Bass Berry & Sims

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.24.19

* “It is not and never has been the [DOJ’s] policy to target [journalists] for reporting. But Julian Assange is no journalist." Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has been indicted on 18 charges under the Espionage Act in one of the largest leaks of classified information in U.S. history. [USA Today] * Emory Law School now has its first-ever female dean. A big congratulations to Mary Anne Bobinski, who will be the first woman to lead the law school in its 103-year history. [Daily Report] * Steven Hammond, a former Hughes Hubbard partner who was charged with public lewdness after being accused of masturbating in an Equinox steam room, recently had that charged dismissed and is now suing the gym for defamation. [New York Law JournalP] * In case you missed it, DLA Piper recently elected a new U.S. chair of the firm. Congratulations to New York-based intellectual property lawyer Frank Ryan, who will succeed co-chairs Roger Meltzer and Cameron “Jay” Rains in the role. [Big Law Business] * James O. Bass Sr., the longtime leader at the firm of Bass Berry & Sims, has passed away at the age of 108. RIP. [Tennessean]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.17.17

* Leaders and prominent partners at Biglaw firms across the country are speaking out against President Donald Trump's most recent comments concerning the deadly Charlottesville rally, where he blamed "both sides" for the violence that occurred. Has anyone among the leadership at your firm denounced Trump's remarks? We'll have more on this later. [Big Law Business] * In case you missed it, James Alex Fields, the man accused of second-degree murder in the death of Charlottesville counter-protester Heather Heyer, was supposed to be represented by an attorney from the public defender's office, but it seems there was a conflict of interest -- a relative of an employee was injured in the car crash that led to Heyer's untimely death. [Richmond Times-Dispatch] * Judge Jim Hinkle of Gwinnett County, Georgia, has been suspended thanks to his Facebook comments about the events that unfolded in Charlottesville. Hinkle compared the protesters "nut cases tearing down monuments" to ISIS, referring to them as "snowflakes" with "no concept of history." Hinkle said he didn’t "see anything controversial" about his posts. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] * Retired Judge Robert Echols, formerly of the Middle District of Tennessee and now a partner at Bass Berry & Sims, once donated about $3,000 to the Mary Noel Kershaw Foundation, which funds firearms training for the League of the South, a hate group tied to the violent Charlottesville rally. The firm has launched an internal investigation into the matter. [Tennessean] * Austin Gillespie -- d/b/a Augustus Sol Invictus, the DePaul Law grad who opened his own Florida solo practice, closed it via this unhinged memo, and later sacrificed a goat and drank its blood -- was an organizer of the Charlottesville alt-right rally and is now running for Senate, again. [Am Law Daily]

By Staci Zaretsky