Good morning. The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decisions on a wave of cert petitions, and we’ve got the breakdown on the attorneys and firms behind the biggest cases picked — or passed over. Plus, the New York State Bar Association wants the state to stop asking aspiring attorneys about their juvenile criminal records when they apply for licenses, and Tesla is countersuing JPMorgan as the pair tussle over an Elon Musk tweet. Anybody watch football this past weekend?
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The attorneys that won — and lost — in the high court’s latest cert grants
Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS
The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off the week by taking action on a host of major cases — here are the lawyers behind the petitions that were picked, and the ones that were passed over.
The court agreed to hear a bid to bar Harvard University and the University of North Carolina from considering race in undergraduate admissions in a case that could upend affirmative action. Students for Fair Admissions successfully tied its certiorari fortunes to William Consovoy and Thomas McCarthy of Consovoy McCarthy.
The justices also agreed to take up a landmark case challenging what can be regulated under the 1972 Clean Water Act, handing a win to Damien Schiff at the Pacific Legal Foundation. And the court OKed taser-maker Axon Enterprise’s cert petition — drafted by Paul Clement at Kirkland & Ellis — in a case that attacks the structure of the FTC.
But a Consovoy McCarthy lawyer struck out on a petition, too. Partner Taylor Meehan couldn’t convince the high court to take her case, brought by Republican lawmakers over rules allowing House representatives to vote by proxy if they were sidelined by COVID-19.
And the court declined to take a petition filed by Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells on behalf of William Beaumont Hospital, which addressed whether federal law protects whistleblowers who face retaliation after they leave their jobs.
Read about what the court's selection of cases says about its willingness to tackle some of the country's most divisive issues.
- New York should stop asking aspiring lawyers about their juvenile criminal records during the character and fitness review required for licensing, the New York State Bar Association said in a new report approved by its House of Delegates. (Reuters)
- The California bar has hired litigation boutique Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg to investigate the state bar association's handling of past complaints against prominent plaintiffs' lawyer Thomas Girardi. (Reuters)
- Saul Ewing elected Baltimore-based partner Jason St. John as its new managing partner and chief executive officer. St. John formerly led the firm’s litigation practice and its integration efforts after a merger. (Reuters)
- Akin Gump said it will lobby for Cambodia on its efforts to build “new relationships” with the U.S. government. Akin’s advocacy team includes former leading Obama-era White House advisor Ed Pagano. (Reuters)
That’s about how many partners South Carolina-based firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough said it has poached in a mass exodus of lawyers from Bowman and Brooke. The group will join Nelson Mullins’ product liability practice, which now has about 150 attorneys. Chinekwu Osakwe has more on the move.
The 9th Circuit has already once resurrected a class action by investors in Toshiba American Depository Receipts, in a 2018 decision reversing dismissal of the case. Now Robbins Geller is counting on the appeals court to revive the class action once again. Alison Frankel discusses what the plaintiffs’ counsel called “an error-ridden decision denying class certification.”
A look at the ways virtual courtrooms may outlast the pandemic.
"She is of course unvaccinated."
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, delaying the start of Sarah Palin’s defamation trial against The New York Times for 10 days, until Feb. 3, after the former Alaska Republican governor tested positive for the coronavirus. Jury selection and opening statements had been expected to begin on Monday. Palin, who also tested positive for COVID-19 last March, has objected to mandatory vaccinations. Read more about the case.
- Paul Weiss partner Kannon Shanmugam will once again argue for BP PLC and other energy companies in the 4th Circuit in a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore seeking monetary damages over costs brought on by climate change. The arguments will revolve around the technical issue of whether the case belongs in federal court or state court. Baltimore and a handful of plaintiffs in similar lawsuits are fighting to keep the litigation in plaintiff-friendly state courts. Victor Sher of Sher Edling will argue for Baltimore.
- A 9th Circuit panel sitting in Pasadena will hear a bid by the San Francisco Herring Association to reverse a lower court ruling rejecting their claim that the National Park Service unlawfully denied their members' access to fishing grounds abutting the shoreline of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Todd Gregorian of Fenwick represents the herring association, and U.S. Justice Department lawyer Anna Katselas is arguing for the government.
- A 4th Circuit panel will hear a legal challenge to an Executive Office for Immigration Review policy that a judges’ group says imposed an “unconstitutional prior restraint on the speech of immigration judges.” Ramya Krishnan of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University will argue for the judges. Jennifer Utrecht of the Justice Department will represent the government.
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
- Tesla is fighting back against JPMorgan over a disputed bond contract, countersuing the bank for seeking a "windfall" following Elon Musk's notorious 2018 tweet that he might take his electric car company private. Quinn Emanuel represents Tesla, and lawyers from Davis Polk represent the bank. (Reuters)
- Texas, Indiana and Washington D.C. sued Google over claims the company misled customers about the control they have over their own data. The suits say there is actually no way for users to limit Google’s tracking of their location and other data points. (Reuters)
- The Federal Circuit sided with health monitoring company Masimo in its bid to block publication of a former employee’s patent application that Masimo said contained its trade secret, a blood oxygen measuring algorithm. The appellate court agreed with Masimo, represented by Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, that it was likely to show that the information was a trade secret. (Reuters)
- U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley in Boston largely rejected Johnson & Johnson’s bid to have two surgeons who served as expert witnesses in lawsuits over the company’s hip implants pay it $2.4 million in attorneys’ fees for misusing records from that mass tort litigation in their own separate whistleblower case. J&J, represented by Mark Seltzer of Nixon Peabody, was awarded some of its court costs and expenses from the case, but Kelley said ordering the doctors to pay the attorney’s fees would be excessive. (Reuters)
- Latham & Watkins hired Betty Moy Huber and Sarah Fortt as leaders of its environmental, social and governance team. Huber was previously the co-head of Davis Polk’s ESG and environmental groups, while Fortt previously led ESG efforts at Vinson & Elkins. (Reuters)
- Freshfields has hired longtime Cravath lawyer Nicole Foster in New York to co-lead its U.S. employee benefits and executive compensation practice. Foster joins Freshfields as a partner after more than 18 years at Cravath. (Reuters)
- Willkie Farr said Sid Fohrman has joined the firm as a Los Angeles-based transaction partner focused on the music and entertainment industry. Fohrman previously led Sheppard Mullins’ music industry team and its e-sports and games team. (Reuters)
- King & Spalding said Sheel Patel has joined the firm in its New York office as a corporate finance partner. Patel arrives from Jones Day. (King & Spalding)
- Alston & Bird added veteran trial attorneys David Meadows and Alexandra Peurach as partners in the firm’s Atlanta office. They join the firm from Troutman Pepper. (Alston)
- Steptoe & Johnson added Iris Bennett as a Washington, D.C.-based white-collar partner. Bennett earlier practiced at Smith Pachter McWhorter. (Steptoe)
More laws, regulations and enforcement can be expected as governments weigh whether and how cryptocurrencies pose a threat to fiscal control, write Hunt Ricker and Charles McKenna of Riker Danzig. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has asked Congress to pass legislation giving the agency the authority to monitor crypto exchanges. And SEC enforcement head Gurbir Grewal has stressed the agency will apply securities definitions in existing rules to emerging technologies. Read more about U.S. regulatory and enforcement visions.
Correction: The Daily Docket yesterday used the old name of the law firm representing Sarah Palin in her defamation lawsuit. Palin is represented by the firm Turkel Cuva Barrios.
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