Judicial Notice (11.26.22): Biglaw's Good News On Bonuses
Trump's bad week in court, departures from Paul Weiss, and other legal news from the week that was.
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This Thanksgiving came at a painful time for the nation, in the wake of three mass shootings that claimed 14 lives. Those of us who were fortunate enough to spend the holiday with family and friends should be especially grateful for the blessing of their company—especially after two Thanksgivings when the pandemic made family gatherings difficult or impossible.
I’m also thankful for you, my readers. Original Jurisdiction turns two next week, it’s now at a point where I can earn a living from it, and reaching this milestone would not have been possible without your readership and support. And I’m grateful to live in a country that prizes free speech—where I can, say, poke occasional fun at judges without worrying about going to jail.
The Thanksgiving week is typically not busy in terms of news, and this one was no exception. It was a good time to record a new episode of the Movers, Shakers, and Rainmakers podcast: Zach Sandberg and I interviewed Tony Thai, who left a thriving Biglaw career to focus on his legal technology company, HyperDraft, where he serves as CEO and Chief Engineer.
But there were a few news developments that merit discussion. So let’s get to it.
Lawyers of the Week: Sopan Joshi and James Trusty.
On Tuesday, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument in the U.S. Justice Department’s appeal from the order of Judge Aileen Cannon (S.D. Fla.) that appointed a special master to review the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago (among other things). Assistant to the Solicitor General Sopan Joshi—a recent addition to the DOJ team, now overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith—argued for the government. Former federal prosecutor James Trusty of Ifrah Law PLLC argued on behalf of former president Donald Trump.
Not surprisingly given the high-profile nature of the case, many listened to the livestream of the argument, as I could tell from live-tweeting the hearing myself—and it did not go well for Team Trump, as noted by numerous commentators. The three conservative judges—Chief Judge William Pryor, a Supreme Court shortlister under Trump, and two Trump appointees, Judges Britt Grant and Andrew Brasher—posed tough questions of Trusty that evinced a deep skepticism of his position. They asked, among other things, whether Judge Cannon had jurisdiction to do what she did, why her order didn’t violate separation of powers, whether Trump made the showing required for relief (assuming she had jurisdiction), and why suppression of improperly seized evidence at a criminal trial wouldn’t be the proper remedy (as opposed to the mishegoss Judge Cannon ordered here).
Predicting the outcome of an appeal based on questions asked at oral argument can be risky. But I’ll stand by the final tweet in my thread analyzing the argument: “Trump is going to lose. The only question, which the judges explored with DOJ lawyer Sopan Joshi, is HOW Trump should lose (i.e., how to write the order).”
Other lawyers in the news:
Congratulations to Allison Brown of Skadden Arps, recognized as the American Lawyer’s Litigator of the Year for her work on the Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) baby-powder cases and the related bankruptcy of LTL Management, the J&J subsidiary formed with the goal of resolving more than 38,000 talc claims.
Once he popped, he couldn’t stop? Ohio lawyer Jack Allen Blakeslee stands accused of hurling a Pringles can filled with his own poop into the parking lot of his opposing counsel’s office, where it landed near her car. Lovely.
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