Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up. 

|

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

DO-OVERS – It’s back to the drawing board today in the trial of ex-Skadden partner Greg Craig, C. Ryan Barber reports. The criminal case against the former Obama White House counsel got off to a rocky start Tuesday after Craig’s lawyers objected to a jury selection that had played out largely behind closed doors. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, presiding over the case to determine whether Craig misled the DOJ about his work for Ukraine while he was at Skadden, said she would summon between 120 and 125 new jurors for questioning today. The remaining jurors from the initial pool of 70 were dismissed.

WARY – The white-collar defense bar is nervous, Phillip Bantz reports. The Second Circuit’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Ng Lap Seng, a clear win for the DOJ, is expected to embolden federal anti-corruption prosecutors following the court’s decision that it is not necessary to meet the heightened standard of proving that a bribe was paid in exchange for an “official act” in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases. The silver lining: The ruling may help provide more predictability with regard to the government’s FCPA powers.

QUIET, PLEASE – A former Winston & Strawn partner should be forced to make her discrimination and retaliation claims against the firm through arbitration and not in court, lawyers for Winston told SCOTUS yesterday. In court papers filed Tuesday, Winston’s lawyers from Orrick argued that the case filed by former San Francisco-based partner Constance Ramos, which has issues that “are tremendously consequential to employers with a California presence,” belongs in a confidential arbitration proceeding. As Mike Scarcella reports, there’s no certainty the Supreme Court will agree to hear Winston’s petition.

|

EDITOR’S PICKS

Donziger Faces Criminal Contempt Prosecution Team at Seward & Kissel

My Weekday Workout: Cozen O’Connor’s Anna McDonough

|

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

KIWI NATION – Dentons’ move into New Zealand makes it only the second global law firm to set up shop there, behind DLA Piper. As Christopher Niesche reports, huge deals and projects originating from its tie-up with 113-lawyer local firm Kensington Swan are unlikely, but Dentons says it expects to pick up more work from Australia by expanding to the small South Pacific nation.

|

WHAT YOU SAID

“I think we are behind the curve in addressing the issue.”

—  JAMIE SULLIVAN, PARTNER WITH HOWARD, KOHN, SPRAGUE & FITZGERALD, ON THE LEGAL INDUSTRY’S RESPONSE TO CYBERATTACKS AGAINST LAW FIRMS AND THEIR CLIENTS.

 ➤➤ Sign up here to receive the Morning Minute straight to your inbox.