Legal Profession
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Federal district court in DC permanently enjoins Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie
Here. I assume this will survive on appeal, if they even bother to appeal. This makes the capitulation of Paul Weiss, Kirkland, Skadden Arps et al. even more embarassing.
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Advice to law firms in dealing with Trump: do not negotiate!
Sensible advice from Sheila Heen, a professor of practice and negotiation expert at Harvard Law School: Download Negotiation Strategy Notes for Law Firms Heen April 12 2025. Good advice for universities too! (Thanks to Richard Bales for the pointer.)
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Susman Godfrey responds the way all honorable law firms should to Trump’s unlawful threats
Here: Anyone who knows Susman Godfrey knows we believe in the rule of law, and we take seriously our duty to uphold it. This principle guides us now. There is no question that we will fight this unconstitutional order.
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It looks like the “Skadden Fellow” brand is now tarnished after the firm’s capitulation to Trump…
…in the opinion of hundreds of former Skadden Fellows.
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Letter from Harvard Law faculty about the “rule of law”
Here. Some unsurprising names are absent from the letter (e.g., Adrian Vermeule).
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Here’s a federal judge who might be an actual candidate for impeachment…
…and he was, of course, nominated by Trump.
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Paul Weiss capitulates…
…to "the mob boss," while Williams & Connolly defends Perkins Coie. Paul Weiss has disgraced itself, and Williams & Connolly, along with Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling, are the clear destinations of choice for the best law students who believe in the rule of law.
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Covington & Perkins Coie should now be the top choices for the best law students…
…in light of Trump's abuse of executive power to target those firms.
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AI and legal practice
From the abstract: While AI models like GPT-4 improve the efficiency with which legal work can be completed, they can at times make up cases and “hallucinate” facts, thereby undermining legal judgment, particularly in complex tasks handled by skilled lawyers. This article examines two emerging AI innovations that may mitigate these lingering issues: Retrieval Augmented…
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Decline in Black and Hispanic students at elite law schools in the wake of SCOTUS decision
Some details here. Corporate America's commitment to "diversity" still seems to be strong, which leads me to think that insofar as clients demand "diverse" teams of attorneys from law firms, law firms will recruit more aggressively at schools outside the top ranks to find suitable candidates. (I was amused the reporter used the even more…
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Total law school applicants up 25% this year (and applications are up 35%)!
A "Trump bump" no doubt! This is good news for those who expect to be looking for law teaching jobs next year: since most schools are tuition-dependent, a significant increase in applicants means schools can plan to hire.
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What’s going on at St. Thomas in Miami?
This account comes from a lawyer for the plaintiff, but the allegations recounted are rather concerning! (Earlier coverage.) (Thanks to Paul Caron for calling this to my attention.)
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Jones v. Vladeck
Apparently things got a little heated at a panel on judicial independence at the Federalist Society national meeting last week. Judge Edith Jones of the 5th Circuit took exception to Professor Steve Vladeck's criticisms of judge-shopping, especially vis-a-vis "the Supreme Court of Amarillo," as it's known on Twitter/X in lawprof circles. Judge Jones did not…
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UC San Francisco (formerly Hastings) sees huge increase in applications…
…thanks, it appears, to its most famous alumna. Now I wonder whether Trump had a similar effect on Wharton applications?
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More on the ABA’s proposed revisions to its former “diversity” standard
Following up on last week's post, Dan Rodriguez, the former Dean at Northwestern, offers some thoughts of his own, and sheds interesting light on how the ABA "diversity" standard worked in practice.
At the risk of self-advertising:… You claim “AI is unusual in degree, not in kind” and “It is not clear…