Paul Manafort

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.10.19

* With numerous contempt of Congress charges swirling thanks to the inaction of Trump administration officials, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has declared that the nation is in the midst of a constitutional crisis. It was only a matter of time before this happened. [New York Times] * Meanwhile, in the wake of Speaker Pelosi’s comments, President Trump now says that he’ll leave it up to AG Bill Barr to determine whether special counsel Robert Mueller will be permitted to testify before Congress. Frankly, he’s more concerned about Don Jr. now. [New York Times] * C. Allen Parker, former Cravath presiding partner turned Wells Fargo GC turned Wells Fargo acting CEO, has done something very wise in his short time leading the troubled bank: He created a regulatory and compliance group. Smooth move! [Corporate Counsel] * “I want my life back.” Jessica Crutcher has come forward as the formerly anonymous Mayer Brown partner behind the $20 million suit where she alleged that a bartender at a Houston restaurant raped her. [Texas Lawyer] * Paul Manafort has officially been disbarred in D.C. after his conviction for “tampering with witnesses while on pre-trial release,” a crime of moral turpitude. This poor crook lost everything thanks to his association with Donald Trump. [Big Law Business] * Conan O’Brien has settled a lawsuit that accused him of copyright infringement through joke theft, writing that he “decided to forgo a potentially farcical and expensive jury trial in federal court over five jokes that don’t even make sense anymore.” [Variety]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.14.19

* With those big, complex planes grounded, it's time to start gearing up for some lawsuits. [Law.com] * Another lawyer involved in the college entrance cheating and bribery scandal. [The Recorder] * Speaking of lawsuits and the admissions scandal... the first class action has been filed. [Courthouse News Service] * Biglaw firm posts record revenue and profits. This story is basically interchangeable with all the other ones from the past couple weeks. Whether or not it's sustainable is another story. [American Lawyer] * Susan Collins is pushing for LGBTQ rights legislation so people might forget that she's responsible for installing the biggest threats to LGBTQ rights on the Court. [CBS News] * I mean... technically she said the words "no collusion." That she called the idea a non-sequitur in the next breath is a trifle. [Vox] * Cy Vance is going after Paul Manafort because it's a headline. [Law360]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.13.19

* Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of the House Intelligence Committee is none too pleased with the Justice Department at the moment. Apparently two unnamed senior officials said the DOJ might refuse to share special counsel Robert Mueller's report with Congress, a claim Schiff called "absolutely insupportable." [ABC News] * Last week, Paul Manafort was sentenced to under four years in jail by Judge T.S. Ellis III (just a little less than the 19 to 24 years called for in the sentencing guidelines), and today, Judge Amy Berman Jackson could sentence him to up to 10 years behind bars. [The Hill] * Michael Avenatti and Stormy Daniels have officially "broken up" (i.e., their attorney/client relationship has ended), and their announcement was obviously made on Twitter. Clark Brewster will now serve as her personal lawyer. [Daily Beast] * In case you missed it, the federal judiciary announced a major change to how it will respond to allegations of sexual misconduct. Per Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit, it is now "misconduct not to report misconduct." [Big Law Business] * "[I]f this deal is not passed, then Brexit could be lost." Unconvinced, British lawmakers have once again rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan to leave the European Union. Will this be the end of Brexit? [USA Today] * Women lawyers continue to push for lactation rooms in courthouses across the country, and now, the ABA House of Delegates has passed a resolution to make sure all courts create proper facilities for mothers who need to pump or nurse. [Law.com] * Elon Musk claims that the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to unconstitutionally censor him and "trample on" his First Amendment rights. This is all over a tweet on Twitter, mind you. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non Sequiturs: 03.10.19

* "I Thought I Could Be A Christian And Constitutionalist At Yale Law School. I Was Wrong." So writes Aaron Haviland, a 3L at Yale Law School. [The Federalist] * But if you can survive YLS as a conservative, you might thrive in the world beyond -- just ask Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who's now a powerful voice on judicial nominations. [Bench Memos / National Review] * How often does the Notorious RBG see a brief citing the Notorious BIG? Check out this fun read, filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of a constellation of hip-hop stars represented by Alex Spiro and Ellyde Thompson of Quinn Emanuel. [Supreme Court of the United States via New York Times] * Yes, I've been on a hiatus from Twitter -- and maybe I'm on to something, if you agree with Stephen Cooper. [Spectator] * "For your information," Georgia trial judges, "the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint." [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason] * Retired Judge Nancy Gertner (D. Mass.) believes that U.S. sentencing needs reform -- but Paul Manafort's case is far from the ideal vehicle for it. [Washington Post] * Congratulations to Fastcase on its latest alliance, this time with credit-reporting giant TransUnion. [Dewey B Strategic] * And congrats to Neota Logic on its new Dashboard feature, which sounds nifty. [Artificial Lawyer]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.08.19

* Paul Manafort got 4 years out of a possible 24. A lot of breathless ranting will come out of this but the reality is 4 years is a significant amount of time to be incarcerated and the guidelines are crazy. Don't be mad that Manafort got too little, be mad that the system generally (and Judge Ellis in particular) unquestioningly applies the guidelines to give far too much to poor and minority defendants. [CNN] * Frankly, the charges that should earn Manafort heavy jail time are the charges of lying to the Mueller probe because that's where there's a significant interest in setting punitive disincentives. And Judge Jackson may have a very different view on how "otherwise blameless" Manafort's been. [Daily Beast] * While we're on these never-ending Trump orbit stories, Michael Cohen is suing Trump for legal fees since, he points out, all his problems stem from work he did in the official course of his duties. [New York Law Journal] * Wearing a disguise to court is totally normal lawyer behavior. [New York Times] * Orrick joins the $1B revenue club. [The Recorder] * Remember the drunken airline rant lady? She's facing jail time. [Legal Cheek] * George Mason receives largest gift in school history, but it'll never match the gift they gave prospective students the ATL community when they descriptively renamed their law school ASS Law. [Inside Higher Ed]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.07.19

* Paul Manafort sweating today as he only has a few more hours to commit more crimes. [NY Times] * Wilbur Ross broke the law and violated the Constitution over census question. [Washington Post] * As a change of pace from the daily updates on the criminal activity of those in Trump's orbit, Canada's government is embroiled in a corruption scandal too. But it's a polite scandal. [CBC] * Driverless vehicles are going to revolutionize everything -- including the law. [Legaltech News] * A wide-ranging chat with the last crier of the Supreme Court about long-ago justices and the lost art of crying. [National Law Journal] * Pryor Cashman sues Brother Jimmy's over walking out on a tab. [NY Post] * Fox podcast tackles the murder of FSU Law's Dan Markel. [Fox News]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.25.19

* Some think Justice Clarence Thomas may be dropping hints that he's about to retire (e.g., this little First Amendment gem), but those who know him well think he's getting ready for a conservative revolution, and he's got an army of former clerks to back him up. [CNN] * It’s Mueller time! Special counsel Robert Mueller’s sentencing memo for Paul Manafort is 800 pages long and makes the president’s former campaign chairman out to be a "hardened" and "bold" criminal who “repeatedly and brazenly” broke the law and “presents a grave risk of recidivism.” [New York Times] * A federal judge has ruled that the all-male military draft that requires men to register with the Selective Service System is unconstitutional, as "the time has passed" for debate on women's roles in the armed services. [USA Today] * Paul Manafort's get out of jail free card might not save him from more charges. New York prosecutors are ready to file a case against Donald Trump's ex-campaign chairman if he's pardoned by the president for all of his other crimes. [Bloomberg] * Benjamin Rauf, the Temple Law School graduate accused of killing one of his classmates in a drug deal gone bad, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and a weapons charge and been sentenced to 15 years behind bars. [Delaware News Journal] * Thanks to ATL's 2018 Lawyer of the Year Michael Avenatti, R. Kelly was indicted and arrested on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. His bond was set at an "exceedingly reasonable" $1 million, but he's already spent some time in jail because he couldn't come up with the $100,000 bail needed to leave. [Chicago Tribune] * In case you missed it, Brooklyn Law School graduate Shawn Sinclair was kicked out of the running to become DJ Pauly D's girlfriend on MTV's "Game of Clones" because she's more "dinner, couch, sweatpants" than "gym, tan, laundry." [MTV]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.14.19

* Paul Manafort is the Energizer Bunny of lying and he'd now botched his own plea deal. [Huffington Post] * Apple attorney in charge of insider trading compliance charged with... insider trading. [Law360] * John Roberts declared himself the First Amendment's most passionate defender at the Supreme Court, which is absolutely true if you limit the First Amendment to political bribery and bigots with cake shops. [National Law Journal] * EU adopts new copyright law! It's... not good. [EFF] * The Harvard admissions case -- the Trojan horse action about gutting affirmative action programs -- is now in the hands of Judge Allison Burroughs for the perfunctory first act on the road to a 5-4 Supreme Court opinion. [Law.com] * Proskauer inches toward the $1B revenue mark. [American Lawyer] * A review of Biglaw cafeterias in the UK. If any firms out there want Above the Law to duplicate this story here in America, feel free to give us a call. [Legal Cheek]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.18.19

* Trump instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, which was a rotten thing to do to America's hottest lawyer. [Buzzfeed] * Skadden settles with government over Manafort fiasco to the tune of $4.6 million. [NY Times] * Ben Brafman officially out as Harvey Weinstein's lawyer. [Law360] * Net neutrality case will press forward after the DC Circuit told the FCC it couldn't use Trump's shutdown as an excuse to delay the case. [National Law Journal] * Clients planning to spend more on tech and less on lawyers... this is how it begins, people. [International] * Lawyer contends that 51-year-old man who punched an 11-year-old girl was acting in self-defense. This is why our profession can't have nice things. [Huffington Post] * The top tech legal cases of the last 20 years. [Ars Technica]

By Joe Patrice