We’ve
made
it
to
the
end
of
the
year!
And
what
do
we
have
to
show
for
it
as
a
profession?
Our
most
elite
law
firms
signed
deals
rather
than
stand
up
for
themselves
in
the
face
of
illegal
Trump
bullying
efforts.
Others
quietly
tried
to
erase
their
history
to
avoid
the
administration’s
ire.
But
some
firms
did
fight
back
and
achieved
consistent
success
in
court,
while
the
dealmakers
got
heckled
and
derided
by
young
lawyers.
And,
as
anyone
who
has
ever
watched
Star
Wars
knows,
deals
with
authoritarians
just
get
worse
all
the
time.
The
New
York
Times
even
wrote
a
feature
on
a
certain
publication
covering
this
story.
We
also
ran
headlong
into
a
constitutional
crisis
marked
by
DOJ
lawyers
lying
to
courts
—
when
the
DOJ
even
bothers
to
field
lawyers
legally
—
senior
government
officials
declaring
“war”
on
federal
judges,
and
judges
being
arrested.
As
right-wing
threats
against
federal
judges
escalated,
the
Supreme
Court
responded
with
disinterest,
preferring
to
fan
the
flames
with
nakedly
partisan
shadow
docket
rulings
to
grease
the
wheels
of
Trump’s
assault
on
the
structure
of
government.
And,
finally,
we
look
at
the
year
of
AI
in
legal.
Hallucinations
dominated
the
conversation
—
from
law
firms
and
judges
alike
—
but
this
was
also
the
year
legal
tech
made
huge
bets
on
AI
and
folks
started
to
realize
that
the
profession
can’t
avoid
the
technology.
The
billable
hour
may
finally
be
on
the
decline,
but
does
AI
risk
making
lawyers
dumber?