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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

SUPERVISED PRACTICE - Because of bar exam delays in New York and concerns about accommodating all test takers when the exam is expected to be administered in September, recent law graduates seeking to get licensed there will be authorized to engage in the "limited practice of law" under the supervision of a more experienced lawyer until testing delays and capacity constraints are resolved, Jack Newsham reports.

ADJUSTMENTS – Littler Mendelson, the nation's largest labor and employment firm, has announced pay cuts for attorneys and staff in response to economic uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic. Meredith Hobbs reports that the firm's salary reductions will range from 4% to 20%, with equity shareholders taking the largest cuts. The firm is not laying off or furloughing employees, but it will cut pay by 50% on June 5 for staff who are unable to work remotely. For a roundup of law firm cutbacks amid the pandemic, go here.

BATTLING BRANCHES – The D.C. Circuit, en banc, indicated Tuesday that it will rule in favor of the House's ability to go to court against the executive branch, as it heard arguments over the significant legal question that's sure to land before the U.S. Supreme Court. As Jacqueline Thomsen reports, the arguments center on a pair of House lawsuits: one seeking to enforce a subpoena for former White House counsel Don McGahn's testimony, and another on President Trump's diversion of Pentagon funding for border wall construction.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS – Immigration courts will remain open after a ruling from U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, confirmed to the federal bench last year, who found he did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter and the plaintiffs lacked standing. As Jacqueline Thomsen reports, immigration lawyer groups and detained immigrants sought a TRO against the DOJ, which oversees the immigration courts, arguing it is unsafe to conduct in-person hearings amid the pandemic.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

Do Boies Schiller Departures Spell Trouble or Transition?

Sorry Legal Tech: For Firms and In-House, Time is Still Money

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

ROUGH – Burford Capital's operating profits tumbled by 21% in 2019, the international litigation funder's latest financial report shows. Meganne Tillay reports that its operating profits fell to $279.3 million from $354.8 million, and its total income decreased by 15% to $356.7 million. The firm said in a statement that both decreases were due to a "lumpy" legal finance market.

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WHAT YOU SAID

"I will keep doing it as long as people will sit there and listen to me talk about wine."

— Christopher Buccafusco, professor at Cardozo law school, who hosts a weekly wine tasting via Zoom with students that touches on wine-related law.

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