ESG

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.22.23

* Somehow they've managed to find even more undisclosed private air travel. This time taking Clarence Thomas to a Koch brothers event in a level of impropriety that a former W. Bush judge said, "takes my breath away, frankly." [ProPublica] * Clifford Chance opts for permanent hybrid work model while other firms choose alienation and extortion. [RollonFriday] * Second Circuit decides Sam Bankman-Fried can wait in jail. [Law360] * North Carolina Supreme Court justice Anita Earls spoke publicly about implicit bias in the legal system. After the judiciary commission ordered her to pre-clear future statements with them, she sued over the prior restraint and the federal judge chastised her for making the justice system look bad by talking about bias out loud. [Balls and Strikes] * Having toppled admissions, right-wingers take aim at scholarships that might possibly help non-white people go to school. [Reuters] * Judge upholds the right of private investors to put their money toward companies that match their environmental and social goals. [Bloomberg Law News] * Profiling the folks chronicling the opaque Google antitrust case. [Wired]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.21.23

* George RR Martin among the authors suing OpenAI for allowing the algorithm to train on their work. Did the AI learn to sit on an anticipated project for over a decade? Because otherwise it's not clear what it's learning from Martin. [Reuters] * Former DHS Secretary turned security consultant Michael Chernoff warns that AI needs proactive guardrails. Great point... now go back to collecting millions of dollars from the Supreme Court to tell them they did a great job investigating the Dobbs leak without bothering to interview the most likely suspects. [Bloomberg Law News] * Attorney attempted to attend two CLEs at once. Most would call this blatantly unethical, but it's also impressive multitasking. [ABA Journal] * The Feds closed up the investigation into Los Angeles water and power billing violations -- involving allegations of attorney misconduct -- without charging anyone. [LA Times] * SEC issues new rules to bar funds from touting ESG work when they aren't really investing in ESG work. A sound policy that won't matter when Republicans ban private enterprise from spending money on causes they don't like. [Law360] * DISCO hit with a securities class action over financial disclosures. [Legaltech News] * Which seems to be the least of the problems over there. [Daily Mail]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.15.23

* Hunter Biden indicted on gun charge. You are not prepared for the sneering glee Justice Alito will put into his opinion using Joe Biden's son as the vehicle to strike down gun laws. [CNN] * In black box hearing, a NY appellate judge has put a halt on Trump's financial crimes case pending review by a full panel and throwing a wrench in the delicate schedule of multiple overlapping criminal trials. [Daily Beast] * Did you know nasal decongestants don't work? Apparently true! Here come the lawsuits against folks who saw the unfortunate souls struggling to breathe enough to get through the work day and decided to bleed us dry. [Reuters] * House Republicans maintain laser focus on fighting ESG guidelines. Because capitalism means private businesses have freedom until they use that freedom to invest in solar power. [Bloomberg Law News] * Eastman ally takes stand. Unable to cite any support for his election denial stuff either. [Law360] * ASS Law bans professors from having sex with students because... obviously. [Law.com]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.09.23

* Can you avoid discovery by saying, "the dog ate my homework"? Asking for a Rudy Giuliani. [Guardian] * Anti-porn legislation is "Making the Online Porn Industry Retreat." Impressed with the restraint it took not to say "pull out." [Politico] * Ohio voters reject effort to game the rules. [Courthouse News Service] * Shareholders approved fewer ESG proposals this year because they're fickle cowards. [Corporate Counsel] * Starbucks can't fire people just for being pro-union. [Law360] * Teacher refusing to use student's personal pronouns to test SCOTUS standard. [Bloomberg Law News] * Southwest will appeal court's order that it take training classes from a designated hate group. Too bad that appeal is going to the Fifth Circuit. [Reuters]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.31.23

* When the Supreme Court tried to deflect the heat from Clarence Thomas taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts, the justices signed an ethics pinky swear. Alito breached it within the month. [Slate] * Corporate legal departments are hiring smaller law firms to save money. I swear we wrote this exact same story... the last time there was a whiff of rate hikes only to have everything return to normal in a year. [Corporate Counsel] * Sam Bankman-Fried preparing to blame Fenwick & West for everything. [Fortune] * Texas lawmakers unveil new anti-ESG laws to limit insurance carriers from considering environmental issues. You know... the environmental issues they're being asked to pay for. I'd like to limit life insurers from considering my career as a crocodile wrestler too, but c'est la vie. [Bloomberg Law News] * The family at the center of the opioid crisis can successfully shield themselves from liability because that's what corporations do! [Courthouse News Service] * NLRB goes after non-compete agreements and it's honestly a little shocking that they haven't always been going after non-compete agreements. [Law360] * Chris Christie announcing a presidential run next week. Over/under on the number of times he mentions that he was a prosecutor in his kickoff speech? I'm setting the line at 9. [CNN]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.06.23

* British researchers determine that defendants opting to take their oath on non-religious texts are more likely to be convicted. So I guess you're better off lying under oath that you're religious? That seems sub-optimal. [LegalCheek] * Senior associate says the quiet part out loud when it comes to the Biglaw workload. [American Lawyer] * Dominion can make Rupert Murdoch testify at trial in yet another, "just give them a billion dollars and spare yourselves" development. [Reuters] * Fifth Circuit panel rejects GOP state government effort to overturn Biden environmental laws. They'd better not go to Vegas because they must have the worst luck in the world to land a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit unwilling to arbitrarily stymie the Biden administration. [Law360] * Diploma mills fight back against student loan forgiveness making their value proposition to students... even worse? These may not be the sharpest tools in the higher education shed. [Courthouse News Service] * Reminiscent of all the Disney coverage lately, it seems as though the anti-ESG movement is long on state lawmakers bragging and short on substantive action. [Bloomberg Law]

By Above the Law