doesn’t say but I’m sure those crazy kids will come up with something. [The Hill]
* Brett Favre’s lawyer says his defamation claims against commentators addressing the Mississippi welfare scandal are a “slam dunk.” Which is the wrong sport. [Awful Announcing]
* DoNotPay hit with class action lawsuit. Maybe the algorithm can defend them here! If the company is willing to bet a million on its ability to win a SCOTUS case, it can surely do this pro se. [CBS News]
* DOJ opposing efforts to keep judges from enhancing sentences for minor crime convictions based on allegations where the jury acquitted. See, this is a reason to be furious with Merrick Garland. [Reuters]
* Do you still use paper business cards? Should you upgrade to one of the objectively cooler options out there or are you too much of an American Psycho fan to give up paper? [Daily Business Review]
-
Crime
Even If Alex Murdaugh Beats This Murder Rap, He Faces 700+ Years In Jail For Financial Crimes
They put Al Capone away for less. - Sponsored
How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
Findings from the "Future of Professionals Report," based on a survey of 1,200 professionals from North and South America and the UK. -
Small Law Firms
Scratch 'Defense Lawyer Points Gun At Prosecutor In Court' Off Your Alex Murdaugh Trial Bingo Card
He joked that the prospect of killing the prosecutors was 'tempting' because of course he did. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 02.23.23
* Another effort to strike “non-lawyer” from the industry vernacular. Deploying the phrase to denigrate other professionals is bad, but… it’s pretty important for a host of ethical reasons that folks know if their law firm contact is a lawyer or not. [Law.com]
* Shocking absolutely no one, when faculty met to discuss an effort by some Christian law students to get official recognition for new clubs to exclude LGBTQ students, the meeting was recorded and leaked to Fox News. Because the whole point for these initiatives is to get on Fox News. But now police are involved and students are getting a crash course in the difference between one- and two-party consent states. [NHPR]
* Alex Murdaugh’s lawyer pulled a gun on the prosecutor? Meh, seems par for this course. [Intelligencer]
* Even if Section 230 survives, it won’t shield ChatGPT. [Lawfare]
* Regulators are starting to think billion-dollar crypto deals might be a problem. Welcome to the party. [Reuters]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.26.23
* ChatGPT “passes” law school exam. Which is not really how law school works, but cool. Congrats on your below market salary, debt-laden hellscape Johnny 5! [CBS]
* Lawyer threats avert robot legal apocalypse. I’m still pretty sure this is a stupid temper tantrum from lawyers who think they’re special snowflakes, but here we are. [NPR]
* Madison Square Garden’s lawyer ban may violate bias laws. Reality continues to lag about 4 weeks behind what I say. Are people not watching my podcast appearances when they come out live? Because we could speed all this up. [NBC]
* Paperwork is just not Elon Musk’s “style.” That’s cool and all, but you still need to do it before publicly announcing that you have done the paperwork. [Law360]
* Axiom opens law firm in Arizona thanks to regulatory changes. [ABA Journal]
* Craziest. Story. Ever. [Courthouse News Service]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.24.23
* Expectation: Am Law 100 firms excited about moving West in 2023! Reality: Your firm has died of dysentery. [American Lawyer]
* Remember in 2016 when the FBI was leaking about how it couldn’t find any connection between Donald Trump and Russia? Entirely coincidentally, the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI just got indicted for taking money from a Putin ally. [NY Times]
* Supreme Court punts critical attorney-client privilege case designed to settle thorny issues surrounding lawyers wearing two hats. Inevitably just waiting to hear the John Eastman challenge that plotting coups falls within the privilege. [National Law Journal]
* Elon Musk uncorks “blame Saudi Arabia” defense at trial. Maybe he can blame them for the “For You” feed next. [Law360]
* “Young Thug’s lawyers say rapper shocked by co-defendant handing him Percocet in courtroom.” Who amongst us? [Yahoo]
* Alex Murdaugh trial begins. Catch up on the story here. [NPR]
-
Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide
Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
-
Contests
Above The Law’s 2021 Lawyer Of The Year Contest: The Finalists!
From distinguished to despicable, who should be Above the Law’s Lawyer of the Year for 2021? -
Small Law Firms
Family Law Firm Rebranding After The Whole 'Embezzlement, Hitman, Insurance Plot Thing'
The latest in a wild, tragic story. -
Finance
Lawsuit: Maybe Suspected Murderer-Thief Lawyer Wouldn’t Have Stolen Or Killed If Bank Of America Hadn’t Made It So Easy For Him
BofA is accused of getting a little too Wells Fargo-y with the notorious Alex Murdaugh. -
Small Law Firms
Lawyer Shot... By Hitman... He Hired... Who Didn't Really Shoot Him?... Now Arrested For ANOTHER Death
Things continue to get crazier in South Carolina. -
Small Law Firms
Hitman Who Shot Lawyer Alex Murdaugh In The Head Hired By... Alex Murdaugh
This story never stops with the twists. -
Small Law Firms
Lawyer Shot In The Head Now Suspended From Practice
More fallout from attack on South Carolina attorney. -
Small Law Firms
South Carolina Lawyer Murder Story Keeps Getting Crazier
Bizarre story keeps piling on weird.