Mueller Report

Judge Walton: When It Comes To Bill Barr, Trust But Verify

Is ‘lack of candor’ a good thing? Asking for an Attorney General.

Morning Docket: 07.22.19

* In a series of wide-ranging interviews across the political spectrum — or “Fake News,” per President Trump — the commander in chief’s closest allies admitted that they didn’t think he had any idea what he’d done or what kind of havoc he’d wreaked with his racist tweets. [Washington Post] * According to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report contains "very substantial evidence" that the president is "guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.” Let’s see if Mueller’s testimony can change any minds on impeachment. [CNN] * After one scandal too many, it looks like Deutsche Bank has decided to hire someone new to look after its legal and regulatory affairs. [Corporate Counsel] * Students and alumni from Penn Law are calling for Professor Amy Wax’s ouster from faculty teaching duties following her latest foray into racism. [Big Law Business] * Aside from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld and Clayton Kozinski, who else will be clerking for Supreme Court justices for the upcoming October term? In addition to these controversial choices, we’ve got the second blind person to ever clerk at the high court, and someone who was picked dead last in the 2010 MLB draft. [Associated Press] * Joan Bullock, former dean of Thomas Jefferson Law School, has decamped to become Dean at the Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Congrats! [National Jurist]

Morning Docket: 06.24.19

* During an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," President Trump falsely claimed that he “inherited” the policy of separating children from their parents at the border from President Obama, and later went on to defend the conditions that migrant children are being detained in, saying, “We're doing a fantastic job under the circumstances.” [NBC News] * The Supreme Court will soon be ending its October 2018 term, and there are still a dozen controversial cases yet to be decided. Which eagerly awaited ruling(s) will be released today? [Reuters] * “So many D.C. lawyers are actors at heart. This is the drama of our time.” The Mead Center for American Theater is planning an 11-hour dramatic reading of the Mueller report. Several lawyers have signed up to read, but we wonder who will get to say Don McGahn’s famous lines. [National Law Journal] * One woman may have settled her sex discrimination claims against Jones Day, but another just joined the gender bias class-action against the firm, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to eight. [Big Law Business] * Cravath partners: They’re just like us! Damaris Hernández, who became the first Latina partner at Cravath in 2016, got her own profile piece on how she spends her Sundays published in the paper of record this weekend. [New York Times]

Morning Docket: 06.17.19

* “It's very simple. There was no crime. I did nothing wrong.” President Trump continues to believe that former special counsel Robert Mueller absolved him of any crimes, so that’s special. [POLITICO] * And as for the 1000+ former prosecutors who say that Trump would have been indicted for obstruction of justice were he not a sitting president, per Trump, “They're politicians. ... And these are all -- many of 'em are Trump haters.“ [This Week / ABC] * With just two weeks left, tensions are high as the legal community awaits the Supreme Court’s decisions in the 24 cases that remain on this term’s docket. What fresh hell will be unleashed upon society this week? [The Hill] * The Justice Department claims that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin didn’t break the law when he refused to turn over President Trump’s tax returns to Congress because he was just protecting their confidentiality. [Reuters] * Trump intends to nominate a Biglaw partner to the board of directors for the Legal Services Corporation, the organization whose budget he keeps trying to cut. [Big Law Business]

Morning Docket: 06.12.19

* Donald Trump Jr. is going to have a closed-door hearing on a limited number of topics for a limited amount of time before the Senate Intelligence Committee today. Should be an informative romp around the invocation of the Fifth Amendment. [POLITICO] * The House Judiciary Committee will sue AG Bill Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to receiving an unredacted copy of the Mueller report on Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election and President Donald Trump’s possible obstruction of justice. [NBC News] * “When it comes to corporate power, bigger is not always better.” In case you missed it, 10 states have filed suit to put an end to the Sprint-T-Mobile merger deal, claiming that consumers will be hurt price wise due to the lack of market competition. [Reuters] * Alabama Law isn’t quite through with Hugh Culverhouse Jr. just yet. Professor Ronald Krotoszynski has some wise words to share over how untenable large class sizes would have been for a school that has tried to right-size since the recession severely impacted law graduate employment. [Washington Post] * Ever since CKR Law started having trouble paying its partners, causing some to flee as a result, the firm has stopped growing at the speed it once was. Duh? [New York Law Journal]

Automated Copyright Filtering Removes Public Domain Mueller Report From Platform

Automated upload filters are ripe for potential abuse, or at least significant confusion.

Trump Invokes Executive Privilege, Demands Toothpaste Return To The Tube Forthwith

Trump's executive privilege argument is dumb.

Kamala Harris Doesn’t Care If You Call Her ‘Nasty’

If pursuing justice makes her a 'nasty woman,' then so be it.

Morning Docket: 05.01.19

* Shortly after AG Bill Barr released his four-page summary of the Mueller report, special counsel Robert Mueller himself stepped forward to tell Barr that he objected to his conclusion that President Trump had been cleared of obstruction, "express[ing] a frustration over the lack of context." [New York Times] * Congressional Democrats can move ahead with their emoluments suit against Trump over his business thanks to a ruling by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, where he found the narrow definition of emoluments championed by Trump to be "unpersuasive and inconsistent." [Washington Post] * Kannon Shanmugam may have been the first to leave Williams & Connolly to join the new Supreme Court practice at Paul Weiss, but he certainly isn't the last. Five of his colleagues followed him, and the group continues to grow. [National Law Journal] * Remember Am Law 200 firm Stinson Leonard Street? You should probably forget that name, because the firm is rebranding itself as Stinson. Going by one name is apparently the cool, new thing for Biglaw firms. [American Lawyer] * Biglaw money fight: The ex-chair of the government contracts practice at Dentons, a legacy McKenna Long partner, claims the firm owes her more than $390,000, but Dentons claims she owes the firm almost $2 million. [Big Law Business]

Morning Docket: 04.29.19

* “President Trump views the Roberts Court as his potential, perhaps literal, ‘get out of jail free’ card.” While Trump thinks he’s got allies on the high court, Chief Justice Roberts has attempted to put the president in his place numerous times — to no apparent avail. [Washington Post] * AG Bill Barr says he may not show up at this week’s Mueller report hearing before the House Judiciary Committee unless Chairman Jerry Nadler changes the proposed questioning format. Au contraire, says Nadler: “The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period.” [CNN] * Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired after refusing to defend the Muslim travel ban, says that the Trump would “likely be indicted on obstruction” if he weren’t president. [The Hill] * In case you missed it, Anna Delvey-Sorokin, the “socialite” who skipped out on more than $250K in fees due to three Biglaw firms, was recently convicted on grand larceny charges. [American Lawyer] * A former Baker & McKenzie paralegal who alleged she was sexually harassed, sued the firm for $200 million, and later withdrew her suit is now on the hook for $35,445 in attorneys’ fees after disobeying court orders to substantiate her claims. [Big Law Business]

Morning Docket: 04.26.19

* Donald Trump won't stop tweeting about the Mueller report, most recently claiming that he "never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller." Meanwhile, the president's allies would really like it if he just STFU about it. [POLITICO] * Federal prosecutors have charged Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph of Massachusetts with obstruction and perjury for allegedly allowing an undocumented immigrant to leave a courthouse through a back door to prevent immigration authorities from conducting an arrest. [USA Today] * Reed Smith, which represents Concord Management and Consulting, the Russian company indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, has asked that both Mueller and AG Bill Barr be held in contempt over the redacted release of the Mueller report. [National Law Journal] * The ugly side of fashion law: A senior in-house attorney at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc. has filed suit against the company, claiming that she was sexually harassed by a male coworker and punished for reporting it. [New York Law Journal] * Weil Gotshal is willing to pay big money to pre-law students who've been accepted at certain T14 schools for doing nonprofit work. The Biglaw firm is planning to fork over $1 million a year so these up-and-coming law students can work at public interest jobs. [Big Law Business]

High-Profile Conservative Lawyers Call Trump’s Behavior Into Question, Ask Congress To Investigate

There's now bipartisan support for further investigation of the information documented in the Mueller report.

Jared Kushner Laments Loss Of Civility Caused By Mueller Investigation. If Only We Could Be More Like His Friend MBS!

Kushner is more than willing to share his #THOUGHTS on the Mueller probe.

The Mueller Report Makes Clear The President Committed Crimes And Failed His Oath

Initiating the process of impeachment is warranted given the evidence in the report, but political considerations will logically suggest foregoing such a process in a deeply divided country.

Morning Docket: 04.22.19

* Impeachment proceedings are “possibly coming”: It’s got a little less oomph than the Game of Thrones tagline that the president is a fan of commandeering, but House Democrats are working on it in the wake of the Mueller report’s findings. [NBC News] * Per Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, there’s “nothing wrong with taking information from Russians.” And besides which, “Who says it’s even illegal?” But would he have done the same when he was running for president? “I probably wouldn’t. I wasn’t asked.” Good to know. Thanks for clarifying, Mr. Mayor. [Washington Post] * “Why in the world would you want to put your enemy on the payroll?” Donald Trump is so pissed off at “real lawyer” and former White House counsel Don McGahn that Jones Day will be kicked off campaign work that could have been worth millions. [POLITICO] * According to the latest data from the American Bar Association, the bar pass rate for first-time exam takers in 2018 was 74.82 percent, down from 77.34 percent in 2017. Hopefully things will get better in 2019. [ABA Journal] * Less is now more when it comes to Supreme Court briefs. Thanks to a new rules change, appellate advocates will only have 13,000 words to work with, down from 15,000. [National Law Journal]