Fox News

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.19.23

* Dominion may have settled, but does anyone remember Smartmatic? Because they're still out there and the price of admission for settlement just got set. [Washington Post] * Fani Willis moves to jettison the attorney representing a bunch of fake electors on the grounds that she presents an "impracticable and ethical mess." That's a shocker. [Axios] * Interesting question: are juries influenced by the billboards and other lawyer advertisements they see? [New Jersey Law Journal] * Jim Jordan continues his possibly criminal, definitely unconstitutional harassment of the Manhattan DA. [Reuters] * Bob Menendez has to establish yet another legal defense fund. [Roll Call] * Iowa places slide into Lochner era into high gear. [Insider] * Vivia Chen interviews Faith Gay, who says women need "real power" in Biglaw. [Bloomberg Law News] * New York has a Chief Judge again, which it could've had months ago but for the governor's subpar political instincts. [Law360]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.17.23

* Dominion’s defamation trial against Fox delayed at the last moment, raising speculation that Fox may be trying to settle approximately a two years too late. [CNN] * US News delays release of law school rankings following freak out from schools worried about what their own stupid boycott caused. [Reuters] * Clarence Thomas is amending his old financial disclosures to include the shady revelations of the past few weeks. He claims this is all unnecessary because he lost money on these deals despite the statute being very clear that profit and loss are irrelevant to disclosure. But who really believes in holding people to the explicit text of a statute, huh? [Huffington Post] * Federal Circuit is investigating the fitness of one of its 95-year-old judges. Not that there's really much they can do about it. [Bloomberg Law News] * Is it bad when your lawyer is recusing himself because he had to testify to the grand jury about you? That seems bad. [Washington Post] * Ron Klain heads back to O’Melveny. [Axios]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.12.23

* Don't you hate it when you get to the eve of trial and have to admit your disclosures about the client's leadership structure have been wrong all this time? No... because that doesn't happen in real life. Unless you're representing Fox News. [Law360] * Kentucky is going to auction off the gun from the Louisville shooting? Like, for real? [Washington Post] * Breaking up is hard to do as EY learns. [Bloomberg Law News] * Johnson & Johnson "faces skepticism" over bankruptcy shenanigans in strong contender for understatement of the year. [Reuters] * It's good to be from Missouri. If you're a law firm anyway. [American Lawyer] * "10 pics of Pedro Pascal dressed like law firms" is surprisingly true to the headline. [LegalCheek]

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
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.21.23

* NYC is prepared for protests surrounding Trump indictment. Precaution is always good, but most of his supporters inclined to go out and do something dangerous are probably already serving their January 6th sentence. [Reuters] * Meanwhile, the House GOP wants Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg to testify to Congress about this process because federalism and states rights are just empty slogans. [Courthouse News Service] * Fox producer claims Winston & Strawn and network attorneys pressured her to be evasive in Dominion suit deposition. Sometimes witnesses misinterpret "don't speculate" for "be evasive" but reading some of the details, this seems to be... not that. [Law360] * Proposed class action against JPMorgan Chase for aiding in sex trafficking moves forward. [New York Law Journal] * Debevoise partners took the firm's headcount growth on the chin with average profits dipping to a mere $4.42 million per partner. This might look very smart in a few months when they're going to need all those retained associates for ramped up work because... [American Lawyer] * ... Biglaw projects an M&A revamp over the second half of the year. Which is the prediction Above the Law has made for months so it's nice to see the firms catching up. [Bloomberg Law News] * Kevin Costner's case heads to the South Dakota Supreme Court. I didn't like The Postman either, but we don't need to make a whole case out of it. [Kelo]

By Above the Law