It’s the last workday of 2023, so let’s look back at the major stories of the year.
Unhinged Judge Handcuffs Crying Child: Our top single story of the year focused on Judge Roger Benitez pulling a 13-year-old girl from the audience and handcuffing her while he sentenced her father. Our reporting resulted in the Ninth Circuit announcing an inquiry. 6 months later it was still pending. It’s still pending now.
The Fall Of The House Of Giuliani: The mayor America never wanted ended the year filing for bankruptcy after his discovery delays and unwillingness to stop defaming people resulted in a brutal (and non-dischargeable) judgment.
Biglaw Raises: Milbank offered a needed cost of living increase. Cravath re-raised. Clients clutched their pearls, but realistically associate salaries are exactly where they should be.
Disney Makes The Rule Against Perpetuities Fun: For a hot second, Ron DeSantis thought he could be president and rather than develop a comprehensive plan for the economy or navigating myriad international crises, he decided to campaign on sticking it to Disney. Unfortunately for the pint-sized governor, Disney’s lawyers are much better at this.
What DIDN’T Donald Trump Do?: Claiming victory for being found liable for sexual assault. Check. Filing nonsense motions in his business trial. Check. Earning gag order after gag order. Check. Talking about pleading guilty so the DOJ can give him damages? Check.
Supremely Disappointing: No single Supreme Court ethics story cracked the top 20 in traffic, but we’ll include it here because the sheer volume of stories put it over the hump cumulatively. Clarence Thomas received gifts and family housing and tuition and an RV. Sam Alito took luxury vacations on private jets. And John Roberts wants you to know there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
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