Ballard Spahr

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.03.18

* Roy Moore's lawyer -- you know, Richard Jaffe, the Jewish one -- is a "passionate supporter" of Senator-elect Doug Jones, and raised and donated money for his Senate campaign before voting for him in the Alabama special election. [Washington Examiner] * Eversheds Sutherland celebrated the new year by announcing a merger with a Dutch affiliate firm, composed of eight partners and 32 lawyers across two offices. It'll be known as Eversheds Sutherland Netherlands once the acquisition is complete. [American Lawyer] * Speaking of mergers, Ballard Spahr celebrated the new year by completing its combination with Lindquist & Vennum. Ballard Spahr will retain its name, and the new firm will have 650 lawyers across 15 offices in the U.S. [Big Law Business] * The former head of alumni relations for Chicago's John Marshall Law claims in a new lawsuit that he was fired due to the school's bias against older male employees. He alleges that Dean Darby Dickerson is trying to "eliminate the employment of men, and particularly older men." [Law360 (sub. req.)] * "If you're too busy to follow this advice, you should follow this advice." Try this New Year's resolution on for size: take better care of yourself with these stress management tips. [Law.com]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.12.17

* Former tax partner gets two year prison sentence. Maybe he can claim a good behavior deduction. [New York Law Journal] * Chilling report on South Carolina's routine violation of constitutional norms. [New York Times] * Top in-house counsel share their thoughts on forging a privacy policy. As we all know, the first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. [Law.com] * Austria's racism manages to punish a law student in a shark costume. It's the saddest moment for sharks since Left Shark. [Lowering the Bar] * Checking in on Rogers Stevens, the Blind Melon guitarist who now works as a mid-level Labor and Employment attorney at Ballard Spahr. [Coverage Opinions] * Experts say the Cowboys edict that the team will bench anyone who kneels during the anthem doesn't run afoul of the NLRA... yet. [Law360] * A conversation with Ellisen Turner, Irell & Manella's newly minted managing partner, about race and discrimination and the added pressure that comes with being a person of color in the legal industry. [Am Law Daily]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.06.17

* The government can work out exactly how NSA contractor Reality Winner leaked classified documents, but no one seems capable of explaining how America gave Top Secret clearance to someone named "Reality Winner." [Quartz] * An open letter to Tiffany Trump from one of her future classmates. [Teen Vogue] * A profile of Don McGahn that begins "By day, Don McGahn is a straight-laced lawyer, but by night, he's a long-haired rocker." Oh? An affluent middle aged white guy sublimates his sad existence through a Peter Pan complex... tell me more! [NPR] * If you were wagering, we now know that Robert Barnes picked up his client Cassandra Fairbanks on Twitter. I'd have bet on the Pepe the Frog subreddit. [National Law Journal] * Kokesh puts kibosh on SEC disgorgement. [Corporate Counsel] * Chamber wants a rule to expose litigation financing. [Law.com] * Now the Trump administration is hitting firms in the wallet -- with partner Charles Tobin moving to Ballard Spahr, bailing on Holland & Knight over their alleged policy of never taking on matters adverse to Donald Trump. [Legal Intelligencer] * Speaking of Ballard Spahr, they're moving to a new office in New York. [NY Post]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.26.17

* Can you hear me now? Modern marvels of technology like cellphones and other electronic devices are barred from the Supreme Court during oral arguments, but yesterday, justice was interrupted by the ringing of... a Justice's cellphone. Who was the culprit? The offending phone belonged to Justice Stephen Breyer. Oopsie! [AP] * After a week charged with sexual harassment allegations and the ouster of Bill O'Reilly, just when Fox News thought its troubles were over, a group of current and former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the network alleging "abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination." The plaintiffs' lawyers got in this zinger of a statement: "When it comes to racial discrimination, 21st Century Fox has been operating as if it should be called 18th Century Fox." [DealBook / New York Times] * Ever since it dumped Eversheds, Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner has been out on the prowl for another merger partner, and it looks like the firm has finally found its ideal mate in New York boutique Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. The whole thing seems to be a bit "incestuous" if you ask us. We'll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily] * Ahead of his confirmation hearing todays, Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the antitrust division of the Department of Justice who's been called a "centrist nominee," has pledged to recuse himself from all matters involving his prior work as a lobbyist, including the merger between Anthem and Cigna. [Big Law Business] * At some firms, like Ballard Spahr, senior partners must "transition[] their practices" by age 60, but at other firms, like Cozen O'Connor, age is nothing but a number. "We have so many lawyers who are extremely productive and terrific lawyers and if they want to work well into their 70s, God bless 'em," says CEO Michael Heller. [Philly Inquirer]

By Staci Zaretsky