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

|

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

UNHAPPY RETURNS – While President Trump no doubt is focused on the impeachment drama over the whistleblower complaint and the alleged coverup of his call to the Ukrainian president, the cases involving his tax returns continue to barrel ahead. Jane Wester reports that Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., while agreeing to a brief delay in a case in New York's Southern District, will seek to enforce as early as 1 p.m. Monday a grand jury subpoena sent to the president's accounting firm for his tax returns. Meanwhile, Dan M. Clark reports on a jurisdictional battle in a separate D.C. case in which Trump is challenging a New York state law that would allow Congress to obtain copies of his state tax returns.

JAIL? Former Willkie Farr co-chair Gordon Caplan, who pleaded guilty to working with a college admissions consultant to rig his daughter's ACT score, argues that "a toxic mix of tense family issues at home" was partially to blame for his conduct, Jack Newsham reports. In pushing for a sentence with no jail time, Caplan's lawyers in a sentencing memorandum in Boston federal court said aggressive college advisory pitches "warped" his judgment and that Caplan "allowed himself to fall prey to his own ego." Prosecutors have called for an eight-month sentence.

LOCAL DISCORD – A fight between counties and states suffering under the opioid crisis continues to spiral. The Sixth Circuit has ordered plaintiffs lawyers and U.S. District Judge Dan Polster—who is overseeing thousands of lawsuits in the opioid MDL in Ohio and the first bellwether trial next month brought by two Ohio counties—to respond to the state of Ohio's move to halt the critical trial. Amanda Bronstad reports that the state of Ohio argues the trial jeopardizes the ability of state attorneys general to reach global settlements with opioid companies. Some 14 states and D.C. have signed amicus briefs in support. At the same time, Polster has rejected a bid by the defendants to recuse himself from the case. The two Ohio counties are asking for $8 billion against seven defendants, including Johnson & Johnson, McKesson Corp. and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp.

|

EDITOR'S PICKS

Williams & Connolly Defending Weil Gotshal Against Tax-Bungling Allegation

Amazon Hit With Helms-Burton Lawsuit

|

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

POT LAW – U.K. law firms are high on cannabis practices, Krishnan Nair reports. Firms including Hill Dickinson, Allen & Overy, Mackrell Turner Garrett, and Memery Crystal have made a recent push into the market. The U.K. cannabis movement mirrors a trend developing across the Atlantic, which has seen U.S. firms such as Quinn Emanuel tap into a thriving industry, particularly following the decriminalization of the drug in Canada and U.S. states including California and Colorado.

|

WHAT YOU SAID

"Please do me the honor of disbarring me. I would be so very very proud."

—  Glenn Stephens, accused in bar disciplinary proceedings of a range of improper conduct, requesting the sanction from the D.C. lawyer ethics board.

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