See Generally

What If We’re Just Mad This March? — See Generally

ATL Bracket: Which Of These Ghouls Should Get Disbarred First? There are still a few hours left to vote in our annual March anger bracket. Which Trump lawyer's ethically fraught work most warrants disciplinary inquiry. We have 4 regions worth of matchups... here, here, here, and here.

Back In The Day, Megafirms Cut Local Back Office Staff, Moving It All Offsite... AI Now Comes For Those Jobs: The jobs that were once cheaper in Tampa are now a lot cheaper with Claude.

Judge Calls Out NJ US Attorney's Office For Three-Raccoons-In-A-Trench-Coat Management Style: Who is actually running the NJ US Attorney's Office? Because the Trump DOJ's inability to do anything right is starting to risk putting child predators back on the streets. I mean... other than the ones in the redacted Epstein files.

Todd Blanche Still Laser Focused On Covering Up For Pedophiles: The Deputy AG seems to take a personal interest in blocking anything that might reveal Epstein's accomplices.

Weil Gotshal Names First Female Executive Partner: Ramona Nee will become Weil's first woman to hold the executive partner title in firm's history.

Trump Rage-Posts 1,000 Words About The Supreme Court At 11 PM On A Sunday: With a war in Iran, a China-Taiwan standoff, and DHS in shutdown, the president still found time for a meandering rant about the Court he packed.

Because I Got Sued (Because I Got Sued): Afroman mocked the cops who wrongfully raided his house... so they sued him for hurting their feelings.

AI Costs Human Lawyer His Job… Just Not The Way The Tech People Expected — See Generally

AI-Brained AUSA Falls On His Sword... I Wonder If That Was Also ChatGPT's Advice: Federal prosecutor who filed AI-hallucinations -- and then made misleading statements about how they got there -- resigned rather than force a judge to decide whether his entire office should share the sanctions.

DOJ Argues Biglaw Cowardice Proves Its Orders Are Legal: After briefly pretending it would stop defending Trump's Biglaw executive orders, DOJ is back in appellate court and arguing that the orders are legal because so many other law firms did NOT challenge the orders.

Ninth Circuit Judges Beg Colleague To Act Like A Grown-Up: Judge Lawrence VanDyke opted for crude trolling in a trans discrimination dissent, prompting colleagues to issue judicial plea for the unqualified judge to display basic professionalism.

Sidley Joins The 'Partner, But Not Like That' Club: Another firm adopts an income partner tier, as old guard attorneys continue building moats around their equity.

Law Student's 'End Political Violence' Flyers Earn Discipline... Earning Law School A Legal Threat: A Campbell Law student put up Charlie Kirk flyers with the message "End Political Violence," and the school pulled them down with a warning. Now they've got some explaining to do before ending up in court.

UNM Law Hits The Scholarship Jackpot: A $4.5 million donation from alumni Eric and Dana Marie Knapp will fund full-ride scholarships for ten UNM law students over 30 years, up from one every three years.

DLA Piper Makes A Verein Important Decision: The massive law firm is ditching its Swiss verein structure in favor of a unified profit pool.

Change Change Change — See Generally

But If We Changed The Rules...: Department of Justice proposes new rule that allows Pam Bondi to decide if any of her lawyers violated state ethics rules. This should work out great!

Trump Over Grades: Law school tells students that prestigious jobs are open if they're loyal to Trump, and that GPA isn't much of a factor.

Bye Bye Piece Of The Equity Pie: Arnold & Porter creates income tier.

What If We Just Get Rid Of The Author?: Federal Circuit dissents drop once they invent a new exception to life tenure to get rid of Judge Newman.

DOJ Gives Up Unconstitutional Nonsense Case... OR DO THEY?!?: Trump's attempt to ruin Biglaw firms who wouldn't pay him off dies a quiet death in court. Then, within 24 hours, the DOJ tells the court that it's reversing itself and would like to continue illegally harassing law firms.

Speaking Of Reversals: The Florida Bar opened an investigation into ethically challenged government lawyer Lindsey Halligan. And then immediately announced that it didn't know anything about that.

AI Could Mess Up The Outside Counsel Relationship: This tech may not replace lawyers, but it might replace which lawyers do the work.

Chief Justice Roberts Stares Into The Abyss — See Generally

Chief Justice Roberts Relishes Role As President's Favorite Doormat: John Roberts traded his credibility so Trump could hold press conferences calling the Chief "very unpatriotic."

But Don't Call It A Comeback: And don't mistake his tariffs opinion -- or those of Barrett and Gorsuch either -- as a redemption arc. They only put their foot down when Trump's actions started hurting their buddies.

New York Bar Examiners Tell Blizzard-Stranded Applicants To Show Up Or Else: Over 10,000 flights canceled? Travel bans across multiple states? Bar examiners remained unmoved.

Judge Cannon Sides With Trump, And In Other News, Water Is Wet: Judge buries report detailing the evidence of Trump's criminal charges because she knows where her bread is buttered.

Ninth Circuit Says Size Doesn't Matter: Appeals court smacks down fee-shaming of small law firms.

Your AI Prompts May... Or May Not... Be Privileged: Competing decisions over AI and privilege mean your legal brainstorming sessions with a chatbot might end up in discovery. Welcome to the future.

Maurene Comey Lands Partner Gig: James Comey's daughter makes partner at a law firm after being unceremoniously drummed out of the DOJ by a vindictive administration.

Supreme Court Justices Spend Opinion Sniping At Each Other — See Generally

SCOTUS Justices Spend 170 Pages Airing Office Drama: Supreme Court nukes Trump's tariffs and treat us to all their petty grievances. Except for Thomas who just wrote some ramblings about the powers of the crown.

Another Biglaw Firm Decides Two's Company When It Comes To Partnership Tiers: Global giant unveils shiny nonequity track and tweaked lockstep, pushing the single-tier partnership model doomsday clock closer to midnight.

Trump Judge Admits The Constitutional House Is On Fire: If it's not yet a “constitutional crisis,” it's rounding third with a head of steam.

DOJ Plays 'Name The Crime' And Loses: Trump administration wanted to prosecute Democratic lawmakers but never bothered to figure out a single statute that got broken.

No Facts, Pound The Law. No Law, Pound The Table. No Table, Pound The... Uh Oh: Texas prosecutors argue that a defendant masturbating during testimony wasn't "inappropriate" if the judge and jury didn't notice.

Another Am Law 100 Firm Discovers AI Is Not A Lawyer: Major firm accused of filing a hallucination-laced brief. When will this end?

Pentagon Decide Its Lawyers Need To Be Dumber: Defense Department tells future military lawyers that they can no longer attend the best law schools in the country.

Deposition Advice Of The Year Goes To “I’ll F---ing Kill You”: Brevity is the soul of wit and depostion responses.

Judge Declares Mistrial Over Shirt: Lawyer's civil rights celebration shirt causes judge to cry bias.

Law Professor Arrested On 50 Counts Of Child Sexual Abuse Material: Barry University law professor and interim associate dean arrested in Florida; prosecutors say hundreds of thousands of images were found.

Layoffs, And Mergers, And Epstein, Oh My! — See Generally

Top 10 Biglaw Firm Decides The Future Is Smaller: Hundreds of support staff are out, and leadership cites AI as a key factor. Should lawyers be worried? If AI comes for the attorneys, it's going to be a matter of the firm's business model.

You'll Never Guess Who Ken Starr Called “My Friend, My Brother”: Oh, of course you will... it was Jeffrey Epstein.

Those Kathryn Ruemmler Emails Deserve A Closer Look: The soon-to-be-former Goldman Sachs legal chief tried to downplay her Epstein connections. Here's why they still mattered.

Biglaw Pumps The Brakes On Early Recruiting: For once, law students may get to finish a semester before firms start treating them like draft picks.

The World’s Richest Law Firm Goes Country: Biglaw’s financial juggernaut joins Nashville market.

Jeanine Pirro's Office Not Ready For Its Closeup: The latest epic fail from Pirro's tenure as U.S. Attorney involved bringing one of her old assistants out of retirement to pursue a case while running his dance photography studio.

Perkins Coie Eyes Retention Bonuses As Merger Nerves Set In: Nothing says “we’re excited about this tie-up” like quietly calculating how much it costs to keep partners from bolting.

HBCU Law School Told “Black” Is Off-Limits For Black History Month: In latest culture-war absurdity, administrators thought the safest word is no word at all.

DOJ Lawyer Delivers Moment Of Pure Honesty, Promptly Fired — See Generally

DOJ Lawyer Invites Judge To Hold Her In Contempt Just To Get Some Rest: Government attorney called out the challenges preventing her from complying with court orders and begs for rest. The DOJ immediately fired her.

Brad Karp Era Ends At Paul Weiss: Paul Weiss undergoes impromptu leadership shuffle after Epstein files reveal conversations with Epstein.

Republicans Get Huffy About Justice Jackson Attending The Grammys: GOP decides the real scandal is a Supreme Court justice hearing musicians as mad about ICE as the rest of the country.

Biglaw Epstein Victim Drafted Own Sex Contract: Clifford Chance alum went on to law school at Berkeley, paid for by Epstein.

Anthropic Enters Legal Tech, Creates Immediate Freakout: New twist in AI arms race as one of the big players enters the fray directly.

DOJ Hiring Prosecutors Based On Sliding Into DMs: Federal hiring hits new low.

Whole New Meaning To Judicial Restraint — See Generally

Judge Learns Handcuffing Lawyers Is Frowned Upon: Texas judge charged after allegedly cuffing an attorney mid-hearing.

Disbar Them All: Lawyers have to come together as a profession and make sure the Trump administration's lawyers never practice again.

Judge Skeptical That Trump Can Unilaterally Blow Up Historic Buildings: The East Wing is gone, but the legal fight continues.

Tip For Professor Richard Epstein... Shutting Up Is Still Free: Law professor who faceplanted on COVID insists now declares he’s figured out that everyone has been wrong about the Fourteenth Amendment for a century or so. He is incorrect.

Law School Merger Mania: Regional institution is exploring long-distance merger.

Stroock Calls It After 150 Years: The storied firm dissolves, reminding everyone that nothing is forever.

Law Firm Jet Crash Leaves No Survivors: Tragically, a firm-owned plane went down with no survivors.

Partnerships, Legal Education, Marriages… Lawyers Were Destroying Everything Last Week — See Generally

Another Biglaw Single-Tier Partnership Falls: The path to upward mobility got a little narrower.

Florida And Texas Take Over Legal Education From The ABA: Both states have made abundantly clear that their schools are headed for a dumpster fire.

Supreme Court Hacked, Which Tracks: America’s highest court might want to consider changing its password to something harder than "12345."

Former Senator Turned Biglaw Lawyer Sued For Ruining A Marriage: The complaint reads less like a legal dispute and more like a prestige HBO drama. Well... STARZ drama anyway..

Former Biglaw Associate Who Refused To Bend The Knee Earns Top Honor: Above the Law readers select lawyer who chose principle over prestige as 2025 Lawyer of the Year.

Lindsey Halligan Responds To Illegal Appointment Allegations By Doubling Down: Trump’s most loyal lawyer insists the problem isn’t the law -- it’s everyone insisting on following it.

New Law School Rises From The Ashes Of A Prior Disaster: Hopefully this time is different.

Former Biglaw Partner Charged With Murder: The profession confronts a grim reminder that elite credentials are not character references.

Law School Arms Students With Anti-ICE Hotline: As federal enforcement escalates, one institution decides protecting students matters more than staying quiet.

The New Year Is A Time For Endings — See Generally

Midsize Law Firm Begins New Year By Closing: Firm's resolution appears to have been to shed all its offices.

Judge Ho Trades Common Decency For Chance To Suck Up To Trump: The president's fans are sending violent threats to federal judges. Judge Ho wants to make clear to anyone who might choose a future Supreme Court justice that he doesn't think those threats should be that big of a deal.

ICE Kills Minneapolis Woman And Will Probably Evade Justice: Prosecuting the ICE agent who killed Renee Good presents an uphill battle. Unfortunately, civil relief could prove just as elusive.

The Third Amendment Doomsday Clock Ticks Closer To Midnight: Hilton cut off a franchisee after the Department of Homeland Security attacked the global chain over social media because the local management did not want to deal with the protests related to housing ICE agents.

See Ya!: Judge placed on leave after video of racist and homophobic remarks went viral has now lost her job.

Fake U.S. Attorney Can't Take A Hint: Judge losing patience with Lindsey Halligan pretending to be a prosecutor.

Chief Justice's Annual Report Cites Founding Father Who Would Have Zero Tolerance For This Nonsense: The man who gave Donald Trump absolute immunity framed his latest report around Thomas Paine.

Mega Merger Just In Time For The Holidays — See Generally

Cadwalader Joining Up With Hogan Lovells: After a few months of merger chatter, we have a new home for America's oldest firm.

ICE Accidentally Publishes Enemies List: The agency briefly posted what looked an awful lot like a watch list of immigration lawyers, in case you're wondering what stage of dystopia we're at.

Lindsey Halligan Gets Taken To The Woodshed Again: Trump’s favorite lawyer continues her tour of adverse rulings and judicial side-eye.

Biglaw Firm Faces Serious Allegations: Former associate accuses former partner of rape and asserts hostile work environment claims against the firm.

Prepare Yourself For Rankings Season Discourse: U.S. News is back to reshuffling law schools, ensuring everyone is furious for reasons no one can fully explain.

Dershowitz Spins Wheel Of Nonsense Legal Theories... Lands On 'What If The 22nd Amendment Isn't Real?': Trump wants a third term and his favorite legal scholar is there to muddy up the constitutional waters .

Man Arrested Over Meme Takes His Case To Court: A civil rights lawsuit asks whether free speech still applies.

Tracking Biglaw Bonuses And War Crimes — See Generally

Bonus Tracker Season Officially Begins: Clear your calendars, mute your partners, and keep refreshing -- the market has opinions and associates have spreadsheets.

Military's New GenAI Knows A War Crime When It Sees One: Pete Hegseth's new toy immediately doubleclicked on why you can't double tap.

Federal Judge Who Allegedly Ignored Court Orders Now Allegedly Ignoring Court Ethics: Emil Bove remains consistent!

The Time For Persuasion Is Over: Justice Sotomayor had the administration by the throat, but opted to try to convince the majority to see reason when the nation is well past that point.

Global Biglaw Merger Discovers Divorce Is Also An Option: The once-trumpeted international tie-up is quietly preparing to go its separate ways, proving synergy is temporary but regret is forever.

Firm Beats Trump In Court, Loses To Office Attendance Policy: After defeating executive overreach, the firm turned inward and mandated more face time with the copy machine.

Professor Sues After Discovering Free Speech Has Conditions: Retaliation over comments about Charlie Kirk heads to federal court, where irony enjoys strong venue selection.

Your Honor, May The Record Reflect… Dicks v. Kuntz — See Generally

Serious Case, Extremely Not-Serious Caption: Get ready to giggle like you're 12-years old again.

"Shrug" Is Not Really The Response Anyone Who Cares About The Rule Of Law Wanted To Hear: The disciplinary (non) case against Lindsay Halligan.

Say What You Want About Kim Kardashian's Quest To Become An Esquire: But it sure isn't a reason to get *rid* of the bar exam. Quite the opposite, actually.

USC Law Drama: The divorce that launched a Title IX investigation, a federal lawsuit, and lots of intrigue.

2025 Is Weird, But I Didn't Have Digging Up A Supreme Court Justice's Bones On My Bingo Card: Conservative legal analysts may have lost the plot.

Todd Blanche Chilling Warning To White-Collar Lawyers: Shut up or else.

Trial Lawyer. Fact Witness: Alex Spiro can do it all.

All The Latest Biglaw Bonus Info: In one convenient place.

LOLSuit To Cost Trump Dearly — See Generally

Eleventh Circuit Won't Save Trump And Habba From Sanctions: The American presidency goes from "a million points of light" to "a million dollars in legal sanctions" in a generation.

Milbank Makes Biglaw Bonus Amounts Official: The firm finally weighed in and matched the market.

One Simple Trick To Make Associates Happy: Turns out that giving people money works better than wellness webinars.

Lindsey Halligan Pulls Off A Perfect Double-Faceplant: In a remarkable display of efficiency, she managed to lose both of her big cases in one swoop.

Biglaw Announces Stress-Reduction Plan For Summer Associates: The program is shorter now, which is one way to prepare them for being laid off in favor of AI in a couple years.

Law Professor Responds To Trump With Karate Chop: In defense of Miss Piggy.

Biglaw Bonus Season Arrives! — See Generally

Cravath Starts Bonus Season, Everyone Begin The Freakout: The firm kicked off the year-end festivities and peers began the scramble to match.

Lindsey Halligan Sets New Low Score: Trump’s most loyal lawyer somehow managed to botch our already subterranean expectations.

Biglaw Firm Celebrating The Holidays With Some Mandatory Togetherness: Associates expecting a bonus announcement found out they'd be spending more time enjoying the privilege of fluorescent lighting.

Judge Jerry Smith’s Goes Full Wingnut In Texas Redistricting Case: And, to be clear, the Supreme Court will find a way to sanewash it.

Disbarment Shoe Drops: Josh Kindred’s long-running ethics circus ends exactly where everyone knew it would.

DoorDash Driver Learns Viral Content Can Be A Felony: Refusing to put on pants is already the most popular reason to call DoorDash.

Biglaw’s Latest Transatlantic Marriage Proposal: Ashurst and Perkins Coie look to join forces.