Ubiquitous litigator Michael Avenatti seems increasingly prepared to run for president, releasing a summary on Monday of his positions on 20-plus issues.

Many of Avenatti's policies are standard Democratic fare: Make college more affordable, expand childcare subsidies, support clean energy, give DREAMers a path to citizenship. But in other areas, his perspective as a plaintiffs lawyer shines through.

For example, Avenatti specified that he believes “gun manufacturers should be held to the same civil liability standards as other product manufacturers in the United States.” (Since 2005, when Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, the gun industry has more or less gotten a free pass on product liability, negligence and nuisance claims.)

Best known for representing Stormy Daniels, Avenatti, 47, also said that he believes “our laws must protect against discrimination and that Americans should always be empowered to fight to protect their rights in court.” In other words, he opposes mandatory arbitration.

Also not surprisingly, he stresses the importance of the Supreme Court. “The stakes in 2020 are clear: if Democrats lose, Trump will usher in a 7-2 Court that will turn back progress from the last fifty years and dramatically change life in America as we presently know it. FOR DECADES. I believe the seriousness of this cannot be overstated.”

Jenna GreeneAvenatti also wrote, “Never again can we stand by and allow a Supreme Court seat to be stolen from the American people as in 2016. Period.” (Question: Does this still apply if Democrats retake the Senate and one of the court's liberal members dies with 11 months left in Trump's term?)

“This is not an exhaustive list; more positions and details will follow. I am pleased to report that I still have not had to take a poll or hire a political consultant to tell me what to say or what to believe,” he tweeted.

Avenatti's policy positions follow news on Friday that he launched his own political action committee, “Fight PAC.” The week before, Avenatti unveiled a website, The Fight 2020, which to date consists solely of a black and white photograph of Rudy Giuliani (and his pinky ring) with the headline “All the President's Con Men.”

In some ways, Avenatti reminds me of John Edwards—a charismatic, silver-tongued plaintiffs lawyer who figures success in a courtroom should translate into success as a politician. Of course, Edwards also spent six years as a U.S. senator before he first ran for president in 2004.

But Avenatti, whose law firm Eagan Avenatti in Newport Beach, California settled with the IRS in July over $880,000 in unpaid payroll taxes, has spent his career as a litigator. (During college and law school, he did work at a political opposition research and media firm run by Rahm Emanuel, which no doubt has now proven more useful than, say, waiting tables. But still.)

To be sure, he's been a successful litigator—last year, he won a $454 million award in a class action against Kimberly-Clark over defective surgical gowns, later reduced to $25 million—but practicing law is all that he's done, unless you count going on TV.

Then again, voters in 2016 demonstrated that we as a nation no longer care if our presidents have any prior government experience. Avenatti is positioning himself as the guy who can meet Trump at his level. “When they go low, I say, we hit harder,” he told a group of Iowa Democrats earlier this month, according to The Hill.

He clearly knows how to give a closing argument. He ended a speech earlier this month saying, “We will make America gracious again. We will make America fair again. We will make America dynamic again. We will make America respected. And above all else, we will make America America again.”

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Shout-Out: Axinn on Top in Delaware Patent Fight

A team from Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider prevailed before a federal judge in Delaware, beating back patent infringement claims against client Alvogen Malta Operations, Ltd.

The global, privately owned pharmaceutical company was sued by Pernix Therapeutics LLC. The fight stemmed from Alvogen's proposed generic version of Pernix's drug Zohydro, an opioid which is used to treat chronic pain.

Last week, U.S. District Judge William Bryson ruled that Pernix, which was represented by Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto, did prove infringement. But he also found that the nine asserted patent claims were invalid due to obviousness and for failure to satisfy the written description requirement.

Pernix on Monday said it would appeal the invalidity decision.

The Axinn team was led by Chad Landmon, Matt Becker and Ted Mathias, with Thomas Hedemann, David Ludwig, Chris Gallo and Ryan Hersch.

In January, Pernix settled with Actavis Laboratories, which had also been represented by Axinn.

My colleagues from The National Law Journal in their annual special report highlight star litigators from 19 firms. See who made the list.

She claimed posts by fellow flight attendants in Facebook group called “Wingnuts” amounted to sexual harassment.

The money is slated to be spent on attorney fees and other costs related to roughly 15 cases.

Williams & Connolly's Allison Jones Rushing, who previously clerked for both Justice Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch at the Tenth Circuit, got the nod for a Fourth Circuit post.

A who's who of the Supreme Court bar sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing their “strong support” for Kavanaugh.

Ken Starr and Mark Lanier strike me as the odd couple of the plaintiffs bar.