Thanks to Bloomberg for publishing my piece on why generative AI didn’t kill attorney-client privilege and maybe even strengthened it… news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

On LinkedIn, @jonahperlin.bsky.social has an excellent post about how when a senior lawyer asks for a draft, they mean a perfect fly-specked document. This is correct advice for the summer/junior associate. However, sometimes the senior lawyer *doesn't* want the perfect document. 1/

How The Billable Hour Can Survive #GenerativeAI This article argues that the billable hour not only has a viable path to survive in the age of AI, it may well thrive as a result. Author: Jonah Perlin Read More: http://spkl.io/63320A6j9e#GenerativeAI

👀 Not on Twitter much anymore but pleasantly surprised that SSRN posted my forthcoming article on Gen AI and the billable hour!

Please join me Wednesday, June 25, at 12-1 PM ET for an engaging discussion on clerkships entitled “Behind the Robes: The Real-World Value of Judicial Clerkships.” If you’re a law student or recent grad contemplating clerking, this event is for you! Register here: form.jotform.com/251546085559...

Really important. So many people die needlessly every year in the water. Please share.

Four weeks ago I started a free newsletter for summer associates and interns. I think my favorite paragraph so far is in today’s issue: open.substack.com/pub/standout...

Step 1: How am I going to write 7,000 words. … Step 2: How am I going to cut this down to 17,000 words. This is normal, right?

You haven’t lived until you’ve taken seven girls under ten to sing karaoke. I have no ear drums left.

Today on Standout Summer Associate 👇 open.substack.com/pub/standout...

Friday issue of Standout Summer Associate is up! open.substack.com/pub/standout...

This is so important, and so hard for some students. I say it a lot, but often the ones who need help the most are the least likely to ask for it.

Why quality of work is more important than quantity as a summer associate. Check out issue #2 of Standout Summer Associate.

In this blog post I discuss a new article in which Kevin Tobia and I examine how widespread AI texts are in legal institutions, initial policy responses some have made, and the concerns all of this raises alongside opportunities: www.wilftownsend.net/p/when-compu...

First episode of Standout Summer Associate is LIVE. Next issue drops tomorrow morning. Read here: standoutsummerassociate.substack.com/p/you-dont-k...

Starting a FREE newsletter for summer associates and summer interns. First issue goes live tomorrow at 7AM. Sign up here 👇

Happy Mothers Day friends 💕

From Jeffrey Toobin's 2008 book THE NINE, this remains the greatest Justice Souter anecdote I can possibly share. RIP.

Look, I don't wanna say this was *all* Bill Treanor's doing, but ...

How many emails will I get today calling me “Josh.” Current count: Greater than 1!

Remove a letter, ruin a movie Moan

Clever 2 factor authentication scam--using your bank's own app to fool you into giving a scammer the ability to access your bank account. Hat-tip @klonick.bsky.social

Inject the second paragraph of this footnote directly into my veins. (And then send it to the nine firms that have bent the knee.)

For today's bonus "One First," @jonahperlin.bsky.social, @ksvesq.bsky.social, and I recorded a discussion about President Trump's attacks on law firms; how firms have responded; and the implications not just for the legal profession, but for the rule of law: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-146-...

I wish we didn’t need this conversation but given the state of affairs with law firms it was great to sit down with my friends @stevevladeck.bsky.social & Karen to talk about what’s going on, why it’s troubling, and maybe where there is still room for hope 🙏. Thanks for having me!

Jenner's lawyer recognizes the "over 2000 individuals, organizations and law firms" who filed amicus briefs. They're a "breathtaking left, right, conservative, progressive constellation" of groups, sharing a common theme: The "deeply unconstitutional" EOs “undermine what it means to be a lawyer."

Agreed. 100%. Lawyers were worried about using e-mail. Search engines. The cloud. Now if you don’t use them you are not doing your job. And the actual confidentiality risks of many AI tools are equal to or less than many of the technologies that lawyers use all the time. *Please don’t throw 🍅 *

Delighted to share that I have been selected as the recipient of the Berger Award. Those who know me know how passionate I am about promoting legal writing as a scholarly discipline, so this means a lot to me. Grateful for all the colleagues who supported me along the way.

I should pause to note that you *should* use LLMs in your work. I find them really valuable and time-saving. The trick is you gotta read all the sources they unearth—something you should do in your research anyway!

INCREDIBLE opinion by Wilkinson refusing to stay Judge Xinis's orders in the Abrego Garcia case, condemning DOJ's arguments as "shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Thrilled that Josh Teitelbaum is stepping in as interim dean of Georgetown Law at this critical moment for American universities. (And thanks, again, Bill Treanor, for your courageous leadership!) www.law.georgetown.edu/news/profess...

Either the U.S. government *is* able to exert monetary and diplomatic pressure on El Salvador sufficient to produce Abrego Garcia’s release, or it isn’t. The latter would be either a bald-faced lie or a pretty stunning concession of our national impotence. The Vice President should pick one.

Q&A | "It’s important to remember that the rights to free speech and peaceable assembly are no accident: They were hard-won and fought for." @bradsnyderprof.bsky.social discusses his new book on Angelo Herndon and the landmark SCOTUS decision that upheld the right to protest. 🔗 bit.ly/4czqVgc

Just like we did in the days of old I am setting up the Passover…Photo Booth?

Seriously this Bible exchange goes on even longer than I'm able to clip here.

Impressed by Sen. Booker's attempt to breakthrough algorithms that promote statements in as few characters as possible by commanding the Senate floor for many many hours. Also good reason to share my favorite clip of his 🔥 Rabbi's sermon from the Senate floor: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYa...

Judge Bates, blocking Trump's order targeting Jenner: "Our legal profession as a whole is watching and wondering whether courtroom activities in the best tradition of lawyering will cause the federal government to turn its unwanted attention to them next."

Jenner Stands Firm. www.jennerfirm.com#our-statement

It is important to continue to say — these attacks on law firms are shameful. They are an abuse of power. And they violate our constitution. Full stop.

THREAD The latest EO against [one of my very favorite clients] Jenner & Block is just another wake up call that this administration is not going to stop their endless bullying of law firms based on personal vendettas.

Same here. This system is really broken.

Feeling old that I have now seen a number of these bumps in my time as a student and now professor at Georgetown. Plus reSkeeting (is that a thing) my college classmate…

Many #1L students are off for spring break or will be soon. This is a challenging time. The novelty of 1L has worn of. You finally know enough to know you don’t know it all. It’s a marathon and you are at mile 16. Exhausted but lots to go. Thoughts on how to finish strong 👇

About fifty years ago, NASA strapped a message in a bottle to a rocket and flung it into the deep dark It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but it did. Long past its mission, it’s still out there so far away now that a simple hello takes a day to reach it, and another day to hear if it says hello back

The “or more” was doing a lot more work than I realized in this post from five years ago today…

It’s been awesome to see @strowhiro.bsky.social build her firm, and even better to see her earn this with her new firm.

Strong statement. Worth a read.

Apparently my quarter zip sweater is “giving millennial.” 🤷‍♂️

I am ready for my next decade! How it started (left, 30th birthday, terrible mirror selfie) and how its going (right, 40th birthday, celebrating with my awesome kids and amazing students).