Above the Law - Thinking Like a Lawyer

Legal Catastrophes The Old-Fashioned Way

No generative AI required! ----- With AI hallucinations dominating the legal ethics headlines for years now, it's nice to see lawyers landing in hot water without havin

The ILTACON Wrap-Up

This episode is sponsored by Smith.ai. ----- Discussing what we learned about legal technology in Nashville. ----- The International Legal Technology Association conf

A Tribute, A Tactic, Or An Appellate Issue?

The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of strangling her three young children, has spawned a courtroom subplot with real legal stakes: prose

Luigi's Double Jeopardy Gamble And The DOJ's Complicity

Also, Yale Law School grads have a side chat to discuss their infamous classmates. ----- Luigi Mangione's lawyers say their client can't be tried for murder now that he

Biglaw Surrenders Were Worse Than We Thought

Remember when Trump lost the birthright citizenship case? Because he doesn't. ----- Despite protestations that its deal with the Trump administration didn't forfeit the

Will We Never Learn Our Lesson About The Bar Exam?

And summer bonuses have arrived. ----- The profession yet again forced law school graduates to take a closed-book doctrinal memory test to earn the right to perform a j

Park Benches And Supreme Court Benches

And Todd Blanche keeps trying to get over the Judiciary speedbump. ----- The biggest story in legal last week was an unfortunate guerrilla antagonizing of a couple maki

2026: A Rule Of Law Odyssey

Maybe in several years, we can get it back. ----- A Vault 50 law firm announced deep staff layoffs -- upward of 10 percent -- last week. Is this a sign of things to com

Collateral Damage Across The Legal Industry

From firms to law schools, innocent bystanders take heat. ----- Everyone talks about conflicts and redundancies, but the saddest merger collateral damage is forcing le

Supreme Court Narrowly Passes Reading Comprehension Section

But Sam Alito still has a job. ----- The Fourteenth Amendment lays out birthright citizenship in clear terms. Every subsequent legal challenge and all the scholarly wor

Alito's Outburst And Tough Times For Partners

And a farewell look back as co-host Chris Williams departs the show. ------ Supreme Court action gets spicy as Sam Alito threw a fit from the bench. After Justice Sotom

Todd Blanche Disgrace Train Rolls On

Supreme Court ignores Judge Newman's rights. ----- All the news that's fit to print agrees that Todd Blanche isn't fit to head the Department of Justice. Something abo

Federal Judges Gone Wild

And a new ranking of top law schools. ------ Above the Law's Top 50 Law School rankings are out and a new school tops the list. But a number of other high prestige law

Sex In Chambers Met With Slap On Wrist

A federal judge carried on a two-year affair with a high-ranking law enforcement officer by having sex in chambers and lying about it to investigators. The Eleventh Circu

Judge Orders Law Firm To Write Lesson On How Not To Be Naughty Lawyers

And the Federal Circuit's Schoolhouse Rock moment is as damning as it is embarrassing. ----- Quinn Emanuel earned $3 million in sanctions from Judge Edward Chen, who de

Don't Let The Client Write The Brief As A Treat

More on Biglaw's insider trading scandal and a rare feel good story. ----- We keep learning more from Biglaw's insider trading scandal, with the identity of the Wachtel

Stealth Layoffs And Sam Alito On Tilt

Also a major insider trading case strikes Biglaw. ----- The legal industry as a whole continues to rake in cash, but a few firms have shown signs of trouble. Reports ou

Are There Any Adults Left At The Department Of Justice?

Comey snaps sea shells by the sea shore. ----- A once-venerable institution, the Department of Justice is in disarray these days. The Attorney General got fired, multip

Kash Patel's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

The Atlantic published an article based on multiple insider accounts describing low morale at the FBI, citing current director Kash Patel's drinking and frequent absences

Law Firms Are Drowning In Cash. Trump's PAC Is Drowning In Legal Bills.

And is Alito really going to retire? ----- The 2026 Super Rich list has 37 firms clearing $1.45M RPL and $625K PPL thresholds after Am Law had to raise because last yea