Recent Headlines from Above the Law

  • Morning Docket: 08.02.19
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 08.02.19

    * Is SCOTUS Trump’s “lap dog” — at least concerning the border wall? “[T]hat the majority rushed to give the administration everything it asked for, tells us all we need to know about the Supreme Court at this moment — and sadly, frighteningly, tells President Trump the same thing.” [New York Times]

    * Where has Leah Wilson, the California bar’s executive director, been amid all of the madness concerning the state’s unhead of leak of its bar exam essay topics? As it turns out, Wilson’s son took the test this week, so she was “walled off” from everything having to do with the massive screw-up. [The Recorder]

    * That’s all, folks! The Judicial Conference’s Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability officially has no interest in taking another look at the previously rejected misconduct complaints against Justice Brett Kavanaugh related to his Supreme Court confirmation testimony. [National Law Journal]

    * Cozen O’Connor recently acquired the Miller Law Group, one of California’s largest woman-owned employment law firms, and the combination will help bolster the Biglaw firm’s headcount in its its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. Congrats! [Big Law Business]

    * In case you missed it, Cyntoia Brown, the woman who’d been serving a life sentence since she was 16 years old and got her sentence commuted after catching Kim Kardashian’s attention (and the attention of the reality star cum law student’s legal team), will be released next week. [Refinery29]

  • Morning Docket: 09.19.18
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 09.19.18

    * Credit card companies ponying up more money to settle claims that they rogered retailers on swipe fees. They’ll probably make that money back in 3 days so don’t shed too many tears. [Law360]

    * Mark Judge brings on Cozen in the off chance Grassley develops a spine and demands Judge’s testimony. Which he won’t. [National Law Journal]

    * Former Cadwalader chair sues wife to block condo sale to bail out adult son. [NY Post]

    * The SEC is looking to futz with the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions, which should help us get back to that cozy world where financial interests can easily plunge the economy into turmoil again. [National Law Journal]

    * Facebook accused of gender bias in keeping job listings away from female users. [Corporate Counsel]

    * Right-wing attorney Jason Lee Van Dyke arrested on filing a false police report charge. [Daily Beast]

    * Supreme Court overrules John Roberts and pushes back against dark money shenanigans. Consider this a brief respite until Kavanaugh shows up. [Courthouse News Service]

  • Morning Docket: 11.03.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 11.03.17

    * 41 Cat Pictures That Prove Beyond All Doubt That Being BuzzFeed’s GC Is Freaking Awesome. [Big Law Business]

    * Jeffrey Wertkin, the ex-Akin Gump partner accused of trying to sell whistleblower complaints while in disguise, plans to plead guilty later this month. As he said upon arrest, maybe his life really is over… [The Recorder]

    * Professor Stephanos Bibas of Penn Law was confirmed to the Third Circuit by the Senate in a 53-43 vote. According to the law school’s dean, Bibas “possesses all the skills to excel on the federal bench.” Congratulations! [Philadelphia Inquirer]

    * Justice Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court was confirmed to the Sixth Circuit by the Senate in a 60-38 vote. If you recall, Larsen was on the original version of President Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist, and was one of his top five finalists for Justice Neil Gorsuch’s position. Congratulations! [Detroit Free Press]

    * Cozen O’Connor’s lobbying affiliate, Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, poached a five-lawyer team of lobbyists from Manatt, and now Manatt no longer has a lobbying practice. [New York Law Journal]

  • Morning Docket: 09.11.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 09.11.17

    * “Legal aid is critical after a natural disaster,” so the Florida Bar has raised the income cap for its online legal clinic so Floridians affected by Hurricane Irma can get legal assistance, and the Florida Bar Foundation has set aside $500,000 to support legal aid organizations. How generous! [Law.com]

    * Sixteen years have passed since the September 11 attacks, but we’ve yet to try or convict any of the five men who are said to have planned the day that changed America, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged “architect of 9/11.” Some lawyers wonder why this “isn’t a cause for more outrage.” [Al Jazeera]

    * In case you missed it, Irell & Manella has elected Ellisen Turner as its first African-American managing partner. Among the many accolades he’s earned over the course of his illustrious legal career, Above the Law once referred to him as a “hottie.” Congratulations on all accounts! [Big Law Business]

    * Lawmakers from both parties are interested in holding hearings on the massive Equifax hack, and after outcry from state attorneys general about an arbitration clause that would have prevented those affected by the data breach from suing, the credit reporting agency has changed its terms of service. [The Hill]

    * In the wake of Justice Scalia’s death, Justice Kagan says the remaining justices did everything they could to avoid 4-4 split decisions: “[W]e all made a very serious effort to try to find common ground even where we thought we couldn’t. It sort of forced us to keep talking to each other.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

    * Which Biglaw firm is about to get a lot bigger? It’s Cozen O’Connor, apparently. According to CEO Michael Heller, he’d like to increase the firm’s head count to somewhere between 700 and 1,000 lawyers in the next five years. About 600 attorneys are currently working at Cozen. [Am Law Daily]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 05.05.17
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 05.05.17

    * What does Biglaw firm Cozen O’Connor share in common with Brooklyn hipsters? [Philadelphia Business Journal]

    * Glenn Reynolds offers concise commentary on Comey. [Instapundit]

    * “Kozinski, circuit judge, ruminating” — yeah, you know you want to click…. [Volokh Conspiracy]

    * Professor Ann Althouse does not “like” punishing high school students for their Facebook activity. [Althouse]

    * And Professor Orly Lobel questions the use of noncompetes, especially in terms of low-wage workers and women. [New York Times via PrawfsBlawg]

    * How many Jewish justices have we had in Supreme Court history? [U.S. National Archives via How Appealing]

  • Morning Docket: 04.26.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 04.26.17

    * Can you hear me now? Modern marvels of technology like cellphones and other electronic devices are barred from the Supreme Court during oral arguments, but yesterday, justice was interrupted by the ringing of… a Justice’s cellphone. Who was the culprit? The offending phone belonged to Justice Stephen Breyer. Oopsie! [AP]

    * After a week charged with sexual harassment allegations and the ouster of Bill O’Reilly, just when Fox News thought its troubles were over, a group of current and former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the network alleging “abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination.” The plaintiffs’ lawyers got in this zinger of a statement: “When it comes to racial discrimination, 21st Century Fox has been operating as if it should be called 18th Century Fox.” [DealBook / New York Times]

    * Ever since it dumped Eversheds, Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner has been out on the prowl for another merger partner, and it looks like the firm has finally found its ideal mate in New York boutique Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. The whole thing seems to be a bit “incestuous” if you ask us. We’ll have more on this later today. [Am Law Daily]

    * Ahead of his confirmation hearing todays, Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the antitrust division of the Department of Justice who’s been called a “centrist nominee,” has pledged to recuse himself from all matters involving his prior work as a lobbyist, including the merger between Anthem and Cigna. [Big Law Business]

    * At some firms, like Ballard Spahr, senior partners must “transition[] their practices” by age 60, but at other firms, like Cozen O’Connor, age is nothing but a number. “We have so many lawyers who are extremely productive and terrific lawyers and if they want to work well into their 70s, God bless ’em,” says CEO Michael Heller. [Philly Inquirer]

  • Morning Docket: 03.14.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 03.14.17

    * Happy Pi Day to all of you who entered this profession to get away from math. [Pi Day]

    * Alabama will decide Chief Justice Roy Moore’s ethics violations case sooner than expected because this guy just won’t go away. [AL.com]

    * Profile of David Cole, the new national legal director at the ACLU. He had very different expectations for this job. [NPR]

    * Burford set to make 91 percent return on bankruptcy investment. No one’s come out of a bankruptcy this good since Donald Trump. [Am Law Daily]

    * Cozen O’Connor is likely getting out of the $900 million RICO suit brought against it and Full Tilt Poker. [Law360]

    * Feds look to let Ammon Bundy’s lawyer off the hook for his comical outburst. [Oregon Live]

    * Can you fly with legal weed? Sure. For now. [Salon]

Page 1 of 3123