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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

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STUDYING THE TEST - Amid anecdotal evidence that newly licensed lawyers in New York are less prepared to practice than in the past, New York State Bar Association is looking into whether the state's adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam is the culprit. Susan DeSantis reports that judges are bemoaning the fact that with increasing frequency new lawyers appearing before them lack knowledge of New York laws and rules. The NYSBA is expected to announce a task force today to study whether a de-emphasis on state law on the exam is the cause.

TIE-UPS - More law firm mergers than usual closed in the first three months of 2019, spurred mostly by consolidation among smaller shops, Jack Newsham reports. According to Fairfax Associates, 24 mergers were finalized during the first quarter, including three cross-borders tie-ups and 21 U.S. firms joining forces. That figure is higher than the 21 Fairfax recorded in the first quarter of 2018 and above the average of 20 mergers in the same period over the past decade.

INFO, PLEASE - A D.C. federal district judge is set to hear arguments today in a major public-records suit seeking information from DHS and ICE about “the largest workplace immigration raid in nearly a decade.” Lawyers from Skadden, representing the National Immigration Law Center, sued for documents about the identities of agency personnel who were at the Tennessee meatpacking plant at the time of the enforcement operation in April 2018.

BREAKING - In response to overwhelming demand, we're providing you today with an exclusive look at the full Mueller Report. (April Fools.)

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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'Witness to History': A Federal Judge on Growing Up White in the Segregated South

AG William Barr Preps 400-Page Mueller Report for 'Mid-April' Release

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

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AT THE HELM - U.K.-based Linklaters has elected Gideon Moore to serve as managing partner until 2022, a stint shorter than the four-year term he previously served. Andrew Messios reports that the change will bring Moore's term more in line with senior partner Charlie Jacobs, who is up for re-election in September 2021 and will provide Moore with sufficient time to see through his “strategy refresh” project, which includes getting rid of performance reviews and individual partner targets.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination.”

— BRETT KAVANAUGH, JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, IN A DECISION HALTING THE EXECUTION OF TEXAS DEATH ROW INMATE PATRICK MURPHY BECAUSE THE STATE DID NOT PERMIT A BUDDHIST SPIRITUAL ADVISER TO ACCOMPANY HIM IN THE EXECUTION CHAMBER.

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