Original Jurisdiction

09/30/2026

Earlier this month, Jaime Santos joined Proskauer Rose, making her the latest in a series of appellate advocates to switch firms in 2026. She came from Goodwin, where she practiced for more than a dozen years and served as co-head of the Supreme Court and appellate practice.

What led Jaime to make the move, and what does she think is driving all the lateral hiring in the space? With a new Supreme Court Term starting this coming Monday, which cases is she watching? And as the first ERISA and employee-benefits lawyer I’ve had on the podcast (after more than 100 episodes), what does she see as the key emerging issues in the field?

Thanks to Jaime for such an interesting and inspiring conversation, congratulations to her on joining Proskauer, and thanks as always to NexFirm for sponsoring the Original Jurisdiction podcast.

https://bit.ly/4yoT3MS

09/29/2026

I'm trying a little experiment with Judicial Notice, my weekly legal news roundup at Original Jurisdiction. Because I ran out of time, I published a version of Judicial Notice with just the "winners" in each category, yesterday morning (Monday). Then today (Tuesday), I posted a "Judicial Notice Supplement," containing all the additional discussion that I usually cram into Judicial Notice proper.

I'm running a poll now to see what people prefer. Judicial Notice tends to run long, so breaking it up into two posts might make it more "digestible." On the other hand, because I never publish two posts in the same day, it does mean getting the second post out one day later—which could be undesirable for a news roundup.

Thoughts? Feel free to also take the poll in this post (which is not behind the paywall).

https://bit.ly/4AFYI2K

Alina Habba gets married, the Central Park smoocher leaves Wachtell Lipton, and a lawyer turned criminal flees the country.

09/28/2026

As the new week gets underway, it's helpful to have a sense of what’s going on in the world. Here’s the latest installment of Judicial Notice, the weekly legal news roundup that I publish on Original Jurisdiction.

In this edition of JN: an "epic resignation letter," a Trump judge ruling against Trump, a Supreme rebuke of a circuit court, and "boomerang" partners returning to Weil Gotshal.

Thanks to BriefCatch sponsoring this edition of JN.

Thanks to Lateral Link for sponsoring the Job of the Week, an opportunity for a midlevel to senior labor and employment associate in Atlanta. I'll post the details in the comments, and you can reach out to Marion Wilson, Esq. to learn more.

Thanks for your readership, and have a great week!

https://bit.ly/4ryfLQ6

An ‘epic resignation letter,’ a Trump judge ruling against Trump, a Supreme rebuke of a circuit court, and ‘boomerang’ partners returning to Weil Gotshal.

09/24/2026

In 2008, Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner, the legendary legal lexicographer, had a well-publicized disagreement over using contractions in legal writing. They hashed it out in the pages of Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges, one of my favorite books about written and oral advocacy.

Garner argued that contractions “ought to become more widespread in legal writing,” including judicial opinions. Justice Scalia took the opposite view: “Formality bespeaks dignity,” and “black-robed judges engaged in the exercise of their august governmental powers” should be dignified.

Almost two decades later, Garner’s view has carried the day. Contractions appear frequently in judicial writing—but contractions are just the tip of the iceberg. If he were alive today, Justice Scalia would probably be appalled by the increased informality of judicial writing.

For some recent examples, plus a weighing of the pros and cons of less formal writing in judicial opinions, please see my latest post at Original Jurisdiction (an expanded version of my earlier Bloomberg Law column). Thanks!

https://bit.ly/4iMMgrE

Opinion printers go brrrrrrrr—and traditionalists shudder.

09/21/2026

As the new week gets underway, it's helpful to have a sense of what’s going on in the world. Here’s the latest installment of Judicial Notice, the weekly legal news roundup that I publish on Original Jurisdiction.

In this edition of JN: benchslaps for a high-profile district attorney, a Supreme smackdown of the Trump administration, and a Gibson Dunn raid on Paul Weiss’s litigation practice.

Thanks to Burford Capital for sponsoring this edition of JN.

Thanks to Lateral Link for sponsoring the Job of the Week, an opportunity for a midlevel to senior real estate associate in Houston. I'll post the details in the comments, and you can reach out to Wendy Boone Jaikaran at [email protected] for more information.

Thanks for your readership, and have a great week!

https://bit.ly/3V5uAgW

Benchslaps for a high-profile district attorney, a Supreme smackdown of the Trump administration, and a Gibson Dunn raid on Paul Weiss’s litigation practice.

09/17/2026

Five years ago this fall, Mathew Rosengart made international headlines when he secured the termination of the 13-year conservatorship of pop icon Britney Spears. But while he might be most famous for how he helped , Rosengart has litigated many major matters over the years, representing clients ranging from Hollywood celebrities like Sean Penn and Selena Gomez to multinational corporations like Meta and Verizon.

How did Matt, co-chair of the media and entertainment litigation group at Greenberg Traurig, get to where he is today? Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing him about his remarkable career. We discussed his clerkship with David Souter, then a justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court; his service as a federal prosecutor, where he handled several high-profile cases; and his current practice at the highest levels of entertainment law and litigation.

Thanks to Mathew for joining me on this must-listen episode of the Original Jurisdiction podcast, and thanks to NexFirm for sponsoring.

https://bit.ly/4h3klko

The lawyer who freed Britney Spears reflects on clerking for Justice Souter, serving as a federal prosecutor, and representing A-list celebs and Fortune 500 companies.

09/15/2026

With the November elections fast approaching (and election-related litigation already here), I’ve been thinking a lot about leaders and leadership lately. It’s natural to associate leadership with political figures, but leadership can take many forms—and be shown by everyone, regardless of one’s formal title or role.

This concept of “leading from where you are” is one of the pillars of the AFS Fellows Program, a three-year leadership development initiative open to lawyers ranging from midlevel associates to junior partners at ArentFox Schiff. Launched at Arent Fox LLP in 2017 (prior to its 2022 merger with Schiff Hardin LLP), the program celebrated its 10th anniversary this month and announced its 10th class of fellows last week.

The program has been “a resounding success,” according to M. Scott Peeler, a longtime ArentFox Schiff partner and executive committee member who created and leads the initiative. And its track record makes it a model that other law firms might want to emulate. To quote two other pillars of the program, “leadership can be taught” and “leadership matters.”

To learn more, please check out my Original Jurisdiction story below (an expanded version of my Bloomberg Law column from last week—the footnotes are new).

https://bit.ly/4xva2vY

Associates who have been through this leadership program bill more hours—and make partner at a higher rate—than associates who have not.

09/14/2026

As the new week gets underway, it's helpful to have a sense of what’s going on in the world. Here’s the latest installment of Judicial Notice, the weekly legal news roundup that I publish on Original Jurisdiction.

In this edition of JN: Cravath’s largest-ever group hire, a prominent judge’s controversial word choice, the latest resignation of a Trump ally, and the setting aside of a $125 million judgment (over a friendship between the judge and a lawyer).

Thanks to Jeff Kichaven Commercial Mediation for sponsoring this edition of JN.

Thanks to Lateral Link for sponsoring the Job of the Week, an opportunity for a real estate associate in Chicago. I'll post the details in the comments, and you can reach out to Zain Atassi at [email protected] for more information.

Thanks for your readership, and have a great week!

https://bit.ly/4A4gJHE

Cravath’s largest-ever group hire, a prominent judge’s controversial word choice, and the latest resignation of a Trump loyalist.

09/09/2026

Legal AI is a big deal—and a big business. How do we know this? It’s attracting interest beyond specialized, law-focused providers like Harvey and Legora (which are themselves already multibillion-dollar businesses).

Last month, Google announced Gemini Enterprise for Legal, part of the company’s growing suite of purpose-built industry solutions. What makes this new product different from general-purpose AI?

To learn more about Gemini Enterprise for Legal, I interviewed Halimah DeLaine Prado, who has served as GC of Google since 2020. But given the breadth and importance of Halimah’s role and Google’s many appearances in the news these days, we covered other subjects as well—including the ad-tech antitrust litigation, in which a major ruling came down last week, and the proliferation of lawsuits against social-media platforms like YouTube, which Google owns.

Thanks to Halimah for her time and insight, and thanks to NexFirm for sponsoring!

LINK: https://bit.ly/4cEE0WK

09/08/2026

As the new week gets underway, it's helpful to have a sense of what’s going on in the world. Here’s the latest installment of Judicial Notice, the weekly legal news roundup that I publish on Original Jurisdiction.

In this edition of JN: the Lindsay Clancy trial concludes, SCOTUS rules on Trump’s ballroom, a judge benchslaps Kirkland and Skadden, and another Wachtell partner departs.

Thanks to Lateral Link for sponsoring this edition of JN and for the Job of the Week, an opportunity for a capital-markets associate in San Francisco. I'll post the details in the comments, and you can reach out to Sean Hamrin at [email protected] for more.

Thanks for your readership, and have a great week!

https://bit.ly/4gUCTDx

The Lindsay Clancy trial concludes, SCOTUS rules on Trump’s ballroom, a judge benchslaps Kirkland and Skadden, and another Wachtell partner departs.