Paul Manafort

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.14.20

* A New Jersey lawyer has been suspended from practice for posting a client's criminal history in a negative online review. Guess the disciplinary review board told the lawyer: "you're not 'Yelp'ing"... [ABA Journal] * Tons of my fellow Garden State attorneys in the Morning Docket today. Another New Jersey lawyer is in hot water for "friending" a litigant on Facebook to collect dirt. [New Jersey Law Journal] * Paul Manafort is the latest high-profile figure released from prison early because of COVID-19. [Fox News] * A paralegal for a U.S. Attorney's Office is accused of giving information to a drug cartel. Her brother-in-law is allegedly the head of a drug-trafficking organization; seems like background checks could have been better. [CBS News] * A staff attorney for the Cobb County, Georgia Magistrate Court was shot and killed while confronting a gunman last week. [Atlanta Journal Constitution] * Hackers are demanding $21 million from a law firm or they may release materials related to the firm's clients, which include Elton John, Madonna, and Lady Gaga. Hope the firm has a good "poker face." [Variety]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.23.19

* Attorneys general from 47 states are now conducting antitrust investigations of Facebook. The other three attorneys general must still have MySpace... [CNN] * An ex-Manafort attorney has been retained by indicted Giuliani associate Igor Fruman -- hope the lawyer has better luck this time. [Politico] * Amber Guyger, the Dallas police officer convicted of killing her neighbor in his own home, has filed a notice of appeal. [CNN] * Trump administration lawyers argued before a federal appeals court yesterday that unauthorized immigrants should be detained indefinitely while seeking asylum. [San Francisco Chronicle] * The Florida Bar is seeking to suspend an attorney with 31 ethics complaints filed against him, but the lawyer is nowhere to be found. Maybe he's with Saul Goodman... [Tampa Bay Times]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.17.19

* Faster lawyers don't necessarily mean better lawyers sounds like something a client would say just before demanding an overnight answer. [Law.com] * Jurists rallying behind judge charged with obstruction for not letting ICE demean the judicial system by turning it into stakeout location. [National Law Journal] * Prosecutors seek 15 year sentence for Manafort's former son-in-law. Maybe Skadden can write a report justifying his actions? [Politico] * Shenzhen is coming and Biglaw has a new market to figure out. [American Lawyer] * JP Morgan traders accused of 8-year racket. This is in contrast to the more broadly defined 220-year racket the company's been up to. [Law360] * White House ordering more people to ignore subpoenas, so that's a super development for the rule of law. [Courthouse News Service] * While the UK endures a constitutional meltdown, here are fun facts about their Supreme Court. [Legal Cheek]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 09.06.19

* “I like sex. Sex is fun and I can get paid for it. You can make a job out of this? That’s fantastic.” Sears said. “Why would I not do this?” Of course we've heard about the lawyer who's also working as a prostitute. We'll have more on this incredibly interesting story later today. [KCCI Des Moines] * Will 2019 be a year without a blockbuster Biglaw merger? With the A&O/O’Melveny combo off the table, it could be. “There were so many mergers the last couple of years that we are seeing a slowdown.” [American Lawyer] * Lawyers for Paul Manafort are trying to get a mortgage fraud case against him in New York dismissed, citing double jeopardy law. He doesn’t want to have to do more jail time, even if Trump pardons him. [Reuters] * Lawyer staffing company Axiom will no longer be pursuing an IPO thanks to an infusion of cash from private equity firm Permira Funds. It would have been one of the first publicly traded legal businesses in the country. [Big Law Business] * Remember the Jussie Smollett controversy where the actor claimed he was involved in a racist and homophobic attack? His lawyers say he shouldn’t have to pay Chicago six figures for the investigation into the hoax because how was he supposed to know so much time would be spent on it. [ABC 7 Chicago]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.19.19

* Hope Hicks, Donald Trump‘s former communications director, will testify today before the House Judiciary Committee, which is leading an investigation into the president’s possible obstruction of justice. The closed-door hearing could last all day. Let’s see how this one goes... [Reuters] * Thanks to some intervention by the DOJ, it looks like Paul Manafort won’t be going to Rikers after all. He’ll remain in federal custody during his state proceedings. [ABC News] * In the wake of the Kozinski sexual harassment scandal, the Ninth Circuit has hired a workplace relations director and adopted some meaningful changes to its dispute resolution policy and its confidentiality policy. Plus, communications skills training will be mandatory all employees, including judges. [Big Law Business] * In case you missed it, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg won the Best Real-Life Hero at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. She was also nominated in the Best Fight category for her fight against inequality, but lost to Captain Marvel's fight against Minn-Erva. [The Hill] * A student from Florida A&M Law has filed suit against the school, claiming that FAMU didn’t respond appropriately after an admissions counselor allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed her. We’ll have more on this later. [Daily Business Review]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.05.19

* The White House has told former staffers Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson to ignore a congressional subpoena for documents (as most Trump staffers are wont to do), but at least Hicks is cooperating a little bit. [Salon] * Meanwhile, Paul Manafort, one of President Trump’s former henchmen, will likely be transferred to Rikers Island where he’ll be held in solitary confinement while he faces state fraud charges in New York. Yikes... [Intelligencer / New York Magazine] * Alabama wants convicted child sex offenders to pay for their own mandatory chemical castrations before they can leave prison. If you’re shocked by this, please remember this is just Alabama being Alabama. [The Hill] * There’s no pure applesauce here: John Scalia, son of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, is heading back to Greenberg Traurig in Northern Virginia after spending a few years at Pillsbury in D.C. [Big Law Business] * Move over, Doogie Howser, because these young phenoms are heading to law school in droves. Aaron Parnas, who started law school at the ripe age of 18, has some advice for the latest crop of teenage 1Ls. [Law.com]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.20.19

* Anti-money laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank reportedly saw suspicious activity in accounts belonging to Donald Trump and Jared Kushner and thought it ought to be reported to the Treasury Department‘s financial-crimes unit, but... that never happened because “[i]t’a the D.B. way.” [New York Times] * That’s one way to land a Biglaw job: According to Greg Craig, there was nothing “improper or tawdry” about him asking Skansen Arps to hire Paul Manafort’s daughter to get more business. In fact, he says this sort of thing happens “daily in private law firms.” [POLITICO] * In case you missed it, on Friday afternoon, the American Bar Association adopted a controversial new bar-pass accreditation standard that requires at least 75 percent of a law school’s students to pass the bar within two years of graduation. How many law schools are going to close thanks to this new rule? [Law.com] * Stormy Daniels has reached a settlement with Michael Cohen in a suit that was filed by her former attorney Michael Avenatti over Donald Trump’s affair hush money, saying she’s “ready to move on and put these cases behind her.” [Los Angeles Times] * Is the billable hour what’s driving all of the mental health and burnout issues that lawyers are facing? All signs seem to point to yes, but at least some firms are trying to figure out a new way to do business. [Law.com]

By Staci Zaretsky