Apocalypse Now

-”It’s way too soon. I don’t think this defendant fully understands the position he finds himself in.” U.S. district court judge James Zagel, denying Rod Blagojevich’s request to go to Costa Rica and film, I‘m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! Blagojevich will appear, however, on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice.

-Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criticize Ropes & Gray for stockpiling Tamiflu to protect against swine flu. Days later, associate Arthur Cutillo is arrested for insider trading. Maybe Ropes didn’t stockpile enough.

-McKee Nelson is bought by Bingham McCutchen, joining its securitization-heavy brethren Thacher Proffitt on the list of the departed. And we thought that dividing credit card receivables into multiple interest-only tranches would power the legal industry into the high-leveraged future.

-”I would do it tomorrow.” Federal judge Leonie Brinkema, who oversaw twentieth hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui’s trial, on whether she thought trying terrorists in criminal court was a good idea. Someone in Manhattan will get the honor. Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is likely to go on trial there sometime in 2010.