John Steele

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.19.16

* Uh-oh! What's going on at Kirkland & Ellis? Sources say that the firm recently changed its framework for allocating equity partner profits, making deep cuts to some partners' shares. Litigation partners were reportedly hit so hard by these changes that multiple sources called the situation a "bloodbath." We'll have more on this later. [Am Law Daily] * Talk about a money shot: Attorneys Paul Hansmeier and John Steele, formerly of Prenda Law, have been charged in a "massive extortion scheme" after allegedly uploading porn videos they produced themselves to file-sharing websites so they could then sue those who downloaded the films for copyright violations. [NBC News] * Kerrie Campbell, the Chadbourne & Parke partner who sued her firm for $100 million over allegations of gender discrimination, has asked a court to dismiss C & P's counterclaim, referring to the claims therein as "in terrorem tactic" to silence other women at the firm and elsewhere who have similar bias claims. [Big Law Business] * Here's a question that far too many law school deans were faced with this fall: "What's the best way to share a school's bad bar exam results?" Some chose to be blunt and others chose to be empathetic, but at the end of the day, the news is devastating to recent graduates, so there's only so much one can really do to soften the blow. [ABA Journal] * Charleston church gunman Dylann Roof was convicted on federal hate crime charges and is now awaiting the punishment phase of his trial. In case you didn't know, he's also waiting to stand trial on state murder charges, which means he's the first person in the modern era to face the possibility of federal and state death penalty sentences. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky