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

|

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

MORE ACCESS – The New York State court system is restoring the filing of new nonessential lawsuits for New York City and downstate counties starting Monday. Ryan Tarinelli reports that for the state court system, the move is the most significant step forward in expanding court access since all nonessential services were postponed in March.

INTERJECTION –  During this month's historic telephonic arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. interrupted or cut off questioning by his colleagues 11 times, nine of which were of women and all of which were of the court's liberal justices, Marcia Coyle reports. According to a study by Leah Litman, a professor at Michigan Law School, Roberts interrupted Justice Sonia Sotomayor the most even though she had only one of the longest 14 questioning periods.

PRECEDENT  – The DOJ's move to drop the case against Michael Flynn is putting a fresh spotlight on a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court case, Rinaldi, that addressed the judiciary rule pertaining to the  dismissal of criminal charges. As Mike Scarcella and C. Ryan Barber report, the court rule in question gives a judge some discretionary role in those rare circumstances in which prosecutors ask a court to dismiss a case. But how much of a role? U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has set oral arguments for the DOJ's motion to dismiss the case for July 16.

|

EDITOR'S PICKS

Yale Law Women Expands 'Best' List of Law Firms (But Don't Get Excited)

Harvard to Offer Free 'Zero-L' Course for Incoming Students at All Law Schools

|

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

VULNERABLE – Several law firms have been the targets of a range of scamming attempts amid the coronavirus shutdown, according to the U.K. Solicitors Regulation Authority, the lawyer regulatory body. Simon Lock reports that the firms are Shearman & Sterling; Debevoise; Morgan Lewis; and Latham & Watkins. Other firms such as CMS, Blake Morgan and Winckworth Sherwood also have been targeted by fraudsters. In total, 23 separate scam attempts have been recorded by the SRA since the start of the U.K.'s coronavirus lockdown on March 23.

|

WHAT YOU SAID

"I have heard from [recruiters] that they had 20 opportunities that they were working on, but now it's down to maybe five." 

— Colin Levy, former corporate counsel for Salary.com, who was laid off earlier this month and is looking for a job.

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