Ninth Circuit

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.18.17

* President Donald Trump claims he has no plans to fire special counsel Robert Mueller -- which, according to past precedent in the Trump administration, means Mueller's days as special counsel may be numbered. [Washington Post] * By order of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the Second Circuit will be handling the formal inquiry into Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski's alleged harassment of women who once served as his clerks and externs. [The Recorder] * Like father-in-law, like son-in-law: a law firm is suing Jared Kushner's real estate company for failure to pay any of its legal fees for work performed from December 2014 to May 2015. [New York Daily News] * Uh oh... In other Kushner-related news, word on the street that's since been confirmed by Abbe Lowell is that the first son-in-law's legal team is trying to find a crisis public relations firm to handle inquiries into their client's role in the Trump-Russia investigation. [Washington Post] * According to recently released Standard 509 reports, law school enrollment was essentially flat between 2016 and 2017, with a negligible 0.7 percent decrease in law students. What's more interesting is the fact that for the first time ever, law schools’ bar passage rates weren't included in the reports. That information will be out next March, when it's less helpful for prospective students. [ABA Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.13.17

* You've probably heard by now -- Democrat Doug Jones is the newly elected Senator from Alabama. Donald Trump has accepted his party's defeat in the Republican stronghold, but Roy Moore has yet to concede. [CNN] * Rod Rosenstein will testify in front of the the House Judiciary Committee today. He's expected to face questions about special counsel, Robert Mueller,  and potential conflicts of interest. [Los Angeles Times] * Former House speaker Dennis Hastert is not to be left alone with children. That's one of several new conditions federal district judge Thomas Durkin placed on Hastert, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to violating federal banking laws in connection with a scheme to cover-up his sexual abuse of teenage boys. [Washington Post] * Senator Chuck Schumer does not play. He called the police after a forged document began circulating falsely accusing the senator of sexual harassment. [Axios] * The Ninth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Federal Arbitration Act. The plaintiffs claimed AT&T falsely advertised their “unlimited” service plans; the novel legal issue asked the court to hold AT&T be considered as acting for the state. [Law.com] * Mecklenburg County, N.C. went public with their decision not to pay after being hit with a ransomware attack. Their data was backed up, the best defense against this kind of cyber attack. [Big Law Business]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.15.17

* Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks that the people of Alabama should choose Attorney General Jeff Sessions as a write-in candidate to replace alleged pederast Roy Moore on the ballot for his former seat, but the AG has no desire to return to the Senate. [NPR] * The Ninth Circuit has temporarily allowed part of Travel Ban 3.0 to proceed. While that means issuances of visas to citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen will be restricted, there's a catch. Applicants with concrete ties to the country will be exempt. [POLITICO] * Wisconsin is so desperate to get lawyers to help indigent criminal defendants in rural areas that lawmakers have introduced new legislation that calls for the state to fund law school loan payments of up to $20,000 a year in exchange for the representation of these clients in need. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel] * Newsflash: In-house legal departments are planning to spend more on outside counsel in 2018. This is the first time this will have happened in more than a decade. Hopefully Biglaw's fee hikes don't come back to bite them. [Corporate Counsel] * After a two-month national postal survey, Australians have voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of same-sex marriage. Now it's up to the country's government to work out the details of the bill that will bring marriage equality down under. Congrats! [CNN]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.08.17

* The Ninth Circuit, President Donald Trump's judicial archnemesis, affirms Judge Derrick Watson's (modified) preliminary injunction against the "grandma ban." [How Appealing] * Donald Trump Jr. opens up to the Senate Judiciary Committee about that infamous June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer. [New York Times] * Consolidation continues in the legal-services world: Counsel On Call acquires e-discovery company DSicovery LLC (DSi). [ABA Journal] * The Trump administration sides with the anti-gay-marriage baker in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case that will be decided this coming Term by SCOTUS. [How Appealing] * ICYMI: Deborah Farone -- Cravath's chief marketing director for the past 14 years, and the "gold standard" in legal marketing -- is leaving Cravath to start her own consulting firm and to write a book on law firm marketing (to be published next year by the Practising Law Institute). [Law.com] * Cooley raids Wilson Sonsini for talent for the second time in three months, this time hiring emerging growth specialists Jon Avina, Calise Cheng, and Rachel Proffitt. [Big Law Business] * Legal research startup Casetext -- led by CEO Jake Heller, COO Laura Safdie, and VP Pablo Arredondo -- continues on its upward trajectory. [ABA Journal]

By David Lat