Derrick Watson

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.08.17

* 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]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.26.17

* "I’m guessing they have had a number of long days and potentially sleepless nights." The government lawyers behind the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the American Health Care Act have had a rough go of things. Who are they, which law schools did they attend, and which Biglaw firms did they work for before becoming Hill lawyers? [National Law Journal] * Don't forget about Merrick: A third of Democratic senators have pledged to vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch. At this time, it remains unclear as to whether there will be a united effort by Democrats to oppose his confirmation when the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on April 3. [Reuters] * Guess who isn't boycotting Hawaii? People who apparently have a vendetta against this federal jurist. Judge Derrick Watson of the District of Hawaii has been receiving death threats ever since he blocked President Donald Trump's revised travel ban on March 15. He is now receiving 24-hour protection from the U.S. Marshals Service. [The Hill] * The Second Circuit has upheld New York's ban on non-lawyers investing in law firms. Personal injury firm Jacoby & Meyers argued that the state's prohibition on non-lawyer investment violated lawyers' First Amendment right to associate with clients, but the court found that connection to be "simply too attenuated." [New York Law Journal] * Ithaca may be gorges, but it can't compete with the Big Apple with it comes to hands-on learning about issues dealing with cutting-edge tech. Cornell Law is launching a semester-long Program in Information and Technology Law at its Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City that's slated to begin in Spring 2018. [WSJ Law Blog] * Judge Edward J. McManus, the longest serving of any incumbent judge in the United States (and third-longest servng in the history of the United States), RIP. [N.D. Iowa]

By Staci Zaretsky