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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

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TRUMP'S MAN – Steven Menashi, President Trump's latest pick for the Second Circuit, is set for a confirmation hearing this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The former clerk to Justice Samuel Alito and Kirkland & Ellis partner has been criticized by liberal groups for his writings on gay rights, women's rights and "leftist multiculturalism." Menashi has taught at George Mason law school and is serving as a special assistant to Trump.

MISSING CLOSINGS – Johnson & Johnson has moved for a mistrial in a high-stakes talcum powder case after a New Jersey judge struck the closing argument of its attorney, Weil Gotshal partner Diane Sullivan, then allowed the plaintiffs attorneys to wrap up with statements that the defense says was "soaked with venom." Amanda Bronstad reports that, according to transcripts from the closing included in the defense motion, Sullivan had asked the jury during her closing to consider why the FDA and others had found no asbestos in J&J's talcum powder products while plaintiffs' experts, paid as much as $31 million by the lawyers, did. Plaintiffs attorneys have denied the amount of the expert payments.

SAME SIDE – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this morning at over whether the state's death penalty is unconstitutional as applied. Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner is in agreement with defense lawyers that the state's death penalty should be struck down. Krasner's office conducted a review of nearly all capital cases out of Philadelphia between 1978 and 2017, and found it was being applied in a "wanton and freakish, arbitrary and capricious manner," quoting language from a 1982 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision.

IN PERIL – Some 44% of the U.K.'s top lawyers have experienced mental health-related illnesses such as depression due to their work, Simon Lock reports. A job satisfaction survey by Law.com's U.K. affiliate Legal Week finds that the problems were more common among lawyers under the age of 30 and those working in large firms with more than 1,000 lawyers. The findings from the survey of nearly 250 lawyers come as 37% admitted to having worked at least one all-nighter in the past year.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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MIT Hires Goodwin Procter to Investigate Jeffrey Epstein Donations

Flag Burner at Center of Landmark Supreme Court Case Won't Face New Charges in DC

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

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SLOWER IPO – With the number of initial public offerings in Hong Kong dropping dramatically, law firms that handle the work have seen a slowdown in business. John Kang reports that at least 11 Hong Kong capital markets lawyers in the past year have left Shearman & Sterling, which for years has been a major player in the IPO market there. The law firm's capital markets practice comprised 80% to 90% of IPO work, but now the practice makes up only 50% of the work, with mergers and acquisitions accounting for the other half, says its team leader.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"I like the solitary nature of running, which gives me time to appreciate the beauty of the new day and surroundings and to have prayer and thinking time."

TIMOTHY LUPINACCI, CHAIRMAN OF BAKER DONELSON, ON THE BENEFITS OF WORKING OUT.

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