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• Leonard Leo used his Federalist Society contacts to secure $1.6 billion donation, which Politico suggests might "raise questions about its nonpartisan, non-political status." Nope. We had no questions. Politico
• Joe Tacopina's second day of cross-examination somehow managed to be worse according to Mitchell Epner. Daily Beast
• Though he may not be around for long, as eyes turn toward whether or not Joe Tacopina is conflicted out of the Donald Trump case because of past interactions with Stormy Daniels. What are the odds this is all heading toward some half-baked mistrial motion? I'm guessing around 1 in... 1. Law360
• All that Zooming and Teamsing (yet another reason Teams sucks -- no good way to convert the product name into an activity) during the pandemic left the Justice Department a treasure trove of material. Bloomberg Law News
• Hollywood writers go on strike. Now you're stuck with all the online journalists for your entertainment needs. Reuters
• Midsized law firms are embracing emerging companies practice while bigger firms grow more cautious. American Lawyer
• UK regulators investigating the abuse of NDAs. LegalCheek The post Morning Docket: 05.02.23 appeared first on Above the Law.

There were two notable moves in the legal tech world announced today, both to newly created positions, as the law firm Crowell & Moring announced that it has named Alma Asay as its first chief innovation and value officer, and Relativity said that it has named Laurie Usewicz as its first chief partner officer. Alma Asay Asay, …

There were two notable moves in the legal tech world announced today, both to newly created positions, as the law firm Crowell & Moring announced that it has named Alma Asay as its first chief innovation and value officer, and Relativity said that it has named Laurie Usewicz as its first chief partner officer. Alma Asay Asay, …

• Much like everyone else, law firms have no interest in paying Twitter. LegalCheek
• Lawyers think the profession has gotten less civil, but that's just what those degenerate scumbags would say. ABA Journal
• A nice guide to the lawyers working with Jack Smith on Trump's classified documents case. ABC News
• No sooner did we note in this here column that New York would rewrite the rules to make criminal defense work even harder than NYC's prosecutors reversed their push for the change. They don't have a vote, but it's taken a lot of the effort. NY Times
• Eleventh Circuit issues 2-1 opinion that suppressing the rights of Black voters is acceptable, but only if you're coy enough. Reuters
• DC Circuit won't break up Meta's Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions. If only they could undo the whole "Meta" part of Facebook. Law360 The post Morning Docket: 04.28.23 appeared first on Above the Law.

Legal technology company Litera today officially announced its acquisition of Upper Sigma, a London-based CRM and marketing platform for law firms that is built on the Salesforce CRM platform. Litera says that by integrating Upper Sigma with the firm intelligence platform Foundation, which it acquired in 2021, it will be able to offer the only …

With the news last week of the merger of legal research companies Fastcase and vLex, it seemed a good time to revisit our 2019 interview with the founders of Fastcase, Ed Walters and Phil Rosenthal. The occasion of this interview was the company’s 20th anniversary, and we recorded it live, on the exhibit hall floor, at the annual conference of the American Association …

• Report says Biglaw firms are more enthusiastic about merging this year. Shearman's wondering why y'all got to go rubbing salt on it. Reuters
• Goldman Sachs estimates that AI will replace 44 percent of legal tasks. Nice try, Goldman. You're not getting a 44 percent discount on those bills. Legaltech News
• The court system is a little closer to keeping judges from magically transforming acquittals into prison time. Bloomberg Law News
• TIL they tried to impose a salary cap on esports players, but the federal government intervened. Not sure this is the urgent antitrust action we were all waiting for, but you do you. Law360
• Not entirely surprising, but the financial jitters slowing big deal work have prompted more mid-sized deals and consequently more work for the Am Law second 50. It's good to dominate the wading pool when everyone's scared of the waves. American Lawyer
• Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyer is an internet sensation. Yahoo
• Former aide to the governor of Maryland accused of corruption died in "agent-involved shooting" which is the awkward passive phrasing of "shot by the FBI." Further details about how it came to that aren't out yet. NPR The post Morning Docket: 04.04.23 appeared first on Above the Law.

In a deal that will reshape the legal research and legal technology landscape on a global basis and threaten the longstanding “Wexis” legal research duopoly, the companies vLex and Fastcase today announced that they have merged into a single entity that they say will have the world’s largest subscriber base of lawyers and law firms …