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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

STAY FOCUSED – With Roger Stone's trial set to get underway today, Judge Amy Berman Jackson has a clear message: Stick to the subject. Jacqueline Thomsen reports that the D.C. federal judge Monday told attorneys for both the DOJ and Stone that "we're going to follow the rules."  Jackson previously struck down efforts from Stone's legal team to include evidence relating to Russian hacking during the 2016 election. Stone is charged with making false statements to Congress and witness tampering during the congressional investigation into interference in the 2016 election. Jury selection is expected to begin today.

FIVE-YEAR FINDS – A new report by McKinsey & Co. and Lean In shows a 29% jump in the representation of women in the C-suite over the last five years, which mirrors the equity partner situation for women in law firms. But, as The Careerist Vivia Chen points out, what might seem like an enormous leap translates into about one woman for every five executives overall in the C-suite. The report notes that just 72 women are hired and promoted for every 100 men—analogous to what happens in law firms where women tend to thin out in the more senior ranks.

TURKEY TROUBLE – Lawyers from King & Spalding are set to appear this morning in Manhattan federal court, as they prepare a challenge to an Oct. 15 indictment accusing Halkbank, the Turkish state-run bank, of helping Iran evade U.S. economic sanctions. King & Spalding partner Andrew Hruska said that the firm would appear for the "limited and special purpose" of moving to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction in the Southern District of New York. Halkbank, he said, would also ask U.S. District Judge Richard Berman to recuse himself from the case, saying that unspecified comments from the judge "both in and out of the courtroom" had called his impartiality into question.

ADMISSION CHANGE – Legislation has been proposed in New York to do away with the question for admission to the bar about applicants' mental health. Dan M. Clark reports that the bill is the result of a report published in August by the state bar association's working group on attorney mental health, which found that because of the question, many law school students have avoided seeking treatment for mental health issues out of fear it would negatively impact their bar admission.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

LeClairRyan Owned Just 1% Of UnitedLex Joint Venture, Filing Says

Giving Back: How to Build a Successful In-House Pro Bono Program

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

PRO BONO – A survey by Law.com affiliate Legal Week has for the first time revealed the law firms that dedicate the most resources to pro bono work in the UK. Hannah Roberts reports that topping the list of 10 is Hogan Lovells. Read more.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"It's not a fair system. I don't believe you can compensate an attorney who is responsible for $40 million worth of business the same way you can compensate someone with $4 million in business."

—  Mark Rosen, a legal recruiter who placed Cleary's Ethan Klingsberg at Freshfields, on why he thinks the lockstep compensation model is doomed.

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