McCarter & English

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.07.19

* President Trump and the RNC sued over a new California law that requires presidential candidates to release five years of tax returns to get onto the 2020 primary ballot. We were wondering when this "naked political attack against the sitting president of the United States" would happen. [New York Times] * Former FBI agent Peter Strzok has filed suit against the Justice Department over his firing, claiming that being dismissed from the investigative agency for sending text messages disparaging Donald Trump violated his constitutional right to private political speech. [Wall Street Journal] * From the demise of your favorite toy store to the destruction of one the most recognized luxury stores, Kirkland & Ellis is making a killing when it comes to representing the death of our brick-and-mortar retail economy. [American Lawyer] * William Brown, a former Navy SEAL who currently works as an associate at McCarter & English, recently led the first-ever sanctioned swim across the Hudson River with 30+ other SEALs to raise money for veterans. Congrats! [Big Law Business] * Meet Jeffrey Morgan, one of the lucky few lawyers to have had his federal student loans discharged through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Unfortunately, he still owes $67,987.09 in private student loans. [MarketWatch]

By Staci Zaretsky
10th Circuit

Morning Docket: 02.26.13

* Our own Elie Mystal isn’t the only one who’s capable of fanning the flames of race baiting — it seems that Supreme Court justices can do it, too! We’ll probably have more on Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s benchslap later today. [The Two-Way / NPR] * Patience is obviously one of this judge’s virtues, because this took a looooong time. After waiting more than a year for people to put their petty political pandering aside, the Senate confirmed Robert Bacharach to the Tenth Circuit. [Blog of Legal Times] * Mary Jo White, the nominee to lead the SEC, will probably face her confirmation hearing in March. Her legal wranglings at Debevoise may be of interest to some, but really, who cares? She’s so cute and tiny! [Reuters] * Mayer Brown and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year: gross revenue is up overall at most Biglaw firms, but not this one. In 2012, Mayer Brown’s revenue dipped 3.7 percent for a six-year low. [Am Law Daily] * Kirkland & Ellis, now the fifth-largest Biglaw firm in the nation, is leading the market in terms of top dollar merger-and-acquisition deals. Now, if only the firm could get some bananas. [Crain's Chicago Business] * Orderly liquidation authority may be a legitimate exercise of power under the Bankruptcy Clause, but as far as these states are concerned, it’s just another reason to hate the Dodd-Frank Act. [DealBook / New York Times] * Remember Peggy Ableman, the judge who ordered lawyers to attend a course on remedial civility in their “jammies”? She’s now at McCarter & English, so mind your manners. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * An “astronomically stupid” legal loophole? Unpossible! Gun trusts are seeing the limelight because Chris Dorner claims he used one to purchase his paraphernalia without a background check. [New York Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Barack Obama

Morning Docket: 10.04.12

* According to a CNN poll, 67 percent of people who watched the debate thought Mitt Romney won, while only 25 percent thought Barack Obama won. Well, either way you slice it, there was definitely one loser: poor old Jim Lehrer. [CNN] * If Barack Obama could’ve had his way, he would’ve put Osama bin Laden on trial to display American due process and the rule of law. We suppose that now he’ll just have to take credit for being the man who ordered the kill shot. [WSJ Law Blog] * A handful of Biglaw firms advised on the T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger, but Telecommunications Law Partners, a boutique firm, showed up to prove it could hang with the big boys. [DealBook / New York Times] * From boutique to Biglaw? Joseph Bachelder, an executive compensation expert, shuttered his 10-lawyer firm in favor of joining McCarter & English as special counsel in New York. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * Remember Ellen Pao, the former Cravath associate who sued Kleiner Perkins for sex discrimination? She now claims that the VC firm fired her. Of course, like everything else, KPCB denies it. [Bits / New York Times] * A J.D. isn’t a hoax, but if law schools keep admitting huge classes, the degree will become one. The dean of UC Hastings Law thinks law schools should’ve reduced their class sizes a long time ago. [Huffington Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Biglaw Perk Watch: The Gay Gross-Up Is All the Rage

Here in the great state of New York, marriage equality is the order of the day — as it is in five other states, plus D.C.. But due to the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal tax code does not recognize same-sex unions. As a result, as explained by the law firm of McCarter & […]

By David Lat