On The Merits

Elections are typically decided at the ballot box. But in the past few years, the judicial system has been getting more and more involved.Spending on election-related litigation has ballooned during this time, according to George Washington University law professor Spencer Overton. This is one of many indications that political fights aren't ending when the results are announced but are instead migrating to courthouses across the country, he says.Overton joins our weekly legal news podcast, On The Merits, to talk about why this trend is happening and to run down the most significant election law cases that were filed after this month's midterm contests.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

If you're an attorney who lived through the dark days of the Great Recession, you could be forgiven for having flashbacks after reading a recent story by Bloomberg Law's Roy Strom and Meghan Tribe.They reported that several heavy hitters in Big Law, including Cooley LLP and Kirkland & Ellis, have laid off attorneys in recent months. Other firms are expected to follow suit next year. But they also spoke to several industry watchers who say this isn't Great Recession 2.0.For one, global economic conditions aren't as bad—at least not yet. And demand for legal services is still robust, even if not at the frenzied levels it was earlier this year and last year.Tribe joins our weekly legal news podcast, On The Merits, to talk about why firms are following a mega-profitable 2021 with layoffs in 2022. We also hear from Bloomberg Law video producer Macarena Carrizosa about one of the main drivers of legal industry volatility—the billable hour—and whether moving to a new compensation system is advisable or even possible.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

It's common for attorneys to do pro bono work monitoring elections. But this year feels different to many of the lawyers who are volunteering.That's one of the takeaways from a recent story by Bloomberg Law's Sam Skolnik about the urgency lawyers feel about today's midterm elections. However, that urgency is not showing up in campaign finance data. Bloomberg Law columnist Roy Strom dug into the numbers and found that lawyers are donating to candidates at much lower rates than previous midterms.Skolnik and Strom join this week's episode of On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's weekly legal news podcast, to talk about the roles that attorneys are—and are not—playing in today's elections.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

One thing we have learned over the years about Elon Musk is that the tech billionaire likes to surround himself with people who have personality traits similar to his own: confidence, boldness, and a total lack of fear when it comes to mass communication.So it shouldn't be surprising that Musk, who famously has little patience for attorneys, is gravitating toward lawyers who possess these traits in abundance like Quinn Emanuel's Alex Spiro. However, Musk is also known to hold grudges, and that's bad news for Twitter firms Cooley and Perkins Coie, whom Musk has previously slammed (on Twitter, naturally).To sort out what all this means, and why Quinn's culture may be a better fit for Musk-world than that of other Big Law firms, we heard from Bloomberg Law's Chris Opfer and Justin Wise. They join our weekly legal news podcast, On The Merits, to discuss the fallout from the consummated Twitter deal and what it says about the Big Law ecosystem.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The crypto world is known for, among other things, exotic legal structures and an extreme level of anonymity. But both of those attributes can make it a challenging place for plaintiffs' attorneys.The constitution requires plaintiffs to prove they've served their defendants with a notice of their lawsuit. Failure to do so properly can tank an otherwise promising case. But process serving is tricky when the only thing you know about the target of your lawsuit is a username on a decentralized crypto exchange.On this episode of our weekly legal new podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporter Matt Bultman talks about the curious case of Ooki. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Ooki, a decentralized crypto organization, violated registration rules. The agency thought it devised a clever way to serve the shadowy group with a suit—only to find that its unorthodox efforts might have compromised its case.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Judge James Ho said his new policy of refusing to hire clerks who attended Yale University was about combating cancel culture. But it may also be a sign that the Trump appointee is angling for a promotion.Of course, since Ho is currently serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, that means there's only one final rung to climb on the judicial career ladder: the Supreme Court.On this episode of our weekly legal news podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law columnists Lydia Wheeler and Vivia Chen speculate on what motivated Ho's decision. They say Ho's headline-grabbing move is likely an attempt to ensure that his name is at or near the top of a future Republican President's Supreme Court nominee shortlist.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Since 2015, Jones Day has embraced Donald Trump more than any other firm within Big Law. Many of the firm's lawyers joined the administration in high profile positions across the government, helped pick candidates for federal judgeships and the Supreme Court, and some were even appointed as judges themselves. But with Trump now out of office and his reputation tarnished by the Jan. 6 riot, where does that leave the 129-year old legal industry behemoth?New York Times editor David Enrich has written a book about how and why Jones Day became so enmeshed with the Trump administration. He joins our weekly legal news podcast, On The Merits, to talk about where Jones Day goes from here."I think there will be some clients, and certainly some potential employees, who will hesitate to work with Jones Day," Enrich says, "but I think there are a lot of other clients who are probably eager for this kind of no-holds-barred, smash mouth defense that Jones Day is better at providing than just about anyone else."Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law earlier today a measure that requires all companies in his state include salary ranges in their job listings.While only a handful of states have enacted these so-called pay transparency laws, the tide is turning and general counsels should work to get in front of these laws now says Rob Chesnut, a former in-house counsel at eBay and Airbnb and new columnist for Bloomberg Law. That's because current employees may take legal action against the salary disparities they discover when they see these job listings, Chesnut says.On this episode of On The Merits, our weekly legal news podcast, Chesnut talks about what these kinds of laws will mean for general counsels and why fighting the trend of greater workplace transparency will likely be ineffective.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Law firms have a gender equity problem. Data has shown that women struggle to reach the upper levels of the profession, and that those who do had to work harder than their male counterparts. For example, two thirds of female attorneys say they've been perceived as less committed to their careers, compared with just two percent of male attorneys, according to a 2019 ABA survey.The reasons why aren't a mystery: the pay gap, the "motherhood penalty," legacy origination, a dearth of male mentors, and sexism, to name a few.But what are the solutions? If the ideal, female-friendly law firm could be created from scratch, with an infinite amount of start-up capital, how would it be done? We posed that question to nearly a dozen people in the legal industry, including diversity consultants, law firm partners, ex-partners, associates, and women who were on track to make partner but felt they were forced to leave. In this podcast, they tell us what they'd prioritize and some of the challenges that can't be fixed with money.Do you have an idea of how to create a women-friendly law firm? Share your thoughts with us by clicking here.

Steven Dettelbach is the new head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Earlier this year he squeaked through the Senate confirmation process by a 48-46 vote.The narrowness of his confirmation vote is a reflection of the challenges Dettelbach faces in leading the controversial agency in a polarized political environment. And despite a rise in gun violence in recent years, the ATF lacks the resources and manpower of other parts of the federal government.On this episode of our weekly legal news podcast, On The Merits, Dettelbach sits down with Bloomberg Law reporter Courtney Rozen to explain how his agency is using data analytics to do more with less.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.