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BigLaw firm concluded partner's email to Black associate wasn't racist because 'he treated other people terribly too,' suit alleges

Updated: Complaints about discriminatory conduct at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders “were often ignored, and, when they were not, met with gaslighting, apathy or swift retaliation,” according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a fired Black female associate.



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JD-Next should be backup to traditional entrance requirements, says ABA consultant

JD-Next, a prelaw school exam administered by Aspen Publishing, should be used only as a secondary supplement to more established measurements of potential law student success, such as undergraduate grades or more established testing scores, according to a new report from a consultant for the ABA.



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Checkmate: BigLaw associate seeks chess master status

Opposing counsel may want to watch out for Rochelle Ballantyne, a first-year litigation associate at Sidley Austin and a longtime chess champ with a fierce competitive spirit.



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Face masks at trial didn't violate confrontation right of officer accused of bathroom assault, 4th Circuit rules

The Sixth Amendment right to confrontation wasn’t violated when a judge required witnesses to wear face masks in the trial of a former Logan, West Virginia, police officer accused of violating the civil rights of a public intoxication arrestee, a federal appeals court has ruled.



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LSAC president shifts to lead Association of American Law Schools

Kellye Testy will become the executive director and CEO of the Association of American Law Schools on July 1.



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Contractor or Employee? Labor Department changes the rules again

Bad news for employers that rely on the gig economy: It just got harder to run a business based on independent contractors.



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Supreme Court will consider overruling landmark Chevron deference decision in a fishy case

On Jan. 17, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether they should overrule a landmark 1984 decision often requiring courts to defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes.



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Retiring Reluctantly: As lawyers age, many struggle with exit strategies

For years, law firms across the country have been grappling with what to do with the baby boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, as they reach and surpass the typical retirement age of 65. The problem, law firm consultants say, is that lawyers often don’t want to leave.



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Florida prosecutor ousted by DeSantis gets chance to prove First Amendment claims

Ousted Hillsborough County, Florida, State Attorney Andrew Warren is getting a chance to seek reinstatement on First Amendment grounds as a result of a federal appeals court’s ruling Wednesday.



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'Demand mobility' and power shift toward clients went unrecognized by some in BigLaw, report says

There has been a “sorting out” in the legal market in the last few years, as many BigLaw firms didn’t even notice that budget-conscious clients were moving around legal work and gaining market power, according to the 2024 Report on the State of the U.S. Legal Market.



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