Morning Docket

* 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]

* 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]

* 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]

* 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]

* 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]

* 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]

* 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]

* 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]

* Forcing Google to spin off Chrome faces uphill battle… which is why monopolies always win. [Reuters]

* Pam Bondi becomes new AG nominee. [CNN]

* Partners put “difficult” client on emails. [Roll on Friday]

* Democrats give up circuit court nominees in exchange for less important district court seats… apparently to break a record? Seems like a great reason. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Gensler stepping down from SEC in the transition. [Law360]

* As Article II clearly states… winning a presidential election means all crimes committed before the election are legal. Or something. [Slate]

* It may be bonus season, but amidst record profits, associates are noticing that their bonuses a lighter than they should be. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Babe, wake up — new contracts hypo just dropped: “Cheating husband sues wife for house after mother-in-law died watching them fight” [Hindustan Times]

* Firms merging to form “Antitrust Powerhouse” in most ironic news of the day. [Daily Business Review]

* DLA Piper faces lawsuit alleging the firm had a “fake lawyer” in Argentina doing work for them. [Texas Lawyer]

* Thou Shalt Not Violate The First Amendment. Block on Louisiana Ten Commandments law upheld. [PBS]

* CFPB preparing to take on supervisory role over digital payment apps. [Law360]

* Judges say judges aren’t the problem. That’s an evergreen headline, but in this case it’s about workplace harassment. [Reuters]

* With the Trump sentencing delayed, prosecutors are gearing up for the inevitable request that state crimes should be legal if the convict wins a national election. Alas, this precedent will arrive too late for Charles Manson. [NY Law Journal]

* Weil being dealt double whammy with a pair of practice leaders expected to depart. [American Lawyer]

* Matt Gaetz appointment shines new light on warnings from the Founders [Daily Report]

* New record for the youngest person to pass California bar exam, topping her own brother’s previous record. [ABA Journal]

* Employers considering reversing raises now that Trump is expected to nix overtime rules. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Lawyer in Megan Thee Stallion case begs judge not to impose sanctions over missed in-person court date. [Legal Affairs and Trials]

* Penn State’s plan to merge its law schools receives ABA approval. [Penn Live]

* It’s the “Decade of the Female Lawyer.” [Reuters]

* Celebrity claims famous lawyer attempted to extort a settlement by suggesting connections to Diddy. [Billboard]

* Lawyer for Defense nominee Hegseth previews confirmation strategy by divulging that client paid off sexual assault accuser and will attempt to portray this as a nuisance settlement when asked. [NPR]

* After failing in its first attempt, Congress is again taking up law to give the president the power to retaliate against non-profits like the ACLU. [Independent]

* DOJ will ask judge to force Google to sell off Chrome. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Lawsuit alleges Meta and Netflix entered illegal deal to divvy up market. [Law360]

* With the Supreme Court eroding racial discrimination protections and states adopting school voucher programs, white-only segregation academies are on the rise again. [ProPublica]

* Rudy finally turning over some assets. [Barron’s]

* Mike Johnson blocking Gaetz ethics report as “rough draft.” Apparently the document isn’t old enough to be properly understood. [CNBC]

* Kansas Supreme Court debates discipline as a sword, which is weird because it’s a “d-word.” Get it? I’ll be here all week, folks. [ABA Journal]

* Looks like union-busting’s back on the menu boys! [Bloomberg Law News]

* Grassley indicates he will take “traditional” view of blue slips, which structurally favor Republicans and will be ignored down the road as needed. [Law360]

* Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy. Maybe making oxygen masks a luxury add-on was a mistake. [CNN]

* Disbarred for exaggerating personal injury claim. [LegalCheek]

* Judge schedules a hearing to hear concerns over the transparency in the bankruptcy auction that awarded Infowars to The Onion. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Proposed law to protect journalists from government spying already passed the House but the Senate may not even take it up. Good thing there’s not an incoming administration promising to jail journalists or anything. [WIRED]

* Senator Thom Tillis says of Fourth Circuit nominee list including former state supreme court chief justice that “Not only are they not fit for the Fourth Circuit, but we wouldn’t even consider them for a district court.” As an aside, Thom Tillis voted to confirm Kathryn Mizelle who was an associate at the time. [Courthouse News Service]

* Trump placing personal lawyers in key Justice Department positions. [NBC News]

* The lawyer for the at-the-time minor at the center Gaetz investigation urges House to release ethics report. [Politico]

* Eversheds partner traps pregnant associate in parking garage after she took the spot where he parks his Porsche.  [Roll on Friday]

* EU levies massive fine against Facebook for tying its marketplace ads to its social media platform. [Law360]

* Law firm data breach implicates 300,000 patients. [Forbes]

* Rudy Giuliani’s defamation lawyers want out, claiming their client is “taking action with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement.” Like, maybe, trying to defame the plaintiffs again? [Axios]

* While Matt Gaetz received the highest legal appointment around, Trump also announced his pick for White House Counsel, tapping a Jones Day lawyer because of course. [Law360]

* Speaking of Gaetz, Trump is also talking about bypassing the Senate confirmation process through recess appointments. Pretty sure the Supreme Court’s take on that is that it’s only available if the vacancy arose DURING a recess and not at the beginning of a term but that assumes this Supreme Court has any respect for its own opinions. [Vox]

* Wild ethics allegations against attorney accused of stealing $31,000 from jailed client. [ABA Journal]

* Landlords dumping tons of frivolous bankruptcy filings on EDNY. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Ted Olson died yesterday, leaving behind a legacy as part of the team that successfully argued for marriage equality and a champion of the “Dreamers” immigration policy, as well as one of the primary proponents of the Federalist Society which will systematically undo those achievements. [NPR]

* Alina Habba could move from parking garage lawyer to White House Press Secretary. [The Independent]

* Court orders Oakland to stop calling its airport “San Francisco Bay Oakland” even though it is, quite literally, on San Francisco Bay. This is the disrespect that happens when you lose all your sports teams. [Law360]

* Federal judge decides to unretire following the election. [Bloomberg Law News]

* It took him a little while, but Judge Ho has figured out how to explain away birthright citizenship to remain in the good graces of the Trump White House. It was touch and go there but if there was a disingenuous way to abandon principles for power, Ho was bound to find it. [Volokh Conspiracy]

* Bar passage rates up all over. [ABA Journal]

* New York judge declares state’s voting rights law unconstitutional though it’s unclear if she’s striking down the whole law or just one provision. [Gothamist]

* Supreme Court declines to hear rent stabilization challenge. [amNY]

* French publications sue X claiming Elon’s distributing their content without paying for it. Elon making money off of other people’s actual good ideas? Not the head of Tesla! [Le Monde]

* Transition offical tells DOJ lawyers unwilling to swear fealty to Trump that they should leave. [Politico]

* DOJ suit alleges Mississippi Senate paid Black lawyer around half what they paid white lawyers. This is probably the sort of action that the transition official expects to go away. [ABA Journal]

* Sidney Powell must disclose her finances by the end of the month in Dominion Voting case. [Newsweek]

* Steve Bannon back in court for new fraud claims. [Lawyer Monthly]

* Goodwin partner to argue Supreme Court case before departing the firm for state government gig. [Bloomberg Law News]

* NLRB taking a closer look at employer statements that discourage unions for the next couple months before the next administration starts deporting union members. [Law360]

* Diddy’s team unhappy that grand jury witnesses are talking, worrying that the publicity hurts his chances to Finna Get Loose. [NewsNation]

* Trump judge blocks immigration rule because the law allowing the government to choose to allow immigrants with citizen spouses to “into the United States” legally on parole while their status is processed couldn’t support letting those people serve parole while their status is processed if they were already in the United States when the decision was made. It’s like Textualism, but a game of Balderdash. [Law360]

* OpenAI wins copyright suit over using material to train the model on the English language. [Bloomberg Law News]

* Judge says his jurisdiction is just more sweary. [Roll on Friday]

* Trump was never going to get jail time — if the judge didn’t put him in a cell for contempt for his behavior during the trial, he was never going to — but now it’s pretty much certain that this will be an all cash sentencing. [New York Law Journal]

* It’s a good time to be a partner who does deals that would otherwise violate the Sherman Act! [American Lawyer]

* Firm leaders still convinced that generative AI will have a big impact on the profession. [Thomson Reuters]

* Biglaw thinks Trump’s next administration will be good for business. I guess they missed the part where his economic czar Elon pledged to crash the economy as part of the plan. [National Law Journal]

* We’re already talking about Supreme Court shortlists as though it’s not just the loudest mouths from the Fifth Circuit. [Law360]

* Remember polio? That was fun, right? [Bloomberg Law News]

* Jack Smith preparing to drop criminal cases against Trump before the new president has to pardon himself and potentially put a controversial constitutional question to the test. [ABA Journal]

* American lawyers in London report working 13-hour days. Which… is that not how all of Biglaw works anymore? [Fortune]

* Good news for the heroin trade, as Trump seems likely to turn the SEC over to the crypto industry. [Cointelegraph]

* What happens with Trump’s state law issues now? [Courthouse News Service]

* To all you public defenders trying to get criminal clients off… have you considered just winning the electoral college? [Guardian]

* If you’re the worst student at your law school, but belong to FedSoc and want a federal judgeship, STAY IN LINE. [Yale Daily News]

* Law firms ask judge to dismiss “incoherent” lawsuit. [ABA Journal]

* Tug of war continues as voters reinstall prosecutor that DeSantis removed. [Bloomberg Law News]

* The firms poised to benefit from hitching their brand to the convicted felon rapist guy. [Law360]

* A fake money business isn’t the height of professionalism? Shocking. [The Recorder]

* Cute! States seek to enshrine reproductive rights in their constitutions like that will matter. [NPR]