Michael Potere

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.24.17

* Former Dentons associate Michael Potere pleads guilty to lesser charge in extortion case where he allegedly broke into the firm's system and threatened to hand over embarrassing material to Above the Law. The lesson is: if you have compromising information about your employer don't try to extort your firm -- just hand it directly to Above the Law. [The Recorder] * A lot of people are chiming in to say that Trump's decision to interview U.S. Attorney candidates is improper because it breaks with tradition or because he currently faces a special counsel investigation. That's all true, but what should really raise red flags is in an administration riddled with open jobs and a floundering legislative agenda, the only thing a president under investigation seems to care about is picking his prosecutors. [Litigation Daily] * We all kind of suspect that SCOTUS advocacy is largely a self-reinforcing old boys' club, but here's the data. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Chadbourne's gender bias suit may be getting bigger. [Law360] * Yes, RBG's famous workout is now available in book form (affiliate link). [National Law Journal] * In-house counsel say they want more from their law firms. And yet, I'm assuming they don't want "more bills" from those firms for all this extra work. [Corporate Counsel] * AUSA suspended for affair with FBI agent. What's the ethical dilemma? We all know the FBI is shacked up with the U.S. Attorney's Office anyway. [Law.com]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.21.17

* Congratulations to John K. Bush, who won confirmation to the Sixth Circuit despite his controversial undercover blogging. [How Appealing] * Team Trump is digging into the backgrounds of special counsel Robert Mueller's all-star team of attorneys, looking for discrediting dirt. [New York Times] * DLA Piper swallows up Liner LLP, a California-based boutique with 60 lawyers -- so, DLA's idea of breakfast. [Law.com] * Justice Alito defends his tenure on the Supreme Court cafeteria committee (in this hilarious piece by Jess Bravin). [Wall Street Journal via How Appealing] * Ex-Dentons associate Michael Potere, represented by a public defender, pleads not guilty to charges that he tried to extort his former firm. [Law360] * Is the relationship of President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions damaged beyond repair? [New York Times] * Is Charles Miller's move to Tarter Krinsky & Drogin the beginning of a partner exodus from Kasowitz Benson -- one possibly driven by the debacle of the Donald Trump representation? [New York Law Journal] * Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law gets censured by the ABA in the wake of sex-discrimination allegations. [ABA Journal]

By David Lat