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

|

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SUED – Embattled California Court of Appeal Justice Jeffrey Johnson faces another sexual harassment suit, this time filed by a judicial assistant who said she endured five years of his "unwelcome, inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature." As Cheryl Miller reports, plaintiff Trisha Velez is one of more than a dozen attorneys, court employees and security officers who told judicial conduct investigators that Johnson acted inappropriately going back to 2009. A disciplinary hearing on those allegations is scheduled for next week. Velez's complaint is the second suit filed against the judge and the state by a court worker since allegations of his conduct went public in 2018. 

IMPACT – Since peaking on Feb. 12, the Dow is down 20.5%. But as Dan Packel reports, law firms apparently have yet to change their hiring plans, though they remain guarded. "Firms are keeping their powder dry because of the unpredictably," says recruiter David Lat. For now, the idea of rescinding associate offers generally has not entered the conversation, nor have firms indicated they are halting lateral hiring in the face of economic uncertainty.

DRY BUT IMPORTANT – The Seventh Circuit has refused to adopt what it calls a "major change in the law," and has reinstated a class action that was earlier thrown out based on the Supreme Court's seminal 2017 'Bristol-Myers' ruling. Amanda Bronstad reports that the decision, the first of its kind by an appeals court, said the Bristol Myers rule did not apply because the present case involving unsolicited faxes was in federal court and involved unnamed class members who weren't "full parties." 'Bristol Myers' held that plaintiffs in a mass action over Plavix had failed to establish specific jurisdiction, because there wasn't a strong enough link between their claims and California, where they brought their lawsuit in state court. 

|

EDITOR'S PICKS

Class Action Targets NCAA Coaches for Alleged Sexual Contact With College Athletes

Time Flies When You're Practicing Law. Here's How to Slow Things Down.

|

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

GIVING - U.K.-based Ashurst has teamed up with Beijing-based law firm Guantao to deliver medical supplies to hospitals, medical teams and affected communities in China. Hannah Roberts reports that the law firm says its Asia team has "sourced and delivered nearly 40,000 masks, 20,000 gloves, 10,000 surgical caps, 800 isolation gowns and other medical supplies." Ashurst began an alliance with the Chinese firm in 2008. In 2018, the two firms launched a joint operation office in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

|
|

WHAT YOU SAID

"I think what I said is right. I mean, I think it needed to be said."

— Lynn Adelman, U.S. District Judge in Wisconsin, author of the article, "The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy," which suggests the U.S. Supreme Court is tilting toward the rich and powerful at the expense of equal justice and democratic values. 

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