Above the Law
Posts by Above the Law
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Morning DocketMorning Docket: 12.06.24
* Applications for law school are up 35 percent just in time for these students to compile massive loans before firms replace entry level legal jobs with AI. [ABA Journal]
* A look at John Morgan’s personal injury practice empire. [Forbes]
* California bar examiners will consider participation in protests as part of character and fitness process. [California Courts Newsroom]
* After a past retreat on reform, Washington state launches another pilot program to allow some legal services to be performed by trained non-lawyers. [Reuters]
* McKinsey to pay $123 million over bribery scheme, but they hope to make that back immediately by telling more incredibly gullible people that they’ve invented garbage cans. [Law360]
* Firm growth opens door to new stumbling blocks, which partners will notice after they stop rolling around naked on a large pile of cash. [American Lawyer]
* The ranking of best law firm offices in the UK won’t be out for a while but here’s a sneak peak at what the survey is turning up. [Roll on Friday]
SponsoredLuxury, Lies, And A $10 Million Embezzlement
In a scandal that rocked the business community, a former high-profile executive was sentenced to prison, plus five years of supervised release and restitution.-
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GovernmentTo Counter China And Support National Security, Congress Must Empower NIST
In this op-ed, Walter Copan and Tim Fist argue that in order to counter threats from China, Congress must prioritize NIST. -
Morning DocketMorning Docket: 12.05.24
* YSL trial was, at the end of the day, the complete waste of time we all thought it was. [Rolling Stone]
* Federal judge in Texas — naturally — has issued a nationwide injunction on anti-money laundering law. Time to fire up that fentanyl business! [Reuters]
* Law firms are going to continue clawing back equity. [American Lawyer]
* Joe Biden worked wonders for law firm financials. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Justice Gorsuch recused himself from a case because of his tight relationship with amicus brief author. Justices Alito and Thomas presumably very confused. [Law360]
* Which is interesting as this news comes out the same week we learn that it was Gorsuch who was “especially vocal” in keeping the Supreme Court ethics rules toothless.
* Another senior Boeing lawyer sucked out of the proverbial door hatch to new gig. [Corporate Counsel]
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Health Care / MedicineBoosting HIPAA Compliance In EHR Systems With Privacy-By-Design
Incorporating PbD into the software development process of EHR systems presents a strategy to protect information starting from the initial stages of development, and throughout the entire lifecycle of the software. -
Morning DocketMorning Docket: 12.04.24
* Supreme Court heard transgender rights arguments today. [AP News]
* Elon Musk and his supporters blast the Delaware courts after losing his bid to raid Tesla shareholders of $56 billion in value calling it “absolute corruption.” For the record, Delaware upheld its famously long-standing corporate law to the letter and Elon has rewritten the terms of service for X users to make sure they can only sue him in front of a Tesla investor. [Bloomberg Law News]
* While firms continue to backslide on hybrid work, Arent Fox downsizes LA office in recognition of the new model. [The Recorder]
* Ninth Circuit upholds most of Idaho’s abortion ban, striking down only the prison term for telling minors about the option of leaving the state as protected speech. [ABA Journal]
* Trump claims presidential immunity extends to local prosecutions for crimes that took place entirely while not being president. It turns out he really could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. [Law360]
* Maybe we shouldn’t be giving 17-year-olds Doogie Howser law licenses? [The Hill]
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In-House CounselHappy + Healthy Lawyers = Better Client Outcomes
In order to address what ails the legal profession, change has to come from the top and the culture has to be wholly amended. 
SponsoredTackling Deposition Anxiety: How AI Is Changing The Way Lawyers Do Depositions
Depo CoPilot is a cutting-edge technology laser-focused on helping you perform your very best at every deposition.-
TechnologyThe Legal Landscape Of Privacy: Why Lawyers Must Keep Up With Change
Serious reviews of your cybersecurity and annual security changes mitigate risk and exposure and will keep class action lawsuits at bay. -
Courts, Health Care / MedicineMedtronic-Hexagon Health Lawsuit Highlights The Struggle Between Doctors & Industry
A Beverly Hills surgeon has sued Medtronic, alleging that the medical device giant stole her design for a hernia mesh device. One lawyer pointed out that this is not a typical patent infringement case. -
Morning DocketMorning Docket: 12.03.24
* Delaware reaffirms that Tesla can’t pay Elon Musk half of its total assets. [AP News]
* Mitch McConnell propounds new standard that federal judges lose their life tenure once they even consider retirement. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Lawyer forfeits license over whole “tampering with a corpse” thing. [ABA Journal]
* CFPB proposes stricter rules for data brokers as though it’s even going to exist by this time next year. [Law360]
* The Hunter Biden pardon addressed one unjust prosecution… why hasn’t Joe Biden addressed more of them? [Slate]
* UK lawyers unlikely to face discipline for refusing fossil fuel work. [LegalCheek]
* Study suggests the legal industry’s embrace of generative AI will continue to grow. [Legaltech News]
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Morning DocketMorning Docket: 12.02.24
* Joe Biden is pardoning his son Hunter. Anyone concerned about justice and the rule of law… should have said their peace when the bog standard plea deal for Hunter’s charges that could’ve resolved this without a pardon got blown up by grandstanding politicians. [CNN]
* Supreme Court doesn’t have time for death penalty appeals from likely innocents, but it is more than ready to consider the rights of vapers to buy flavored products. Which seems like a betrayal of the tobacco farming Framers but “history and tradition” are elusive concepts. [Reuters]
* Attorney blames his rage over racism after mailing poop to judges and politicians. [ABA Journal]
* Energy practices gear up for AI to suck up more of the world’s power. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Companies ask full Federal Circuit to set tighter rules on what juries are allowed to award in patent cases. And by “full” Federal Circuit, they mean “not-the-full” Federal Circuit as Judge Pauline Newman remains “pocket impeached” by her colleagues. [Law360]
* Partner classes are still shrinking. [American Lawyer]
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Curbing Client And Talent Loss With Productivity Tech
Tackling Deposition Anxiety: How AI Is Changing The Way Lawyers Do Depositions
Law Firm Business Development Is More Than Relationship Building
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Thomson Reuters' Claims Explorer: A Powerful Tool For Legal Claim Identification
Luxury, Lies, And A $10 Million Embezzlement
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Morning DocketMorning Docket: 11.27.24
* Jane Rosenberg talks about Rudy Giuliani’s outburst yesterday and her destined-to-be-iconic portrait of the former mayor. [CNN]
* The effort to expand the federal judiciary to deal with court clog has struggled to get through Congress, but now that it could give Trump an opportunity to appoint more FedSoc kids straight off their clerkships, there’s suddenly a lot more interest. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Biglaw settles with partner over alleged age discrimination. [ABA Journal]
* A breakdown of the recent Federalist Society convention beyond just the unhinged Judge Jones tirade. [Defector]
* Government lawyers eyeing the exits. [Reuters]
* Could Trump’s selection of Linda McMahon for the Department of Education undermine higher education diversity initiatives? (Much like professional wrestling… we already know how this is going to end) [American Lawyer]
* A decade ago, no one questioned the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship language. Now prominent conservative voices are proposing loopholes to the ironclad language. This creeping acceptance opens the door to a lot of mischief. [Mother Jones]
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GovernmentLawmakers Backing Separate Cyber Force See Opening With Trump’s Return
In his first term, President Donald Trump took a big swing and established the Space Force; two House members told Breaking Defense he could do it again, for cyberspace. -
Morning DocketMorning Docket: 11.26.24
* Drake files RICO lawsuit to accidentally remind us all how good “Not Like Us” was. [Rolling Stone]
* Jury deliberations begin in YSL trial. [Fox 5]
* Should aspiring lawyer disclose 18 month porn career on applications? [LegalCheek]
* Lawyer thrived using fake name for half a century. [ABA Journal]
* Plan to use military to engage in mass deportations expected to succeed in court despite statutory bar for the same reason boneless wings can have bones in them. [Reuters]
* Between Elon, Vivek, and now Russ Vought, the new administration signals its commitment to slashes civil service jobs. Which historically tends to INCREASE costs because those tasks don’t disappear, they just get outsourced to private sector firms that then charge a premium to make a profit. [Bloomberg Law News]
* Damian Williams will avoid the fate that befell Preet Bharara and step down before the inauguration. Ed Kim will take over in the interim. [Law360]
* Those Weil departures took a couple of their top 10 producers off the board. [American Lawyer]
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Government, Health Care / Medicine5 Healthcare CEOs React To Dr. Oz’s CMS Appointment
President-Elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead CMS. Healthcare leaders have mixed feelings on the news — for instance, one CEO pointed out that Dr. Oz could advance the food-as-medicine movement, and others noted that his appointment may decrease pharmaceutical innovation and access to certain medications. -
Morning DocketMorning Docket: 11.25.24
* Google’s antitrust trial wrapping up to see if they must “go directly to divestment, do not pass go, do not collect $200. “[Reuters]
* Trump’s sentencing for state crimes committed entirely outside the presidency delayed indefinitely after winning election. Next stop: Ocean’s 11 style heist! [New York Law Journal]
* Supreme Court changes Facebook status to “Dismissed as improvidently granted.” [Law360]
* Law students are more diverse and more in debt than they were 20 years ago. And in another 20 years, due to the Supreme Court, they’ll be less diverse but still very much more in debt. [ABA Journal]
* “RFK Jr. as Health Chief Excites Mass Tort Lawyers Eager to Sue.” [Bloomberg Law News]
* King & Spalding practice chief just horsing around. [Daily Report]
* Akerman expanding to Charlotte. [Charlotte Business Journal]
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Government, Health Care / MedicineWhy The DOJ’s Lawsuit Against The UGH-Amedisys Merger May Not Go Anywhere
Experts aren’t sure what the outcome of the DOJ’s recent lawsuit against the proposed UnitedHealth Group/Amedisys merger will be under the incoming Trump administration. The Biden administration has focused more on supporting clinicians, while the previous Trump administration favored corporations. Additionally, one expert noted that this case differs from other antitrust lawsuits because it does not seem to focus on a potential price increase. -
