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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

APPEALING – In a win for the Trump DOJ, the federal appeals court in D.C. will now decide whether a lawsuit filed by Democrats in Congress alleging President Trump is violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause can advance. As Jacqueline Thomsen reports, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has tossed out his own rulings that let the suit proceed following the DOJ’s request to allow the circuit court to review those previous rulings. More than 200 Democrats filed the lawsuit in 2017, and Sullivan previously found that the lawmakers had standing to sue and ordered the case to advance to discovery. Democrats issued subpoenas to several of Trump’s private businesses, including the Trump Organization, as a result of Sullivan’s rulings.

PHISHY – We know that law firms are particularly vulnerable to hacking because of the confidential client information they store electronically. But just how do attackers dupe smarty-pants lawyers? Pretty easily, Victoria Hudgins reports. In talking to tech experts, she identifies four phishing tactics bad actors use to sneak their way into your eletronic data. One way they do it is by taking advantage of the rigid hierarchy inside firms. Check it out.

SPOTLIGHT – Michael Avenatti is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court today for the latest hearing in a criminal case accusing the embattled attorney of waging a multimillion-dollar extortion plot against Nike Inc. Avenatti’s attorneys have filed a pair of motions asking Judge Paul Gardephe to dismiss the indictment, arguing that Avenatti was acting legitimately on behalf of his client when he threatened to go public with supposedly damaging information if Nike didn’t agree to pay a $22.5 million settlement or hire him to conduct an internal investigation at the company.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

Meet the Former Supreme Court Clerks Suing Jones Day

Schulte Roth Ex-Employee Sues, Alleging Sexist, Homophobic Remarks Made in Office

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

AUSSIE BIZ – Law firms in Australia are anticipating a huge increase in infrastructure work as major transport projects in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne get underway and disputes ensue, Christopher Niesche reports. Deloitte Access Economics, which forecasts economic activity, expects major project activity to reach a peak of around $15 billion in 2022, according to a report released earlier this month. The total recorded value of definite projects sits at $195 billion, while another $289 billion worth are possible.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“If Brogan thought so little of me, I wonder what he thought about all the women that he paid even less.”

—  JULIA SHEKETOFF, FORMER LAWYER AT JONES DAY, WHO, WITH HER HUSBAND MARK SAVIGNAC, IS SUING THE LAW FIRM OVER ITS PARENTAL LEAVE POLICY, COMMENTING ON STATEMENTS FROM THE LAW FIRM, OF WHOM STEPHEN BROGAN IS MANAGING PARTNER, THAT HER PERFORMANCE REVIEWS WERE MIXED.

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