“Top Lawyers’ Fees Have Skyrocketed. Be Prepared to Pay $3,400 an Hour. Expertise and ego are pushing up hourly rates to once-unthinkable levels in an escalating race among firms.” Erin Mulvaney of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“The FCC Is Using ‘Equal Time’ to Silence Late Night”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Lawyer in abortion pill battles joins conservative law firm Lex Politica”: David Thomas of Reuters has this report.

“Trump Plans to Nominate Personal Lawyer Smith to Eighth Circuit”: Seth Stern and Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Jasper Ward of Reuters reports that “Trump nominates lawyer from his legal team for appeals court position.”

“David Souter Gives Barack Obama a Supreme Court Vacancy; George H.W. Bush’s biggest mistake”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Bonus 210: Federal Judges Speaking Out; A new advisory opinion from the Judicial Conference’s Codes of Conduct Committee reinforces the appropriateness of federal judges speaking publicly in defense of their colleagues—and the rule of law.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Originalism’s Remarkable Triumph; On Justice Alito’s Coming Book”: Cass Sunstein has this post at his Substack site.

“Tom Goldstein’s Fate Heading to Jury Following Closing Arguments”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Mike Scarcella of Reuters reports that “Lawyer Tom Goldstein lied to ‘everyone around him,’ jurors told as US tax trial winds down.”

The “How Appealing” blog is back online! With thanks to this blog’s tech support people, the “How Appealing” blog is now back online. Thanks to the readers who let me know they could not access the site last night.

“A Case Against 6 Democrats Lacked Urgency. Then Came a Swift Bid for an Indictment. Prosecutors have been repeatedly caught between the president’s insistence that they undertake weak or baseless cases and the necessity of having to go to court.” Alan Feuer, Glenn Thrush, and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times have this report.

“Alexander Zhao Elected As 140th President of Harvard Law Review”: Sierra R. Pape and Uy B. Pham of The Harvard Crimson have this report.

“Supreme Court brings recusal checks into 21st century; The implementation of the new automated system follows Justice Alito’s last-minute recusal from an environmental case after discovering financial conflicts days before oral arguments”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Bayer Eyes Deal to Pay More Than $7 Billion in Roundup Cases”: Jef Feeley and Sonja Wind of Bloomberg News have this report.

“Will Trump get a fourth Supreme Court justice? Speculation swirls around Alito.” Maureen Groppe of USA Today has this report.

“Trump administration appeals judge’s ruling over President’s House slavery exhibits; After a judge ordered slavery exhibits restored, Trump administration officials decried ‘unnecessary judicial intervention’”: Abraham Gutman of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

“Tom Goldstein Rests Defense in Tax, Loan False Statement Case”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Supreme Court Advocate Thomas Goldstein’s Rise and Fall Getting Movie Treatment Via ‘Deliver Me from Nowhere’ Producers; The Gotham Group has picked up the screen rights to Air Mail article ‘Tommy Supreme and the Blitz’”: Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter recently had this article.

“How to Safeguard the DOJ Against the Next Trump”: Law professor Barbara McQuade has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Tom Goldstein’s Vigorous Defense Gives the Jury a Lot to Chew On”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Judge Leon Educates Pete Hegseth; The military version of lawfare loses in embarrassing fashion”: This editorial will appear in Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore slavery exhibits to the President’s House; ‘As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s “1984” now existed … this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims,’ Rufe wrote; ‘It does not’”: Abraham Gutman and Fallon Roth of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued this memorandum opinion and preliminary injunction order today.

“Judicial Notice (02.16.26): An Embarrassing Distraction; The resignation of Kathy Ruemmler, a humiliating defeat for the Trump DOJ, a judge’s acknowledgment of an ‘abusive’ workplace, and a smart move by Cooley.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Is Sam Alito on His Way Out?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“210. The President’s Lack of Power Over Elections: President Trump keeps insisting that he can unilaterally change the rules for voting in the midterms; It’s not just that he’s *wrong*; it’s that there’s no mechanism through which he could even *try.*” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“The Plan for a Radically Different Supreme Court Is Here”: Jeffrey Toobin has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Nobody asked: Trump’s DOJ steps up uninvited recommendations at Supreme Court.” John Fritze of CNN has this report.

And at “SCOTUSblog,” John Elwood has a post titled “No invitation necessary: when the solicitor general weighs in unsolicited.”

“The unintended hilarity of Pam Bondi’s finger-wagging testimony”: Lorraine Ali has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

“The Situation: ‘Horsefeathers!’ A federal judge with a unique style in punctuation.” Benjamin Wittes has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

You can access the decision at this link.

“Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal could hang on a silenced juror; Bizarre misconduct haunts the case of a prominent lawyer who killed his wife and son”: Columnist Kathleen Parker has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“5 Takeaways From Brad Karp’s Emails With Jeffrey Epstein; Karp began dealing with Epstein to serve a key client; But at some point, things went off the rails — badly”: David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“New judicial ethics code says judges may speak out against ‘illegitimate’ attacks”: Tierney Sneed of CNN has this report.

And Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law reports that “Federal Judges Have ‘Limits’ On Speaking About Legal Issues.”

“Judge Boasberg orders return of Venezuelans citing ‘flagrancy’ of due process violations; They were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in violation of a court order”: Laura Romero of ABC News has this report.

You can access the ruling at this link.

“Trump’s death-row revenge gambit hits a judicial snag; The president uses blunt executive power to punish beneficiaries of Biden-commuted sentences”: Columnist Jason Willick has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“The Concentration Camp Next Door: The Trump administration has weaponized immigration detention against America.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“Extended Interview: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.” CBS News has posted this video online.