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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TALC TRIALS…AND TRIBULATIONS – "Calculating." "Highly respected." "Passionate and smart." "As aggressive as male trial attorneys are." These are some of the words attorneys on both the plaintiff and defense side use to describe Weil, Gotshal & Manges litigator Diane Sullivan, who represents Johnson & Johnson in a talcum powder case that recently yielded a $37 million-plus verdict. Even before the verdict came down, the case made headlines as the judge struck Sullivan's entire closing argument. Amanda Bronstad's report takes a broad and deep look at Sullivan's impressive career—a worthwhile exercise, as Sullivan figures to continue making headlines as trial counsel in some of the nation's most important products cases.

NOT ON THE AGENDA – It seems a lot of ground was covered at the formal meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Not among those topics, however, were claims of misconduct against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for his comportment before Senate Judiciary Committee members during a hearing prior to his confirmation last year, or the procedure for misconduct claims against federal jurists who end up confirmed to the high court, Marcia Coyle reports. Still, the Judicial Conference announced a new initiative for addressing workplace conduct in the judiciary. The meeting came as newly aired allegations of sexual misconduct involving Kavanaugh "reverberated around Capitol Hill," to use Coyle's words.

NOT FOR PROFIT - Edward Snowden has been a wanted man for many years, but now the Justice Department is targeting him and his publishers for his newly released book, "Permanent Record," Raychel Lean reports. That's because, prosecutors say, the memoir allows profit from Snowden's leaking of classified information. The suit, filed in Virginia federal court, is careful to point out that it targets only the profits from the book, and doesn't seek to stop its publication. Named as defendants, in addition to Snowden, are Macmillan Publishers Inc., Macmillan Publishing Group LLC and Holtzbrinck Publishers.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

CFPB, Changing Stance, Backs Law Firm Fighting Agency's Independent Design

Opening Statements in Risperdal Punitive Damages Trial Focuses on Alleged Push for Off-Label Use

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

MORE GOODBYES – U.K. firm Clyde & Co. has seen a string of departures of late. Most recently, John Kang reports, Washington, D.C., firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman hired international arbitration partner June Yeum from Clyde. The move allows Pillsbury to continue with the expansion of its global disputes practice, following group hires to the practice in New York and the launch of a disputes practice in London. But it's another loss for Clyde, which has seen groups of lawyers break off in San Francisco, London and Edinburgh in recent weeks.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"Now the beginning of each term, I try to explain this to my new law clerks. … I say, 'I have just two rules and we're going to get along fine. Rule No. 1: Please, please don't make stuff up. And Rule No. 2: When all those people out there in the chattering classes beg you to make something up, tell you they'll spurn you and won't invite you to their cocktail parties if you don't make the stuff up that they want made up, refer back to Rule No. 1 please."

—  U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH IN HIS NEW BOOK, "A REPUBLIC, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT," ON ADVICE HE GIVES TO HIS LAW CLERKS.

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