Munger Tolles & Olson

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.27.17

* Saudi Arabia made a robot a citizen. What will the ramifications of this be on international law? [Law and More] * The legal troubles of the Wolf Man. Or -- wait for it -- Mo' Moon-ey, Mo' Problems. [The Legal Geeks] * If you're in D.C. next week, Thomson Reuters is hosting "The Future of Law Schools" at the Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center. The conference is bringing together an impressive collection of legal academics, administrators, hiring partners, and practitioners to discuss where legal education goes from here to foster the next generation of lawyers. [Future of Law Schools] * We've already covered how comically unfit Jeff Mateer is for the federal bench. And that was before we learned that he's compared the treatment of Christians under Obama to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. I can think of at least six million problems with that sentiment. [Newsweek] * On that note, it's looking more and more like these judges are the heart of Trump's domestic agenda. [Rewire] * Checking in on Don Verrilli. Not to fault his success at Munger Tolles, but it'd be nice if he could go back to his last job. [Bloomberg Big Law Business] * The delicate art of the legal threat. [Katz on Justice] * A bar exam failure offers advice on turning your fate around. [Modestly Jonathan]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.07.16

* "Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime." New York Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich dismissed part of singer Kesha's claims against producer Dr. Luke because the pop star's allegations of rape and abuse were time barred and happened outside the state. Tick tock on the clock for a similar suit she filed in California. [WSJ Law Blog] * Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has scheduled an appointment to meet with Judge Merrick Garland for breakfast next Tuesday, despite his opposition to President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Senator Grassley's courteous refusal to perform his job presumably pairs well with eggs and bacon. [Quad-City Times] * The Department of Justice has filed suit against Halliburton and Baker Hughes, seeking to block the oil-field services companies' pending merger. According to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, completion of the deal would "eliminate vital competition, skew energy markets, and harm American consumers.” [DealBook / New York Times] * Panama papers law firm Mossack Fonseca seems to have pulled off the perfect magic trick. Shortly after the firm's exploits in hiding client assets in offshore accounts were revealed via hack, its U.S. operations all but disappeared. The firm's website has now been scrubbed completely clean of any connection to its Miami office. [USA Today] * Bart Williams, a top partner at Munger Tolles -- a firm that's been likened to the Wachtell of the West -- will be leaving the place where he's called home for 21 years to become the co-chair of Proskauer Rose's Los Angeles litigation department. This is a real coup for Proskauer, since partners rarely leave Munger. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

By Staci Zaretsky
Celebrities

Morning Docket: 07.22.14

* From Big Government to Biglaw: Our congratulations go out to Benjamin Horwich, most recently of the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, as he joins Munger Tolles & Olson as counsel. Nice work. [Munger Tolles & Olson] * The number of law school applicants took a nose dive for the fourth year in a row, this time by 8 percent, summarily crushing the hopes and dreams of law deans praying for a change of their otherwise most dismal fortunes. [National Law Journal] * Considering the latest slump in applicants, whether a law school evaluates your average LSAT score or highest LSAT score matters little. Admissions officers will jump for joy that you have a pulse. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News] * “You don’t have to convict on every count to have a win.” Azamat Tazhayakov, friend of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was convicted of obstruction and conspiracy to obstruct justice. [Bloomberg] * Per documents filed by a lawyer appointed to represent Philip Seymour Hoffman’s children, the actor didn’t set aside money for them because he didn’t want them to become “trust fund kids.” [New York Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Biglaw

Morning Docket: 05.30.14

* As you may have heard, Apple is buying Beats Electronics for $3 billion. Apple is being represented by Weil, but don’t worry, no one forgot about Dre — he’s got Munger Tolles and Skadden Arps on his side. [Am Law Daily] * Haynes and Boone will have a new managing partner as of January 1, 2015, and to make sure he fulfills the good old Texas stereotype of things being bigger, he wants to grow the hell out of the firm’s Houston office. [Dallas Business Journal] * Stephanie Avakian, a WilmerHale partner in the New York office, was tapped by the Securities and Exchange Commission to become its deputy director of enforcement. Yay! [DealBook / New York Times] * “We can’t turn law schools into graduate school for the study of law,” says a law prof who thinks legal education is straying from being professional education. Aww, write a paper about it. [Harvard Crimson] * A Los Angeles couple has been accused in the hit-and-run death of Judge Dean Pregerson’s son. The judge isn’t “looking for blood,” but some jail time would probably help. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times]

By Staci Zaretsky