Category: News Feeds

There
are
a
variety
of
inconveniences
that
may
befall
you
on
any
given
day.
But
part
of
living
in
a
polite
society
is
managing
those
frustrations
and
not
going
nuclear
on
those
who
piss
you
off
—
even
when
you’re
justified
in
your
irritation.
That’s
something
a
Biglaw
partner
is
figuring
out
the
hard
way.

Richard
Pitt
is
a
partner
at
Eversheds
Sutherland
in
their
Cardiff
office,
where
he
leads
the
Commercial
Dispute
Resolution
team
and
is
Co-Head
of
the
Procurement
team.
But
he’s
getting
a
lot
of
attention,
not
for
his
lawyering
skills,
but
for
his
anger
management
ones,
or,
more
accurately,
lack
thereof.

Pitt
was
dealing
with
one
of
life’s
frustrations
—
his
reserved
parking
space
in
the
office
carpark
was
taken
by
another
car.
His
spot
was
snagged
by
another
attorney
at
Eversheds
—
a
pregnant
associate
—
and
Pitt
absolutely
lost
his
shit.

See,
Pitt
never
learned
the
Daniel
Tiger
strategy
for
dealing
with
anger.
(Take
a
deep
breath
and
count
to
four.)

No.
Instead,
the
partner
took
his
frustrations
out
on
the
pregnant
associate
—
and
those
who
had
the
misfortune
of
being
parked
next
to
her
—
trapping
the
car
in
the
carpark.
As

reported
by
Roll
on
Friday:

When
Pitt
returned
from
the
gym
to
find
his
spot
had
been
taken
he
was
“enraged”,
said
a
source.

In
a
fit
of
pique
he
parked
his
car
behind
hers,
lengthways,
blocking
in
her
vehicle
and
another
colleague’s.

The
associate
discovered
she
was
trapped
and
asked
Pitt
to
move
his
car
–
believed
to
be
a
yellow
Porsche
–
so
she
could
go
home.

“Richard’s
response
–
a
firm
no”,
said
a
source.

The
associate
was
eventually
able
to
maneuver
her
car
out
of
the
lot
—
no
thanks
to
Pitt,
but
with
the
assistance
of
others
who
moved
their
cars
to
let
her
exit.

Sigh.
Listen,
parking
squabbles
can
indeed
be
frustrating.
And
having
your
reserved
spot
snaked
out
from
under
you
is
definitely
annoying.
But
Pitt
loses
all
sympathy
with
his
over-the-top
response.
You
never
know
what
someone
else
is
going
through,
and
giving
those
who
frustrate
you
some
grace
is
a
great
life
skill
—
particularly
when
those
people
are
colleagues
you
have
to
work
with.
Alas,
that
wasn’t
to
be.

But
that
wasn’t
the
end
of
it,
as
Pitt
then
asked
his
pregnant
colleague
to
provide
him
with
a
written
apology.

“Amazingly”,
she
did,
said
a
source.

But
that
still
wasn’t
the
end
of
it
–
the
written
apology
was
apparently
“not
good
enough”
and
Pitt
requested
an
in-person
apology.
At
that
point,
the
associate
refused.

At
least
cooler
heads
have,
at
last,
prevailed.
Pitt
apologized,
telling
RollOnFriday,
“In
the
moment
I
made
a
regrettable
error
of
judgement
for
which
I
apologise
unreservedly.”

Eversheds
Sutherland
provided
the
following
comment
about
the
affair,
“We
are
aware
of
the
incident
relating
to
car
parking
at
our
Cardiff
office.
The
matter
has
now
been
satisfactorily
resolved.”

Hopefully,
Pitt
will
count
to
four
next
time
he’s
inconvenienced,
lest
he
have
to
make
another
very
public
apology.

---

Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of

The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email

her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter

@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon

@[email protected].

In
today’s
business
environment,
where
every
move
is
scrutinized
and
every
decision
has
the
potential
to
go
viral,
legal
leaders
find
themselves
in
a
unique
position.
They
are
no
longer
just
gatekeepers
of
compliance
but
also
at
the
forefront
of
shaping
ethical
cultures
within
organizations.
Robert
Chesnut,
who
served
as
general
counsel
and
chief
ethics
officer
at
Airbnb,
offers
profound
insights
into
how
legal
leaders
can
transform
integrity
from
a
mere
buzzword
into
a
tangible
force
that
drives
company
culture
and
business
success.

1.
Make
Integrity
A
Daily
Practice,
Not
Just
A
Policy

One
of
the
more
unusual
yet
effective
approaches
Chesnut
advocates
for
is
making
integrity
a
visible,
daily
practice
rather
than
just
a
set
of
policies
collecting
dust
on
a
shelf.
At
Airbnb,
for
example,
integrity
wasn’t
confined
to
a
handbook.
Instead,
Chesnut
and
his
team
developed
“Integrity
Yetis,”
a
fun
and
creative
way
to
recognize
employees
who
demonstrated
ethical
behavior.
These
were
not
just
tokens
but
became
symbols
of
pride
around
the
office.
Imagine
an
employee
being
recognized
in
front
of
their
peers
for
standing
up
for
the
right
thing
—
even
something
as
seemingly
minor
as
calling
out
a
colleague
(or
even
a
senior
leader)
for
a
small
lapse
in
security
protocol.
The
act
of
recognition
turns
integrity
into
something
people
want
to
embody
and
be
celebrated
for,
rather
than
something
they
merely
comply
with.

Chesnut’s
experience
shows
that
when
integrity
is
embedded
in
everyday
actions
and
celebrated
publicly,
it
becomes
a
core
part
of
the
company
culture.
It’s
not
about
imposing
rules
from
the
top
down
but
about
fostering
an
environment
where
ethical
behavior
is
noticed,
appreciated,
and
emulated
by
others.

2.
Build
A
Network
Of
Ethics
Champions
Across
The
Organization

Another
unexpected
insight
from
Chesnut’s
work
is
the
power
of
decentralizing
the
ownership
of
ethics.
Rather
than
housing
integrity
solely
within
the
confines
of
the
legal
department,
Chesnut
argues
for
creating
a
network
of
“ethics
ambassadors”
across
all
departments.
At
Airbnb,
these
were
not
high-ranking
executives
but
rather
midlevel
employees
from
various
parts
of
the
company
who
volunteered
to
champion
integrity
within
their
teams.
This
approach
does
two
things:
it
democratizes
ethics,
making
it
everyone’s
responsibility,
and
it
embeds
ethical
decision-making
closer
to
where
actual
business
decisions
are
made.

By
appointing
these
ambassadors,
you
empower
employees
to
become
stewards
of
integrity
in
their
own
right.
They
become
the
go-to
people
for
ethical
questions
and
dilemmas,
fostering
a
culture
where
ethical
considerations
are
part
of
everyday
business
discussions
rather
than
afterthoughts
or
crises
management.
This
network
not
only
helps
in
identifying
potential
ethical
issues
early
but
also
ensures
that
ethical
behavior
is
seen
as
part
of
every
role,
not
just
something
for
the
legal
team
to
worry
about.

3.
Measure
Integrity
With
The
Same
Rigor
As
Business
Performance

Perhaps
one
of
the
most
groundbreaking
approaches
Chesnut
discusses
is
the
idea
of
measuring
integrity
with
the
same
rigor
as
any
other
business
metric.
This
might
sound
strange
at
first—how
do
you
quantify
something
as
abstract
as
integrity?
But
Chesnut
makes
a
compelling
case
that
if
you
don’t
measure
it,
you
can’t
manage
it.
At
Airbnb,
they
looked
at
metrics
such
as
the
number
of
integrity-related
questions
raised
by
employees,
engagement
with
ethics
training
materials,
and
responses
to
ethical
dilemmas.

By
quantifying
these
actions,
Chesnut’s
team
could
track
the
health
of
the
company’s
ethical
culture
and
identify
areas
for
improvement.
It
also
provided
tangible
data
to
show
the
board
and
other
stakeholders
that
integrity
wasn’t
just
a
feel-good
concept
but
a
measurable
and
managed
aspect
of
the
business.
This
focus
on
metrics
helps
shift
the
conversation
around
ethics
from
a
soft,
nice-to-have
quality
to
a
core
business
competency
that
impacts
the
bottom
line.

Final
Thoughts:
Integrity
As
A
Strategic
Asset

The
takeaway
from
Chesnut’s
experience
is
clear:
integrity
should
be
seen
as
a
strategic
asset,
not
a
compliance
requirement.
It’s
about
creating
an
environment
where
every
employee
feels
responsible
for
and
capable
of
contributing
to
the
ethical
fabric
of
the
company.
Legal
leaders
are
in
a
prime
position
to
drive
this
transformation,
but
it
requires
a
shift
in
mindset
—
from
being
enforcers
of
rules
to
being
champions
of
culture.

So,
what
can
you
do
as
a
legal
leader
to
build
this
culture
of
integrity?
Start
by
integrating
ethical
behavior
into
daily
business
practices,
empower
employees
at
all
levels
to
own
and
champion
integrity,
and
measure
it
as
you
would
any
other
critical
business
function.
For
more
on
how
to
implement
these
strategies
and
other
innovative
approaches
to
corporate
integrity,
be
sure
to
check
out
the
full
conversation
with
Robert
Chesnut
on
“Notes
to
My
(Legal)
Self.”
You’ll
gain
deeper
insights
into
how
to
make
integrity
not
just
a
policy,
but
a
practice
that
drives
both
culture
and
business
success.

---

Olga
V.
Mack


is
a
Fellow
at
CodeX,
The
Stanford
Center
for
Legal
Informatics,
and
a
Generative
AI
Editor
at
law.MIT.
Olga
embraces
legal
innovation
and
had
dedicated
her
career
to
improving
and
shaping
the
future
of
law.
She
is
convinced
that
the
legal
profession
will
emerge
even
stronger,
more
resilient,
and
more
inclusive
than
before
by
embracing
technology.
Olga
is
also
an
award-winning
general
counsel,
operations
professional,
startup
advisor,
public
speaker,
adjunct
professor,
and
entrepreneur.
She
authored Get
on
Board:
Earning
Your
Ticket
to
a
Corporate
Board
Seat, Fundamentals
of
Smart
Contract
Security,
and  Blockchain
Value:
Transforming
Business
Models,
Society,
and
Communities. She
is
working
on
three
books:


Visual
IQ
for
Lawyers
(ABA
2024), The
Rise
of
Product
Lawyers:
An
Analytical
Framework
to
Systematically
Advise
Your
Clients
Throughout
the
Product
Lifecycle
(Globe
Law
and
Business
2024),
and
Legal
Operations
in
the
Age
of
AI
and
Data
(Globe
Law
and
Business
2024).
You
can
follow
Olga
on



LinkedIn


and
Twitter
@olgavmack.

Thanks
to
the
dedicated
work
of

Law
Students
for
Climate
Accountability,
we
know
that
Biglaw
firms
continue
to
be
a
“hotbed
of
fossil
fuel
activity.”
According
to
the
group’s
fifth
annual

Climate
Scorecard,
Biglaw
firms
received
grades
of
“A”
to
“F”
based
on
their
work
—
and
two
separate
environmental
groups
are
now
protesting
outside
of
the
offices
of
two
firms
that
received
“F”
grades.

Members
of
Lawyers
Are
Responsible
(LAR)
and
Fossil
Free
London
recently
staged
a
“climate
crisis
exhibition”
outside
of
the
London
offices
of
Akin
Gump
and
A&O
Shearman.
As
noted
by
LSCA,
Akin
earned
$7.92
million
from
fossil
fuel
lobbying
between
2019
and
2023,
while
A&O
Shearman
worked
on
$285
billion
worth
of
fossil-fuel-related
transactions
over
the
same
period.

In
a
statement,
LAR
referred
to
both
Biglaw
firms
as
“fossil
fuel
industry
enablers.”
The

American
Lawyer
has
additional
details
on
the
protest:

LAR
is
made
up
of
a
group
of
lawyers
campaigning
for
law
firms
to
cut
their
ties
to
the
fossil
fuel
industry,
while
Fossil
Free
London
describes
itself
as
a
group
that
uses
“direct
action,
creative
stunts,
disruption
and
protest
to
target
key
fossil
fuel
corporations
and
banks.”
…

Joanna
Warrington,
a
campaigner
at
Fossil
Free
London
said:
“Lawyers
here
are
raking
in
millions
by
defending
the
corporations
wrecking
our
planet.
They’re
not
just
complicit—they’re
profiting
from
climate
disaster
while
the
world’s
most
vulnerable
pay
the
price.”

Environmental
protests
like
these
aren’t
going
to
stop
anytime
soon.
Biglaw
needs
to
do
better,
to
make
the
future
better
for
all
of
us.

Climate
Groups
Demonstrate
Outside
A&O
Shearman
and
Akin
Offices
[American
Lawyer]

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to

email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on

X/Twitter
and

Threads
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.

In
today’s
modern
age,
many
law
firms
are
moving
business
intelligence
(BI)
solutions
from
the
nice-to-have
category
to
a
clear
differentiator
in
their
firm’s
success. 
Still,
there
are
many
questions
regarding
the
true
benefits
of
BI
for
law
firms,
and
whether
it’s
worthy
of
the
hype.

We’re
here
to
set
the
record
straight
about
BI
in
this
CLE-eligible
webinar.
 You’ll
learn
how
BI
can
revolutionize
your
law
firm’s
approach
to
data,
driving
efficiency
and
informed
decision-making. 
Sign
up
today
and
join
us
on

November
20th
at
1
p.m.
ET.

The
panel
will
explore:

• The
  untold
  story
  hiding
  in
  your
  data
  and
  how
  a
  BI
  solution
  can
  bring
  it
  to
  light
  for
  proactive
  strategy
  development
• The
  art
  of
  data
  customization,
  ensuring
  that
  every
  role
  within
  your
  firm
  has
  access
  to
  role-specific,
  actionable
  insights
  tailored
  to
  their
  specific
  needs
• How
  having
  an
  eyeline
  into
  streamlined
  reporting
  helps
  law
  firms
  cut
  through
  complex
  analysis,
  saving
  time
  and
  elevating
  productivity
• Advanced
  techniques
  to
  bolster
  data
  privacy
  and
  security,
  safeguarding
  your
  firm’s
  and
  clients’
  sensitive
  information
• How
  establishing
  a
  single
  source
  of
  truth
  with
  a
  BI
  tool
  can
  enhance
  the
  accuracy
  and
  trustworthiness
  of
  your
  firm’s
  data,
  all
  while
  strengthening
  teams
  under
  a
  unified
  goal

*
Judge
schedules
a
hearing
to
hear
concerns
over
the
transparency
in
the
bankruptcy
auction
that
awarded
Infowars
to
The
Onion.
[Bloomberg
Law
News]

*
Proposed
law
to
protect
journalists
from
government
spying
already
passed
the
House
but
the
Senate
may
not
even
take
it
up.
Good
thing
there’s
not
an
incoming
administration
promising
to
jail
journalists
or
anything.
[WIRED]

*
Senator
Thom
Tillis
says
of
Fourth
Circuit
nominee
list
including
former
state
supreme
court
chief
justice
that
“Not
only
are
they
not
fit
for
the
Fourth
Circuit,
but
we
wouldn’t
even
consider
them
for
a
district
court.”
As
an
aside,
Thom
Tillis
voted
to

confirm
Kathryn
Mizelle
who
was
an
associate
at
the
time.
[Courthouse
News
Service]

*
Trump
placing
personal
lawyers
in
key
Justice
Department
positions.
[NBC
News]

*
The
lawyer
for
the
at-the-time
minor
at
the
center
Gaetz
investigation
urges
House
to
release
ethics
report.
[Politico]

*
Eversheds
partner
traps
pregnant
associate
in
parking
garage
after
she
took
the
spot
where
he
parks
his
Porsche. 
[Roll
on
Friday]

*
EU
levies
massive
fine
against
Facebook
for
tying
its
marketplace
ads
to
its
social
media
platform.
[Law360]

Highbrowed
Laughingstock
Really
Shouldn’t
Be
Attorney
General:

Here’s
a
bunch
of
very
qualified
people
sharing
that
sentiment.

Wonder
Who’s
Covering
The
Tab?:

Rumor
has
it
Clarence
Thomas
and
Ben
Shapiro
broke
bread.

Welcome
To
The
Partnership!:

Cravath
announced
7
new
partners.

Clock
The
Money
They’re
Making:

These
firms
have
the
highest
hourly
rates!

No
Such
Thing
As
Free
Money:

Disbarred
lawyer
defrauded
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of
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Ed.
Note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature

Trivia
Question
of
the
Day!

Today,
the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
advanced,
along
party
lines,
what
nominee
for
the
Court
of
Appeals
for
the
Fourth
Circuit?

Hint:
This
nominee
will
now
join
four
other
Biden
circuit
court
nominees
waiting
on
a
Senate
vote.
The
other
nominees
waiting
on
a
floor
vote
are
Karla
Campbell
for
the
Sixth
Circuit,
Julia
Lipez
for
the
First
Circuit,
Adeel
Mangi
for
the
Third
Circuit,
and
Embry
Kidd
for
the
Eleventh
Circuit.

See
the
answer
on
the
next
page.

It’s
all
lollipops
and
sunshine
down
at
the
Supreme
Court
following
Donald
Trump’s
2024
election
victory.

Sir
Samuel
of
Blackacre won’t
have
to

dust
off
his
insurrection
flags! Ginni
Thomas
won’t
have
to

pay
text
overage
fees
pestering
Mark
Meadows
with
conspiracy
theories!
And
Brett
Kavanaugh
can

point
at
Matt
Gaetz!

It’s
the
result
that
the
conservatives
on
the
Supreme
Court

went
to
considerable
lengths
to
make
happen
from

retroactively
erasing
part
of
the
Fourteenth
Amendment
to
inventing

a
brand
new
theory
of
immunity
to
functionally
shield
presidents
from
non-presidential
acts
—
like

refusing
to
turn
over
classified
documents
as
a
private
citizen
or

paying
hush
money
to
a
porn
star.

Time
to
celebrate,
gang!

One
justice
might
be
doing
a
little
celebrating
as
we
speak.
We’re
hearing
that
Clarence
Thomas
might
be
taking

a
break
from
vacation
planning
today
to
have
a
private
lunch
with
right-wing
gadfly
Ben
Shapiro.

Shapiro
would
seem
an
odd
dining
companion
for
a
Supreme
Court
justice.
Maybe
Thomas
needed
some
Thanksgiving
tips
from
the
absolute
worst
chef
of
all
time:

That’s
from
a
video
where

Shapiro
awkwardly
attempts
to
make
a
turkey
while
hawking
earbuds.
Remember
back
in
the
60s
when
William
F.
Buckley
and
Barry
Goldwater
did
a
cooking
segment?
Me
neither.

The
right-wing
media
environment
is
self-parody
at
this
point,
making
it
all
the
more
terrifying
that
it
holds
more
sway
over
the
Court’s
conservatives
than
ever
before.
Last
Term,
we
heard
some

bizarre
questions
that
only
made
sense
from
the
perspective
of
one
entirely
ensconced
in
that
echo
chamber.
Under
these
circumstances,
it
would
be
disturbing
if
not
surprising
for
a
justice
to
have
a
fanboy
meal
—
not
sure
which
is
the
fanboy
in
this
scenario
—
with
a
fixture
from
that
world.

Look,
justices
can
eat
with
whoever
they
want.
Preferably
it’s
not
someone
with
pending
business
before
the
Court,
but

Alito
has
already
proven
there’s
nothing
stopping
the
justices
from
doing
that
either.
Shapiro
doesn’t
raise
any
apparent
conflict
of
interest,
he’s
just
a
right-wing
shitposter.
But
with
trust
in
the
Supreme
Court
at
historic
lows,
one
would
expect
the
justices
might
want
to
be
more
cautious
about
nakedly
ideological
meetings.
It’s
one
thing
to
sit
down
with
a
right-wing
law
professor
or
go
on
a
junket
with
a
Biglaw
partner
and
write
it
all
off
as
a
legal
conversation.
It’s
quite
another
to
have
dinner
with
Catturd.

Yes,
for
those
keeping
score,
Ben
Shapiro
falls
somewhere
between
Catturd
and
Jonathan
Turley.
And
that’s
not
as
wide
a
gap
as
you
might
think.

But
it
also
wouldn’t
be
surprising
if
famous
figures
in
the
conservative
ecosphere,
not
unlike
Shapiro,
might
start
meeting
with
Thomas
as
part
of
a
charm
offensive
to
convince
the
justice
to
get
out
of
the
way.
While
Shapiro
is
very
much
on
the
record
that

seniors
should
never
retire
and
toil
until
they
die,
that
presumably
doesn’t
apply
to
someone
whose
continued
service
might
someday
backfire
and
accidentally
restore
rights
to
women
or
something.
Hoping
to
avoid
a
Ruth
Bader
Ginsburg
redux,
expect
Republicans
to
turn
up
the
volume
on
their
senior
pet
justices
in
order
to
replace
them
with
younger
judges
to
consolidate
unaccountable
power
for
another
generation.
Though
if
they
want
Thomas
out
of
his
seat,
they’d
best
figure
out
how
to
get
the
man
paid
because
retired
justices
don’t
get
free
vacations!

So
if
Shapiro
met
with
Thomas
today,
expect
this
to
be
the
start
of
a
string
of
conservatives
meeting
with
the
justice
to
keep
him
on
track
to
retire
soon.

One
presumes
these
guests
will
be
picking
up
the
checks.

---

Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or

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law,
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