David Lola

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.18.15

* Both Kaye Scholer partner Evan Greebel (formerly of Katten Muchin) and Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli pleaded not guilty to securities fraud charges. Now, the world is left to weep because Skhreli's Wu-Tang album wasn't seized. [Reuters] * “You are not an American because you got sworn in on a Koran." The Hate Crimes Unit of the New York Police Department is investigating a series of threatening calls made to Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo, Brooklyn's first Muslim judge. [WSJ Law Blog] * David Lola, the contract attorney who sued Skadden and Tower Legal for overtime pay with claims he wasn't practicing law, settled his claims for $75,000. But now we don't know if doc reviewers are entitled to overtime pay. :( [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * Slater & Gordon, the world's first publicly traded law firm, continues to watch as its stock price tumbles. The firm's shares are now worth A$0.89 after it decided to pull its earnings guidance, and they've lost 90 percent of their value since April. [The Guardian] * That's not how you're supposed to examine briefs: A Maryland court commissioner was charged with visual surveillance with prurient intent and misconduct in office after allegedly using his cellphone to take an upskirt photo of a courthouse employee. [AP]

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 09.19.14

* Voters in Scotland just said no to independence from the United Kingdom (although it might not have been a big deal for the legal profession if the vote had gone the other way). [New York Times] * Congratulations to Drexel Law on a whopping $50 million gift -- and its new name, the Thomas R. Kline School of Law. [Philadelphia Inquirer via WSJ Law Blog] * The latest chapter in the “cautionary tale” of David Lola: dismissal of the contract attorney’s lawsuit against Skadden and Tower Legal. [American Lawyer] * An office renovation for Baker Botts in Houston strips junior associates of window offices. [ABA Journal] * How could Watson transform the practice of patent law? [Corporate Counsel] * Are we seeing a reversal in the trend of declining prison populations? [Washington Post] * The chorus of voices calling for Judge Mark Fuller to resign in the wake of domestic violence charges against him continues to grow. [New York Times]

By David Lat
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 12.10.13

* Stan Stallworth, the Sidley partner accused of sexual assault, has hired a prominent criminal defense attorney to represent him in the case while the firm stands by its man. [Am Law Daily] * Wall Street regulators are considering approval of a formidable version of the Volcker Rule that would ban banks from proprietary trading. Voting occurs later today. [DealBook / New York Times] * Skadden Arps has asked a judge to toss an FLSA lawsuit filed against the firm by one of its document reviewers. Aww, silly contract attorney — there’s no way you’re getting overtime pay. [Law360 (sub. req.)] * Weil Gotshal is still leaking like a sieve. This time, Bruce Colbath, a partner from the firm’s New York office, defected to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice group at Sheppard Mullin. [Market Wired] * Lawyerly Lairs, China Edition: Raymond Li, chair of the Greater China practice at Paul Hastings, just purchased a townhouse for about $95 million. He paid for it in straight cash, homie. [Wall Street Journal] * They’re extremely tardy to the party, but if the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar gets its way, law schools will be subject to random audits of their employment stats. [ABA Journal] * It’s a tough job that “can really beat you down,” but an organization called Gideon’s Promise just made it a whole lot easier for law students to secure jobs as public defenders in the South. [National Law Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Allen & Overy

Morning Docket: 11.01.13

* The Magic Circle isn’t very magical across the pond in New York City. Four out of five firms from the U.K. — Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Linklaters — have yet to pull rabbits out of their

By Staci Zaretsky