The Legal File

Good morning! Here's a look at the latest in the legal industry from our daily newsletter The Daily Docket 👇

• Law students face mandatory bias training under proposed ABA rule

Law schools would have to train students in bias, racism and cross-cultural competency under a proposal before the American Bar Association’s policymaking body this month.

This comes after 150 law school deans signed a letter last July urging the ABA to consider such a requirement as part of a wider anti-racism movement in legal education:

“We are in a unique moment in our history to confront racism that is deeply embedded in our institutions, including in the legal profession.”

• The proposed mandate has generated some opposition within the legal academy including from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education:

“It is more constructive to foster spaces that encourage the free exchange of ideas than to impose consensus through mandatory training and courses.”

• 5th Circuit judge accused of forcing DOJ attorney to remove mask

Judge Jerry Smith of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit is facing a watchdog group’s demand for an ethics investigation for directing U.S. Justice Department lawyer Joshua Koppel to remove his face mask during an in-person oral argument last month.

Fix the Court’s ethics complaint accused Smith of violating a provision of the federal judiciary's conduct code that says judges "should be patient, dignified, respectful, and courteous," to lawyers they engage with in an official capacity. 

• Atticus Finch and dance classes: 10 questions for law firm Susman's managing partners

Did you know that U.S law firm Susman Godfrey's newly-elected managing partner Vineet Bhatia has a secret talent of designing and building homes? Or that Kalpana Srinivasan, also managing partner of the 140-lawyer firm, unwinds by going to a dance class?

Reuters caught up with the two leaders to find out what they're reading, watching and enjoying about the legal profession -- and beyond.

• Mayer Brown plucks more Stoel Rives partners for new Salt Lake City office

Mayer Brown added partners Lauren Shurman and Mark Hindley to the firm's new Salt Lake City office. Shurman and Hindley arrive from Stoel Rives. 

Chicago-founded Mayer Brown, which opened its Salt Lake City location Jan. 24, is the latest large global firm to make a splash in the city market, following others that entered the technology-heavy region last year, including Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Kirkland & Ellis and Foley & Lardner.

❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊❊

Thank you for reading today's edition of The Legal File !

Don't forget to subscribe to The Daily Docket for the latest legal news.