By David Lat.
Reviewing these stories offers a quick way of looking back on an eventful year for law and the legal profession.
Last year was a successful one here at Original Jurisdiction. A year ago, I expressed the hope that writing this newsletter could turn into a livelihood for me, and today it is. I’m grateful for the ability to make a living as an independent journalist, not dependent on a large news organization for my job, and I have you, my readers, to thank for this.
I’m still on vacation, visiting family in the Philippines, but I wanted to offer you some reading material until I return: the top 10 stories of 2022. As I did the last time around, I’ll actually give you two lists: the top 10 stories by readership, and the top 10 stories based on my own personal preference.
Let’s start with the list based on readership, i.e., total views (including both newsletter opens and views on the web):
10. Twitter v. Elon Musk: Let’s Look At The Lawyers
With a $44 billion deal on the line, Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk in Delaware Chancery Court was one of the largest civil cases in history—which turned the lawyers involved into celebrities of the legal world. (I later interviewed one of them, Alex Spiro—a partner at Quinn Emanuel, famous for representing celebrities including but not limited to Elon Musk—as the inaugural guest of my podcast.)
9. An Open Letter To Yale Law Dean Heather Gerken
I urged Dean Gerken to take a stronger stance in defense of free speech at YLS—and based on recent changes she has instituted, it seems she’s moving in this direction. (See also how U.S. News rankings guru Bob Morse overhauled their law school rankings, along the lines that I proposed.)
