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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

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DUES CLUES - It looks like you'll have to continue paying those bar dues, counselor—at least if what's going on in Oregon is any indication. As Angela Morris reports, a federal judge there has found that the Oregon State Bar has sovereign immunity, undercutting the argument that requiring bar dues is unconstitutional. In lawsuits in Oregon, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Texas, attorneys allege that last year's Janus SCOTUS decision means that they don't have to pay mandatory bar membership and compulsory dues.

ALONE - As part of our Minds Over Matters project, Lizzy McLellan reports on the pain point of loneliness in the legal profession. Factors specific to the legal profession that can enhance isolation are a lack of civility in a line of work that's adversarial by nature; decreasing connections between lawyers and their firms as lateral movement increases; and a primary focus on billing hours, often a solitary task, to bring in revenue and boost profits.

CENTENARIAN TO BE - Robert Morgenthau says his chance to retire is well behind him. Turning 100 in July, Manhattan's longest-serving DA says these days he goes to his office at Wachtell with a goal to inspire young attorneys to understand the plight of immigrants and the less fortunate. Take a look at editor Susan DeSantis' pictorial tour of the Morgenthau's history, complete with shots of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and other legal luminaries.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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Were Paul Hastings' Flat-Fee Bills to City of Atlanta Just Vague or Something Worse?

Holland & Hart Mourns Ex-Partner Who Died During Everest Climb

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

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LEGAL BIZ BOSS - PwC has appointed a new global lead of its legal services network. John Kang reports that Sydney-based Tony O'Malley, who serves as the Australia and Asia Pacific head of the legal services arm of Big Four accounting firm, will take on the new role June 1 from Heinz-Klaus Kroppen in Germany, who will leave PwC. The Asia Pacific region has been among the fastest in PwC's global legal network in recent years.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“It's not the 2,000 hours that kills us. It's all the time people are working around the clock that we can't bill for.”

— JARRETT GREEN, A FORMER SKADDEN ASSOCIATE WHO IS CO-FOUNDER OF THE MINDFULNESS, STRESS MANAGEMENT AND PEAK PERFORMANCE PROGRAM AT USC LAW SCHOOL, ON THE LACK OF SLEEPAMONG LAWYERS AT MAJOR LAW FIRMS.

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