Above the Law

Trump’s Ballroom Case Gets Loopy — See Generally

They Didn’t Cover “Trump” In Legal Writing: The ballroom case briefs continue to sound like a dementia patient wrote them.

Admit It, You’ve Ordered A “6-3 Decision” This Week: Matt Damon brought his Brett Kavanaugh impersonation back to SNL and brought us an iconic legal drink order.

Insider Trading Case Update: This week, we learned the identity of the Wachtell insider.

James Comey Does The Don Draper Meme : The former FBI Director doesn’t think about Todd Blanche at all.

Trust The Associates: Judge applauds Susman Godfrey for giving key argument to junior lawyer.

All Partners Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others: Another firm looks to the non-equity partner model.

John Roberts Pulls The Racial Discrimination Panic Button: The Chief thought Alabama’s proposed maps were too racist a few years ago. But that was before Republicans faced grim Midterm prospects.

DOJ Launches Attack On Ethics: Government sues D.C. Bar for trying to enforce ethical rules.

Selective Viewing — See Also

Ken Paxton Sets His Sights On Suing Netflix: Less to do with consumer protections and more with handling Trump’s enemies.

Davis Polk Is Committed To California: They’re looking to build out a full-service office in Southern California!

Practicing Without Competency: Another poorly written DOJ brief looks like Trump penned it.

Context Matters: NetDocuments’ new cross-referencing feature makes it much easier to organize and work on projects.

On Exam Day, Bring Your Bible: Utah’s new religious freedom law looks like it will be difficult to implement in law exams.

Is Private Equity’s Involvement In Beauty Stifling Brand Individuality?

Growth capital can accelerate success, but it can also compromise the identity that made a brand worth investing in to begin with.

Court Officers Seemingly Work All Hours Of The Day

Crime never sleeps .... neither do the forces of law and order.

Your Real Spring Cleaning Project: Get Your Data Organized

Quarterly progress on data readiness is a spring project worth initiating in 2026.

Legal Ops And Matter Management By Outside Counsel: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

AI is only one part of what legal ops will use to better serve their clients. Firms first need to embrace legal ops to be successful.

Ken Paxton Pretends To Care About Consumers, Sues Netflix To ‘Protect The Children’

From the hollow-performative-populism dept

How Appealing Weekly Roundup

The week in appellate news.

Morning Docket: 05.15.26

* Elon Musk leaves country despite judge in OpenAI trial warning him that he wasn’t excused. [Independent]

* Clients don’t mind lawyers working from home, blowing up a key law firm excuse for aggressive back to office drives. [Roll on Friday]

* Supreme Court allows mifepristone telesales to continue — suddenly Alito and Thomas are very angry about the shadow docket. [NBC News]

* Ethics lawyer calls out “fundamental threat” to profession in DOJ effort to sue D.C. Bar into refusing to enforce ethical rules against government lawyers [National Law Journal]

* Judge blocks Texas immigration law noting that “it is implausible to imagine” every state having its own immigration law. [Texas Tribune]

* Wilson Sonsini handing out big bucks to encourage pro bono work. [American Lawyer]

* Supreme Court says courts continue to have power over cases they’ve sent to arbitration. [Law360]

Just Go Along With It Or Else — See Also

The DOJ’s Might Makes Right Biglaw EO Argument Isn’t Very Persuasive: They’re shaming lower courts for not bowing to presidential authority, legitimate or not.

That Did Not Please The Court: Judge shames Lisa Hsiao for “reckless disregard for the duty of candor owed to a federal court.”

Holding The Accountability Accountable: DOJ sues D.C. Bar for doing its job of holding lawyers to ethical rules.

Judge Orders Former Executive Director To Return Over $1M To Nonprofit: The money was earmarked for housing generally, not his house specifically.

Gotta Get A Government Gig: These law schools have great government job placements!

The Biglaw Firm Where The Associates Are Actually Satisfied

The firm has a rep for doing right by associates.

Biglaw Partners Aren’t Ready To Hand Over The Keys To Private Equity Just Yet

Any firm pursuing private equity backing will need to calm fears about culture, independence, and profitability.

Ethics Questions Persist After Federal Judge Sentenced To Probation In DUI Case

Judge Thomas Ludington’s drunk-driving matter may be legally resolved, but a judicial misconduct complaint remains pending.

The Law After Tomorrow: A Fictional Look At AI, Legal Work, And The World Between 2026 And 2050

Month by month, it sounds less strange. Year by year, it becomes less optional. Over 25 years, it has become the world.