We have another strong slate of runners-up and shout outs this week, so let's get right to it.

Roberta Kaplan and Joshua Matz of Kaplan Hecker & Fink secured denial of the Justice Department's motion to substitute the United States of America as the defendant in E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump. The pair originally filed the defamation case in state court for Carroll, who claims the president sexually assaulted her in a New York department store 25 years ago. She seeks to hold Trump accountable in his personal capacity for saying she was lying and motivated by money. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan on Monday wrote that accepting the DOJ's argument that the president was acting within the scope of his employment would mean that a president is free to "defame anyone who criticizes his conduct or impugns his character—without adverse consequences to that president and no matter what injury he inflicts on the person defamed."

Also in New York federal court, a team from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe led by partner Amy Walsh and Pro Bono Counsel Rene Kathawala teamed with David Brody with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to get a court order shutting down a robocalling operation run by political operative Jacob Wohl and lobbyist Jack Burkman aimed at discouraging Black voters from submitting their ballots via mail. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero rejected the defendants' First Amendment defense. "The First Amendment cannot confer on anyone a license to inflict purposeful harm on democratic society or offer refuge for wrongdoers seeking to undermine bedrock constitutional principles," he wrote. The Orrick team also included associate Rachelle Navarro, who argued the motion for a temporary restraining order, and her colleagues Julie Gorchkova, Spencer Bruck, Aaron Gold and Michael Maruca.