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The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Caitlin Tremblay

Good morning. In a Reuters Special Report January 6 prosecutors describe mounting threats, harassment and fear of lasting damage to the U.S. justice system. Plus, the D.C. Circuit will weigh the Trump administration’s new, nationwide immigrant registration system; and for some first-year law students the door to a job at an elite U.S. law firm now opens before their first grades are in. Here’s a look at the stories behind some of Reuters’ best photos of 2025. We’re zooming through the week. Let’s snap to it.

They prosecuted the Capitol rioters. Now the rioters and the DOJ are after them.

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump occupy the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY via REUTERS

After President Trump’s mass pardons of the U.S. Capitol rioters, some have gained influence inside the DOJ, meeting with officials to push for prosecutions of the federal lawyers who once helped convict them, Reuters found. The January 6 prosecutors describe mounting threats, harassment and fear of lasting damage to the U.S. justice system.

Read the Special Report here.

Coming up today

The D.C. Circuit will hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule establishing a new, nationwide immigrant registration system that also requires people to carry proof of their registration with them at all times, or risk federal criminal prosecution. Read the complaint.
In California, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler will weigh a proposed class action lawsuit by a former high school athlete in the state who said players should be paid for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses. Defense lawyers at Arnold & Porter for the California Interscholastic Federation have called the case “an attempt to use antitrust law to reshape high school sports in California.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in D.C. will consider issuing a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed by legal technology firm Fastcase that accused rival Alexi of breaching a data licensing agreement, misappropriating trade secrets and infringing trademarks as it vied to scale up an AI-powered research platform for lawyers. Read the complaint.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

More top news

Industry insight

Midwest firm Spencer Fane said it will enter the New York-legal market through a combination with 50-lawyer firm Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe.
Moves: David Fish moved to Skadden as a litigation partner from Sumitomo Corporation where he was head of litigation for the Americas … Per Chilstrom and Michael Pilo left Fenwick & West to join Baker McKenzie’s capital markets practice … Willkie added tax partner Andrew Strelka from Latham.
New partners: Gibson Dunn promoted 42 to partner … Jenner & Block elevated 10 to partner … Thompson Hine elected seven new partners … Mintz promoted 12 to partner.

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Law firm recruiting race pushes into students' first semester

For some first-year law students with the right pedigree, the door to a lucrative job at an elite U.S. law firm now opens before their first grades are in. Karen Sloan has more here.

"If the secretary told them they face legal liability, isn’t that an injury?"

- U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston to DOJ attorney Isaac Belfer during a hearing over Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s new vaccine policies. A group of major medical orgs argue the policy will lower vaccine rates. Belfer argues that they lack standing because they had not shown they were harmed by the CDC. Read more about the arguments here.

In the courts

The D.C. Circuit cleared President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to continue for now, saying his administration was likely to prevail in a legal challenge. Read the order.
U.S District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said she would block the Trump administration from laying off hundreds of federal employees, the latest legal setback for Trump's efforts to downsize the government workforce.