Keker & Van Nest

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.13.17

* Art Linkletter hosted Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Well, the FBI is saying that Linklaters associates say the darnedest things. [Am Law Daily] * How do you know you're in Appalachia? When a law schools says intimidating professors with guns is just obnoxious teasing. Boys will be boys! [Law.com] * Keker suing the Trump campaign over the DNC hack because when it rains it pours. [National Law Journal] * Seventh Circuit upholds Wisconsin's starve the unions law. [Reuters] * Justice Breyer talks about changing his mind [Law360] * MasterCard is helping lead the way in promoting law firm diversity. [Big Law Business] * "He is a monkey." [L.A. Times]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.21.17

* Everyone in the Trump administration who is in some way related to the Russia probe has now lawyered up with outside counsel, including the attorney general. AG Jeff Sessions is being represented by Chuck Cooper, a longtime champion of conservative causes. If you recall, Cooper also prepped Sessions for his confirmation hearing. [USA Today] * Let's not go crazy: Earlier this week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and outside counsel Keker & Van Nest were denied certiorari on the Lenz v. Universal Music case -- perhaps better known as the "dancing baby" case. Thanks to the SCOTUS decision, or lack thereof, we'll not know "whether or not the DMCA includes meaningful protections for online fair uses" anytime soon. [Law.com] * Judge Gonzalo Curiel will not make a Trump University settlement objector post a $146,888 bond to pursue an appeal. Sherri Simpson, a Florida bankruptcy lawyer, paid $19,000 for Trump U. seminars and mentorship, but now she wants out so she can sue the president over the alleged fraud. [POLITICO] * Concerned Veterans for America, a political action committee that's funded by the Koch brothers, is running an ad in support of a Penn Law Professor Stephanos Bibas's nomination to the Third Circuit. "Generally a candidate would have to be pretty inflammatory or at risk to justify this kind of spending," said election law attorney Adam Bonin. [Legal Intelligencer via ABA Journal] * UNC Law's budget has officially been cut by the state Senate, but it's not as bad as the $4 million budget buster that was previously proposed. The law school will have to do without $500K in state appropriations if the legislature approves the move. Yes, that's the sound of your tuition going up. [News & Observer]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.15.16

* If you've been too busy billing, this is the roster of salary movement news from yesterday: Fried Frank, Jenner & Block, Covington, Boies Schiller, Mayer Brown, DLA Piper, and Goodwin Procter. If you’re ever worried that you’ve missed any of our coverage om pay raises, you can check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect all of these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law] * Quit worrying, law students: Per the managing partner of litigation powerhouse Keker & Van Nest, the firm's billing rates won't be "dramatically changed" after its adoption of the $180K Cravath salary scale, and it won't be harder to get a job there because the raises "[won't] have any influence" on the firm's hiring plan. [Big Law Business] * Shook Hardy & Bacon is the latest Biglaw firm to welcome a woman to the highest managing role it has to offer. Madeline McDonough, a 26-year veteran of the firm, will join the small -- but growing -- clan of female lawyers who serve as the managing partners or chairs of some of the nation's largest law firms. Congrats! [WSJ Law Blog] * Andrew Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of slitting the throat of a law firm managing partner, was convicted on all of the charges he faced in the attack. This likely does not bode well for his wife, attorney Alecia Schmuhl, who will stand trial this fall and who is said to have been the mastermind behind the brutal assault. [Washington Post] * For the first time ever, the ABA is conducting random audits of law school employment statistics from the class of 2015. Ten schools have been randomly selected for audits, along with 382 randomly selected students from 156 schools. Which schools do you hope are audited? We're sure we could name a few. ::coughInfiLawcough:: [ABA Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 05.20.13

* Obama might have found out about the IRS scandal “when it came out in the news,” but the Office of White House Counsel knew what was going on weeks ago. Hooray, a new reason for people to lose their sh*t. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)] * Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness through ridiculously expensive litigation: making up almost two percent of our GDP, our legal system is the most costly on earth, which isn’t exactly something we should be bragging about. [Corporate Counsel] * “It’s no surprise these lawyers would want to get off this sinking ship.” It looks like things are going just swimmingly for Steven Donziger now that John Keker’s out as his defense attorney in the Chevron fraud case. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * “Fantasy sports is usually the first and last thing I’ll do each day.” Here’s some proof that there’s such a thing as work/life balance in Biglaw… which is only applicable if you’re a partner. [Am Law Daily] * Law school enrollment is down, and so is tuition revenue, so the legal academy is now selling new degrees. It’s only a matter of time before they market employment timeshares. [National Law Journal] * On the bright side, if you’re still looking for a job, our own David Lat has some advice on how to get one (and how NOT to get one). We miss summer associates’ misbehavior. [U.S. News & World Report] * Congrats are in order for this weekend’s graduates, including the first graduates of LMU’s embattled law school — they won’t let a lack of ABA accreditation rain on their parade. [Knoxville News Sentinel]

By Staci Zaretsky
Anthony Kennedy

Morning Docket: 05.06.13

* It’s springtime, and the nation’s highest court is getting ready to drop some of its biggest decisions yet. If Tolkien had written this, Justice Kennedy would be the one to bear the One Vote. [UPI] * But for SCOTUS to maintain legitimacy in the eyes of the people, its justices must do battle against a “modern-day tsunami of special interests.” How well are they doing? [National Law Journal] * To answer that question, let’s look at their record. Political labels aside, thus far, the Roberts court has shaped up to be “the most pro-business court since the mid-1930s.” [New York Times] * Meanwhile, Justice Thomas has been busy taking shots at President Obama, noting that he always knew the first black president had to be pre-screened by “the elites” and “the media.” [Mother Jones] * Sometimes even federal prosecutors are willing to take pity upon rich old white men: Mel Weiss, formerly of Milberg LLP, won’t be returning to jail after his foray into DUI territory. [Am Law Daily] * “Chevron can afford to litigate this case ‘until hell freezes over.’ But [Steven] Donziger can’t.” As it turns out, clients who can’t pay their bills are problematic for John Keker of Keker & Van Nest. [Reuters] * Penn State Law is continuing with its plans to fleece students at two separately accredited sites, because clearly what the world needs right now is MOAR LAW SCHOOLS. [Centre Daily Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 02.07.13

* “But Daddddddd!!!” Sorry, HealthBridge, but sometimes mom’s word is the law. After RBG slapped down a request to review the constitutionality of Obama’s recess appointments, the rest of the Supreme Court told Scalia to STFU. [Blog of Legal Times] * “The very idea that she would be headlining a Pepsi event is shocking.” Are Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s days as a judicial darling coming to an end? After attending this event for Yale Law women in April, they may be numbered. [New York Times] * And you thought they were “Burning Down the House” before! Standard & Poor’s has hired talented trial attorney John Keker of Keker & Van Nest to represent the ratings agency in the DOJ’s $5 billion suit. [Reuters] * Talk about a soft landing: David Kappos, the former director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, was picked up by Cravath. He’s only the fourth lateral partner the firm’s hired in 50 years. [Am Law Daily] * Hilarie Bass of Greenberg Traurig is one of the most powerful women in Biglaw. In consideration of that $200M suit, the firm is now shifting to a “boys and one girl club” model. [Daily Business Review (sub. req.)] * “Axiom simply does it better, faster and cheaper.” The innovative legal services company manned by Biglaw refugees celebrated its thirteenth anniversary with a bang — $28 million in funding. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)] * Oh noooo! We’re a public school and we don’t have enough students to fill the seats! Let’s raise tuition by six percent, then charge everyone the new in-state price, and pretend like it’s a favor. Yay! [National Law Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky