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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

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VANISHING ACT - Electronic messages that disappear, like those on Snapchat, are aggravating in-house counsel. Rhys Dipshan reports on the use of ephemeral messaging in the workplace, and how it presents significant roadblocks to in-house compliance and e-discovery operations, even as tech companies are gearing up to provide more corporate uses for it.

DETERMINATION - Lawyers who say they don't have to pay bar dues in light of a 2018 SCOTUS decision are energized. Nate Robson reports that Goldwater Institute lawyer Timothy Sandefur was at the Eighth Circuit arguing that the Janus ruling, which essentially ended compelled labor union dues, should apply to mandatory bar dues. SCOTUS sent the bar dues case back to the Eighth Circuit following the Janus ruling, which sparked a flood of challenges to mandatory bar membership and dues in Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and North Dakota.

E-CROOKS - The rate of cyber-related suspicious activity reports has grown to nearly 80,000 per year, according to the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in the U.S. Treasury Department. Sue Reisinger reports that the number includes 13,500 reports per year on suspicious business email alone, up 95% from 2016.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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'We're All Individuals!' Big-Law Branding in a Cookie-Cutter World

Small North Texas Firm Wins Auction for Lee Sculpture in Dallas

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

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AUSTRALIAN ADDITIONS - DLA Piper has hired a five-partner mergers and acquisitions team in Melbourne from Norton Rose Fulbright, including its Australia corporate co-head, Shane Bilardi. John Kang reports that in addition to Bilardi, lawyers James Stewart, Jyoti Singh, Chris Mitchell and Andrew Fisken will join DLP Piper in the coming months. The firm said it has hired additional lawyers, including special counsel and senior associates, from Norton Rose Fulbright's Melbourne, Sydney and Perth offices.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“In the District, no one is above the law.”

—  JOSHUA LEVY, A LAWYER REPRESENTING A GROUP OF D.C. RESIDENTS, INCLUDING A RETIRED FEDERAL JUDGE, WHO ASSERT THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP'S POOR CHARACTER AND FITNESS SHOULD BAR THE RENEWAL OF A CITY  LIQUOR LICENSE FOR HIS HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON.

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