A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Sara Merken

What's going on today?

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Trump named his first nominees for federal judgeships in 2026, including a former chief counsel for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and a lawyer involved in fighting class action "abuse."

Trump announced the nominees in a series of posts on his social media platform, moving forward with his push to put a conservative stamp on the judiciary by filling the few vacancies available in his second term.

The nominees include Andrew Davis, a partner at the law firm Lehotsky Keller Cohn, to fill an Austin-based seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a state where he previously worked as an assistant solicitor general. Before joining the law firm, Davis was chief counsel to Cruz on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Nate Raymond has more about the other nominees for courts in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

The Texas Supreme Court finalized a plan to end its reliance on the American Bar Association for law school accreditation and instead establish its own list of law schools whose graduates may practice in the state.

The decision makes Texas the first state to break with the ABA’s law school oversight, amid mounting pressure from President Trump's administration over the organization's diversity and inclusion efforts and criticism from those who believe its requirements increase student costs. Read more from Karen Sloan.

In New York: Latham brought on litigation partner Sara Margolis from MoloLamken and hired sports partners Matthew Eisler and Russell Hedman from Hogan Lovells … Davis Polk tapped national security partner Benjamin Joseloff from Cravath … Cleary Gottlieb hired Sebastian Alsheimer to lead its shareholder activism defense practice from Wilson Sonsini … Criminal defense lawyer Marc Mukasey joined Seyfarth Shaw to co-lead its trial practice … Paul Hastings added tax partner Andrew Davis from Cravath … Paul Weiss picked up finance partner Alena Thomas from Sidley … Pryor Cashman tapped David Abramowicz, former executive counsel and head of global investigations at GE Vernova … Willkie hired asset management partner Jesse Kean from Sidley and added private wealth partner Ken Halcom from River Bend Holdings … Haynes Boone brought on real estate partners Jeffrey Moerdler and Stephen Friedberg from Mintz Levin.

In D.C.: Paul Boehm joined Sidley as a global co-leader of its product liability and mass torts practice from Williams & Connolly … Baker Botts added life sciences and chemicals patent partner Martin Bruehs from Sheppard Mullin and tapped environmental litigation partner Matt Morrison from Pillsbury … Willkie hired asset management partner Stacy Fuller from K&L Gates … Spencer Fane added more than a dozen lawyers through a combination with Global IP Counselors.

Across other cities: Morgan Lewis picked up labor and employment partner Katherine Gibson from DLA Piper in London … Spencer Fane hired corporate transactions partner Debra Vernon in San Jose from Omnus Law … Winstead added Nashville-based real estate development and investments partners Chris Raybeck from Spencer Fane and Trey Neal from Holland & Knight … Jackson Lewis brought back Erika Barbara in Sacramento from the California Chamber of Commerce … White & Case tapped tax partner Alejandro Santoyo in Mexico City from Ritch Mueller … BCLP