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Minimum Competence

Minimum Competence is your daily companion for legal news, designed to bring you up to speed on the day’s major legal stories during your commute home. Each episode is short, clear, and informative—just enough to make you minimally competent on the key developments in law, policy, and regulation. Whether you’re a lawyer, law student, journalist, or just legal-curious, you’ll get a smart summary without the fluff. A full transcript of each episode is available via the companion newsletter at www.minimumcomp.com. www.minimumcomp.com

Fri 6/9 - Trump Indicted Federal Boogaloo, SCOTUS Gives Jack Daniels a Hand, OpenAI Sued for Defamation, New Law School Entrance Exam for AZ

6 mins; June 09, 2023

Thurs 6/8 - Cooley Delays, Davis Polks Demands, FL Privacy Law is Bad, Trump to be Indicted Against and Arrested Development Actor Arrested Development

8 mins; June 08, 2023

Weds 6/7 - Michigan Court Pronouns, Trump Can't Escape, Biden Wants a Dismissal and UBS is Almost Done Chewing Credit Suisse

5 mins; June 07, 2023

Tues 6/6 - Binance and Coinbase Sued, Lewis Brisbois Baddies, Texas Wins in Suit with Google but Loses on EV Tax

9 mins; June 06, 2023

Mon 6/5 - Law School Admissions Normalize, SEC Dismisses Data Access Cases, Solicitor General Whoopsies and LOTR Unauthorized Sequel Lawsuit

8 mins; June 05, 2023

Fri 6/2 - Starbucks Labor Disaster, SCOTUS Blow to Labor Strikes, AirBnb sues NYC, Gambia Retains US Firm and Scienter is a Fun Word

8 mins; June 02, 2023

Thurs 6/1 - Debt Ceiling Deal, Oath Keepers Sentencing, SBF of FTX, Operation Fox Hunt and Chewy Chews on OSHA

7 mins; June 01, 2023

Weds 5/31 - ChatGPT Lawyer Debacle, Debt Limit Deal, Manhattan DA Wants Trump in State Court, KPMG and Credit Suisse Sued and Death to NDAs

8 mins; May 31, 2023

Tues 5/30 - IRS Gets Sold Out in Debt Limit Deal, ShotSpotter in a Tight Spot, TX AG Paxton Impeached, Trump Attacks Judges and Column Tuesday!

8 mins; May 30, 2023

Fri 5/26 - BigLaw Return to Office Continues, Oath Keepers Leader Sentenced, Breaking up Large Banks and Tax Provisions in Debt Ceiling Talks

6 mins; May 26, 2023

Thurs 5/25 - TD Bank Shareholder Suit, Oath Keeper Sentenced, ADA Circuit Split (?) and a New Bar Exam

7 mins; May 25, 2023

Weds 5/24 - Withdrawn Federal Judge Nominee, Chief Justice Roberts Assures us he is Ethical, Simplifying Automatic Tax Extensions and Affirmative Action Targeted by SCOTUS

7 mins; May 24, 2023

Tues 5/23 - DOJ Goes After Banks for COVID Frauds, Class Action Suit Against Musk is Thrown Out, TikTok Sues Montana, and Column Tuesday

7 mins; May 23, 2023

Mon 5/22 - Big Law Mergers, Meta Gets Slapped with Fine, Lawyers Gotta Snitch and SCOTUS Says IRS can Summon Bank Records Without Notice

8 mins; May 22, 2023

Fri 5/19 - MT TikTokers Sue, SCOTUS Clarifies Patent Enablement and Militia Collective Bargaining, FTX Wants a Refund, Federal Virtual Proceedings to End and DB Pays for Epstein

8 mins; May 19, 2023

Thurs 5/18 - NYC Law Protecting Fast Food Workers Challenged, EPA Driving Green Bank Boom, Simpson Thacher Back to Office, HSA Limits Increased and TikTok is Banned in Montana

7 mins; May 18, 2023

Weds 5/17 - IRS Public E-File, Judicial Fitness in the Fed Cir., Fraud Definition Narrowing, Theranos' Holmes to Jail, Proskauer Malpractice, Column Tuesday! (on Weds.)

9 mins; May 17, 2023

Tues 5/16 - SVB Omitted EVE, FTC Blocking Amgen Acquisition, Dropbox Patent Infringement, Musk Tweets Remain Muzzled

8 mins; May 16, 2023

Mon 5/15 - Debt Ceiling, Robocall Lawsuits, Google Deceives in Ads, Gilead Win Implications and Apparent Agency Medical Malpractice

7 mins; May 15, 2023

Fri 5/12 - Title 42 Ends, Under 21 Guns are a Go, Goldman Settlement Big Win for Women, Assange Hires Squire Patton, Blockfi Customers are Screwed, MS/Activision Updates

7 mins; May 12, 2023

Thurs 5/11 - USNWR Ranking, Biden Admin's Pollution Plan is Lackluster, Santos is Going Nowhere, Florida Targets Teachers (Again) and Phoenix Suns Broadcaster BK

6 mins; May 11, 2023

Weds 5/10 - Apple Loses, Crow Says No, Santos in Trouble, Gilead Prevails, Powell in Ethics Hot Water and Trump Held to Account

6 mins; May 10, 2023

Tues 5/9 - Senate Wants Crow, PWC Aus. CEO Steps Down, SBF Wants Case Dropped, Goldman Loses, Twitter Wins, and Column Tuesday

6 mins; May 09, 2023

Mon 5/8 - Law Firm Financials Up, Jan 6 Rioter Gets 14 Years, Ron vs. Mickey, Clarence vs. Ethics, Door Hardware Antitrust and More Starbucks Labor

6 mins; May 08, 2023

MaxMin - What was Chevron Deference?

6 mins; May 06, 2023

Fri 5/5 - SCOTUS looks at Whistleblower Protections, KPMG Under Scrutiny for SVB etc., Lewis Brisbois Founder is Out and Seditious Conspiracy Guilty Boys

5 mins; May 05, 2023

Thurs 5/4 - SEC Real Time Hedge Fund Reporting, Indictment for Wire Fraud Ring, Starbucks Union Problems, Goldman Sued Relating to SVB, and more

7 mins; May 04, 2023

Weds 5/3 - Chevron in the Crosshairs, Third Circuit Filing Deadline, Lewis Brisbois Mass Exodus, Ford Wins, and Insider Trading NFTs

4 mins; May 03, 2023

Tues 5/2 - SCOTUS Ethics Panel, Gilead Sued by US Gov't in Patent Suit, Column Tuesday on "Cashports," and JPMorgan J. Epstein Trouble

5 mins; May 02, 2023

Mon 5/1 - Exit First Republic, Enter JPMorgan, Energizer and Walmart Battery Antitrust, DeSantis vs. Prosecutor, Alito Knows Leaker and Trump Wants Mistrial

5 mins; May 01, 2023

MaxMin - The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

4 mins; April 30, 2023

Fri 4/28 - OH Prisoner Sues for Train Derailment, Voting Restrictions Upheld in FL, Child Labor in AL, and Mike Pence Sings for a Grand Jury

4 mins; April 28, 2023

Thurs 4/27 - Disney v. DeSantis, OSHA In Trouble, ERA Vote, MS still wants Activision, AI in the Law and CJOTUS declines invite to be ethical.

7 mins; April 27, 2023

Weds 4/26 - SCOTUS Seized Home Case, ChatPWC, 6th Circuit Likes Bump Stocks, EU Doesn't Like MS Activision Buy, MSG Doesn't Pay Property Tax

6 mins; April 26, 2023

Tues 4/25 - Apple win over Epic, Coinbase has an ask of the SEC, TripAdvisor is Nevada-bound, and Trump Trial 2.0

6 mins; April 25, 2023

Mon 4/24 - JPMorgan Handcuffs, AMC in the Chancery, Samsung Loses Big and Competence in the Federal Circuit

5 mins; April 24, 2023

Fri 4/21 - Tesla Autopilot Crash Case, FTC Green Guides, Fox Troubles, Large Magazine Bans are Constitutional and Teen Vape Case

5 mins; April 21, 2023

Thurs 4/20 - Old Dominion pays $500 for employee biometrics, Dominion (not old) Settlement is a win for Attorneys, SCOTUS at the Mall and AI Copyright Issues

5 mins; April 20, 2023

Weds 4/19 - Fox News Settles, FDIC Reimbursement, More Litigation Funding Problems, Law Partner Tax Problems and Whistleblowers at SCOTUS

5 mins; April 19, 2023

Tues 4/18 - Dominion Resumes, SCOTUS Hears Title VII Religious Rights Case, USNWR Delays Releasing Rankings, J&J Tries to Delay and Column Tuesday

6 mins; April 18, 2023

Mon 4/17 - SCOTUS v. Administrative State, Who Can Strike for Whom, Dominion Delays, Orrick Lawsuit and a Question of Appeals Court Competence

6 mins; April 17, 2023

Fri 4/14 - EPA Emissions Stds, Deepfakes and Right of Publicity, Google v. Sonos, a Leaker and Free Speech vs. Attorney Conduct Rules

6 mins; April 14, 2023

Thurs 4/13 - Cali. USB-C, Apple Hometown Tax Issues, EY Updates, Racial Disparities in Bar Exam and FTX Recovers Some Money

5 mins; April 13, 2023

Weds 4/12 - EY Staying Together, Cooley Screwing First Years, RFC for AI, More Trouble for Fox News in the Dominion Case

5 mins; April 12, 2023

Tues 4/11 - COVID Nat'l Emergency Over, Goldman Fines, Judiciary Committee wants Thomas Investigated, Column Tuesday and Trump Tax Crimes

5 mins; April 11, 2023

Mon 4/10 - J&J Funders, Baidu vs. Apple, Fox vs. Dominion, Tesla vs. Privacy and Law Firm Layoffs

4 mins; April 10, 2023

Fri 4/7 - IRS $47b to Compliance, NYU Law Review Students Want to Get Paid, Thomas the Jetsetter and M&A Deals are Way Down

6 mins; April 07, 2023

Thurs 4/6 - chipotle isn't Chipotle, eFile.com is Malware, Legal fee Disputes and Biometrics in the Labor Realm.

6 mins; April 06, 2023

Weds 4/5 - Texas Libraries, J&J ~$9b Settlement, IRS $80b, Online LSAT and Trump Indictment

5 mins; April 05, 2023

Tues 4/4 - Trump in Court, Apple Watch Lawsuit, BigLaw M&A, and Column Tuesday on Auditor Independence

5 mins; April 04, 2023

Mon 4/3 - COVID-Era Bar Takers, Boy Scouts Want to Exit BK but Insurers Don't, Burford Capital Wins Big, and Musk Tweet Trouble

5 mins; April 03, 2023

MaxMin - Mental Health Questions on Character and Fitness Applications for the Bar

4 mins; April 02, 2023

Fri 3/31 - Trump Indicted, SEC Expands "Dealer" Definition, "Skinny Labels" on Trial and Ethics 101

6 mins; March 31, 2023

Thurs 3/30 - FDIC Allocating Costs to Larger Banks, MDL Changes, LIBOR news, FOTUS is an Acronym and Trump Delays

7 mins; March 30, 2023

Weds 3/29 - SBF and China, SCOTUS gifts, Adnan conviction and NJ bar mental health progress

4 mins; March 29, 2023

Tues 3/28 - ESG Whining, Binance More Trouble, Alphabet wants Dismissal and Column Tuesday!

6 mins; March 28, 2023

Mon 3/27 - First Citizens Buys SVB, Utah Social Media Challenges, Tesla Bias and Dominion v. Fox News

7 mins; March 27, 2023

MaxMin - Internet Archive v. Book Publishers

5 mins; March 26, 2023

Fri 3/24 - Trump Lies, TikTok CEO Gets Grilled, Utah Kids have a Social Media Curfew and Justin Sun in Trouble

7 mins; March 24, 2023

Thurs 3/23 - Jack Daniels is not Bad Spaniels, FTC Click to Cancel, Amazon Labor and Beirut Bombing Case

7 mins; March 23, 2023

Weds 3/22 - Global Lanham Act Reach, Federal Waters in Texas and Idaho, Justice Delayed for Trump and Arkansas Stinks

6 mins; March 22, 2023

Tues 3/21 - Trump in a Cage (?), Fox and Dominion, Sysco Litigation Funding and Column Tuesday

7 mins; March 21, 2023

Mon 3/20 - Child Labor, SVB's parent cut off from SVB bank records, and managing Trump arrest expectations

6 mins; March 20, 2023

MaxMin - Money (How It Is Created, What It Is)

9 mins; March 18, 2023

Fri 3/17 - IP big at SCOTUS, First Republic Ouchie, No Arb for Uber Eats and NY C&F Changes

5 mins; March 17, 2023

Thurs 3/16 - FTX's SBF might be a bad guy, GPT-4 passes the bar, Uber and Lyft face the ABCs and MLB news

6 mins; March 16, 2023

Weds 3/15 - FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund Primer, Florida Digital Rights, Anti-ESG and Harvey AI

6 mins; March 15, 2023

3/14 - NC Gerrymandering, Cohen testifying against Trump, Drilling in Alaska and Class Action against SVB

6 mins; March 14, 2023

3/13 - SVB Collapse, NY Reduce Reuse Recycle, and DoNotPay DoesNotWork

7 mins; March 13, 2023

Fri 3/10 - Litigation funding is bad, JPMorgan Woes, SCOTUS wants bodyguards, and Column Friday!

7 mins; March 10, 2023

Thurs 3/9 - SBF wants time, FL prosecutor wants his job back, JetSpiritBlue Airlines and JPMorgan and J. Epstein

5 mins; March 09, 2023

Weds 3/8 - Missouri finds out, Binance shops in the BK bargain bin, Gilead patents and UVA Dean to SCOTUS

6 mins; March 08, 2023

Tues 3/7 - SCOTUS prayer vigil appeal, Biden admin taxes to fund Medicare, trouble in cheese paradise and Column Tuesday!

8 mins; March 07, 2023

Mon 3/6 - Hair straightener cancer litigation, NLRB v Starbucks, death of TikTok (?), Binance Troubles Continue

5 mins; March 06, 2023

MaxMin - Major Questions Doctrine

7 mins; March 04, 2023

Fri 3/3 - ERA goes to Washington, SCOTUS may sidestep election rulings, Google Incognito isn't a class and Murdaugh Verdict

6 mins; March 03, 2023

Thurs 3/2 - Cybersecurity Strategies, Opioid Manufacturers Dodge Liability, ESG Heads to Veto, and Racial Bias in the NFL

4 mins; March 02, 2023

Weds 3/1 - GOP vs. ESG, ERA hits wall in DC appeal, FTX co founder flips and call for public comment

5 mins; March 01, 2023

Tues 2/28 - Column Tuesday!, Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, and the Equal Rights Amendment

5 mins; February 28, 2023

Mon 2/27 - State Solicitors General at SCOTUS, Salt Lake disaster, and the Major Questions Doctrine

6 mins; February 27, 2023

Fri 2/24 - EPA in Ohio, Alex Jones with Guns, ESG in Investing, Sidney Powell and Alex Murdaugh

5 mins; February 24, 2023

Thurs 2/23 - Self Reporting White Collar Crimes, Bankruptcy and Spousal Fraud, CA vs AI and NFT as Securities News

5 mins; February 23, 2023

Weds 2/22 - NLRB Disparages nondisparagement clauses, Section 230 yet again, crime fraud exceptions and J&J must pay

4 mins; February 22, 2023

Tues 2/21 - Cali Arb Limits, Toxic Trains, Section 230 and Column Tuesday

6 mins; February 21, 2023

MaxMin - Section 230

5 mins; February 18, 2023

Fri 2/17 - Tax deals in CA, SEC proposes standard segregating assets, and SCOTUS to hear Section 230 challenge

5 mins; February 17, 2023

Thurs 2/16 - Greenwashing, Tesla Unions, India BBC Tax Raids and Disney vs DeSantis

5 mins; February 16, 2023

Weds 2/15 - Wilson Out at FTC, Sohn Grilled at FCC, AI and Patents, and a Modernized IRS

5 mins; February 15, 2023

Tues 2/14 - AI In Trademark Law, Labor Moves for Starbucks and Tesla, and Column Tuesday on Stock Buyback Programs

5 mins; February 14, 2023

Mon 2/13 - Crypto Wells Notice, New Tesla GC, IP Issues for the Bored Ape NFT Creators, and Lawsuits Claim TikTok is Surveilling

6 mins; February 13, 2023

Fri 2/10 - MetaBirkin, Florida Law School Renamed, More Neuralink Trouble, and Criminalizing Derogatory Speech about Political C

4 mins; February 10, 2023

Thurs 2/9 - Trump and the Old Post Office, AI Art and Copyright, Arbitration Clauses in NJ and COVID-19 and Construction Loans

6 mins; February 09, 2023

Weds 2/8 - Racism as Conflict of Interest, Equitable Education in Pennsylvania, and a Follow-up to the Meta FTC Story

4 mins; February 08, 2023

Tues 2/7 - ABA says yes to LSAT/GRE rec, proposes SCOTUS ethics, 13th amendment and abortion, and SBF of FTX wants to chat with

4 mins; February 07, 2023

Mon 2/6 - Musk dodges liability, FTC fails in Meta purchase, 3M Two-Step and Wells Fargo Fun

5 mins; February 06, 2023

Fri 2/3 - Domestic Violence Restraining Orders and Guns, Nike patents, Baker McKenzie and Gas Stoves

4 mins; February 03, 2023

Thurs 2/2 - Metabirkin, TikTok, the Death Penalty in GA and Celebrity Attorney Charged with Wire Fraud

5 mins; February 02, 2023

Weds 2/1 - TX Arbitration Clauses, GA Home Inspectors, Title 42 and Baseball

5 mins; February 01, 2023

Tues 1/31 - J&J, Hermes, Trump v. Woodward

4 mins; January 31, 2023

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