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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SECOND GUESSING – Several petitions pending before the Sixth Circuit, if successful, could unravel much of the work done in the opioid lawsuits, including preparations for a trial later this month. Amanda Bronstad reports that while appeals courts rarely question a judge's decisions in MDL, the opioid litigation presents many unprecedented issues. Decisions from U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is overseeing more than 2,000 lawsuits in the MDL over the opioid crisis, face challenges—including those to stop the upcoming trial and demanding his recusal—that are coming from all sides of the case.

FATE - Emory law professor Paul Zwier is set to appear at a university hearing today in Atlanta that will determine the fate of his employment following an investigation that found he used the n-word in a first-year torts class and subsequently used a variant of the epithet in a private conversation. As R. Robin McDonald reports, a confidential report by Emory University administrators recommends that the law professor's suspension be continued without pay for as long as two years. Zwier's lawyers have said they plan to mount a vigorous defense at the hearing and seek his reinstatement.

SMARTIES WANTED – The largest annual entry-level law school hiring event kicks off today in D.C., and as Karen Sloan reports, the scene will likely be more subdued than the frenzied atmosphere from years gone by. The number of candidates vying to become doctrinal legal academics is about half what it was 10 years ago, a phenomenon observers attribute in part to an increase in the credentials schools seek in new professors. Some 111 law schools have advertised open positions this cycle at the Association of American Law Schools event, the highest number in at least four years.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Q&A: Vernon Jordan on His Quest for Workplace Equality

Former Employee Alleges Retaliation by Robert De Niro

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

BIG MOVER – Hogan Lovells global head of private equity Tom Whelan has resigned from the firm and is set to join McDermott Will & Emery. Meganne Tillay reports that Whelan  joined legacy Lovells as a partner in 2006 from DLA Piper and focuses on private equity, M&A, joint ventures and restructurings.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"The view from the podium is much better than the view from the kitchen."

—  Vernon Jordan, civil rights advocate and senior counsel at Akin Gump, on speaking at an event at The Lawyer's Club in Atlanta, where as a teenager he had helped his mother, a caterer, serve dinners.

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