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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

LEGAL AID – President Trump is expected by midnight tonight to sign legislation that includes $440 million for the Legal Services Corporation, an increase of $25 million over LSC's appropriation of $415 million last year, according to LSC. In August, more than 250 general counsel asked Congress to increase federal funding for LSC, amid concerns that the Trump administration would completely cut funding for the group, which offers legal services to low-income Americans.

LAWYERED UP – A lawyer who faced the ire of a federal judge this week for sending 100 profanity-laced emails to opposing counsel has hired a prominent California attorney to represent him in preparation for potential disciplinary actions. Amanda Bronstad reports that Christopher Hook, who, among other things, told opposing counsel at Sheppard Mullin to "eat a bowl of dicks" in a California insurance dispute, has retained Heather Rosing, a partner at Klinedinst in San Diego. Rosing, whose work focuses on legal malpractice, is the former vice president of the State Bar of California and the outgoing president of the California Lawyers Association.

AUSSIE BIZ – Australia's mergers and acquisitions market will remain strong in 2020, with acquirers looking beyond any short-term geopolitical headwinds such as Brexit and trade tensions between the U.S. and China, Christopher Niesche reports. According to a study from legal and consulting firm MinterEllison, in 2019 some 45 deals, each with a value of $34 million or more were announced, including nine deals with a value of $690 million or more. Metals and mining led the way, accounting for eight out of 45 deals.

SUED – A legal malpractice lawsuit filed against Akin Gump alleges the firm's lawyers took advantage of a troubled CEO and looted his internet domain business to pay for a family vacation in the Cayman Islands and nearly $3,000 in Broadway tickets. David Thomas reports that Future Media Architects, a British Virgin Islands company, wants at least $25 million in damages against the firm, whose attorneys began representing FMA in 2012 and its former CEO, Thunayan Al-Ghanim, in 2013.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Lawyer, Suspended Over 'Sluts' Comment, Claims in Lawsuit He Was Misheard

Want to Win a Social Media Defamation Case? Don't Start One

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

 A FACEBOOK WIN – Facebook has scored a symbolic win in the ongoing court battle over whether the social media company's transatlantic data transfers comply with EU law. Simon Taylor reports that a senior EU legal adviser found data transfers under standard contractual clauses in line with EU data protection rules. The opinion, however, is nonbinding, and the legal advisor warned such clauses could be stopped if safeguards on adequate data protection aren't respected.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"We don't have that luxury anymore and our margins for error are much slimmer than they used to be."

—  Deborah Read, managing partner at Thompson Hine, on not being able to foot the bill for newly hired associates who don't work out. To improve their hiring process, Thompson Hine asks new applicants to submit to a psychological assessment.

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